Karamzin Nikolai Mikhailovich short biography for schoolchildren. Karamzin Nikolai Mikhailovich

Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin is a great Russian writer, the greatest writer of the era of sentimentalism. He wrote fiction, poetry, plays, articles. Russian reformer literary language. The creator of the "History of the Russian State" - one of the first fundamental works on the history of Russia.

“He loved to be sad, not knowing what…”

Karamzin was born on December 1 (12), 1766 in the village of Mikhailovka, Buzuluk district, Simbirsk province. He grew up in the village of his father, a hereditary nobleman. It is interesting that the Karamzin family has Turkic roots and comes from the Tatar Kara-Murza (aristocratic class).

Little is known about the writer's childhood. At the age of 12, he was sent to Moscow to the boarding school of Moscow University professor Johann Schaden, where the young man received his first education, studied German and French. Three years later, he begins attending lectures. famous professor aesthetics, educator Ivan Schwartz at Moscow University.

In 1783, at the insistence of his father, Karamzin entered the service of the Preobrazhensky Guards Regiment, but soon retired and left for his native Simbirsk. An important event for the young Karamzin takes place in Simbirsk - he enters the Masonic lodge of the Golden Crown. This decision will play its role a little later, when Karamzin returns to Moscow and meets with an old acquaintance of their home - a freemason Ivan Turgenev, as well as writers and writers Nikolai Novikov, Alexei Kutuzov, Alexander Petrov. At the same time, Karamzin's first attempts in literature begin - he participates in the publication of the first Russian magazine for children - " Children's reading for the heart and mind." The four years he spent in the society of Moscow Freemasons had a serious influence on his creative development. At this time, Karamzin read a lot of the then popular Rousseau, Stern, Herder, Shakespeare, trying to translate.

“In Novikov’s circle, Karamzin’s education began, not only as an author, but also moral.”

Writer I.I. Dmitriev

Man of pen and thought

In 1789, a break with the Masons follows, and Karamzin sets off to travel around Europe. He traveled to Germany, Switzerland, France and England, stopping mainly in big cities centers of European education. Karamzin visits Immanuel Kant in Koenigsberg, becomes a witness of the French Revolution in Paris.

It was on the basis of the results of this trip that he wrote the famous Letters of a Russian Traveler. These essays in the genre of documentary prose quickly gained popularity with the reader and made Karamzin a famous and fashionable writer. At the same time, in Moscow, from the pen of a writer, the story “Poor Lisa” was born - a recognized example of Russian sentimental literature. Many specialists in literary criticism believe that modern Russian literature begins with these first books.

"IN initial period Karamzin's literary activity was characterized by a broad and politically rather vague "cultural optimism", a belief in the salutary influence of the successes of culture on man and society. Karamzin relied on the progress of science, the peaceful improvement of morals. He believed in the painless realization of the ideals of brotherhood and humanity that permeated literature XVIII century as a whole.

Yu.M. Lotman

In contrast to classicism with its cult of reason, in the footsteps of the French writers, Karamzin establishes in Russian literature the cult of feelings, sensitivity, compassion. New "sentimental" heroes are important, first of all, with the ability to love, to surrender to feelings. "Oh! I love those objects that touch my heart and make me shed tears of tender sorrow!” (« Poor Lisa»).

"Poor Lisa" is devoid of morality, didacticism, edification, the author does not teach, but tries to arouse the reader's empathy for the characters, which distinguishes the story from the old traditions of classicism.

“Poor Lisa” was received with such enthusiasm by the Russian public because in this work Karamzin was the first to express the “new word” that Goethe said to the Germans in his Werther.

Philologist, literary critic V.V. Sipovsky

Nikolai Karamzin at the Millennium of Russia monument in Veliky Novgorod. Sculptors Mikhail Mikeshin, Ivan Shroeder. Architect Viktor Hartman. 1862

Giovanni Battista Damon-Ortolani. Portrait of N.M. Karamzin. 1805. The Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin

Monument to Nikolai Karamzin in Ulyanovsk. Sculptor Samuil Galberg. 1845

At the same time, the reform of the literary language begins - Karamzin abandons the Old Slavonicisms that inhabited written language, Lomonosov grandiloquence, from the use of Church Slavonic vocabulary and grammar. This made "Poor Lisa" an easy and enjoyable story to read. It was Karamzin's sentimentalism that became the foundation for the development of further Russian literature: the romanticism of Zhukovsky and early Pushkin repelled from it.

"Karamzin made literature humane."

A.I. Herzen

One of major merits Karamzin - enrichment of the literary language with new words: "charity", "love", "freethinking", "attraction", "responsibility", "suspicion", "refinement", "first-class", "human", "sidewalk", "coachman ”, “impression” and “influence”, “touching” and “entertaining”. It was he who introduced the words "industry", "concentrate", "moral", "aesthetic", "epoch", "stage", "harmony", "catastrophe", "future" and others.

“A professional writer, one of the first in Russia who had the courage to make literary work source of existence, who above all put the independence of his own opinion.

Yu.M. Lotman

In 1791, Karamzin began his career as a journalist. It's getting milestone in the history of Russian literature - Karamzin founded the first Russian literary magazine, the founding father of the current "thick" magazines - "Moscow Journal". A number of collections and almanacs are published on its pages: "Aglaya", "Aonides", "Pantheon of foreign literature", "My trinkets". These publications made sentimentalism the main literary movement in Russia. late XIX century, and Karamzin - its recognized leader.

But Karamzin's deep disappointment in the former values ​​soon follows. A year after Novikov's arrest, the magazine was closed, after Karamzin's bold ode "To Mercy" mercy " the mighty of the world” loses Karamzin himself, almost falling under investigation.

“As long as a citizen can sleep peacefully, without fear, and freely dispose of life according to your thoughts to all your subjects; ... as long as you give freedom to everyone and do not darken the light in the minds; as long as the power of attorney to the people is visible in all your affairs: until then you will be sacredly revered ... nothing can disturb the tranquility of your state.

N.M. Karamzin. "To Mercy"

Most of the years 1793-1795 Karamzin spends in the countryside and publishes collections: "Aglaya", "Aonides" (1796). He plans to publish something like an anthology on foreign literature, "The Pantheon of Foreign Literature", but with great difficulty breaks through the censorship prohibitions that did not allow even Demosthenes and Cicero to be printed ...

Disappointment in the French Revolution Karamzin splashes out in verse:

But time, experience destroy
Castle in the air of youth...
... And I see clearly that with Plato
We shall not establish republics...

