Short Fiction · Characters
Character guide
Key figures in Short Fiction by Nikolai Gogol.
Ivan Ivanovitch
major
Also known as Ivan Ivanovitch Jeroshkin, Ivan
A respectable landowner in Mirgorod who quarrels with his neighbor over a gun.
Ivan Nikiforovitch
major
Also known as Ivan Nikiforovitch Dovgotchkun, Ivan Dovgotchkun, Nikiforovitch
A landowner whose insult to Ivan Ivanovitch sparks a long legal feud.
Taras Bulba
major
Also known as Taras, old Bulba, Bulba, Old Taras
A fierce Cossack colonel who leads his sons into battle against the Poles.
Akaki Akakievitch
major
Also known as Akaki, the little Akaki, Akakievitch
A poor copying clerk whose overcoat is stolen, driving him to despair.
Andrii
major
Also known as Lord Andrii, poor Andrii
Taras Bulba's younger son who betrays the Cossacks for love of a Polish girl.
Ostap
major
Also known as Ostap Bulba, Bulba
Taras Bulba's elder son, a brave Cossack who is captured and executed.
Major Kovaloff
major
Also known as Kovaloff, Poor Kovaloff, the Major
A vain civil servant who wakes up to find his nose has vanished.
Tchartkoff
major
Also known as Young Tchartkoff
A struggling artist who becomes corrupted by a mysterious portrait.
Thomas Brutus
major
Also known as the philosopher, Mr. Philosopher Thomas, Thomas, Brutus
A seminary student sent to pray over a witch's body in a haunted church.
Afanasii Ivanovich Tovstogub
major
Also known as Afanasii Ivanovich
An elderly, kindly landowner living a quiet life with his wife.
Pulcheria Ivanovna
major
Also known as Ivanovna
The devoted wife of Afanasii Ivanovich, who dotes on him and her home.
Levko Makohonenko
supporting
Also known as Levko
A young Cossack who wins his love with help from a drowned maiden.
Oxana
supporting
Also known as Beautiful Oxana
A proud beauty who demands the slippers from the Tsaritsa as a wedding gift.
Blacksmith Vakoola
supporting
Also known as Vakoola
A blacksmith who rides the devil to St. Petersburg to win Oxana's love.
Solokha
supporting
Also known as most magnificent Solokha
A witch and mother of Vakoola who entertains several suitors in sacks.
Yankel
supporting
Also known as tall Yankel
A Jewish merchant who negotiates with Taras Bulba and knows the Cossacks.
Koschevoi
supporting
Also known as the Koschevoi, the new Koschevoi
The elected leader of the Zaporozhian Cossack camp.
Pythagoras Pythagoravitch Tchertokoutski
supporting
Also known as Tchertokoutski
A landowner who borrows a calash and gets into a comical predicament.
Andrei Petrovitch
supporting
Also known as Petrovitch
A young man whose sanity unravels in his diary entries.
Ivan Jakovlevitch
supporting
Also known as Jakovlevitch, Ivan
A barber who finds Major Kovaloff's nose in his breakfast bread.
The General
supporting
A high-ranking officer who rebuffs Kovaloff's attempts to report his missing nose.
The Artist
supporting
A painter who creates the mysterious portrait that corrupts its owner.
The Colonel
supporting
A Cossack commander in Taras Bulba's campaign.
The Constable
supporting
A local official involved in the quarrel between the two Ivans.
The Judge
supporting
The district judge of Mirgorod who presides over the Ivans' lawsuit.
Anton Prokofievitch Pupopuz
supporting
Also known as Prokofievitch, Anton Prokofievitch
A friend of Ivan Ivanovitch who tries to mediate the quarrel.
Hanna Petritchenka
supporting
Also known as Hanna
The beautiful girl loved by Levko in the May Night story.
The Village Headman
supporting
The stern headman of the village in May Night, father of Levko's rival.
The Drowned Girl
supporting
A ghostly maiden who helps Levko in exchange for finding her witch-stepmother.
The Fat Patzuck
supporting
Also known as Patzuck, This fat Patzuck
A Cossack magician who eats dumplings magically and advises Vakoola.
The Devil
supporting
Also known as Satan, Devil
A mischievous demon who steals the moon and is ridden by Vakoola.
Basavriuk
supporting
A demonic figure who tempts a man to sell his soul for gold.
