stepan trofimovitch verhovensky

Stepan Trofimovich Verkhovensky is the philosopher and intellectual (though far more so in the image he has created for himself in the novel's provincial backwater than in reality) who is partly to blame for the revolutionary ideas that fuel the destruction that occurs in the book. His one famous work was based on the idea of Apocatastasis. He served as a father figure to Nikolai Vsevolodovich when Stavrogin was a child. His character may be based on the intellectual Timofey Granovsky. Stepan Trofimovich has been married twice, but is a widower during the events of the novel. During his first marriage he and his wife conceived one child, Pyotor Stepanovich, who was given to his aunts to be raised. Stepan takes very little interest in raising his son and instead uses the money set aside for his son in order to repay his own debts. Stepan has constant financial problems. He squanders his money and lacks any entrepreneurial skills. He is able to manage a meager outside income through tuto…more