Nikolái Vasílievich Gogol, sometimes adapted in Spanish as Nicolás Gógol (1809 - 1852), was a Russian writer of Ukrainian origin. He cultivated various genres but was notably known as a playwright, novelist, and writer of short stories. His most famous works are probably "Taras Bulba," "The Nose," "The Overcoat," and "Dead Souls." "Dead Souls" was published in 1842. Gogol defined it as an epic poem in prose. The work has certain similarities with "Don Quixote" as the protagonist Chichikov, along with his coachman and a servant, undertake a journey in their troika through the vast territories of Russia, stopping in cities and villages with the intention of buying souls, dead souls. Gogol shows his readers a vision of a system in social crisis like Russia after the war of 1812. Like in many of his stories, the social critique of "Dead Souls" is narrated primarily through hilarious satire.