A brief biography is set out in this article.
Nikolai Karamzin short biography
Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin- historian, the largest Russian writer of the era of sentimentalism. Creator of the "History of the Russian State"
Was born December 12 (December 1 O.S.) 1766 in the estate, located in the Simbirsk district in a noble family. First he received a home education, after which he 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.
Since 1781, at the insistence of his father, he served in the Preobrazhensky Regiment, where he began to write. In 1784, after the death of his father, having retired with the rank of lieutenant, he finally parted with military service. Living in Simbirsk, he entered Masonic Lodge.
From 1785 he moved to Moscow, where he met N.I. Novikov and other writers, joins the "Friendly Scientific Society", takes part in the publication of the magazine "Children's Reading for the Heart and Mind", which became the first Russian magazine for children.
During the year (1789-1790) Karamzin traveled around 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, which brought fame to the author.
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.
A new period in Karamzin's life 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. The next three volumes, published in the following years, were quickly translated into several European languages, and the 12th, final, volume saw the light after the death of the author.
Date of birth: December 12, 1766
Date of death: June 3, 1826
Place of birth: Znamenskoye estate in the Kazan province
Nikolai Karamzin- the great historian and writer of the 18-19 centuries. Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin was born in the family estate of Znamenskoye in the Kazan province on December 12, 1766.
His lineage came from Crimean Tatars, his father was an average landowner, retired officers, his mother died when Nikolai Mikhailovich was still a child. His father was engaged in his upbringing, he also attracted tutors and nannies. Karamzin spent all his childhood on the estate, received an excellent home education, read almost all the books in his mother's extensive library.
Love for foreign progressive literature had a great influence on his work. The future writer, publicist, famous critic, honorary member of the Academy of Sciences, historiographer and reformer of Russian literature, loved to read F. Emin, Rollin and other European masters of the word.
After receiving home education, Karamzin entered a noble boarding school in Simbirsk, in 1778 his father attached him to an army regiment, which gave Karamzin the opportunity to study at the most prestigious Moscow boarding school at Moscow University. I.I. was in charge of the boarding house. Shaden, under his strict guidance, Karamzin studied humanitarian sciences and also attended lectures at the university.
Military service:
The father was sure that Nikolai should continue to serve the fatherland in the army, and then Karamzin ended up in active service in the Preobrazhensky Regiment. A military career did not attract the future writer and he almost immediately took a year off, and in 1784 he received a decree on his retirement with the rank of lieutenant.
Secular period:
Karamzin was very famous in secular society, he gets acquainted with the most different people, makes a lot of useful connections, enters the Masonic society, and also begins to work in the literary field. He is actively involved in the development of the first children's magazine in Russia "Children's Reading for the Heart and Mind".
In 1789, he decides to go on a big trip around Europe, during which he met with E. Kant, visited the height of the Paris Revolution and witnessed the fall of the Bastille. A large number of European events allowed him to collect a large amount of material for the creation of "Letters of a Russian Traveler", which immediately gain immense popularity in society and are accepted with a bang by critics.
Creation:
After completing his European journey, he took up literature. He established his own "Moscow Journal", and the brightest "star" of his sentimental work, "Poor Liza", was published in it. Russian sentimentalism unconditionally recognizes him as the leader after the release of this creation. In 1803, he was noticed by the emperor himself and became a historiographer. At this point, he begins to work on the huge work of his life, "The History of the Russian State." It is worth noting that when compiling this monumental work, he advocated the preservation of all orders, showed his conservatism and doubts about any state reforms.
In 1810 he received the Order of St. Vladimir III degree, six years later he received high rank Councilor of State and became a holder of the Order of St. Anna, I degree. Two years later, the first 8 volumes of the "History of the Russian State" saw the light, the work was instantly sold out, it was reprinted many times, and also translated into several European languages. He was close to the imperial family, and therefore spoke out for the preservation of the absolute monarchy. He never finished his enormous work, the XII volume was published after his death.
Personal life:
Karamzin married Elizaveta Ivanovna Protasova in 1801. The marriage was short-lived, the wife died after the birth of her daughter Sophia. The second wife of Nikolai Karamzin was Ekaterina Andreevna Kolyvanova.
Karamzin died due to an aggravated cold, which he received after the Decembrist uprising on Senate Square. He rests at the Tikhvin cemetery. Karamzin was one of the fundamentalists of Russian sentimentalism, reformed the Russian language, added many new words to the vocabulary. He was one of the first creators of a comprehensive generalizing work on the history of Russia.
