deca independent business plan sample

Competitive Events

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Competition Success

Online Practice Exams

Vocabulary Flipcards

Performance Indicator Flipcards

Video Library

Chapter Name

Independent Business Plan

The Independent Business Plan Event involves the development of a comprehensive proposal to start a new business. Any type of business may be used.

Career Opportunities

Fidutam & Co., or Fidutam, is a transactional security company that conveniently secures cardholder's information while allowing them to simultaneously make purchases through a virtual card without exposing their information.

Sample Exams

Exam blueprint.

The chart below shows the number of items per instructional area for the 2024-2025 exams used at the district level, chartered association level and the International Career Development Conference.

EXAM STRATEGIES

The exam blueprint is your best friend.

Use the exam blueprint to focus your preparation efforts. You may prioritize studying instructional areas with the higher number of questions listed the blueprint.

Keep Expanding Your Knowledge

As you advance in competition, exam items become more specialized to the Career Cluster. Therefore, you should start with an understanding of general business concepts in the Business Administration Core and build on the knowledge within the Career Cluster of your competitive event.

Review Your Work

Don’t just take the exam! After you take the exam, compare your answers to the exam’s key. If you incorrectly answer a question, re-read the question, note the correct answer, and then read the descriptive key. The descriptive key explains the correct answer and why the other answers are incorrect. This will also help you understand the performance indicator addressed in the exam question.

Focus Your Efforts Where They Need To Be

Each exam question is linked to an instructional area. For each incorrect answer, tally the instructional area it matches. If you are noticing a pattern of incorrectly answering questions within particular instructional areas, spend more time learning the knowledge and skills within those instructional areas. Spend more time reviewing the performance indicators under those instructional areas.

Form Study Groups

Because there are only seven DECA exams, chances are high that some of your fellow chapters are taking the same exam as you, even if they are in a different competitive event. Use this opportunity to form study groups. You could consider taking the exam together and discussing the questions and answers. You could even divide and conquer to prepare study materials to help understand performance indicators.

Get In The Mode

Recreate the testing scene. Find out from your chapter advisor the setting for your exam during competition. Will you be taking the exam online through an electronic device prior to the competition, or  using pencil and paper on-site during the competition? Find out how long you will have to take the test. Then try to replicate the setting using a practice test and using the same time frame you are given in competition.

Develop a Study Schedule

Make sure to study and prepare on a regular basis. Plan a study schedule and calendar leading up to your competition. Do not study right before you take the test. Instead, concentrate on being calm and confident in yourself when taking the exam.

Test Taking Techniques

When taking the exam, use these general test taking techniques:

• Familiarize yourself with the format.
• Read the question. Think about the answer.
• Read all choices before choosing your answer.
• Eliminate choices you know aren't correct.
• If you get stuck, circle and come back.
• Always take an educated guess.
• If time allows, review your work. ‍

Remain Positive!

Be confident. Refrain from engaging in negative discussions with other members prior to the exam, such as “I’m so nervous – I don’t know if I studied enough.”

Sample Role-Plays

Instructional areas.

Each role-play focuses on a primary instructional area. For each role-play, a majority of its performance indicators will focus on that primary instructional area. The following instructional areas may be used in this event's role-plays.

ROLE-PLAY STRATEGIES

Key elements.

The following key elements are always a part of each role-play scenario. Understanding the format and style of the role-play will help you become familiar, feel comfortable and easily identify the key elements so you can maximize your time developing your solution.

• Participant Role
• Company and Brief Description
• Deliverable
• Instructional Area

Performance Indicators

• Meeting Location

The performance indicators are your guide to a focused presentation! Apply them to the situation because they are always based on a real-life situation. Use industry knowledge that you have researched before competition to supplement what you know about your performance indicators. This helps demonstrate your proficiency.

What's the Ask?

At the end of any role-play situation, you are presented with what the judge is looking for from you. Make sure you address what the judge is asking while incorporating the performance indicators. You will want to wow your judge with your solution while explaining it by incorporating the performance indicators.

Communication is Key

Speak clearly so that the judge can understand what you are sharing with him/her. You have time to talk about your performance indicators within the situation—don’t rush and take the chance a judge didn’t hear you talking about something. Be natural and comfortable in your role in the situation. Nonverbal communication can be just as important as verbal communication. Smile and be confident to help demonstrate your professionalism.

