Antioch Cantemir: biography. Works by Antioch Dmitrievich Kantemir

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Antioh Dmitrievich Kantemir is one of the brightest cultural figures of the syllabic era (the heyday of literature before Lomonosov's reforms). He was a comprehensively developed personality, engaged not only in literary, but also in political activities: he held diplomatic posts under Catherine I. Let's take a closer look at his work and biography.

Antioch Cantemir: Brief Biography

Antioch was born in 1708, in a princely family with Romanian roots. His father, Dmitry Konstantinovich, was the ruler of the Moldavian principality, and his mother, Cassandra, belonged to the ancient and noble family of the Cantacuzens. He was born and spent the first years of his life in Constantinople (now Istanbul), and in the spring of 1712 the family moved to the Russian Empire.

Antioch Cantemir was the youngest in the family. There were 6 children in total: 4 sons and 2 daughters (Maria, Smaragda, Matvey, Sergey, Konstantin and Antioch). All of them received an excellent home education, but only our hero took advantage of the opportunities and continued his studies at the Greco-Slavic Academy. Thanks to diligence and thirst for knowledge, Prince Antioch Cantemir became one of the most enlightened and progressive people of the 18th century!

After graduationyoung Antioch entered the service of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, and very soon rose to the rank of ensign. In the same years (1726-1728) he attended university lectures by Bernoulli and Gross at the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The first works of the writer

The beginning of the writer's career fell on those years when there was a painful reaction in society to the suspension of the reforms of Peter I. Antiochus himself was an adherent of Peter's traditions, so in 1727 he joined a group of people headed by Feofan Prokopovich. It was these public sentiments that had a huge impact on his works.

His very first work was written as a practical guide to Bible verses and psalms, it was called "Symphony on the Ps alter". In 1726, he presented his manuscript to Catherine I as a sign of respect and reverence. The queen was very pleased with his sayings, and the manuscript was printed in more than 1000 copies.

The most famous book of Cantemir

A little later, he began to translate various foreign works, mainly translations from French. The most famous work that established him as an excellent translator is Fontenelle's translation. Antioch Cantemir not only did a competent retelling of the book "Conversations about the Diversity of Worlds", but also supplemented each section with his own thoughts and comments. Despite the relevance of the book in many European countries, in Russia his works were banned by the Empress, because,allegedly contradicted the foundations of morality and religion.

Antioch Cantemir: works of satire

Antioch is considered the founder of this type of literature as satire. His first poems denounced the detractors of the sciences. One of the most famous works is "On those who blaspheme the teachings. To their own mind", in this work he speaks with irony about those who consider themselves "wise men", but "They will not understand in Chrysostom".

The heyday of his creative activity came in 1727-1730. In 1729 he created a whole series of satirical verses. In total, he wrote 9 satires, here are the most famous of them:

• "To the envy of the malevolent nobles" - taunts the nobles who managed to lose their original good manners and are far behind the culture.
• "On the difference of human passions" - it was a kind of message to the archbishop of Novgorod, in which all the sins and passions of high-ranking church ministers were denounced.
• "About true bliss" - in this work, the writer Antioch Dmitrievich Kantemir discusses the eternal questions of life and gives the answer "only he is blessed in this life who is content with little and lives in silence."

Feature of works

In many ways, the satirical works of the prince were due to his personal convictions. Prince Antioch Cantemir was so devoted to Russia and loved the Russian people that his mainthe goal was to do everything for their well-being. He sympathized with all the reforms of Peter I, and he infinitely respected the tsar himself for his efforts in the development of education. All his thoughts are openly stated in his works. The main feature of his poems and fables lies in the softness of denunciations, his works are devoid of rudeness and are full of sad empathy about the decline of many undertakings of the great Peter I.

Some say that Antioch Cantemir, whose biography is also connected with state activities, was able to create such deep political satires only thanks to his experience as an ambassador in England. It was there that he acquired great knowledge about the structure of the state, got acquainted with the works of the great Western enlighteners: the work of Horace, Juvenal, Boileau and Persia had a huge influence on his works.

State activities of Antioch Cantemir

Kantemir Antioch Dmitrievich (whose biography is closely intertwined with turning points in the history of the Russian Empire) was a supporter of the reforms of Peter I, so in 1731 he opposed a bill that proposed to assign political rights to the nobles. However, he enjoyed the favor of Empress Anna Ioannovna, she greatly contributed to the spread of his works.

Despite his youth, Antioch Cantemir was able to achieve great success in public affairs. It was he who helped the empress take her rightful place when the representatives of the Supreme Council planned to stage a coup. Antioch Cantemir collected many signaturesofficers and other employees of various ranks, and then personally accompanied Trubetskoy and Cherkassky to the Empress's palace. For his services, he was generously endowed with funds and appointed as a diplomatic ambassador in England.

Diplomatic ranks

In early 1732, at the age of 23, he went to London to act as diplomatic resident. Despite ignorance of the language and lack of experience, he was able to achieve great achievements in defending the interests of the Russian Empire. The British themselves speak of him as an honest and highly moral politician. Interesting fact: he was the very first Russian ambassador to a Western country.

The post of ambassador to England served him as a good diplomatic school, and after 6 years of service in London, he was transferred to France. He managed to build good relations with many French figures: Maupertuis, Montesquieu and others.

The 1735-1740s were very difficult in Russian-French relations, various contradictions arose, but thanks to the efforts of Cantemir, many issues were resolved by peaceful negotiations.

The fate of works

In total, he wrote about 150 works, including satirical poems, fables, epigrams, odes and translations from French. They survive to this day, but several of his major translations have been lost. There are suspicions that they were deliberately destroyed.

For example, the fate of the manuscripts "Epictetus", "Persian Letters", as well as manyother translations of articles from French into Russian.

Antioch Cantemir signed some of his works under the name Khariton Makentin, which is an anagram of his first and last name. He was proud of his works, but they did not see the light: almost all the pages of the manuscripts were lost.

His literary heritage is more than one and a half hundred works, including 9 satirical verses, 5 songs (odes), 6 fables, 15 epigrams (3 of which are called "Author about himself", and represent three parts of a single work), about 50 translations, 2-3 large translations of works from French, the authors of which were contemporaries of Cantemir.

What contribution did Antioch make to Russian literature?

It is difficult to overestimate its importance in the history of the development and formation of ancient Russian, and even modern literature. After all, the issues raised in his works are relevant to this day: appeals to government officials, illegal actions of officials and their family members, etc. Cantemir is the forefather of such a type of literature as satire. The question may arise, why could the titled prince be dissatisfied, and why did he write satire? The answer lies in his writings, in which he admits that only the true feeling of a citizen gives him the courage to write such poignant satirical works. By the way, the word "citizen" was invented by Cantemir himself!

The post of ambassador in Paris had a negative impact on his he alth, which was already weak due tochildhood illness - smallpox. Unfortunately, Cantemir had to experience a long and painful death. He died in Paris in 1744 at the age of 37. He was buried in the Nikolsky Greek Monastery, which is located in Moscow.