Important milestones in the life of Nikolai Karamzin:
Born in 1766
- Attribution to the army regiments in 1774
- Admission to the Schaden boarding house in 1778
- Active army service in 1781
- Retirement with the rank of lieutenant in 1784
- Work in the first children's magazine in 1787
- Beginning of a two-year trip to Europe in 1789
- Publishing house of the new "Moscow Journal" in 1791
- Publication of "Poor Lisa" in 1792
- Marriage to Elizabeth Protasova in 1801
- The beginning of the publication of "Bulletin of Europe" and the death of his wife in 1802
- Obtaining the position of a historiographer and starting work on the huge work "History of the Russian State" in 1803
- Marriage to Ekaterina Kolyvanova in 1804
- Receiving the Order of St. Vladimir III degree in 1810
- Obtaining the rank of State Councilor, as well as receiving the Order of St. Anne, I degree
- Obtaining the title of honorary member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, membership in the same academy since 1818
- Death in 1826
Interesting facts from the biography of Nikolai Karamzin:
Karamzin belongs popular expression about Russian reality, when he was asked about what is happening in Russia: "They steal"
- Researchers and critics believe that "Poor Lisa" is named after Protasova
- Karamzin's daughter Sophia was accepted by secular society, became a maid of honor at the imperial court, was friends with Lermontov and Pushkin
- Karamzin had 4 daughters and 5 sons from his second marriage
- Pushkin was a frequent guest at the Karamzins, but his love for Ekaterina Kolyvanova caused discord between writers
According to one version, he was born in the village of Znamenskoye, Simbirsk district (now the Mainsky district of the Ulyanovsk region), according to another, in the village of Mikhailovka, Buzuluk district, Kazan province (now the village of Preobrazhenka, Orenburg region). IN Lately experts were in favor of the "Orenburg" version of the writer's birthplace.
Karamzin belonged to a noble family, descending from a Tatar murza named Kara-Murza. Nicholas was the second son of a retired captain, a landowner. He lost his mother early, she died in 1769. By the second marriage, my father married Ekaterina Dmitrieva, the aunt of the poet and fabulist Ivan Dmitriev.
Karamzin spent his childhood years in his father's estate, studied in Simbirsk at the noble boarding school of Pierre Fauvel. At the age of 14, he began to study at the Moscow private boarding school of Professor Johann Schaden, while simultaneously attending classes at Moscow University.
Since 1781, Karamzin began serving in the Preobrazhensky Regiment in St. Petersburg, where he was transferred from the army regiments (he was enrolled in service in 1774), received the rank of lieutenant.
During this period, he became close to the poet Ivan Dmitriev and began literary activity translation from German "Conversation of the Austrian Maria Theresa with our Empress Elisabeth in the Champs Elysees" (not preserved). The first printed work of Karamzin was the translation of Solomon Gesner's idyll "Wooden Leg" (1783).
In 1784, after the death of his father, Karamzin retired with the rank of lieutenant and never served again. After a short stay in Simbirsk, where he joined the Masonic lodge, Karamzin moved to Moscow, was introduced into the circle of the publisher Nikolai Novikov and settled in a house that belonged to the Novikov Friendly Scientific Society.
In 1787-1789 he was an editor in the magazine "Children's Reading for the Heart and Mind" published by Novikov, where he published his first story "Eugene and Julia" (1789), poems and translations. He translated into Russian the tragedy "Julius Caesar" (1787) by William Shakespeare and "Emilia Galotti" (1788) by Gotthold Lessing.
In May 1789, Nikolai Mikhailovich went abroad and until September 1790 traveled around Europe, visiting Germany, Switzerland, France and England.
Returning to Moscow, Karamzin began to publish the "Moscow Journal" (1791-1792), which published the "Letters of a Russian Traveler" written by him, in 1792 the story "Poor Lisa" was published, as well as the stories "Natalia, the Boyar's Daughter" and "Liodor ", which became examples of Russian sentimentalism.
Karamzin. In the first Russian poetic anthology Aonides (1796-1799) compiled by Karamzin, he included his own poems, as well as poems by his contemporaries - Gavriil Derzhavin, Mikhail Kheraskov, Ivan Dmitriev. In "Aonides" the letter "ё" of the Russian alphabet appeared for the first time.
Part of the prose translations Karamzin combined in the "Pantheon of Foreign Literature" (1798), brief characteristics Russian writers were given to them for publication "Pantheon of Russian authors, or Collection of their portraits with remarks" (1801-1802). Karamzin's response to the accession to the throne of Alexander I was "Historical eulogy to Catherine II" (1802).
In 1802-1803, Nikolai Karamzin published the literary and political journal Vestnik Evropy, in which, along with articles on literature and art, issues of foreign and domestic policy of Russia, history and political life foreign countries. In the "Bulletin of Europe" he published works in Russian medieval history"Martha the Posadnitsa, or the Conquest of Novgorod", "The news of Martha the Posadnitsa, taken from the life of St. Zosima", "Journey around Moscow", "Historical memories and remarks on the way to the Trinity", etc.
Karamzin developed a language reform aimed at rapprochement book language with the colloquial speech of an educated society. Limiting the use of Slavonicisms, widely using language borrowings and calques from European languages (mainly from French), introducing new words, Karamzin created a new literary style.
On November 12 (October 31, old style), 1803, by personal imperial decree of Alexander I, Nikolai Karamzin was appointed historiographer "to compose a complete History of the Fatherland." From that time until the end of his days, he worked on the main work of his life - "The History of the Russian State." Libraries and archives were opened for him. In 1816-1824, the first 11 volumes of the work were published in St. Petersburg;
In 1818, Karamzin became a member of the Russian Academy, an honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. He received a real state councilor and was awarded the Order of St. Anne, 1st degree.