Be Creative and Stand Out

Be calm, be professional and be enthusiastic. Don’t be scared of your competition. There are many creative ways to approach a role-play, and no one way is necessarily right, so focus on adding your own creative twist to what you do. Don’t just have a “Plan A”; exceed expectations by having options for your judge to select from if the situation calls for it. Setting yourself apart through innovation, creativity and quality ideas is the key way to stay in a judge’s mind long after all the competitors have finished presenting. What can you bring to the presentation that no other competitor will show your judge?

Connect with the Judge

Take time to make sure your judge is following your thoughts. You can ask your judge questions to make sure he or she has understood what you have shared. Near the end of the role-play, the judge will likely ask you questions. When you are preparing your presentation for the role-play, you may anticipate what questions the judge may ask. However, if you need a minute to consider the questions before answering, say so in a professional manner. This reflects your respect of his or her position and your desire to share an informed answer.

Speak the Language

When speaking with the judge, be as professional as possible, while still being personable and accessible. This means using accurate industry terminology when the situation calls for it. Do not be afraid to use sophisticated or rich vocabulary—with­out sounding like you’re just trying too hard to impress, because, of course, you still want to be relatable, friendly, and down-to-earth.

Make a Good Impression

Be friendly, make eye contact and give a firm handshake when you first meet your judge. Do not wait for them to introduce themselves; rather, take the initiative. While you might be nervous and feel awkward, taking initiative shows that you truly are mature, confident and comfort­able. Also, adhere to the dress code, because you come across as much more professional if you really do look like a business executive. You may also consider the career area in which you are competing. For example, as a competitor in Apparel and Accessories Marketing, you may want to wear something that will reflect an interest in fashion or a more creative point-of-view, without being outrageous. You want to leave a good impression with the judge, and of course, be rememberable.

WRITE IT LIKE  YOU MEAN IT

Participants in the Independent Business Plan will prepare a written comprehensive proposal for a new business. The body of the written entry must be limited to 20 numbered pages, including the appendix (if an appendix is attached), but excluding the title page and the table of contents.

WRITTEN ENTRY GUIDELINES

The written entry must follow the specifications provided in the Written Entry Guidelines section of the DECA Guide for the competitive event. In addition to the Written Entry Guidelines, participants must observe all of the standards on the Penalty Point Checklist. These standards are designed to make competition as fair as possible. Additionally, the Written Event Statement of Assurances and Academic Integrity Form must be signed and submitted with the entry.

Sample Written ENTRY

Written entry strategies, content is king.

The written entry is the foundation of your competitive event. It's your outline for your project or plan, and represents your process to achieving your outcome. Choosing the right written event and the right company, event, idea, product or topic is so important, because you want to be passionate about the work you will endeavor in this process. Be thoughtful when making your decisions using some of these key considerations:

• Is there enough data accessible?
• Can I get information I need from the company or about the product, event or idea?
• Are there real people I can engage with or enlist the help and expertise of?
• Is this cutting edge or has the potential to be?

First, But Last

The executive summary is one of the most important parts of your written entry. Not only is it likely to be one of the first parts of your entry the judge reviews, it also provides an overall summary of your entry. It should be dynamic, concise and effectively highlight the main points of your written entry all while including a call to action. Often, it is best to write the executive summary last so that you can identify the most relevant components to include. Some tips for an effective executive summary include:

• Start with a bang.
• Identify the problem solution and opportunity.
• Focus on what makes you stand out.
• Sell don't just tell.
• Include data and finances.
• Use graphics and formatting as appropriate.
• Imagine this is the only thing someone would read.

Review, Edit, Proofread

Once you have completed your written entry, review it against the written entry guidelines and written entry evaluation form to ensure you have addressed each item. If you believe items are missing or need improvement, revisit your written entry and improve those areas. You may also wish to ask consultants to read your written entry against the criteria and provide feedback. Often, that is the best way to determine if your written entry is clearly understood by someone other than you as the project creator(s). In addition, you should edit and revise your written work so that it is well-organized, professional, logical and error free.

Avoid Penalty Points

Penalty points can cause you to lose your chance for advancement quickly! Many times, they can easily be avoided. Some of the most common reasons for penalty points include:

• Not using the current year’s event guidelines.
• All participants or advisor not signing the Statement of Assurances.
• Leaving out sections in the body of the written entry.
• Having too many pages. Double check the number of pages allowed in your written entry.

Give your entry to a trusted advisor or peer to review against the Penalty Point Checklist.

