Ivan Alexandrovich Goncharov (June 18, 1812 – September 27, 1891; June 6, 1812 – September 15, 1891, O.S.) was a Russian novelist best known as the author of Oblomov (1859). He was born in Simbirsk (now Ulyanovsk); his father was a wealthy grain merchant. After graduating from Moscow University in 1834 Goncharov served for thirty years as a minor government official. In 1847, Goncharov's first novel, Obyknovennaia (usually translated into English as A Common Story), was published; it dealt with the conflict