Sergeevich Turgenev was a major 19th century Russian novelist. His novel Fathers and Sons is his best-known work. The author has written a number of critical essays, plays, poems, and several novelettes. Virgin Soil is a classic of Russian literature published in 1877. Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev portrays educated young people who, under the influence of the Populist movement, renounce the life of their class to take on the dress and life of workers and peasants and conspire with them.