PRESENT WITH PIZZAZZ

The participants will present the project to the judge in a 15-minute presentation. The judge is role-playing a loan officer or venture capitalist. The presentation begins immediately after the introduction of the participants to the judge by the adult assistant. Each participant must take part in the presentation.

PRESENTATION GUIDELINES

Each participant may bring a copy of the written entry or note cards pertaining to the written entry to use as reference during the presentation. Only visual aids that can be easily hand carried to the presentation by the actual participant(s)will be permitted. The participants themselves must set up the visuals. Wheeled carts, moving straps or similar items may not be used to bring visuals into the area. Set up time is included in the total presentation time. Participants must furnish their own materials and equipment. No electrical power or internet connection will be supplied. Alternate power sources such as small generators are not allowed. Sound may be used, as long as the volume is kept at a conversational level. Materials appropriate to the situation may be handed to or left with judges in all competitive events. Items of monetary value may be handed to but may not be left with judges. Items such as flyers, brochures, pamphlets and business cards may be handed to or left with the judge. No food or drinks allowed. If any of these rules are violated, the adult assistant must be notified by the judge.  

Presentation Strategies

First things first.

Consider your presentation your time to highlight the most important parts of your competitive event. In every case, you're trying to sell the judge that your idea, concept or plan is the best. Start with that in mind, and develop an outline for your presentation. Your ultimate goal is for the judge to choose your presentation. Consult the presentation evaluation rubric in the DECA Guide to ensure that your presentation includes information for all of the scoring criteria. You may also consider visual aids and if you'll use technology — but make sure they are relevant and meaningful to your presentation.

Brand Yourself A Winner

When creating your project and delivering your presentation, you are essentially developing a brand for yourself and your ideas. Make your presentation’s brand attractive and easy for your judge to remember by wrapping it in a strong visual package. Tie together all the elements of your project, from the charts and graphs of your written document, to your slide backgrounds, to the shirt you wear with a signature element, such as a particular color palette or pattern.

Stop, Look, Listen

A great portion of your presentation’s success isn’t dependent on what you say, but how you say it. Like any good speech, the judge may not recall every statistic, market segment or promotional idea that you deliver, but they will remember how you made them feel. That’s where confidence in your delivery comes in. Being excited, nervous and anxious about your presentation can cause your rate of speech to increase rapidly, making your words fly by in a blur. Always remember the power of pause. When practicing your presentation, incorporate pauses into your phrases. This will create a dramatic, ear-catching effect to keep your judge attentive to your presentation, plus it will emphasize important points and information. 

Eye contact is another way to connect with your judge. Locking eyes shows confidence in the points you’re delivering and is another way to keep your judge engaged in your delivery.

A memorable part of your delivery that will greatly affect how your judge feels is your tone of voice. Your tone should vary depending on the subjects you’re covering in your presentation. For example, presenting a charity that your Community Giving Project supports may be most effective with a serious, earnest tone, yet in sharing your creative marketing  ideas for an Integrated Marketing Campaign event, an excitable, vibrant tone would be great for expressing your creativity. No matter what tone you use, make sure you vary your expression. Nothing will lose a judge’s attention more than a flat, boring delivery that gives them no feeling about your topic. 

While relying on your innate ability to “wing it” is never recommended for competition, writing down paragraphs of perfect phrases, word-for-word, doesn’t guarantee that your presentation will turn out trophies either. Note cards are a handy tool to remember specific numerical data and exact quotes, but using them as a crutch for your memory could reduce your confident delivery, especially in form of eye contact with your judges. Instead, commit your presentation to memory as best as possible. If you thought it, developed it and wrote about it, you should be able, with a bit of practice, to present it well. Use your visual aid to help guide your talking points, with illustrations, diagrams or other images to help cue your words. 

Just because you reach your last slide doesn’t mean it’s time to thank your judge, shake hands and flee the room. The time after your formal presentation is crucial for further interaction with your judge. Take this opportunity to clarify parts of your presentation, show more of your personality and impress your judge with an ability to provide thorough answers to any questions they may have. The best way to flawlessly answer these questions is to prepare for them in advance. Use your advisors and peers as practice judges for your presentation, and request that they each ask you at least three follow-up questions to your presentation. You begin to become more confident delivering answers off-the-cuff and will begin to learn the most commonly asked questions of your presentation. Should your judge not immediately ask any questions, ask for them! 

