The article is devoted to the Russian bureaucracy as presented in the historical and fantastic narration of M. Saltykov-Shchedrin "The History of a City" and the prob-lem of prototypes of the books’ protagonist. Depending on real historic figures offered as a prototype of Ugryum-Burcheyev, the meaning of the book, which can be perceived either as a cruel parody or as a warning book, changes decisively.
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