During these years, Karamzin increasingly moved from lyrics and prose to journalism and development philosophical ideas. Even the "Historical eulogy to Empress Catherine II", compiled by Karamzin during the accession to the throne of Emperor Alexander I, is mainly journalism. In 1801-1802, Karamzin worked in the journal Vestnik Evropy, where he mainly wrote articles. In practice, his passion for education and philosophy is expressed in the writing of works on historical topics, increasingly creating the authority of a historian for the famous writer.

The first and last historiographer

By decree of October 31, 1803, Emperor Alexander I conferred on Nikolai Karamzin the title of historiographer. Interestingly, the title of historiographer in Russia was not renewed after Karamzin's death.

From that moment on, Karamzin ceased all literary work and for 22 years was exclusively engaged in compiling historical work, familiar to us as "History of the Russian State".

Alexey Venetsianov. Portrait of N.M. Karamzin. 1828. The Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin

Karamzin sets himself the task of compiling a history for a wide educated public, not to be a researcher, but "choose, animate, color" All "attractive, strong, worthy" from Russian history. An important point is that the work should also be designed for a foreign reader in order to open Russia to Europe.

In his work, Karamzin used the materials of the Moscow Collegium of Foreign Affairs (especially the spiritual and contractual letters of the princes, and acts of diplomatic relations), the Synodal Depository, the libraries of the Volokolamsk Monastery and the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, private collections of manuscripts of Musin-Pushkin, Rumyantsev and A.I. Turgenev, who compiled a collection of documents from the papal archive, as well as many other sources. An important part of the work was the study of ancient chronicles. In particular, Karamzin discovered a chronicle previously unknown to science, called Ipatievskaya.

During the years of work on the "History ..." Karamzin mainly lived in Moscow, from where he traveled only to Tver and to Nizhny Novgorod, during the occupation of Moscow by the French in 1812. He usually spent his summers at Ostafyev, the estate of Prince Andrei Ivanovich Vyazemsky. In 1804, Karamzin married the prince's daughter, Ekaterina Andreevna, who bore the writer nine children. She became the writer's second wife. For the first time, the writer married at the age of 35, in 1801, to Elizaveta Ivanovna Protasova, who died a year after the wedding from postpartum fever. From his first marriage, Karamzin left a daughter, Sophia, a future acquaintance of Pushkin and Lermontov.

The main social event in the life of the writer during these years was the Note on Ancient and New Russia in its Political and Civil Relations, written in 1811. The "Note..." reflected the views of the conservative strata of society, dissatisfied with the emperor's liberal reforms. "Note..." was handed over to the emperor. In it, once a liberal and a “Westernizer”, as they would say now, Karamzin appears as a conservative and tries to prove that no fundamental changes are needed in the country.

And in February 1818, Karamzin puts on sale the first eight volumes of his History of the Russian State. The circulation of 3000 copies (huge for that time) is sold out within a month.

A.S. Pushkin

"History of the Russian State" was the first work focused on the widest readership, thanks to the high literary merit and scientific scrupulousness of the author. Researchers agree that this work was one of the first to contribute to the formation of national self-consciousness in Russia. The book has been translated into several European languages.

Despite many years of enormous work, Karamzin did not have time to complete the "History ..." before his time - the beginning of the 19th century. After the first edition, three more volumes of "History ..." were released. The last one was the 12th volume, describing the events of the Time of Troubles in the chapter "Interregnum 1611-1612". The book was published after Karamzin's death.

Karamzin was entirely a man of his era. The approval of monarchical views in him towards the end of his life brought the writer closer to the family of Alexander I, he spent the last years next to them, living in Tsarskoye Selo. The death of Alexander I in November 1825 and the subsequent events of the uprising on Senate Square were a real blow to the writer. Nikolai Karamzin died on May 22 (June 3), 1826 in St. Petersburg, he was buried at the Tikhvin cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin is a famous Russian writer, historian, the largest representative of the era of sentimentalism, a reformer of the Russian language, and a publisher. With his submission, the vocabulary was enriched with a large number of new crippled words.

The famous writer was born on December 12 (December 1, according to the old style), 1766, in a manor located in the Simbirsk district. The noble father took care of home education son, after which Nikolai continued to study first at the Simbirsk noble boarding school, then from 1778 - at the boarding school of Professor Shaden (Moscow). During 1781-1782. Karamzin attended university lectures.

Father wanted Nikolai to go to school after the boarding school. military service, - the son fulfilled his desire, in 1781 being in the St. Petersburg Guards Regiment. It was during these years that Karamzin first tried himself in the literary field, in 1783 he translated from German. In 1784, after the death of his father, having retired with the rank of lieutenant, he finally left military service. Living in Simbirsk, he joined the Masonic lodge.

Since 1785 Karamzin's biography has been connected with Moscow. In this city, he meets N.I. Novikov and other writers, joins the "Friendly Scientific Society", settles in his house, further collaborates with members of the circle in various publications, in particular, takes part in the publication of the magazine "Children's Reading for the Heart and Mind", which became the first Russian magazine for children.

Throughout the year (1789-1790) Karamzin traveled to the countries of Western Europe, where he met not only with prominent figures of the Masonic movement, but also with great thinkers, in particular, with Kant, I.G. Herder, J. F. Marmontel. The impressions from the trips formed the basis of the future famous Letters of a Russian Traveler. This story (1791-1792) appeared in the Moscow Journal, which N.M. Karamzin began to publish upon arrival at home, and brought the author great fame. A number of philologists believe that modern Russian literature is counting precisely from the "Letters".

The story "Poor Liza" (1792) strengthened the literary authority of Karamzin. Subsequently published collections and almanacs "Aglaya", "Aonides", "My trinkets", "Pantheon of Foreign Literature" opened the era of sentimentalism in Russian literature, and it was N.M. Karamzin was at the head of the current; under the influence of his works, they wrote V.A. Zhukovsky, K.N. Batyushkov, as well as A.S. Pushkin at the beginning of his career.

A new period in the biography of Karamzin as a person and writer is associated with the accession to the throne of Alexander I. In October 1803, the emperor appoints the writer as an official historiographer, and Karamzin is tasked with capturing history Russian state. His genuine interest in history, the priority of this topic over all others was evidenced by the nature of the publications of Vestnik Evropy (this country's first socio-political, literary and artistic magazine Karamzin published in 1802-1803).

In 1804, literary and artistic work was completely curtailed, and the writer began to work on The History of the Russian State (1816-1824), which became the main work in his life and a whole phenomenon in Russian history and literature. The first eight volumes were published in February 1818. Three thousand copies were sold within a month - such active sales had no precedent. The next three volumes, published in the following years, were quickly translated into several European languages, and the 12th, final, volume was published after the death of the author.