To leave even more of an impact on your judge, provide them with a handout before you walk out the door, such as a brochure or outline. Use this strategy to highlight important takeaway points from your presentation, further brand yourself and your ideas, and keep a presence in front of your judge, even long after your final handshake. Make sure to have a final statement or call to action to show your judge that you’re interested in following through.

INSIGHTS INTO THE INDUSTRY

Industry trends are patterns or current happenings that occur within a specific industry. Keeping up with the industry helps give you a pulse on issues and trends that are affecting the industry. This knowledge can help you develop creative, relevant and timely solutions for your competitive event.

Great New Products Can Still Fail Without Marketing

Step-by-step approach to building a branding monopoly, consumer start ups adjust to new vc landscape, mistakes most early startups make, the basics of buying a franchise, effective pr strategies for your small business, key financial metrics every founder should know, the 3 levels of making cuts in your business, conquer the competition.

Not only do these interactive competition preparation tools help you expand your industry terminology, understand performance indicators and check your comprehension through exam items, they also help you prepare for DECA competition!

Expand your vocabulary

Broaden your knowledge

Check your comprehension

DECA Direct Online is your source for competition tips and career insights. Check out these articles and more on DECA Direct Online as you prepare for competition.

3 Written Event Competition Tips To Consider

The ultimate written event guide, 4 things you must remember while public speaking, deca goes lean in entrepreneurship.

DECA+ ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY ‍ A DECA+ subscription is required for each DECA chapter wishing to access the resources within the DECA+ site. The login is to be used only by the chapter and its members, and the login cannot be shared beyond the chapter. Under no circumstances may any of the content, including but not limited to exams, scenarios or sample written entries, in whole or in part, or any item within be published or posted on any website. Under no circumstances may any of the content, including but not limited to exams, scenarios or sample written entries, in whole or in part, or any item within be shared or distributed beyond the specific DECA chapter that has purchased the subscription.  Any chapter(s) which violates the DECA+ distribution and use policy will not be allowed to participate in the current school year’s chartered association conference or the International Career Development Conference. If any exams or scenarios are posted on a chapter or chartered association website in way outside of the distribution and use policy, the chartered association will not be eligible to purchase exams or receive scenarios from DECA Inc. for a period of one year for the first offense. Furthermore, further access to DECA+ by the chapter(s) in violation will be prohibited effective immediately for a period of no less than three years.

Getting Started with Prepared Events

For those of you that have competed in DECA’s prepared events, you know that writing a quality paper, coupled with delivering a presentation, can be hard and tedious work. However, breaking it up into smaller elements can help with time management and allow you to write a better paper.

If you have not had the experience of writing a paper, do not be discouraged! In fact, it is one of the best ways to immerse yourself into the realm of DECA competitive events and gives you great exposure to different aspects of the business field. In comparison to role-play events, written events give you more time to research and understand the background of the problem you are trying to solve.

Each year for Business Operations Research events, DECA releases a prompt that pertains to a business. These prompts can be found on deca.org . Writing these papers should be heavily based on the prompt and the problem it is trying to address. The best way to incorporate both feasible and financially-affordable techniques is to do research about what other companies in the industry are doing. It is important to remember that you are pitching your proposed plan of action to the judge, who has a large stake in the business.

For papers like international or independent business plan, providing a comprehensive overview of the business model in the executive summary is key. One of the worst things that can happen is spending months working on a paper, but the judge doesn’t know what problem you are trying to solve. Franchise papers work in a similar fashion. While the franchise you are trying to expand might be familiar, it is very important to dive into the why before the how .

Other types of DECA papers, such as startup business plan or integrated marketing campaigns, are situationally based on the message that you are trying to convey. Graphics are always an important part of delivering a greater message, and the aesthetic of a paper can be the difference between qualifying or not.

DECA written events offer a wide variety of experiences and writing them can be grueling, but I guarantee that you learn a lot!

Discussion Questions

Classroom connection, career cluster:, instructional area(s):, performance indicators:.

Your Guide to Understanding DECA ICDC's Competitive Event Process and Transcripts

If you're looking for more information on DECA's International Career Development Conference competitive events process and transcripts, look no further! Explore these frequently asked questions and answers.

DECA Competitive Events: Use of AI

As artificial intelligence continues to evolve, it can be a tremendous tool to help companies and organizations enhance their productivity and work. However, the use of generative AI also comes with significant caution and ethical considerations.

