Grushenka’s patron. He is an old shopkeeper and “a profligate peasant.” He is also the mayor of Skotoprigonyevsk—the town in which the Karamazovs live. As the result of an illness, he lost the use of his leg, which had already become swollen. He is a widower and “a tyrant over his two grown sons.” He is a very wealthy man and a great business man, “tight-fisted above all and hard as flint.” He develops admiration, however, for Grushenka and becomes close to her. He even gives her eight thousand roubles, despite his reputation for being “stingy and implacable.” He dies a week after Dmitri Fyodorovich’s trial. On his deathbed, he refuses to see Grushenka.
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Kuzma Kuzmich Samsonov Character Timeline in The Brothers Karamazov
The timeline below shows where the character Kuzma Kuzmich Samsonov appears in The Brothers Karamazov. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part 1: Book 3, Chapter 5: The Confession of an Ardent Heart. “Heels Up”
...her a beating. Dmitri knows about how money-hungry Grushenka is, and about the old merchant, Samsonov, who’ll leave her a nice sum when he dies. He tells Alexei how three thousand...
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Part 1: Book 3, Chapter 10: The Two Together
...five years, will be happy again. When Grushenka was tormented over her soldier, it was Samsonov, the merchant, who saved her. Katerina then kisses Grushenka’s plump hand three times. Grushenka seems...
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Part 2: Book 4, Chapter 7: And in the Fresh Air
...he got beat up for cheating and then she will “turn him out” and tell Samsonov to turn him out, so that the captain can never again earn money from them....
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Part 3: Book 7, Chapter 3: An Onion
...she rents “a small wooden cottage.” A widow took Grushenka in to please her relative, Samsonov, who is also Grushenka’s patron. Samsonov brought Grushenka to the house about four years ago,...
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Part 3: Book 8, Chapter 1: Kuzma Samsonov
When Dmitri arrives at Samsonov’s, his visit is announced by a young servant. Samsonov twice refuses to admit him. Dmitri...
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Samsonov asks Dmitri what he wants. Dmitri sits again and repeats the story Samsonov already knows...
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Samsonov tells Dmitri that he doesn’t engage in that kind of business. Dmitri suddenly feels weak,...
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Dmitri is excited by Samsonov’s “brilliant idea.” He thanks Samsonov effusively, saying that it’s all “for her.” Dmitri then goes...
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Part 3: Book 8, Chapter 2: Lyagavy
...all,” could’ve been suckered so easily. Lyagavy is a drunk who’ll go on drinking. Did Samsonov send him here on purpose? Lyagavy watches Dmitri and chuckles. At any other time, Dmitri...
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Part 3: Book 8, Chapter 3: Gold Mines
...him ill, there will be no one to keep watch. He decides to go to Samsonov’s house to see if Grushenka is there.
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Before heading to Samsonov’s, Dmitri goes back to his room, washes up, combs his hair, brushes his clothes, gets...
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...bumps into a little old woman whom he almost knocks over. He recognizes her as Samsonov’s serving woman. He asks her if Grushenka is now at Samsonov’s. She tells him that...
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Part 3: Book 9, Chapter 4: The Second Torment
...learn that he went thirty miles out of town. He tells them he went to Samsonov to borrow three thousand roubles from him “on the best security.” Ippolit Kirillovich asks why...
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...harm by refusing to answer the question. He does offer to tell them about how Samsonov "hoodwinked” him two days earlier, now recognizing that he had been made a fool. He...
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...to the point in the story when he learns about Grushenka deceiving him and leaving Samsonov’s, though she told him that she would be there until midnight. He talks about wanting...
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Part 3: Book 9, Chapter 7: Mitya’s Great Secret. Met with Hisses.
...expenses. Surely, with “her generous heart” and the securities he was willing to offer to Samsonov and Madame Khokhlakov, she would’ve given him the three thousand roubles. Dmitri says that such...
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Part 4: Book 11, Chapter 1: At Grushenka’s
...at the prison today and he threw them back at her. He got jealous over Samsonov, and thinks that she’s returned to her former keeper. Alexei tells her that Dmitri is...
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Part 4: Book 12, Chapter 2: Dangerous Witnesses
...fatal,” winning over the audience with his eloquence. He refers to Grushenka as “the merchant Samsonov’s kept woman.” During Fetyukovich’s round of questioning, he asks if Rakitin did not, in fact,...
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Part 4: Book 12, Chapter 7: A Historical Survey
...of Dmitri’s efforts to obtain the money without committing the crime, including the adventures with Samsonov and Lyagavy. He also mentions his going to Madame Khokhlakov. The prosecutor claims that, if...
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