Characters of the novel "The Brothers Karamazov"
A Russian name consists of three parts —
Given name (First name) — Имя (Imya)
Patronymic — Отчество (Otchestvo)
Family name (Last name, Surname) — Фамилия (Familia)
The respectful (or very formal) form of address: Given name + Patronymic
The common combination for introducing oneself for the first time or when signing something, but people don't address each other this way in direct speech — Given name + Surname
The order of the full name can appear in two variants
Family name + (Given name + Patronymic)
(Given name + Patronymic) + Family name.
The patronymic used in conjunction with the given name.
More details about each part can be found in the complete material about Russian names.
Below is a list of characters from the novel, which will be updated as we read. For a more detailed description of each character with an audio track in Russian, click on the link on their name.
Fyodor Pavlovich KARAMAZOV — the father
Dmitry Fyodorovich KARAMAZOV or Mitya, Mit’ka, Miten’ka — the oldest son of Fyodor Pavlovich (the first marriage) and Adelaida Ivanovna Miusova
Ivan Fyodorovich KARAMAZOV or Vanya, Van’ka, Vanechka — the second son of Fyodor Pavlovich (the second marriage) and the first son of Sofya Ivanovna
Alexei Fyodorovich KARAMAZOV or Alyosha, Alyoshka — the third son of Fyodor Pavlovich (the second marriage) and the second son of Sofya Ivanovna
Elder Zosima — the elder, starets
Mikhail Rakitin or Misha — seminarian, Alexei’s friend
Pyotr Alexandrovich MIUSOV — the cousin of Adelaida, the uncle of Dmitry
Pyotr Fomich KALGANOV or Petrusha — Miusov’s distant relative
MAKSIMOV — the local landowner
Katerina Osipovna Khokhlakova — lady of little faith
Liza (Lise) Khokhlakova — 14-year-old daughter of Katerina Khokhlakova
Katerina Ivanovna Verkhovtseva — Dmitry’s fiancee
Grushenka (Agrafena) — the main female character of the novel
Grigory Vasilievich KUTUZOV — the faithful servant of Fyodor Karamazov
Adelaida Ivanovna MIUSOVA (after marriage — KARAMAZOVA) — the mother of Dmitry, the first wife of Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov
Sofya Ivanovna (née ?, after marriage — KARAMAZOVA) — Fyodor Pavlovich’s second wife and the mother of Ivan and Alexei
Yefim Petrovich POLYONOV or POLENOV — the guardian of Ivan and Alexei, the administrator of their inheritance