Competition Power Moves: Mastering Body Language

Effective body language can enhance your message, captivate your audience and leave a lasting impression. Let's explore the importance of proper body language when presenting and review pro tips to excel in DECA competition.

Top 5 Tips for Prepared Events

DECA's prepared events require a written project and a prepared presentation, and some require participants to take a career cluster exam. As you begin working on your prepared event for the year, check out these five tips to help you throughout the process!

DECA prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in marketing, finance, hospitality and management in high schools and colleges around the globe.

Welcome to Mr. Birklid's DECA website

National Winner examples:

ENTR events:

First, our very own National Champion from 2019 , Kendra Huff’s “Fly By” Start Up business plan here

Start Up Business Plan

Innovation Plan Examples

Independent Business Plan Example

Franchise Business Plan

Integrated Marketing Campaign events:

IMC-Service

IMC-Product

Older examples from when the events were named differently, but still very similar sections and content!

Advertising Campaign Example

Fashion Merchandising Promotion Plan Example

Sports and Entertainment Promotion Plan Example

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COMPETITIVE EVENTS

Apply your knowledge.

Whether it be preparing a written project or an impromptu situational, DECA’s competitive events transfer the knowledge you learn in the classroom to real world application and prepare you to be both college and career ready upon graduation. DECA’s competitive events are aligned directly with the National Curriculum Standards in the career clusters of marketing, business management and administration, finance, and hospitality and tourism.

EVENT SUBMISSION 

The following events will need to be submitted online for the State Career Conference.

BUSINESS OPERATIONS RESEARCH EVENTS Business Services Operations Buying and Merchandising Operations Finance Operations Hospitality and Tourism Operations Sports and Entertainment Marketing Operations

PROJECT MANAGEMENT EVENTS Business Solutions Project Career Development Project Community Awareness Project Community Giving Project Financial Literacy Project Sales Project

ENTREPRENUEURSHIP EVENTS Innovation Plan Start-Up Business Plan Franchise Business Plan Independent Business Plans Business Growth Plan International Business Plan

INTEGRATED MARKETING CAMPAIGN EVENTS Integrated Marketing Campaign-Event Integrated Marketing Campaign-Product Integrated Marketing Campaign-Service

COMPETITIVE EVENT RESOURCES

Click to download the DECA Inc. Competition Update Guide.

Click to view events, guidelines, performance indicators, sample events & exams.

Click to download the 2023-2024 DECA Guide .

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A very well dressed community because suits are awesome. DECA prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management in high schools and colleges around the globe.

Looking for a good paper to write next year

So I wrote the independent business plan paper this year. I ended up making it to state. Although my paper and presentation were good, there were over 100 other people in my event at state competition. Only 7 were chosen for ICDC. This got me wondering would I be better off writing a paper in a less competitive category? If I was to write a different paper, I’d definitely want to do something in the finance/entrepreneurship section.

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During his long career as a fundamental equities analyst, financial advisor, financial industry manager, and investor, Harry has viewed the markets through many different lenses and now combines that experience to write narrative-driven summaries and outlooks for the various market sectors. Within these reports, he highlights possible investment opportunities in individual stocks by taking a value-based, sometimes contrarian look at situations where a company is dislocated from its perceived worth. Each week, Harry provides updates to his “Focus List” and “Large Cap Yielder” portfolios.

Career Cluster

Entrepreneurship.

Are you innovative, possess drive and passion, and enjoy taking calculated risks? Entrepreneurship is important to keep our economy moving forward with new ideas, and small businesses are pivotal to delivering goods and services to their local communities.

DECA CONNECTS

Connect to courses, curriculum + careers.

DECA’s Comprehensive Learning Program integrates into classroom instruction, applies learning, connects to business and promotes competition. Examine your course of study and integrate activities from DECA’s comprehensive learning program to show that DECA is connected and relevant.

Related Courses

DECA's Comprehensive Learning Program provides a variety of instructional resources that would be suitable for these courses and more.

• Principles of Business Administration
• Small Business Ownership

Career Pathways

Each career cluster contains several career pathways, or specialized career areas that are comprised of careers that require similar knowledge and skills.

Instructional Areas

Instructional areas are broad areas of content knowledge that are comprised of many performance indicators. Performance indicators are specific knowledge and skills employees are expected to demonstrate or achieve.

Career Opportunities

The following are examples of career opportunities and occupations that are available within this career cluster.