Nikolai Mikhailovich was an adherent of conservative views, an absolute monarchy. The death of Alexander I and the uprising of the Decembrists, which he witnessed, became a heavy blow for him, depriving the writer-historian of his last vitality. On June 3 (May 22, O.S.), 1826, Karamzin died while in St. Petersburg; they buried him in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, at the Tikhvin cemetery.

pseudonym - A. B. V.

historian, the largest Russian writer of the era of sentimentalism, nicknamed "Russian Stern"; creator of the "History of the Russian State" (volumes 1-12, 1803-1826) - one of the first generalizing works on the history of Russia; editor of the Moscow Journal (1791-1792) and Vestnik Evropy (1802-1803)

Nikolai Karamzin

short biography

The famous Russian writer, historian, the largest representative of the era of sentimentalism, a reformer of the Russian language, a publisher. With his submission, the vocabulary was enriched with a large number of new crippled words.

The famous writer was born on December 12 (December 1, according to the old style), 1766, in a manor located in the Simbirsk district. The noble father took care of his son's home education, after which Nikolai continued to study first at the Simbirsk noble boarding school, then from 1778 at the boarding school of Professor Shaden (Moscow). During 1781-1782. Karamzin attended university lectures.

The father wanted Nikolai to enter the military service after boarding school - the son fulfilled his desire, in 1781 being in the St. Petersburg Guards Regiment. It was during these years that Karamzin first tried himself in the literary field, in 1783 he translated from German. In 1784, after the death of his father, having retired with the rank of lieutenant, he finally left military service. Living in Simbirsk, he joined the Masonic lodge.

Since 1785 Karamzin's biography has been connected with Moscow. In this city, he meets N.I. Novikov and other writers, joins the "Friendly Scientific Society", settles in his house, further collaborates with members of the circle in various publications, in particular, takes part in the publication of the magazine "Children's Reading for the Heart and Mind", which became the first Russian magazine for children.

Throughout the year (1789-1790) Karamzin traveled to the countries of Western Europe, where he met not only with prominent figures of the Masonic movement, but also with great thinkers, in particular, with Kant, J. G. Herder, J. F. Marmontel. The impressions from the trips formed the basis of the future famous Letters of a Russian Traveler. This story (1791-1792) appeared in the Moscow Journal, which N.M. Karamzin began to publish upon arrival at home, and brought the author great fame. A number of philologists believe that modern Russian literature is counting precisely from the "Letters".

The story "Poor Liza" (1792) strengthened the literary authority of Karamzin. Subsequently published collections and almanacs "Aglaya", "Aonides", "My trinkets", "Pantheon of Foreign Literature" opened the era of sentimentalism in Russian literature, and it was N.M. Karamzin was at the head of the current; under the influence of his works, they wrote V.A. Zhukovsky, K.N. Batyushkov, as well as A. S. Pushkin at the beginning of his career.

A new period in Karamzin's biography as a person and a writer is associated with the accession to the throne of Alexander I. In October 1803, the emperor appoints the writer as an official historiographer, and Karamzin is tasked with capturing the history of the Russian state. His genuine interest in history, the priority of this topic over all others was evidenced by the nature of the publications of Vestnik Evropy (this country's first socio-political, literary and artistic magazine Karamzin published in 1802-1803).

In 1804, literary and artistic work was completely curtailed, and the writer began to work on The History of the Russian State (1816-1824), which became the main work in his life and a whole phenomenon in Russian history and literature. The first eight volumes were published in February 1818. Three thousand copies were sold within a month - such active sales had no precedent. The next three volumes, published in the following years, were quickly translated into several European languages, and the 12th, final, volume was published after the death of the author.

Nikolai Mikhailovich was an adherent of conservative views, an absolute monarchy. The death of Alexander I and the uprising of the Decembrists, which he witnessed, became a heavy blow for him, depriving the writer-historian of his last vitality. On June 3 (May 22, O.S.), 1826, Karamzin died while in St. Petersburg; they buried him in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, at the Tikhvin cemetery.

Biography from Wikipedia

Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin(December 1, 1766, Znamenskoye, Simbirsk province, Russian empire- May 22, 1826, St. Petersburg, Russian Empire) - historian, the largest Russian writer of the era of sentimentalism, nicknamed "Russian Stern". The creator of the "History of the Russian State" (volumes 1-12, 1803-1826) - one of the first generalizing works on the history of Russia. Editor of the Moscow Journal (1791-1792) and Vestnik Evropy (1802-1803).

Karamzin went down in history as a reformer of the Russian language. His style is light in the Gallic manner, but instead of direct borrowing, Karamzin enriched the language with tracing words, such as “impression” and “influence”, “love”, “touching” and “entertaining”. It was he who introduced into use the words "industry", "concentrate", "moral", "aesthetic", "epoch", "stage", "harmony", "catastrophe", "future".

Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin was born on December 1 (12), 1766 near Simbirsk. He grew up on the estate of his father, retired captain Mikhail Egorovich Karamzin (1724-1783), a middle-class Simbirsk nobleman from the Karamzin family, descended from the Tatar Kara-Murza. He received his primary education in a private boarding school in Simbirsk. In 1778 he was sent to Moscow to the boarding house of Professor of Moscow University I. M. Shaden. At the same time, in 1781-1782, he attended lectures by I. G. Schwartz at the University.

In 1783, at the insistence of his father, he entered the service of the Preobrazhensky Guards Regiment, but soon retired. By the time of military service are the first literary experiments. After his resignation, he lived for some time in Simbirsk, and then in Moscow. During his stay in Simbirsk, he joined the Masonic Lodge of the Golden Crown, and after arriving in Moscow for four years (1785-1789) he was a member of the Friendly Learned Society.

In Moscow, Karamzin met writers and writers: N. I. Novikov, A. M. Kutuzov, A. A. Petrov, participated in the publication of the first Russian magazine for children - “Children's Reading for the Heart and Mind”.

In 1789-1790 he made a trip to Europe, during which he visited Immanuel Kant in Königsberg, was in Paris during the great French revolution. As a result of this trip, the famous Letters of a Russian Traveler were written, the publication of which immediately made Karamzin a famous writer. Some philologists believe that modern Russian literature starts from this book. Be that as it may, Karamzin really became a pioneer in the literature of Russian “travels” - he quickly found both imitators (V.V. Izmailov, P.I. Sumarokov, P.I. Shalikov) and worthy successors (A.A. Bestuzhev, N. A. Bestuzhev, F. N. Glinka, A. S. Griboedov). Since then, Karamzin has been considered one of the main literary figures in Russia.

