Turgenev almost immediately took his exceptional place in the history of Russian literature. However, the nature of the great writer evoked either fierce rejection or admiration. Trying to rise above the contradictions of public opinions, judgments and passions, Turgenev was left alone. He turned out to have many friends and many enemies, since in his age impartiality was considered a bad sign. The tragic and comic moments of the life of this giant were recorded by numerous memoirists. Some fragments of their memories are presented in the book for the first time in the last hundred years.