During the first months of 1826, he suffered pneumonia, which ruined his health. On June 3 (May 22, old style), 1826, Nikolai Karamzin died in St. Petersburg. He was buried at the Tikhvin cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.
Karamzin was married with a second marriage to Ekaterina Kolyvanova (1780-1851), the sister of the poet Pyotr Vyazemsky, who was the mistress of the best literary salon Petersburg, where the poets Vasily Zhukovsky, Alexander Pushkin, Mikhail Lermontov, writer Nikolai Gogol visited. She helped the historiographer by proofreading the 12-volume History, and after his death she completed the publication of the last volume.
His first wife, Elizaveta Protasova, died in 1802. From his first marriage, Karamzin left a daughter, Sophia (1802-1856), who became a maid of honor, was the mistress of a literary salon, a friend of the poets Alexander Pushkin and Mikhail Lermontov.
In his second marriage, the historiographer had nine children, five survived to a conscious age. Daughter Ekaterina (1806-1867) married Prince Meshchersky, her son - writer Vladimir Meshchersky (1839-1914).
Nikolay Karamzin's daughter Elizaveta (1821-1891) became a lady-in-waiting of the imperial court, son Andrei (1814-1854) died in the Crimean War. Alexander Karamzin (1816-1888) served in the guards and at the same time wrote poems that were published by the magazines Sovremennik and " Domestic notes". Younger son Vladimir (1819-1869)
Nikolai Karamzin, whose biography begins on December 1, 1766, was born in a poor noble family of educated and enlightened parents. He received his first education in the private boarding school of Professor Shaden. After that, like many other secular young people, he went to serve in the guards regiment, which was considered one of the best.
It was at this time that Nikolai Karamzin, short biography which is presented in this article, for the first time clearly realizes the need for his own path, different from the usual: a successful career, position in society, ranks and honors. All this did not attract the future writer at all. Having served in the army less than a year, he retired in 1784 in the low rank of lieutenant and returned to his native Simbirsk.
Life in provincial Simbirsk
Outwardly, Karamzin lives a chaotic, scattered life of a secular man, shining with metropolitan manners and gallant treatment of ladies. Nikolai Mikhailovich dresses fashionably, takes care of his appearance, plays cards. At provincial balls he was a dexterous and brilliant cavalier. But all these are only external manifestations of his character.
At this time, Karamzin, whose biography is rich in quite unexpected twists and events, seriously thinks about his place in life, reads a lot, meets interesting people. He has already received a good education, but continues to develop, acquiring new knowledge in various fields. Most of all Karamzin is interested in history, literature and philosophy.
Family friend Ivan Petrovich Turgenev, a freemason and writer, who was in great friendship with Nikolai Ivanovich Novikov (who was also a freemason, a talented journalist, book publisher and satirical writer), played a certain role in the life of the future writer. On his advice, Nikolai Mikhailovich moved to Moscow and became acquainted with Novikov's circle. This is how it started new period in his life spanning from 1785 to 1789. Let's say a few words about it separately.
Getting to know the Masons
Four years of communication with the circle of Masons greatly changed the image of Karamzin, his life and thinking. Note that in Russia it has not yet been fully studied. It long time viewed by science as largely reactionary. However, in recent years, the point of view on this movement has changed somewhat.
Masonic lodges are special moral and religious circles, founded for the first time in England in the eighteenth century, and later in other states, including our country. At the heart of the code that the Masons professed is the need for spiritual self-improvement of a person. They also had their own political programs, largely related to religious and moral ones. The activities of the Freemasons were characterized by theatrical rituals, mystery, chivalrous and other rituals that had a mystical connotation. She was saturated intellectually and spiritually, distinguished by high moral principles and seriousness. The Masons kept themselves apart. Such an atmosphere, described in general terms, has surrounded Karamzin since then. He began to communicate with the most interesting people: Nikolai Ivanovich Novikov (see photo below) and Alexei Mikhailovich Kutuzov. Influence so extraordinary personalities gave powerful push to the development of writing talent and its creative self-determination.
First, Karamzin translated fiction into Russian, and later began to write his first poetic works for the magazine "Children's Reading", the publisher of which was Nikolai Ivanovich Novikov. It was during this period that he realized his writing talent.
But now the period of self-determination ends, and with it the Masonic period of the young writer's life. The framework of Masonic lodges becomes cramped for him, he wants to know life in its richness, diversity and diversity. Becoming a professional writer requires firsthand experience of its good and bad sides. Therefore, Karamzin, whose biography is considered in the framework of this publication, leaves the Masons and goes on a journey.
Euro-trip
To do this, Nikolai Mikhailovich mortgaged his ancestral estate and decided to spend all the money received on a trip to Europe in order to describe it later. It was a very bold and unusual step for that time. Indeed, for Karamzin, it meant giving up living on the income from the hereditary estate and providing for himself at the expense of the labor of serfs. Now Nikolai Mikhailovich had to earn a living by his own work as a professional writer.