N. M. Karamzin at the monument "1000th anniversary of Russia" in Veliky Novgorod

Upon his return from a trip to Europe, Karamzin settled in Moscow and began his career as a professional writer and journalist, starting to publish the Moscow Journal of 1791-1792 (the first Russian literary magazine, in which, among other works of Karamzin, the story “Poor Lisa”, which strengthened his fame, appeared ”), then released a number of collections and almanacs: Aglaya, Aonides, Pantheon of Foreign Literature, My Trifles, which made sentimentalism the main literary trend in Russia, and Karamzin - its recognized leader.

In addition to prose and poetry, the Moscow Journal systematically published reviews, critical articles and theatrical reviews. In May 1792, Karamzin's review of Nikolai Petrovich Osipov's ironic poem " Virgil's Aeneid, turned inside out"

Emperor Alexander I by personal decree of October 31, 1803 bestowed the title of historiographer Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin; 2 thousand rubles were added to the title at the same time. annual salary. The title of a historiographer in Russia was not renewed after Karamzin's death. Since the beginning of the 19th century, Karamzin gradually moved away from fiction, and since 1804, being appointed by Alexander I to the position of a historiographer, he stopped all literary work, "brought his hair into historians." In this regard, he refused the government posts offered to him, in particular, the post of governor of Tver. Honorary member of Moscow University (1806).

In 1811, Karamzin wrote a "Note on Ancient and New Russia in its Political and Civil Relations", which reflected the views of the conservative strata of society, dissatisfied with the emperor's liberal reforms. His task was to prove that there was no need to carry out any transformations in the country. "A note on ancient and new Russia in its political and civil relations" also played the role of outlines for the subsequent enormous work of Nikolai Mikhailovich on Russian history.

In February 1818, Karamzin put on sale the first eight volumes of The History of the Russian State, three thousand copies of which were sold out within a month. In subsequent years, three more volumes of the "History" were published, a number of translations of it into the main European languages. Russian lighting historical process brought Karamzin closer to the court and the tsar, who settled him near him in Tsarskoye Selo. Karamzin's political views evolved gradually, and by the end of his life he was a staunch supporter of absolute monarchy. The unfinished 12th volume was published after his death.

Karamzin died on May 22 (June 3), 1826 in St. Petersburg. According to legend, his death was the result of a cold received on December 14, 1825, when Karamzin personally observed the events on Senate Square. He was buried at the Tikhvin cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

Karamzin - writer

Collected works of N. M. Karamzin in 11 vols. in 1803-1815 was printed in the printing house of the Moscow book publisher Selivanovskiy.

Sentimentalism

Karamzin's publication of "Letters from a Russian Traveler" (1791-1792) and the story "Poor Liza" (1792; separate edition 1796) opened the era of sentimentalism in Russia.

Lisa was surprised, dared to look at young man, - blushed even more and, looking down at the ground, told him that she would not take the ruble.
- For what?
- I don't need too much.
- I think that beautiful lilies of the valley, plucked by hands beautiful girl, cost a ruble. When you don't take it, here's five kopecks for you. I would always like to buy flowers from you; I would like you to tear them up just for me.

Sentimentalism declared feeling, not reason, to be the dominant of "human nature", which distinguished it from classicism. Sentimentalism believed that the ideal of human activity was not the "reasonable" reorganization of the world, but the release and improvement of "natural" feelings. His hero is more individualized, his inner world is enriched by the ability to empathize, sensitively respond to what is happening around.

The publication of these works big success among readers of that time, "Poor Liza" caused many imitations. The sentimentalism of Karamzin had a great influence on the development of Russian literature: it was repelled, among other things, by the romanticism of Zhukovsky, the work of Pushkin.

Poetry Karamzin

The poetry of Karamzin, which developed in line with European sentimentalism, radically differed from the traditional poetry of his time, brought up on the odes of Lomonosov and Derzhavin. The most significant differences were:

Karamzin is not interested in external, physical world but the inner, spiritual world of man. His poems speak "the language of the heart", not the mind. The object of Karamzin's poetry is "a simple life", and to describe it he uses simple poetic forms - poor rhymes, avoids an abundance of metaphors and other tropes so popular in the poems of his predecessors.

"Who is your sweetheart?"
I'm ashamed; i really hurt
The strangeness of my feelings to open
And be the butt of jokes.
The heart in the choice is not free! ..
What to say? She... she.
Oh! not at all important
And talents behind you
Has none;
…
The Strangeness of Love, or Insomnia (1793)

Another difference between Karamzin's poetics is that the world is fundamentally unknowable for him, the poet recognizes the existence different points view of the same object

One vote
Scary in the grave, cold and dark!
The winds are howling here, the coffins are shaking,
White bones are clattering.
Another voice
Quiet in the grave, soft, calm.
The winds blow here; sleeping cool;
Herbs and flowers grow.
Cemetery (1792)

Prose Karamzin

• "Eugene and Julia", a story (1789)
• "Letters from a Russian Traveler" (1791-1792)
• "Poor Liza", a story (1792)
• "Natalya, the boyar's daughter", story (1792)
• "Beautiful princess and happy carla» (1792)
• "Sierra Morena", story (1793)
• "Bornholm Island" (1793)
• "Julia" (1796)
• "Martha the Posadnitsa, or the Conquest of Novgorod", a story (1802)
• "My Confession", a letter to the publisher of a magazine (1802)
• "Sensitive and Cold" (1803)
• "Knight of our time" (1803)
• "Autumn"
• Translation - retelling of "The Tale of Igor's Campaign"
• "On Friendship" (1826) to the writer A. S. Pushkin.

Karamzin's language reform

Karamzin's prose and poetry had a decisive influence on the development of the Russian literary language. Karamzin deliberately refused to use Church Slavonic vocabulary and grammar, bringing the language of his works to the everyday language of his era and using French grammar and syntax as a model.

Karamzin introduced many new words into the Russian language - as neologisms ("charity", "love", "free-thinking", "attraction", "responsibility", "suspiciousness", "industry", "refinement", "first-class", "humane ”), and barbarisms (“sidewalk”, “coachman”). He was also one of the first to use the letter Y.

The language changes proposed by Karamzin caused a heated controversy in the 1810s. The writer A. S. Shishkov, with the assistance of Derzhavin, founded in 1811 the society “Conversation of the Lovers of the Russian Word”, the purpose of which was to promote the “old” language, as well as to criticize Karamzin, Zhukovsky and their followers. In response, in 1815, the literary society "Arzamas" was formed, which sneered at the authors of "Conversations" and parodied their works. Many poets of the new generation became members of the society, including Batyushkov, Vyazemsky, Davydov, Zhukovsky, Pushkin. literary victory"Arzamas" over "Conversation" strengthened the victory of the language changes introduced by Karamzin.

