Who founded the Saint Petersburg discussion circle that Fyodor Dostoevsky joined in 1847?

Mikhail Petrashevsky founded the Saint Petersburg discussion circle that Fyodor Dostoevsky joined in 1847.

Petrashevsky was a Russian intellectual interested in socialist, democratic, and reformist ideas. From the 1840s, his home became a meeting place for writers, students, officials, and other educated people who discussed politics, philosophy, literature, and social reform.

Dostoevsky attended meetings of the group after his early literary success. The circle’s members did not all share identical political beliefs, and the gatherings were primarily discussion-based. Nevertheless, the imperial government treated them as a serious threat during a period of heightened concern about revolutionary movements in Europe.

In 1849, authorities arrested Dostoevsky and other participants. The famous mock execution followed later that year. The group is commonly called the Petrashevsky Circle after its founder, although it was not a single, formally uniform political party.