Mikhail Yevgrafovich Saltykov was born on January 15, 1826, into an old noble family in his parents' estate in the village of Spas-Ugol, Kalazin district, Tver province. In 1844, he graduated from the lyceum, taking second place in his class. At the lyceum, influenced by Pushkin's traditions, each course had its own poet, and Saltykov played this role in the XIII course. Some of his poems were published in the "Library for Reading" in 1841 and 1842. On April 28, 1848, he was sent to Vyatka (now Kirov), where on July 3 he became a clerical official at the Vyatka provincial government. In November of the same year, he was appointed senior official for special assignments under the Vyatka governor. He then twice held the position of head of the governor's office, and from August 1850 became a counselor of the provincial government. In March 1858, Saltykov was appointed vice-governor of Ryazan, and in April 1860 transferred to the same position in Tver. During this time, he actively wrote for various magazines, including "Atheney", "Contemporary", "Library for Reading", and "Moscow Herald", but from 1860 he almost exclusively collaborated with "Contemporary". In November 1864, he was appointed manager of the Penza treasury chamber, and two years later transferred to the same position in Tula, and in October 1867, to Ryazan. His interest in literature remained unchanged: from January 1, 1868, when "Native Notes" came under Nekrasov's editorship, Saltykov became one of the most active contributors to the magazine. In June 1868, he finally left the service and became one of the leading contributors and editors of the publication, and ten years after Nekrasov's death, he became its official editor.