Despite this, later there was a rapprochement between Karamzin and Shishkov, and, thanks to the assistance of the latter, Karamzin in 1818 was elected a member of the Russian Academy. In the same year he became a member Imperial Academy Sciences.

Karamzin the historian

Karamzin's interest in history arose from the mid-1790s. He wrote a story on a historical theme - "Martha the Posadnitsa, or the Conquest of Novgorod" (published in 1803). In the same year, by decree of Alexander I, he was appointed to the position of a historiographer and until the end of his life he was engaged in writing the History of the Russian State, practically ceasing the activities of a journalist and writer.

Karamzin's "History of the Russian State" was not the first description of the history of Russia; before him were the works of V. N. Tatishchev and M. M. Shcherbatov. But it was Karamzin who opened the history of Russia to the general educated public. According to A. S. Pushkin, “Everyone, even secular women, rushed to read the history of their fatherland, hitherto unknown to them. She was a new discovery for them. Ancient Russia seemed to be found by Karamzin, like America by Columbus. This work also caused a wave of imitations and oppositions (for example, "History of the Russian people" by N. A. Polevoy)

In his work, Karamzin acted more as a writer than a historian - describing historical facts, he cared about the beauty of the language, least of all trying to draw any conclusions from the events he describes. Nevertheless, his commentaries, which contain many extracts from manuscripts, are of high scientific value. for the most part first published by Karamzin. Some of these manuscripts no longer exist.

In his "History" elegance, simplicity Prove to us, without any partiality, The necessity of autocracy And the charms of the whip.

Karamzin took the initiative to organize memorials and erect monuments to prominent figures national history, in particular, K. M. Sukhorukov (Minin) and Prince D. M. Pozharsky on Red Square (1818).

N. M. Karamzin discovered Afanasy Nikitin's Journey Beyond Three Seas in a 16th-century manuscript and published it in 1821. He wrote:

“Until now, geographers did not know that the honor of one of the oldest described European travels to India belongs to Russia of the Ioannian century ... It (the journey) proves that Russia in the 15th century had its Taverniers and Chardenis, less enlightened, but equally bold and enterprising; that the Indians had heard of her before they had heard of Portugal, Holland, England. While Vasco da Gama was only thinking about the possibility of finding a way from Africa to Hindustan, our Tverite was already a merchant on the coast of Malabar ... "

Karamzin - translator

In 1787, carried away by the work of Shakespeare, Karamzin published his translation of the original text of the tragedy "Julius Caesar". About his assessment of the work and his own work as a translator, Karamzin wrote in the preface:

“The tragedy that I have translated is one of his excellent creations ... If reading the translation brings Russian amateurs literature sufficient concept of Shakespeare; if it brings them pleasure, then the translator will be rewarded for his work. However, he was prepared for the opposite.

In the early 1790s, this edition, one of the first works of Shakespeare in Russian, was included by censorship among the books for seizure and burning.

In 1792-1793, N. M. Karamzin translated the monument Indian literature(from English) - the drama "Sakuntala", the author of which is Kalidasa. In the preface to the translation, he wrote:

“The creative spirit does not live in Europe alone; he is a citizen of the universe. Man everywhere is man; everywhere he has a sensitive heart, and in the mirror of his imagination contains heaven and earth. Everywhere Natura is his teacher and chief source of his pleasures.

I felt this very vividly when reading Sakontala, a drama composed in an Indian language, 1900 years before this, the Asiatic poet Kalidas, and recently translated into English by William Jones, a Bengali judge ... "

Family

N. M. Karamzin was married twice and had 10 children:

• First wife (since April 1801) - Elizaveta Ivanovna Protasova(1767-1802), sister of A. I. Pleshcheeva and A. I. Protasov, father of A. A. Voeikova and M. A. Moyer. According to Karamzin to Elizabeth, he "Knew and loved for thirteen years". She was a very educated woman and active assistant to her husband. Having poor health, in March 1802 she gave birth to a daughter, and in April she died of postpartum fever. Some researchers believe that it is in her honor that the heroine of "Poor Lisa" is named.
  • Sofia Nikolaevna(03/05/1802 - 07/04/1856), since 1821, a maid of honor, a close acquaintance of Pushkin and a friend of Lermontov.
• Second wife (from 01/08/1804) - Ekaterina Andreevna Kolyvanova(1780-1851), illegitimate daughter of Prince A. I. Vyazemsky and Countess Elizaveta Karlovna Sievers, half-sister of the poet P. A. Vyazemsky.
  • Natalia (30.10.1804-05.05.1810)
  • Ekaterina Nikolaevna(1806-1867), Petersburg acquaintance of Pushkin; from April 27, 1828, she was married to a retired lieutenant colonel of the guard, Prince Peter Ivanovich Meshchersky (1802-1876), who was married to her for the second time. Their son, writer and publicist Vladimir Meshchersky (1839-1914)
  • Andrey (20.10.1807-13.05.1813)
  • Natalia (06.05.1812-06.10.1815)
  • Andrey Nikolaevich(1814-1854), after graduating from Dorpat University, was forced to stay abroad for health reasons, later - a retired colonel. He was married to Aurora Karlovna Demidova. He had children from an extramarital affair with Evdokia Petrovna Sushkova.
  • Alexander Nikolaevich(1815-1888), after graduating from Dorpat University, he served in horse artillery, in his youth he was a great dancer and merry fellow, was close to the Pushkin family in his Last year life. Married to Princess Natalya Vasilievna Obolenskaya (1827-1892), had no children.
  • Nicholas (03.08.1817-21.04.1833)
  • Vladimir Nikolayevich(06/05/1819 - 08/07/1879), member of the consultation under the Minister of Justice, senator, owner of the Ivnya estate. He was witty and resourceful. He was married to Baroness Alexandra Ilyinichna Duka (1820-1871), daughter of General I. M. Duka. They left no offspring.
  • Elizaveta Nikolaevna(1821-1891), maid of honor since 1839, never married. Having no fortune, she lived on a pension, which she received as Karamzin's daughter. After the death of her mother, she lived with her older sister Sophia, in the family of the sister of Princess Ekaterina Meshcherskaya. She was distinguished by intelligence and boundless kindness, taking all other people's sorrows and joys to heart. Writer L. N. Tolstoy called her "an example of selflessness". In the family she was affectionately called - Nikolai Karamzin Street in Kaliningrad

  In Ulyanovsk, a monument to N. M. Karamzin was erected, a memorial sign - in the Ostafyevo estate near Moscow.

