Rubuta ci gaba don wannan sakin layi - an haifi Viktor Burenin a Moscow, yaro na goma sha biyu a cikin dangin masanin Pyotr Petrovich Burenin. A matsayin dalibi na Kwalejin Gine-gine na Moscow (1852-1859), ya zama abokai tare da wasu 'yan Decembrists da aka ba su kyauta
(Ivan Pushchin, Ivan Yakushkin, Gavriil Batenkov da sauransu) wanda ya gabatar da saurayin ga rukunin adabin Rasha. Babban tasiri ya kasance petrashevets Sergey Durov wanda ya shawarce shi da ya fassara "Iambes et poemes" na Barbier don mujallar "The Word of the Underground" da ke Geneva. A cikin 1861 Burenin ya shafe watanni da yawa a Jamus, Switzerland da Faransa; tun daga wannan lokacin ziyararsa zuwa Yammacin Turai ya zama shekara-shekara.