Fatima Riza-Zade (Sayyah), a Dostoevsky Scholar [Фатима Риза-Заде (Сайях), исследовательница Достоевского]

The article is devoted to the biography of the Soviet-Iranian researcher F. Riza-Zade, also known as F. Sayyah, and her studies of Dostoevsky’s literary heritage. A number of archival materials that reflect the professional and friendly relations of F. Riza-Zade in 1929–1930s have been introduced into scientific circulation. A review of the articles “Dostoevsky and Modern French Literature (On the Influence of Dostoevsky)” and “Dostoevsky in Western Criticism,” as well as the preface to the Persian translation of Dostoevsky’s novel White Nights, published in Tehran, has been carried out. It is noted that the researcher’s works have laid the foundations of Soviet and Iranian comparative studies: Dostoevsky’s work was interpreted in the broad context of French literature, German philosophical and aesthetic tradition and Iranian cultural symbols of good and evil. The key methodological principles of F. Riza-Zade are analyzed: the focus on sociological criticism of the Pereverzev school, a cultural and aesthetic approach to the analysis of genre problems, tendency towards self-sufficiency in literary research and rejection of philosophical speculation. The conclusion is made about the importance of the works of F. Riza-Zade in the study and popularization of Dostoevsky’s work and in the fostering of Russian-Iranian cultural ties © З. Садеги Сахлабад, О. А. Кравченко, А. А. Шульдишова, 2021