Abroad, he spent about a year and a half, traveling around Switzerland, Germany, England and France. Karamzin, whose biography is described in this article, got acquainted with interesting and outstanding people of these states, not at all feeling like a provincial, representing his country very worthily. He watched, he listened, he wrote. Nikolai Mikhailovich was attracted by people's dwellings, historical monuments, factories, universities, street festivities, taverns,
He evaluated and compared the characters and customs of one or another nationality, studied the peculiarities of speech, wrote down descriptions of street scenes in his book, kept records of various conversations and his own thoughts. In the autumn of 1790, Karamzin returned to Russia, after which he began to publish the Moscow Journal, where he placed his articles, novels, and poems. The famous "Letters of a Russian Traveler" and "Poor Liza" which brought him great fame were printed here.
Edition of almanacs
Over the next few years, Nikolai Mikhailovich published almanacs, among which was the three-volume almanac "Aonides", written in verse, as well as the collection "My trinkets", which includes various stories and poems. Fame comes to Karamzin. He is known and loved not only in two capitals (St. Petersburg and Moscow), but throughout Russia.
Historical story "Marfa Posadnitsa"
One of the first works of Karamzin written in prose is "Marfa Posadnitsa" published in 1803 (genre - historical tale). It was written long before the fascination with the novels of Walter Scott began in Russia. This story showed Karamzin's attraction to antiquity, the classics as an unattainable ideal of morality, which was outlined as early as the mid-1790s in the utopia "Athenian Life".
In an epic, antique form, the struggle of the Novgorodians with Moscow was presented in his work by Nikolai Karamzin. Posadnitsa touched upon important ideological issues: about the monarchy and the republic, about the people and leaders, about the "divine" historical predestination and disobedience to it individual. The author's sympathies were clearly on the side of the people of Novgorod and Martha, and not of monarchist Moscow. This story also revealed the ideological contradictions of the writer. Historical truth was undoubtedly on the side of the Novgorodians. However, Novgorod is doomed, bad omens are harbingers of the imminent death of the city, and later they are justified.
The story of "Poor Liza"
But the story "Poor Lisa", published back in 1792, had the greatest success. Frequently found in Western literature In the eighteenth century, the story of how a nobleman seduced a peasant woman or a bourgeois woman was first developed in Russian literature in this story by Karamzin. Biography morally pure, beautiful girl, as well as the idea that such tragic fates can also occur in the reality around us, contributed to the enormous success of this work. It was also important that N.M. Karamzin ("Poor Liza" became his " calling card") taught his readers to notice the beauty of their native nature and love it. The humanistic orientation of the work was invaluable for the literature of that time.
The story "Natalya, the boyar's daughter"
In the same year, 1792, the story "Natalia, the Boyar's Daughter" was born. It is not as well known as "Poor Liza", but it touches on very important moral issues that worried N.M.'s contemporaries. Karamzin. One of the most important in the work is the problem of honor.
Alexei, beloved of Natalia, was an honest man who served the Russian Tsar. Therefore, he confessed to his "crime", that he had kidnapped the daughter of Matvey Andreev, the sovereign's beloved boyar. But the tsar blesses their marriage, seeing that Alexei is a worthy person. The girl's father does the same. Finishing the story, the author writes that the newlyweds lived happily ever after and were buried together. They were distinguished by devotion to the sovereign.
In the story created by Karamzin ("The Boyar's Daughter"), the question of honor is inseparable from service to the tsar. Happy is he whom the sovereign loves. Therefore, the life of this family is so successful, because virtue is rewarded.
Deserved fame
Provincial youth read the works of Karamzin. Inherent in it works easy, colloquial, natural style, elegant and at the same time democratic artistic manner were revolutionary in terms of the perception of works by the public. For the first time, the concept of fascinating, interesting reading is being formed, and with it the literary worship of the author.
Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin, whose biography and work attracted many people, enjoys great fame. Enthusiastic young people from all over the country come to Moscow just to look at their favorite writer. Lizin Pond, which became famous due to the events of the story "Poor Lisa" taking place here, located in the village of Kolomenskoye near Moscow, begins to play the role of a symbolic place, people come here to confess their love or mourn alone.
Work on the "History of the Russian State"
After some time, Karamzin abruptly and unexpectedly changes his life. Leaving fiction, he takes on a huge historical work - "The History of the Russian State." The idea of this work, apparently, had long since matured in his imagination.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century began his favorite grandson of Catherine II. At first he was a liberal and enlightened ruler. In historical narratives, even such a name as "Alexander's spring" entered.
Friend of Karamzin and former teacher young emperor M.N. Muravyov petitioned for Nikolai Mikhailovich to be appointed to the post of court historiographer. Such an appointment was very important for Karamzin and opened up great opportunities for him. Now he received a pension (as we know, the writer had no other means of subsistence). But most importantly, he was given access to historical archives, which were of great importance. Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin, whose biography is presented to your attention, plunged headlong into the work: he read manuscripts and books on history, sorted out ancient folios, wrote out, compared.