  In Veliky Novgorod, on the monument "1000th Anniversary of Russia" among 129 figures of the most prominent personalities in Russian history(for 1862) there is a figure of N. M. Karamzin

  The Karamzin public library in Simbirsk, created in honor of the famous countryman, opened to readers on April 18, 1848.

  In philately

  Postage stamp of the USSR, 1991, 10 kopecks (TsFA 6378, Scott 6053)

  Postage stamp Russia, 2016

  Addresses

  • Saint Petersburg
    • Spring 1816 - the house of E. F. Muravyova - the embankment of the Fontanka River, 25;
    • spring 1816-1822 - Tsarskoye Selo, Sadovaya street, 12;
    • 1818 - autumn 1823 - the house of E. F. Muravyova - embankment of the Fontanka River, 25;
    • autumn 1823-1826 - tenement house Mizhueva - Mokhovaya street, 41;
    • spring - 05/22/1826 - Tauride Palace - Voskresenskaya street, 47.
  • Moscow
    • The estate of the Vyazemsky-Dolgorukovs is the home of his second wife.
    • The house on the corner of Tverskaya and Bryusov Lane, where he wrote "Poor Lisa" - has not been preserved

  
  

The article tells about a brief biography of Karamzin, a well-known Russian writer, who first of all became famous for his many years of historical work.

Biography of Karamzin: the formation of a writer
N. M. Karamzin was born in 1766. Elementary education received at home, then studied in private boarding schools. I have known several languages ​​since childhood.
In 1781, in accordance with the wishes of his father, Karamzin entered the military service. During this period of his life, he begins to try his creative powers and publishes his first translation. After a short time, Karamzin retired.
Since 1785, Karamzin has been living in Moscow, where he is actively engaged in literary activity. Starts a large circle of acquaintances in literary society, participates in the release children's magazine. Future Writer joins the Masons.
At the end of the 80s. writer commits big Adventure through the countries of Europe, where he meets a number of famous European thinkers. Karamzin was in the ranks of the Masonic lodge, and one of the purposes of the trip was to meet with the most important figures of Freemasonry. Probably, these meetings became the reason for the writer's rejection of Masonic ideas, he leaves the lodge. The writer outlined his impressions of the trip in the "Letters of a Russian Traveler", which became the first serious work of the writer. "Letters" brought Karamzin great fame. Returning to Russia, Karamzin created his own magazine, which sold with great success.
In 1792, Karamzin published the story "Poor Lisa", which marked the opening of the era of Russian sentimentalism. Over the following years, he wrote several more works that increased his literary fame. Under the influence of his works, many famous Russian writers of that era began to work. A. S. Pushkin had great respect for his work.
In 1803, Karamzin initiated the creation of the Russian journal Vestnik Evropy. To work in it, the writer attracted many prominent literary figures. The magazine covered a wide range of issues and disseminated popular European ideas in Russia.
The reign of Alexander I became a new stage in the creative path of Karamzin. The writer was appointed court historiographer. He was given the task of covering the entire Russian history from the state point of view.

Biography of Karamzin: the work of a lifetime
Since 1804, Karamzin ceased all his creative activity and began work on the "History of the Russian State", which immortalized his name. The writer devoted all the remaining years of his life to this work. The volumes published as they were written were sold in unheard-of copies at that time, were translated into foreign languages. History was written in literary form which became the reason for its popularity and availability. This was also a factor that significantly reduced the scientific significance of the work. Karamzin was a staunch supporter of absolute autocratic power, which left a strong imprint of subjectivity on his work. Thanks to Karamzin, the so-called. Norman theory the emergence of the Russian state, which became official.
The undoubted merit of Karamzin was undoubtedly the wide coverage of all Russian history, which gave impetus to its further study. Of great scientific value are the notes to the "History", which quote a large number of documentary sources, now lost. Karamzin had full access to all archival materials and was able to keep many of them in his records. The History of the Russian State, despite its shortcomings, became the first comprehensive work on Russian history. It is still one of the fundamental documents in Russian historiography.
In addition to his main work, Karamzin continues to publish articles and reviews. Of great value is the subsequently published extensive correspondence of the writer.
The uprising of the Decembrists and the death of Alexander I seriously affected the health of the writer, already undermined by titanic work. Many researchers believe that these events were the indirect cause of the death of Karamzin, who died in 1826 in St. Petersburg.

Childhood and youth of Karamzin

Karamzin the historian

Karamzin-journalist

Childhood and youth of Karamzin

Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin was born on December 1 (12), 1766 in the village of Mikhailovka, Buzuluk district, Simbirsk province, into a cultured and well-born, but poor noble family, descended on the paternal side from a Tatar root. He inherited his quiet disposition and penchant for daydreaming from his mother Ekaterina Petrovna (née Pazukhina), whom he lost at the age of three. Early orphanhood, loneliness in his father's house strengthened these qualities in the boy's soul: he fell in love with rural solitude, the beauty of the Volga nature, and early became addicted to reading books.

When Karamzin was 13 years old, his father took him to Moscow and sent him to the boarding school of Moscow University professor I.M. Shaden, where the boy received a secular education, studied European languages ​​to perfection and listened to lectures at the university. At the end of the boarding school in 1781, Karamzin left Moscow and settled in St. Preobrazhensky Regiment to which he was assigned since childhood. Friendship with I.I. Dmitriev, future famous poet and a fabulist, strengthened his interest in literature. For the first time Karamzin appeared in print with a translation of the idyll German poet S. Gessner in 1783.

After the death of his father, in January 1784, Karamzin retired with the rank of lieutenant and returned to his homeland in Simbirsk. Here he led a rather scattered lifestyle, typical of a young nobleman of those years. A decisive turn in his fate was made by an accidental acquaintance with I.P. Turgenev, active freemason, writer, associate famous writer and publisher late XVIII century N.I. Novikov. I.P. Turgenev takes Karamzin to Moscow, and for four years the novice writer rotates in Moscow Masonic circles, closely approaches N.I. Novikov, becomes a member of the "Friendly Scientific Society".

Moscow Rosicrucian Freemasons (knights of the gold-pink cross) were characterized by criticism of Voltairianism and the entire heritage of the French encyclopedists-enlighteners. Freemasons considered the human mind to be the lowest level of knowledge and put it in direct dependence on feelings and Divine revelation. The mind outside the control of feelings and faith is not able to correctly understand the world around it, it is a "dark", "demonic" mind, which is the source of all human delusions and trouble.