COMPETITIVE EVENTS

Enrich the classroom.

DECA’s Competitive Events Program is an incredible tool for curriculum. As an integral part of the classroom curriculum, DECA’s industry-validated competitive events are aligned with National Curriculum Standards. DECA’s flagship evaluation process involves students in both a written component such as an exam or report and an interactive component with an industry professional serving as a judge. DECA’s competitive events reinforce creativity, problem solving and presentation skills. The potential for recognition, awards and travel for learning classroom content is a tremendous motivator – not to mention the scholarships and cash awards recognizing DECA members for outstanding achievement. With more than 60 events, DECA offers a competitive event for every course and every student.

Business Growth Plan

Entrepreneurship series, entrepreneurship team decision making, franchise business plan, independent business plan, innovation plan, international business plan, principles of entrepreneurship, start-up business plan, virtual business challenge-entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship - growing your business, entrepreneurship - starting a business, entrepreneurship operations, case studies + exams, integrate into classroom instruction.

Case studies provide a student-centered engagement activity to help DECA members apply learning through problem-based scenarios that require creative solutions and practical outcomes. DECA’s case studies challenge DECA members to demonstrate industry-relevant knowledge and skills through performance indicators. DECA’s case studies are developed through industry research to reflect current issues and trends in business and industry. DECA’s exams are rigorous, industry-validated, multiple-choice, 100-item exams based on National Curriculum Standards. Each exam item is also linked to an instructional area and specific performance indicator.

You are to assume the role of the owner of EDUCATION PLUS, a new store located in a city with a large school district that sells classroom supplies, arts and crafts supplies and décor. Your business partner (judge) wants you to determine how to get more online customer reviews.

You are to assume the role of the owner of HEART RATE, an affordable brand of athleticwear. Your business partner (judge) wants you to determine whether or not to offer a new product as a “dupe” of a more expensive luxury brand.

Entrepreneurship Exam

You are to assume the roles of an entrepreneurial team that creates unique, abstract planters with a 3D printer. A potential investor (judge) wants to learn more about your business and its needs.

CORPORATE CHALLENGES

Apply learning.

DECA and its corporate partners have teamed up to provide classroom activities that challenge members to apply learning in relevant ways.

DECA at the Bell Challenge

Write and produce your very own episode of DECA at the Bell. Creativity is encouraged; what matters most is the ability to engage the audience while connecting something in the world of business to the world of DECA. The topic/theme of the 2024 challenge is Customer Service.

Ethical Leadership Challenge

Develop a public service announcement (PSA) video describing one of the following ethical principles: fairness, rule of law or transparency. The PSA should be designed to educate your local community and those afar through social media.

EDUCATIONAL CONFERENCES

Extend learning beyond the classroom.

DECA conferences provide unique opportunities to connect students with corporate professionals to engage them in learning industry-related trends and content.

Ultimate DECA Power Trip

Deca international career development conference, connect to business.

DECA’s college and corporate partners engage DECA members and help them prepare for colleges and careers of their choice. They provide classroom presentations, scholarships, internships, work experience and much more. Visit our partners page to learn more about developing a win-win relationship with DECA’s partners.

MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Get involved.

Together, we can help prepare emerging leaders and entrepreneurs for college and career. Learn about the various opportunities to get involved with DECA.

Start a DECA Chapter

Partner with deca, contact deca staff for more information..

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Get the latest news, important notifications, weekly case study and more delivered in your inbox.

DECA prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in marketing, finance, hospitality and management in high schools and colleges around the globe.

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Born: Sorochyntsi, Poltava Governate - 31 March 1809 Died: Moscow - 4 March 1852

Nikolay Gogol, the author of the first great Russian novel of the 19th century, Dead Souls , as well as two classic plays and some of the finest short stories written in any language, was a true literary oddity. His peculiar, unhappy life and his uniquely dark comic sensibility have been consistently misunderstood by posterity, with critics fiercely debating his nationality, his religious beliefs, and even his sexuality. What has never been in doubt, however, is his immense literary talent which, while essentially sui generis , provided a template for the absurdist, surreal streak in Russian literature that continues to bear fruit to this day. Along with Alexander Pushkin, he also established a literary pattern for the depiction of St. Petersburg as a city of ambiguity and even monstrosity, life in which proves untenable for many of his long-suffering protagonists.