It is hard to imagine what a great job the historian Karamzin did. Indeed, the creation of twelve volumes of his "History of the Russian State" took twenty-three years of hard work, from 1803 to 1826. Presentation historical events differed, as far as possible, impartiality and reliability, as well as an excellent artistic style. The narrative was brought to the "time of troubles" in the history of the Russian state. The death of Nikolai Mikhailovich did not allow the implementation of a large-scale plan to the end.
The works of Karamzin, his works, published in twelve volumes, followed one after another, caused numerous reader responses. Perhaps for the first time in history, a printed book provoked such a surge in the inhabitants of Russia. Karamzin opened his history to the people, explained his past.
The content of the work was perceived very ambiguously. Thus, freedom-loving youth was inclined to challenge the support of the monarchical system, which was shown on the pages of the "History of the Russian State" by the historian Karamzin. And the young Pushkin even wrote daring epigrams for a respectable historian in those years. In his opinion, this work proved "the necessity of autocracy and the charms of the whip."
Karamzin, whose books left no one indifferent, was always restrained in response to criticism, calmly perceived both ridicule and praise.
Opinion on the "History of the Russian State" by A.S. Pushkin
Having moved to live in St. Petersburg, starting from 1816, he spends every summer in Tsarskoye Selo with his family. The Karamzins are hospitable hosts, hosting in their living room such famous poets as Vyazemsky, Zhukovsky and Batyushkov, as well as educated youth. Young A.S. often visited here. Pushkin, listening with rapture to how the elders read poetry, caring for his wife N.M. Karamzin, no longer young, but charming and smart woman, to which he even dared to send a declaration of love. The wise and experienced Karamzin forgave the young man's trick, as well as his impudent epigrams to "History".
Ten years later, Pushkin, already being mature man, look at it differently great work Nikolai Mikhailovich. In 1826, while in exile in Mikhailovskoye, he wrote in a "Note on public education"that the history of Russia should be taught according to Karamzin, and will call this work not only the work of a great historian, but also the feat of an honest man.
On the part of Alexander Sergeevich, this was not a gesture of loyalty towards the authorities with the hope of pardon and return from exile. Far from it, because a year later, after his return, Pushkin will again return to the "History", in Once again appreciating her.
last years of life
Karamzin's characterization would be incomplete without a description of the last years of his life. The last ten years have passed very happily. He was friends with the tsar himself, Alexander I. Friends often walked together in Tsarskoye Selo park, talking for a long time, peacefully and sedately. It is quite possible that the emperor, realizing the nobility and decency of Nikolai Mikhailovich, told him much more than the palace officials. Karamzin often disagreed with the arguments and thoughts of Alexander I. However, he did not take offense at all, but listened carefully and took note. "A note on the ancient and new Russia", which the writer handed over to the emperor, contains many points in which the historian did not agree with the policy of the government of that time.
Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin, whose books were very popular during his lifetime, did not aspire to either awards or ranks. True, it must be said that he had, to which, however, he always treated with light irony and humor.
December 12 (December 1, according to the old style), 1766, Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin was born - Russian writer, poet, editor of the Moscow Journal (1791-1792) and the Vestnik Evropy magazine (1802-1803), honorary member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences ( 1818), full member of the Imperial Russian Academy, historian, the first and only court historiographer, one of the first reformers of the Russian literary language, the founding father of Russian historiography and Russian sentimentalism.
|
|
Contribution of N.M. Karamzin in Russian culture can hardly be overestimated. Remembering everything that this man managed to do in the brief 59 years of his earthly existence, it is impossible to ignore the fact that it was Karamzin who largely determined the face of Russian XIX century - the "golden" age of Russian poetry, literature, historiography, source studies and other humanitarian areas of scientific knowledge. Thanks to linguistic searches aimed at popularizing the literary language of poetry and prose, Karamzin presented Russian literature to his contemporaries. And if Pushkin is “our everything”, then Karamzin can be safely called “our everything” from the very capital letter. Without him, Vyazemsky, Pushkin, Baratynsky, Batyushkov and other poets of the so-called "Pushkin galaxy" would hardly have been possible.
“Whatever you turn to in our literature, Karamzin laid the foundation for everything: journalism, criticism, a story, a novel, a historical story, publicism, the study of history,” V.G. Belinsky.
"History of the Russian State" N.M. Karamzin became not just the first Russian-language book on the history of Russia, available to the general reader. Karamzin gave the Russian people Fatherland in the full sense of the word. They say that, slamming the eighth and last volume, Count Fyodor Tolstoy, nicknamed the American, exclaimed: “It turns out that I have a Fatherland!” And he was not alone. All his contemporaries suddenly found out that they live in a country with a thousand-year history and they have something to be proud of. Before that, it was believed that before Peter I, who opened a “window to Europe”, there was nothing in Russia worthy of attention: the dark ages of backwardness and barbarism, boyar autocracy, primordially Russian laziness and bears on the streets ...
