He comes from an old Cossack family. Father, actor Vasily Gogol, died when the future writer was 15 years old. 1821-1828 studied at the Nežyno Higher Education Gymnasium. in 1828 settled in Saint Petersburg. He tried to become an actor, worked in the civil service, as a private teacher, taught at the Patriotic Institute. 1834-1835 taught global history at St. Petersburg University. Since 1836 lived mostly abroad (Germany, Switzerland, France, Italy). Around 1840 the tendency towards religious mysticism strengthened. in 1848 returned to Russia. in 1852 after mystical meditation, after burning many manuscripts at night and seeing what he had done in the morning, he sank into depression and died a few days later.
