On the image and biography of Chichikov. Chichikov and Gogol

In this article we have examined genesis of «dead souls» plot in Russian culture which arises from: 1) Peter's the Great decrees which were destined to reform taxes payments, 2) Old Believers consideration Peter the Great as Antichrist collecting pay-ments from dead, 3) speculations of «dead souls» buyers, 4) it's realization in Gogol's poem. We have analyzed and systemized fragments of Chichikov's biography where he appears as God’s opponent: «unholy», «devil, not human», Antichrist.