What was the name of Dostoevsky’s first wife, whom he married in 1857?

Maria Isaeva was Dostoevsky’s first wife, whom he married in 1857.

Dostoevsky met Maria Isaeva in Semipalatinsk, Siberia, after his release from penal labor and during his period of compulsory military service. She was married to Alexander Isayev when they first met, but after Isayev’s death, Dostoevsky and Maria married on 6 February 1857.

The marriage was difficult. Maria suffered from tuberculosis, and the couple spent much of their married life apart or under financial and emotional strain. They had no surviving children together. Maria died in 1864, shortly before Dostoevsky’s brother Mikhail also died.

Dostoevsky later married Anna Snitkina, his stenographer, in 1867. Because Anna became the better-known companion and managed many practical aspects of his later career, readers sometimes mistakenly identify her as his only wife. Maria Isaeva was his first spouse and an important figure in his Siberian years.