About the work
Der Vormittag eines beschäftigten Mannes (The Morning of a Businessman, Утро делового человека) is a short comedy by Nikolai Gogol that grew out of Vladimir of the Third Degree, a larger comedy he abandoned under pressure from censorship. Gogol wrote the fragment during the 1830s; it was published in April 1836 in the first issue of Alexander Pushkin's journal The Contemporary, under a title altered by the censor.
Plot
The senior official Alexander Ivanovich is visited in his St Petersburg office by his colleague Ivan Petrovich Barsukov, who wants to know whether his name came up during a recent audience with a high-ranking superior. After evasive answers, Barsukov reveals his real purpose: he wants to be awarded a medal and asks Alexander to casually mention his merits at the next opportunity — though Alexander privately can barely stand the “fat do-nothing.”
Cultural significance
Critic Vissarion Belinsky praised the scene in 1836 for its “extraordinary originality and remarkable fidelity” in depicting everyday bureaucratic life. No stage premiere is documented; the piece is regarded chiefly as an early example of Gogol's satirical eye for St Petersburg officialdom, the same territory he later mapped out fully in The Government Inspector.