Fyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoyevsky (1821-1881) was a Russian writer of novels, short stories and essays. He is best known for his novels Crime and Punishment, The Idiot and The Brothers Karamazov. Dostoyevsky's literary works explore human psychology in the troubled political, social and spiritual context of 19th century Russian society. He is often acknowledged by critics as one of the greatest and most prominent psychologists in world literature. Dostoyevsky was incarcerated in 1849 for being part of the liberal intellectual group the Petrashevsky Circle. Emperor Nicolas I was harsh on any type of underground organization which might put autocracy in jeopardy. His death sentence was commuted to four years of exile with hard labor at a prison camp in Siberia. Dostoyevsky's experiences in prison and the army changed his political convictions and strengthened his Christian Orthodox faith. His post-prison fiction was dark, with complex story-lines and situations, filled with brooding, tortured characters. He died in 1881 of a lung hemorrhage associated with emphysema and an epileptic seizure.