FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY (1821–1881)
Writer, publicist, philosopher. After graduation from Saint Petersburg School of Engineering in 1843, served in the military and after that made his living entirely from literature. In 1847, he joined the illegal circle of Mikhail Petrashevsky, who was spreading the French Utopian Socialism ideas in Russia. Because of this, he was arrested in 1849 and sentenced to death. Right before the execution, the sentence was changed to 4 years of katorga, followed by 6 years of compulsory military service. He returned to Saint Petersburg in 1959, where he began printing and editing magazines, publishing articles, stories and novels: The House of the Dead (Zapiski iz miortvogo doma, 1861–1862), Humiliated and Insulted (Uniženyje i oskorblionyje, 1861), Crime and Punishment (Prestuplenije i nakazanije, 1866), The Gambler (Igrok, 1866), The Idiot (Idiot, 1868), The Brothers Karamazov (Bratja Karamazovy, 1879–1880) etc. His works are notable for psychological grotesque, dramatisation of action and the analysis of existential issues. He visited Vilnius a number of times and described it in his letters to his wife Ana Snitkina. Her diary has an account of their stay in the Hana Hotel (currently 20 Didžioji st.) in 1867.

STANISŁAW FILIBERT FLEURY (1858–1915)
Artist, photographer, member of Vilnius Art Society. In 1874–1878 studied art at Vilnius Drawing School and photography at Alexander Władysław Strauss studio. Had a shared photography studio in Vilnius in 1884–1915, where he took portraits and made stereoscopic photographs. In 1892, moved his studio to a house that has not survived to this day (current 20 Didžioji st.). There he took the famous portrait of Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis in 1908. In 1904, founded the first zincography enterprise in Lithuania. Worked in oil, watercolour, tempera. Photographed Vilnius streets and suburbs, fairs, markets, architectural monuments, daily urban life, citizens. Illustrated publications about Vilnius.