2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25
Alexander Radishchev lived a relatively short life - he was born in 1749 (August 31), and died in 1802 (September 12). He was the first child in a we althy noble family - his grandfather Afanasy Prokopyevich was a large landowner.
Happy childhood
Childhood years were spent in the father's estate in Nemtsovo, a village belonging to the Borovsky district of the Kaluga province. The family was friendly, parents - well-educated people. The father, who speaks several languages, including Latin, taught his son himself.
The boy was his mother's favorite. As was customary in noble families, he was taught at home - children learned the Russian language from liturgical books - a ps alter and a book of hours, tutors were invited to study foreign languages, mainly French. Little Alexander was unlucky - under the guise of a French teacher, a runaway soldier was hired to them.
The basics of a great education
In 1755 Moscow University was opened, and Alexander Radishchevgoes to Moscow, to his mother's uncle, Mr. Argamakov, whose brother held the post of director at that time (in 1755-1757). And this gave the children of the Argomakovs and Sasha Radishchev the right to receive knowledge at home under the guidance of professors and teachers of the gymnasium at the university. At the age of 13, Alexander Radishchev was granted a page when Catherine II ascended the throne in 1762, and sent for further education to the Corps of Pages, at that time the most prestigious educational institution of the Russian Empire, where he studied from 1762 to 1766.
University years
He was rich, came from an old noble family, and most importantly, he studied well and was very diligent. Therefore, when Catherine decided to send abroad a group of young nobles of 12 people, including 6 pages, Alexander Radishchev was one of the first on this list. He went to Leipzig to study law.
However, in addition to the compulsory sciences and in-depth study of languages, students were allowed to additionally get acquainted with other sciences. A. N. Radishchev chose medicine and chemistry as additional studies, in which, as in languages, he was very successful. The five years spent in Leipzig were filled with study, and thanks to this, A. N. Radishchev becomes one of the most educated people of his time, and not only in Russia. In the same place, abroad, he begins to write. In those years, an indelible impression on him was made by friendship with Ushakov, who was somewhat older, wiser and more educated than Alexander, and the death of this friend. In memoryAlexander Nikolayevich Radishchev wrote a work about him, which was called “The Life of Fyodor Vasilyevich Ushakov.”
Years of living in Russia after returning
Upon returning to his homeland in 1771, A. N. Radishchev, together with his friend M. Kutuzov, entered the service of the St. Petersburg Senate, where they did not work for a long time for a number of reasons. From abroad, Radishchev returns as a freethinker. In 1773, he entered the headquarters of the Finnish Division, located in St. Petersburg, as a legal adviser, from where he retired in 1775. It was the time of the Pugachev rebellion and its suppression. During these years, Radishchev Alexander Nikolaevich completed several translations, including “Reflections on Greek History” by Bonnot de Mably. Gradually, Radishchev becomes one of the most convinced and consistent people who consider autocracy and serfdom to be the main evil in Russia. After his retirement, A. N. Radishchev married the sister of a friend with whom he studied in Leipzig. In 1777, he entered the St. Petersburg customs, where he worked until 1790 and rose to the post of its director. Here he became friends with Count A. R. Vorontsov, who would support the Russian philosopher and thinker even in Siberian exile.
The main work of life
Back in 1771, the first excerpts from the main work written by Alexander Radishchev were published. "Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow" was published in separate chapters in the St. Petersburg magazine "Painter". In the 80-90s of the 18th century, an unusually large social upsurge was observed in Europe, revolutions first in the USA, then inFrance followed one after another.
Taking advantage of the favorable climate to promote the ideas of freedom, Radishchev started a printing house at home (on the present Marata Street), and in May 1790 printed 650 copies of the book. Previously, a “Letter to a friend” was published in the same way. Who is not familiar with the phrase “Yes, this is a rebel, worse than Pugachev!”, Pronounced by Catherine II after reading this work. As a result of it, A. N. Radishchev was imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress and sentenced to death. Then the "gracious" empress replaced her with a 10-year exile in Siberia with the deprivation of the title of nobility, all orders, regalia and status.
The accuser book
The books of the disgraced author were to be destroyed. But the copies issued by Radishchev quickly sold out, a lot of copies were made from them, which allowed A. S. Pushkin to state the fact: “Radishchev is an enemy of slavery - he escaped censorship!” Or maybe the great Russian poet had in mind the fact that the censor, having looked through the book, decided that it was a guide to cities, since it lists the settlements located along the highway. Even today, 70 such lists have survived.
Then A. S. Suvorin in 1888 received permission to issue 100 copies of this book, allegedly exclusively for connoisseurs and lovers of Russian literature. Why did the book anger the enlightened empress so much? The novel describes the horrors of serfdom, the incredibly difficult life of the peasants, in addition, the book contains direct denunciations of tsarism. Writtengood language, it is full of witty caustic remarks, and does not leave anyone indifferent. It included "Liberty" and "The Tale of Lomonosov". Yes, and there were no such denunciations of the autocracy before.
Incorrigible love of life
Radishchev, whose works, poems, philosophical treatises, odes, including "Liberty", from now on were burned and ground at paper mills, was imprisoned in the Ilim prison. But even here, on behalf of Count Vorontsov, he studied the life of the indigenous inhabitants of Siberia, trade routes to the northern regions of the vast country and the possibility of trade with China. He was even happy here. He wrote many wonderful works in prison, and his sister-in-law came to him (and he was already a widower) to brighten up his loneliness in exile. Having ascended the throne, Paul I, who hated his mother, returned the disgraced philosopher, but without the right to leave the family nest in Nemtsov. Alexander I not only gave A. N. Radishchev complete freedom, but also attracted him to work in the Law Drafting Commission.
Suicide or fatal inattention
The link did not change the views of the writer and, taking part in the drafting of laws, Alexander Radishchev, whose biography is full of clashes with those in power, wrote the "Draft Liberal Code". It expressed thoughts about the equality of all before the law, about the need for freedom of speech and the press, and other "free thoughts" that so outraged the Chairman of the Commission, Count P. V. Zavadsky, that he threatened the author with another exile to Siberia.
Was there a rebuffderogatory, either the thinker's nerves finally passed, and his he alth was severely undermined, or he experienced something very terrible in exile, but A. N. Radishchev, having come home, poisoned himself by taking poison. A very sad story. True, there is another version that testifies to the strength of the spirit of the greatest man of his time - he was not going to commit suicide, but mistakenly drank a glass of vodka in plain sight to calm down. And it was "royal vodka", deadly for a person, prepared and left by the eldest son of the writer for the restoration of old epaulettes. Quite a sad story.
Good and great man
In his activities, A. N. Radishchev was also concerned about the issues of education. He is considered the founder of Russian revolutionary ethics and aesthetics, as well as pedagogy. Along with serious studies, philosophical treatises, formidable denunciations of tsarism and serfdom, Radishchev, whose poems are full of love for people and nature, also wrote children's songs, composed funny riddle rhymes, and invented various games and contests.
That is, the man loved life very much, but he wanted it to be fair to all people, so that in Russia there would be no serfdom that humiliates a person. A wonderful article about A. N. Radishchev was written by A. S. Pushkin.
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