The multi-volume work of Karamzin was not completed, but, having been published in the first quarter XIX century, he completely determined historical identity nation on long years forward. All subsequent historiography could not give rise to anything more in line with the “imperial” self-consciousness that had developed under the influence of Karamzin. Karamzin's views left a deep, indelible mark on all areas of Russian culture of the 19th-20th centuries, forming the foundations national mentality, which, ultimately, determined the development of Russian society and the state as a whole.
It is significant that in the 20th century, the edifice of Russian great power, which had collapsed under the attacks of revolutionary internationalists, revived again by the 1930s - under different slogans, with different leaders, in a different ideological package. but ... The very approach to historiography national history, both before 1917 and after, in many respects remained jingoistic and sentimental in Karamzin's style.
N.M. Karamzin - early years
N.M. Karamzin was born on December 12 (1st century), 1766, in the village of Mikhailovka, Buzuluk district, Kazan province (according to other sources, in the family estate of Znamenskoye, Simbirsk district, Kazan province). Little is known about his early years: there are no letters, no diaries, no memories of Karamzin himself about his childhood. He did not even know exactly his year of birth and for almost his entire life he believed that he was born in 1765. Only in his old age, having discovered the documents, he “looked younger” by one year.
The future historiographer grew up in the estate of his father, retired captain Mikhail Yegorovich Karamzin (1724-1783), a middle-class Simbirsk nobleman. He received a good education at home. In 1778 he was sent to Moscow to the boarding house of professor of Moscow University I.M. Shaden. At the same time he attended lectures at the university in 1781-1782.
After graduating from the boarding school, in 1783 Karamzin joined the Preobrazhensky Regiment in St. Petersburg, where he met the young poet and future employee of his Moscow Journal, Dmitriev. At the same time, he published his first translation of S. Gesner's idyll "Wooden Leg".
In 1784, Karamzin retired as a lieutenant and never served again, which was perceived in the then society as a challenge. After a short stay in Simbirsk, where he joined the Golden Crown Masonic lodge, Karamzin moved to Moscow and was introduced into the circle of N. I. Novikov. He settled in a house that belonged to Novikov's "Friendly Scientific Society", became the author and one of the publishers of the first children's magazine "Children's Reading for the Heart and Mind" (1787-1789), founded by Novikov. At the same time, Karamzin became close to the Pleshcheev family. For many years he was connected with N. I. Pleshcheeva by a tender platonic friendship. In Moscow, Karamzin publishes his first translations, in which interest in European and Russian history is clearly visible: Thomson's The Four Seasons, Janlis's Village Evenings, W. Shakespeare's tragedy Julius Caesar, Lessing's tragedy Emilia Galotti.
In 1789, Karamzin's first original story "Eugene and Yulia" appeared in the magazine "Children's Reading ...". The reader hardly noticed it.
Travel to Europe
According to many biographers, Karamzin was not disposed towards the mystical side of Freemasonry, remaining a supporter of its active educational direction. To be more precise, by the end of the 1780s, Karamzin had already “been ill” with Masonic mysticism in its Russian version. Possibly, cooling towards Freemasonry was one of the reasons for his departure to Europe, where he spent more than a year (1789-90), visiting Germany, Switzerland, France and England. In Europe, he met and talked (except for influential Masons) with European "rulers of minds": I. Kant, J. G. Herder, C. Bonnet, I. K. Lavater, J. F. Marmontel, visited museums, theaters, secular salons. In Paris, Karamzin listened to O. G. Mirabeau, M. Robespierre and other revolutionaries in the National Assembly, saw many outstanding politicians and knew many of them. Apparently, the revolutionary Paris of 1789 showed Karamzin how much a person can be influenced by the word: the printed word, when the Parisians read pamphlets and leaflets with keen interest; oral, when revolutionary orators spoke and controversy arose (experience that could not be acquired at that time in Russia).
Karamzin did not have a very enthusiastic opinion about English parliamentarism (perhaps following in the footsteps of Rousseau), but he highly valued the level of civilization at which English society as a whole was located.
Karamzin - journalist, publisher
In the autumn of 1790, Karamzin returned to Moscow and soon organized the publication of the monthly "Moscow Journal" (1790-1792), in which most of the "Letters of a Russian Traveler" were printed, telling about the revolutionary events in France, the story "Liodor", "Poor Lisa" , "Natalia, Boyar's Daughter", "Flor Silin", essays, short stories, critical articles and poems. Karamzin attracted the entire literary elite of that time to cooperate in the journal: his friends Dmitriev and Petrov, Kheraskov and Derzhavin, Lvov, Neledinsky-Meletsky, and others. Karamzin's articles asserted a new literary direction- sentimentalism.
The Moscow Journal had only 210 regular subscribers, but for the end of the 18th century it was the same as a hundred thousand circulation at the end 19th century. Moreover, the magazine was read by those who “made the weather” in the literary life of the country: students, officials, young officers, petty employees of various government agencies (“archival youths”).
