Sovremennik first published Leo Tolstoy’s novella Childhood.
The work appeared in 1852 in Sovremennik, a major Russian literary magazine whose name is commonly translated as The Contemporary. Its publication marked Tolstoy’s literary debut and brought him recognition among Russian writers and critics.
Childhood was presented as a fictional account of early life through the perspective of Nikolai Irtenev. Its attention to memory, embarrassment, affection, and moral awareness distinguished it from simpler adventure narratives. Tolstoy continued the character’s story in Boyhood and Youth.
The Russian Messenger is a frequent wrong answer because it later serialized Anna Karenina and published other important Russian works. Sovremennik, however, is the periodical connected with Tolstoy’s first published work.