The book of the French mystic Saint-Martin "On Errors and Truth" was especially popular in the "Friendly Learned Society": it was not by chance that the Rosicrucians were called "Martinists" by their ill-wishers. Saint-Martin declared that the teaching of the Enlightenment about the social contract, based on an atheistic "faith" in the "good nature" of man, is a lie that tramples on the Christian truth about the "obscurity" of human nature by "original sin." It is naive to consider state power as the result of human "creativity". It is the subject of God's special care for sinful humanity and is sent by the Creator to tame and restrain sinful thoughts to which fallen man is subject on this earth.

state power Catherine II, who was under the influence of the French enlighteners, was considered by the Martinists to be a delusion, God's forgiveness for the sins of the entire Petrine period of our history. Russian Masons, among whom Karamzin moved in those years, created a utopia about a beautiful country of believers and happy people, ruled by elected Masons according to the laws of the Masonic religion, without bureaucracy, clerks, policemen, nobles, arbitrariness. In their books they preached this utopia as a program: there would be no need in their state, there would be no mercenaries, no slaves, no taxes; all will learn and live peacefully and sublimely. For this, it is necessary that everyone become Freemasons and be cleansed of filth. In the future Masonic "paradise" there will be no church, no laws, but a free society good people who believe in God, whoever wants.

Karamzin soon realized that, denying the "autocracy" of Catherine II, the Masons hatched plans for their "autocracy", opposing the Masonic heresy to everything else, sinful humanity. With external consonance with the truths Christian religion in the process of their cunning reasoning, one untruth and lie was replaced by another no less dangerous and insidious. Karamzin was also alarmed by the excessive mystical exaltation of his "brothers", so far from the "spiritual sobriety" bequeathed by Orthodoxy. Confused by the veil of secrecy and conspiracy associated with the activity Masonic lodges.

And now Karamzin, like the hero of Tolstoy's epic novel "War and Peace" Pierre Bezukhov, is deeply disappointed in Freemasonry and leaves Moscow, setting off on a long journey through Western Europe. His fears are soon confirmed: the affairs of the entire Masonic organization, as the investigation found out, were run by some dark people who left Prussia and acted in her favor, hiding their goals from the sincerely mistaken, beautiful-hearted Russian "brothers". Karamzin's journey through Western Europe, which lasted a year and a half, marked the writer's final break with the Masonic hobbies of his youth.

"Letters from a Russian Traveler". In the autumn of 1790, Karamzin returned to Russia and from 1791 began to publish the Moscow Journal, which was published for two years and had great success with the Russian reading public. In it, he published two of his main works - "Letters from a Russian Traveler" and the story "Poor Liza".

In "Letters from a Russian Traveler", summing up his travels abroad, Karamzin, following the tradition " sentimental journey"Stern, from the inside rebuilds it in a Russian way. Stern pays almost no attention to the outside world, focusing on a meticulous analysis of his own experiences and feelings. Karamzin, on the contrary, is not closed within his "I", is not too concerned about the subjective content of his emotions. The leading role the outside world plays in his narrative, the author is sincerely interested in its true understanding and its objective assessment.In each country, he notices the most interesting and important: in Germany - mental life (he meets Kant in Koenigsberg and meets Herder and Wieland in Weimar) , in Switzerland - nature, in England - political and public institutions, parliament, jury trials, family life good Puritans. In the writer's responsiveness to the surrounding phenomena of being, in an effort to imbue the spirit different countries and peoples is already anticipated in Karamzin and the gift of translation by V.A. Zhukovsky, and Pushkin's "proteism" with his "universal responsiveness".

Particular emphasis should be placed on the section of Karamzin's Letters concerning France. He visited this country at the moment when the first thunderous peals of the Great French Revolution were heard. He also saw with his own eyes the king and queen, whose days were already numbered, and attended the meetings of the National Assembly. The conclusions made by Karamzin, analyzing the revolutionary upheavals in one of the most advanced countries Western Europe, already anticipated the problems of all Russian literature of the 19th century.

“Any civil society, established over the centuries,” says Karamzin, “is a shrine for good citizens, and in the most imperfect one one must be surprised at the wonderful harmony, improvement, order.“ Utopia ”will always be a dream of a kind heart or can be fulfilled by the inconspicuous action of time, through slow, but the sure, safe successes of reason, enlightenment, the education of good morals. When people are convinced that virtue is necessary for their own happiness, then the golden age will come, and in every government a person will enjoy the peaceful well-being of life. All violent upheavals are disastrous, and every rebel prepares let us betray ourselves, my friends, let us betray ourselves into the power of Providence: it, of course, has its own plan; the hearts of sovereigns are in its hands - and that's enough.

In the "Letters of a Russian Traveler" the thought is ripening, which formed the basis of the "Notes on Ancient and New Russia" compiled by Karamzin, which he handed over to Alexander I in 1811, on the eve of the Napoleonic invasion. In it, the writer inspired the sovereign that the main business of government is not in changing external forms and institutions, but in people, in the level of their moral self-awareness. A beneficent monarch and his skillfully selected governors will successfully replace any written constitution. And therefore, for the good of the fatherland, first of all, good priests are needed, and then folk schools.

The "Letters of a Russian Traveler" showed the typical attitude of a thinking Russian person to historical experience Western Europe and the lessons he learned from it. The West remained for us in the 19th century a school of life both in its best, bright and dark sides. The deeply personal, kinship attitude of an enlightened nobleman to the cultural and historical life of Western Europe, evident in Karamzin's Letters, was well expressed later by F.M. Dostoevsky through the mouth of Versilov, the hero of the novel "The Teenager": "For a Russian, Europe is as precious as Russia: every stone in it is sweet and dear."

Karamzin the historian

It is noteworthy that Karamzin himself did not take part in these disputes, but treated Shishkov with respect, not harboring any resentment towards his criticism. In 1803, he began the main work of his life - the creation of the "History of the Russian State". The idea of ​​this capital work arose from Karamzin long ago. Back in 1790, he wrote: "It hurts, but it must be fair to admit that we still do not have a good history, that is, written with a philosophical mind, with criticism, with noble eloquence. Tacitus, Hume, Robertson, Gibbon - these are examples They say that our history in itself is less entertaining than others: I don’t think, only mind, taste, talent are needed. Of course, Karamzin had all these abilities, but in order to master the capital work associated with the study of a huge number of historical documents, material freedom and independence were also required. When Karamzin began publishing Vestnik Evropy in 1802, he dreamed of the following: “Being not very rich, I published a magazine with the intention that by forced work of five or six years I would buy independence, the opportunity to work freely and ... compose Russian history which has occupied my whole soul for some time."

And then a close acquaintance of Karamzin, Comrade Minister of Education M.N. Muravyov, appealed to Alexander I with a request to help the writer in the implementation of his plan. In a personal decree of December 31, 1803, Karamzin was approved as a court historiographer with an annual pension of two thousand rubles. Thus began the twenty-two-year period of Karamzin's life, associated with the capital work of creating the History of the Russian State.