After the arrest of Novikov, the authorities became seriously interested in the publisher of the Moscow Journal. During interrogations in the Secret Expedition, they ask: did Novikov send the “Russian traveler” abroad with a “special assignment”? The Novikovites were people of high decency and, of course, Karamzin was shielded, but because of these suspicions, the magazine had to be stopped.
In the 1790s, Karamzin published the first Russian almanacs - Aglaya (1794-1795) and Aonides (1796-1799). In 1793, when the Jacobin dictatorship was established at the third stage of the French Revolution, shocking Karamzin with its cruelty, Nikolai Mikhailovich abandoned some of his former views. The dictatorship aroused in him serious doubts about the possibility of mankind to achieve prosperity. He sharply condemned the revolution and all violent ways of transforming society. The philosophy of despair and fatalism permeates his new works: the stories "Bornholm Island" (1793); "Sierra Morena" (1795); poems "Melancholy", "Message to A. A. Pleshcheev", etc.
During this period, real literary fame comes to Karamzin.
Fedor Glinka: “Out of 1200 cadets, a rare one did not repeat by heart any page from the Island of Bornholm”.
The name Erast, previously completely unpopular, is increasingly found in noble lists. There are rumors of successful and unsuccessful suicides in the spirit of Poor Lisa. The venomous memoirist Vigel recalls that important Moscow nobles had already begun to make do with “almost like an equal with a thirty-year-old retired lieutenant”.
In July 1794, Karamzin's life almost ended: on the way to the estate, in the wilderness of the steppe, robbers attacked him. Karamzin miraculously escaped, having received two light wounds.
In 1801, he married Elizaveta Protasova, a neighbor on the estate, whom he had known since childhood - at the time of the wedding they had known each other for almost 13 years.
Reformer of the Russian literary language
Already in the early 1790s, Karamzin seriously thought about the present and future of Russian literature. He writes to a friend: “I am deprived of the pleasure of reading a lot on mother tongue. We are still poor in writers. We have several poets who deserve to be read." Of course, there were and are Russian writers: Lomonosov, Sumarokov, Fonvizin, Derzhavin, but there are no more than a dozen significant names. Karamzin was one of the first to understand that it was not about talent - there are no fewer talents in Russia than in any other country. It’s just that Russian literature can’t move away from the long-obsolete traditions of classicism, embedded in mid-eighteenth century, the only theorist M.V. Lomonosov.
The reform of the literary language carried out by Lomonosov, as well as the theory of "three calms" he created, met the tasks of the transition period from ancient to new literature. A complete rejection of the use of the usual Church Slavonicisms in the language was then still premature and inappropriate. But the evolution of the language, which began under Catherine II, continued actively. The "Three Calms" proposed by Lomonosov did not rely on a living colloquial speech, but on the witty thought of a theoretical writer. And this theory often put the authors in a difficult position: they had to use heavy, outdated Slavic expressions where in spoken language they have long been replaced by others, softer and more elegant. The reader sometimes could not "break through" through the heaps of obsolete Slavic words used in church books and records in order to understand the essence of this or that secular work.
Karamzin decided to bring literary language to conversation. Therefore, one of his main goals was the further liberation of literature from Church Slavonicism. In the preface to the second book of the almanac "Aonides" he wrote: "One thunder of words only deafens us and never reaches the heart."
The second feature of Karamzin's "new style" was the simplification of syntactic constructions. The writer abandoned lengthy periods. In the Pantheon of Russian Writers, he resolutely stated: “Lomonosov’s prose cannot serve as a model for us at all: its long periods are tiring, the arrangement of words is not always in line with the flow of thoughts.”
Unlike Lomonosov, Karamzin strove to write in short, easily visible sentences. This is to this day a model of a good style and an example to follow in literature.
The third merit of Karamzin was to enrich the Russian language with a number of successful neologisms, which have become firmly established in the main vocabulary. Among the innovations proposed by Karamzin are such widely known words in our time as “industry”, “development”, “refinement”, “concentrate”, “touching”, “entertainment”, “humanity”, “public”, “ generally useful", "influence" and a number of others.
Creating neologisms, Karamzin mainly used the method of tracing French words: “interesting” from “interesting”, “refined” from “raffine”, “development” from “developpement”, “touching” from “touchant”.
We know that even in the Petrine era, many foreign words appeared in the Russian language, but they for the most part replaced words that already existed in the Slavic language and were not necessary. In addition, these words were often taken in a raw form, so they were very heavy and clumsy (“fortecia” instead of “fortress”, “victory” instead of “victory”, etc.). Karamzin, on the contrary, tried to give foreign words Russian ending, adapting them to the requirements of Russian grammar: “serious”, “moral”, “aesthetic”, “audience”, “harmony”, “enthusiasm”, etc.
In his reforming activities, Karamzin focused on the living colloquial speech of educated people. And this was the key to the success of his work - he does not write scientific treatises, but travel notes (“Letters from a Russian Traveler”), sentimental stories (“Bornholm Island”, “Poor Liza”), poems, articles, translates from French, English and German .
