Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol was a Russian writer of Ukrainian ethnicity and birth. Often called the “father of modern Russian realism,” Nikolai Gogol was one of the first Russian authors to criticize his country's way of life. Although his early works were heavily influenced by his Ukrainian upbringing, he wrote in Russian and his works belong to the tradition of Russian literature. The novel Dead Souls (1842), the play The Government Inspector (1836, 1842), and the short story The Overcoat (1842) are among his masterpieces.