About how to write history, Karamzin said: “A historian should rejoice and grieve with his people. He should not, guided by predilection, distort facts, exaggerate happiness or belittle disaster in his presentation; he must, above all, be truthful; but he can, he must even convey everything unpleasant, everything shameful in the history of his people with sadness, and speak about what brings honor, about victories, about a flourishing state, with joy and enthusiasm.Only in this way will he become a national writer of everyday life, which, above all, he must be a historian."

"History of the Russian State" Karamzin began to write in Moscow and in the estate of Olsufyevo near Moscow. In 1816, he moved to St. Petersburg: efforts began to publish the completed eight volumes of "History ...". Karamzin became a person close to the court, personally communicated with Alexander I and members of the royal family. The Karamzins spent the summer months in Tsarskoye Selo, where they were visited by the young lyceum student Pushkin. In 1818, eight volumes of "History ..." were published, in 1821 the ninth, dedicated to the era of the reign of Ivan the Terrible, was published, in 1824 - the tenth and eleventh volumes.

"History ..." was created on the basis of the study of a huge actual material, among which key place occupied chronicles. Combining the talent of a scientist-historian with artistic talent, Karamzin skillfully conveyed the very spirit of chronicle sources by quoting them abundantly or skillfully retelling them. Not only the abundance of facts, but also the very attitude of the chronicler towards them was dear to the historian in the annals. Comprehension of the chronicler's point of view is the main task of Karamzin the artist, allowing him to convey the "spirit of the times", the popular opinion about certain events. And Karamzin the historian at the same time made comments. That is why Karamzin's "History ..." combined a description of the emergence and development of Russian statehood with the process of growth and formation of Russian national identity.

By his convictions, Karamzin was a monarchist. He believed that the autocratic form of government was the most organic for such huge country like Russia. But at the same time, he showed the constant danger that lies in wait for autocracy in the course of history - the danger of its degeneration into "autocracy." Refuting the widespread view of peasant revolts and riots as a manifestation of the people's "savagery" and "ignorance", Karamzin showed that popular indignation is generated every time by the retreat of monarchical power from the principles of autocracy towards autocracy and tyranny. Popular indignation in Karamzin is a form of manifestation of the Heavenly Court, Divine punishment for the crimes committed by tyrants. It is through folk life manifests itself, according to Karamzin, the Divine will in history, it is the people who most often turn out to be a powerful tool of Providence. Thus, Karamzin relieves the people of the blame for the rebellion in the event that this rebellion has a higher moral justification.

When Pushkin already at the end of the 1830s became acquainted with this "Note ..." in manuscript, he said: "Karamzin wrote his thoughts about Ancient and New Russia with all the sincerity of a beautiful soul, with all the courage of a strong and deep conviction." "Someday posterity will appreciate ... the nobility of a patriot."

But the "Note ..." caused irritation and displeasure of the conceited Alexander. For five years, with a cold attitude towards Karamzin, he emphasized his resentment. In 1816 there was a rapprochement, but not for long. In 1819, the sovereign, returning from Warsaw, where he opened the Polish Sejm, in one of his sincere conversations with Karamzin announced that he wanted to restore Poland within its ancient borders. This "strange" desire shocked Karamzin so much that he immediately compiled and personally read to the sovereign a new "Note ...":

“You are thinking of restoring the ancient Kingdom of Poland, but is this restoration in accordance with the law of the state good of Russia? Is it in accordance with your sacred duties, with your love for Russia and for justice itself? Can you, with a peaceful conscience, take Belarus, Lithuania, Volhynia from us, Podolia, the approved property of Russia even before your reign? Do not sovereigns swear to preserve the integrity of their powers? These lands were already Russia when Metropolitan Platon presented you with the crown of Monomakh, Peter, Catherine, whom you called the Great ... nikolay karamzin pension historiographer

We would lose not only beautiful regions, but also love for the tsar, we would lose our soul to the fatherland, seeing it as a plaything of autocratic arbitrariness, we would not only be weakened by the reduction of the state, but we would also be humbled in spirit before others and before ourselves. Of course, the palace would not have been empty, and then you would have ministers, generals, but they would not serve the fatherland, but only their own personal benefits, like mercenaries, like true slaves ... "

At the end of a heated argument with Alexander 1 about his policy towards Poland, Karamzin said: “Your Majesty, you have a lot of pride ... I am not afraid of anything, we are both equal before God. What I told you, I would say to your father ... I despise premature liberals; I love only that freedom that no tyrant will take away from me ... I no longer need your favors.

Karamzin passed away on May 22 (June 3), 1826, while working on the twelfth volume of "History ...", where he was supposed to talk about militia Minin and Pozharsky, who liberated Moscow and ended the "troubles" in our Fatherland. The manuscript of this volume broke off at the phrase: "Nutlet did not give up ..."

The significance of the "History of the Russian State" can hardly be overestimated: its appearance in the light was a major act of Russian national self-consciousness. According to Pushkin, Karamzin revealed to the Russians their past, just as Columbus discovered America. The writer in his "History ..." gave a sample of the national epic, forcing each Epoch to speak its own language. Karamzin's work had a great influence on Russian writers. Relying on Karamzin, Pushktn wrote his "Boris Godunov", Ryleev composed his "Dumas". "History of the Russian State" had a direct impact on the development of Russian historical novel from Zagoskin and Lazhechnikov to Leo Tolstoy. "The pure and high glory of Karamzin belongs to Russia," said Pushkin.

Karamzin-journalist

Beginning with the publication of the Moscow Journal, Karamzin appeared before the Russian public opinion as the first professional writer and journalist. Before him, only writers of the third rank dared to live on literary earnings. A cultured nobleman considered literature to be more of a fun and certainly not a serious profession. Karamzin, with his work and constant success with readers, established the authority of writing in the eyes of society and turned literature into a profession, perhaps the most honorable and respected. There is an opinion that the enthusiastic youths of St. Petersburg dreamed of at least walking to Moscow, just to look at famous Karamzin. In the "Moscow Journal" and subsequent editions, Karamzin not only expanded the circle of readers of a good Russian book, but also brought up aesthetic taste, prepared cultural society to the perception of the poetry of V.A. Zhukovsky and A.S. Pushkin. His journal, his literary almanacs were no longer limited to Moscow and St. Petersburg, but penetrated into the Russian provinces. In 1802, Karamzin began publishing Vestnik Evropy, a magazine not only literary, but also socio-political, which gave a prototype to the so-called "thick" Russian magazines that existed throughout the 19th century and survived until the end of the 20th century.