A writer who occupies a prominent place in the evolution of the Russian novel, but has not yet been sufficiently appreciated, is IVAN PANÁEFF (1812-1862), who was a great friend of all the literary circle of the _Sovreménnik_ (_Contemporary_). Of this review he was co-editor with Nekrásoff, and he wrote for it a mass of literary notes and _feuilletons_ upon all sorts of subjects, extremely interesting for characterising those times. In his novels Panáeff, like Turguéneff, took his types chiefly from the educated classes, both at St. Petersburg and in the provinces. His collection of “Swaggerers” (_hlyschí_), both from the highest classes in the capitals, and from provincials, is not inferior to Thackeray’s collection of “snobs.” In fact, the “swaggerer,” as Panáeff understood him, is even a much broader and much more complicated type of man than the snob, and cannot easily be described in a few words. The greatest service rendered by Panáeff was, however, the creation in his novels of a series of such exquisite types of Russian women that they were truly described by some critics as “the spiritual mothers of the heroines of Turguéneff.” A. HERZEN (1812-1870) also belongs to the same epoch, but he will be spoke of in a subsequent chapter. A very sympathetic woman writer, who belongs to the same group and deserves in reality much more than a brief notice, is N. D. HVOSCHINSKAYA (1825-1869; Zaionchkóvskaya after her marriage). She wrote under the masculine _nom-de-plume_ of V. KRESTOVSKIY, and in order not to confound her with a very prolific writer of novels in the style of the French detective novel--the author of _St. Petersburg Slums_, whose name was VSEVOLOD KRESTOVSKIY--she is usually known in Russia as “V. Krestóvskiy-pseudonyme.” N. D. Hvóschinskaya began to write very early, in 1847, and her novels were endowed with such an inner charm that they were always admired by the general public and were widely read. It must, however, be said that during the first part of her literary career the full value of her work was not appreciated, and that down to the end of the seventies literary criticism remained hostile to her. It was only towards the end of her career (in 1878-1880) that our best literary critics--Mihailóvskiy, Arsénieff and the novelist Boborýkin--recognised the full value of this writer, who certainly deserves being placed by the side of George Eliot and the author of _Jane Eyre_.