As a young boy Turgenev was tutored at home. From there he went to University in Moscow for one year. He then finished University in St. Petersburg. Turgenev did not feel he had obtained an adequate education so he attended University in Berlin from 1838 to 1841. In Berlin Turgenev primarily studied philosophy, chiefly the works of Georg W. F. Hegel. Turgenev did concentrate on writing until after his time at the ministry of the interior.