Peter
supporting
Also known as whither Peter, Peter Feodorovitch
A poor man who makes a pact with Basavriuk for treasure.
Pidorka
supporting
Peter's beloved, who grieves after his mysterious disappearance.
Ivan Pererépenko
minor
Also known as Pererépenko
A landowner who testifies in the quarrel between the two Ivans.
The Czarina
minor
Also known as Catherine, Kitty, our late Empress Catherine the Second
The Empress who gives Vakoola the slippers for Oxana.
Kalenik
minor
Also known as the drunken Kalenik
A drunken Cossack who wanders into the wrong house at night.
The Lyakhs
minor
Also known as Lyakhs, the Poles, Poles
Polish nobles and soldiers who fight against the Cossacks.
Kukubenko
minor
Also known as raged Kukubenko
A brave Cossack leader who dies in battle against the Poles.
Demid Popovitch
minor
Also known as Popovitch
A witty Cossack who taunts the enemy during the siege.
Borodaty
minor
A Cossack known for his beard, killed in battle.
Schilo
minor
Also known as Mosiy Schilo
A Cossack who escapes from Polish captivity.
Balaban
minor
A Cossack who dies heroically in the final battle.
Stepan Guska
minor
Also known as Stepan, Guska
A Cossack who is captured and executed by the Poles.
Osaul Tovkatch
minor
Also known as Tovkatch
A Cossack officer who brings news to Taras Bulba.
Bovdug
minor
Also known as The old Cossack Bovdug, Kasyan Bovdug
An old Cossack who gives advice before the final battle.
The Waiwode of Dubno
minor
Also known as Waiwode of Dubno, the Waiwode
The Polish governor of Dubno, father of the beautiful Pole.
The Beautiful Pole
minor
A Polish noblewoman loved by Andrii, who betrays the Cossacks for her.
Terentiy Korzh
minor
Also known as Korzh
A wealthy Cossack who opposes his daughter's love for a poor blacksmith.
The Doctor
minor
A physician who examines the madman in Memoirs of a Madman.
Sophie
minor
The daughter of a general, loved by the mad clerk Poprishchin.
Madame Podtotchina
minor
Also known as Madame Alexandra Podtotchina, Alexandra Podtotchina
A woman suspected by Kovaloff of causing his nose to vanish.
The Officer
minor
A police officer who returns Kovaloff's nose to him.
The Servants
minor
Household staff in various stories, often comic figures.
A Maidservant
minor
A maid in the Tovstogub household who helps with chores.
Gapka
minor
A servant in the household of the two Ivans.
Agafya Fedosyevna
minor
A gossipy woman who fuels the quarrel between the two Ivans.
Judge Demyan Demyanovitch
minor
Also known as Demyan Demyanovitch
A judge who handles the Ivans' lawsuit.
Mr. Notary
minor
A notary involved in the legal proceedings of the two Ivans.
Cheptchicha
minor
A woman who appears in the quarrel narrative.
Mikita
minor
A Cossack mentioned in passing during the battle scenes.
Ivas
minor
A young Cossack who dies in battle.
Khlib
minor
A Cossack mentioned in the camp.
Spirid
minor
A Cossack who fights in the battle.
Jew
minor
A Jewish merchant who appears briefly in Taras Bulba.
The Tatar
minor
A Tatar servant who brings news to the Cossack camp.
The Viy
minor
A monstrous creature summoned by the witch in the church.
Father Kondrat
minor
Also known as Father
A priest who performs rites in the Viy story.
Thoma Grigorovitch
minor
Also known as the Dikanka Church Thoma Grigorovitch, Thoma
A church elder who tells stories in the Dikanka cycle.
Mardokhai
minor
A Jewish innkeeper in Taras Bulba.
Meggy
minor
A dog mentioned in the story of the two Ivans.
Fidel
minor
A dog belonging to Ivan Ivanovitch.
The Stranger
minor
A mysterious figure who appears in St. John's Eve.
The Colonel's Wife
minor
The wife of a colonel in the quarrel story.
Lise
minor
A young woman in the Memoirs of a Madman.
The Master
minor
A landowner in Old-Fashioned Farmers.
Mawra
minor
Also known as the wretched Mawra
A servant in the Mantle story.
Petrovitch
minor
A tailor who makes Akaki's new overcoat.
The Important Personage
minor
A general who rebukes Akaki and later feels remorse.