Nikolay Vasilievich Gogol was born in Sorochyntsi, a Ukrainian Cossack village in what is now Ukraine's Poltava Oblast. His family were from the lower ranks of the gentry, his mother of Polish descent and his father a Ukrainian Cossack who wrote poetry and drama in Ukrainian. The family spoke both Ukrainian and Russian at home, and Gogol would later make a conscious choice to pursue a literary career in Russian rather than Ukrainian. He was educated at the Gymnasium of Higher Sciences in Nezhyn, a school founded as part of Alexander I's education reforms.

On leaving school in 1828, he moved to St. Petersburg with high ambitions of becoming a famous writer. He had with him a long Romantic poem of German rural life called Hans Küchelgarten , which he had published at his own expense and sent copies of to the leading literary journals. The work was rejected and derided by all, and Gogol bought up and burnt all the copies, swearing never to write poetry again.

He turned instead to prose, producing a series of tales set in the Ukrainian countryside, mostly comic, sentimental and occasionally macabre. These met with instant success, and were published in two volumes under the title Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka in 1831 and 1832. Gogol's work was strongly supported by the leading lights of the St. Petersburg literary scene, including Vasiliy Zhukovsky and Pyotr Pletnyov, and even Alexander Pushkin, who he met in 1831 and formed a frienship with. His Ukrainian pastoral period continued with the two volumes of Mirgorod , published in 1835, but in the same year he also published the collection Arabesques , which contained stories set in St. Petersburg and included the classic Nevsky Prospekt and Diary of a Madman . These stories began to explore the themes of alienation and mental instability, set against the fripperies of fashionable life and the Byzantine inhumanity of the state's bureaucracy, that he would further develop in his most famous stories, The Nose (1836) and The Overcoat (1842).

It was also in 1835 that he completed his first comedy for the stage, Marriage , although it was not published or performed until 1842. The Government Inspector , his most famous play, was premiered in 1836 after receiving the official approval of Nicholas I. A biting satire on the corruption and incompetence of provincial government, it was interpreted by many as an attack on the whole system of Tsarist rule, much to Gogol's consternation as he was in fact an ultraconservative monarchist.

Although he had achieved the literary success that he craved, and was equally admired by critics and general readers, Gogol had not found much personal happiness. He had developed an entirely amateur passion for history, and attempted to gain an appointment at the University of Kyiv, despite being utterly lacking in qualifications. His literary fame allowed him to win the professorship of medieval history at St. Petersburg University in 1834, but his lack of knowledge made him completely incapable of performing the work, and he resigned after only a year of farcical subterfuge and failure.

Gogol left Russia in 1836 and spent most of the next twelve years abroad, travelling in France, Germany and Switzerland, and eventually settling in Rome. There he studied art, became a committed opera lover, and supposedly fell in love in 1838 with Count Joseph Vielhorskiy, the 23-year-old son of a prominent Russian official who had come to Italy in an attempt to cure his tuberculosis. He died there the following year. All this time, Gogol continued to work his masterpiece, the satirical novel Dead Souls . He completed it in 1841 and returned to Russia to oversee its publication. It appeared the following year and was an enormous success, further cementing Gogol's position as one of Russia's best-loved authors.

Once again, however, Gogol was shocked and upset at the way his work was seen as a satirical attack on the whole Tsarist system. In fact, Gogol planned for Dead Souls to be the first part of a trilogy that would see his roguish protagonist Chichikov gradually reformed and spiritually purified. His increasingly religious disposition and his terror of demonic forces prompted him to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 1846-1847, and in 1848 he returned to Russia to complete the second volume of his work. Dissatisfied with his writings, he fell further under the influence of the spiritual elder Matvey Konstantinovsky, who tried to convince him that writing fiction was a demonic and sinful activity. Gogol became increasingly ascetic, and suffered severe bouts of depression. During one of these on 24 February 1852, he burned most of the manuscripts of the second volume of Dead Souls . In despair at what he had done, believing himself to have been tricked by the Devil himself, Gogol took to his bed and refused all food, and died in agony nine days later.

He was buried at the Danilov Monastery in Moscow. In the 1930s his grave was transferred to the Novodevichy Cemetery, during which process it was discovered that he was lying face down in his coffin, giving rise to the rumour that he had been buried alive. In St. Petersburg, Gogol is commemorated with an imposing and somewhat mournful statue on pedestrian Malay Konyushennaya Ulitsa just off Nevsky Prospekt.

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