The book "Geschichte meines Zeitgenossen" by Vladimir Korolenko is a poetic description of the social conditions in the Russian provinces in the late 19th century. There are some autobiographical elements. Some exemplary focuses: education, religions, absolutism, abolition of serfdom, literature. Through the translator, Rosa Luxemburg, the work and personality of Korolenko are classified in an introduction with scientific precision in the already highly developed Russian literature at that time.