"Arzamas" and "Conversation"
It is not surprising that most of the young writers, modern Karamzin, accepted his transformation with a bang and willingly followed him. But, like any reformer, Karamzin had staunch opponents and worthy opponents.
A.S. stood at the head of Karamzin's ideological opponents. Shishkov (1774-1841) - admiral, patriot, famous statesman that time. An Old Believer, an admirer of Lomonosov's language, Shishkov at first glance was a classicist. But this point of view requires essential reservations. In contrast to the Europeanism of Karamzin, Shishkov put forward the idea of the nationality of literature - the most important sign of a romantic worldview far from classicism. It turns out that Shishkov also adjoined romantics, but only not progressive, but conservative direction. His views can be recognized as a kind of forerunner of later Slavophilism and pochvenism.
In 1803, Shishkov delivered a Discourse on the Old and New Syllabus Russian language". He reproached the “Karamzinists” for having succumbed to the temptation of European revolutionary false teachings and advocated the return of literature to oral folk art, to popular vernacular, to Orthodox Church Slavonic book learning.
Shishkov was not a philologist. He dealt with the problems of literature and the Russian language, rather, as an amateur, so Admiral Shishkov's attacks on Karamzin and his literary supporters sometimes looked not so much scientifically substantiated as unsubstantiated and ideological. The language reform of Karamzin seemed to Shishkov, a warrior and defender of the Fatherland, unpatriotic and anti-religious: “Language is the soul of a people, a mirror of morals, a true indicator of enlightenment, an unceasing witness to deeds. Where there is no faith in the hearts, there is no piety in the tongue. Where there is no love for the fatherland, there the language does not express domestic feelings..
Shishkov reproached Karamzin for the immoderate use of barbarisms (“era”, “harmony”, “catastrophe”), neologisms disgusted him (“revolution” as a translation of the word “revolution”), artificial words cut his ear: “future”, “readiness” and etc.
And it must be admitted that sometimes his criticism was apt and accurate.
The evasiveness and aesthetic affectation of the speech of the "Karamzinists" very soon became outdated and went out of literary use. It was precisely this future that Shishkov predicted for them, believing that instead of the expression “when traveling became the need of my soul,” one can simply say: “when I fell in love with traveling”; the refined and paraphrased speech “variegated crowds of rural oreads meet with swarthy bands of reptile pharaohids” can be replaced by the understandable expression “gypsies go towards the village girls”, etc.
Shishkov and his supporters took the first steps in studying the monuments of ancient Russian literature, enthusiastically studied The Tale of Igor's Campaign, studied folklore, advocated a rapprochement between Russia and Slavic world and recognized the need for convergence of the "Slovenian" syllable with the common language.
In a dispute with the translator Karamzin, Shishkov put forward a weighty argument about the “idiomaticity” of each language, about the unique originality of its phraseological systems, which make it impossible to translate a thought or a genuine semantic meaning from one language to another. For example, when translated literally into French, the expression "old horseradish" loses its figurative meaning and "means only the very thing, but in the metaphysical sense it has no circle of signification."
In defiance of Karamzinskaya, Shishkov proposed his own reform of the Russian language. He proposed to designate the concepts and feelings missing in our everyday life with new words formed from the roots of not French, but Russian and Old Slavonic languages. Instead of Karamzin's "influence", he suggested "influence", instead of "development" - "vegetation", instead of "actor" - "actor", instead of "individuality" - "yanost", "wet shoes" instead of "galoshes" and "wandering" instead of "maze". Most of his innovations in Russian did not take root.
It is impossible not to recognize Shishkov's ardent love for the Russian language; one cannot but admit that the passion for everything foreign, especially French, has gone too far in Russia. Ultimately, this led to the fact that the language of the common people, the peasant, began to differ greatly from the language of the cultural classes. But one cannot brush aside the fact that the natural process of the beginning evolution of language could not be stopped. It was impossible to forcibly return to use the already obsolete at that time expressions that Shishkov proposed: “zane”, “ubo”, “like”, “like” and others.
Karamzin did not even respond to the accusations of Shishkov and his supporters, knowing firmly that they were guided by exceptionally pious and patriotic feelings. Subsequently, Karamzin himself and his most talented supporters (Vyazemsky, Pushkin, Batyushkov) followed the very valuable indication of the "Shishkovites" on the need to "return to their roots" and examples own history. But then they could not understand each other.
Paphos and ardent patriotism of A.S. Shishkov aroused sympathy among many writers. And when Shishkov, together with G. R. Derzhavin, founded the literary society “Conversation of Lovers of the Russian Word” (1811) with a charter and its own journal, P. A. Katenin, I. A. Krylov, and later V. K. Küchelbecker and A. S. Griboyedov. One of the active participants in the "Conversation ...", the prolific playwright A. A. Shakhovskoy in the comedy "New Stern" viciously ridiculed Karamzin, and in the comedy "A Lesson for Coquettes, or Lipetsk Waters" in the person of the "ballade player" Fialkin created a parody image of V. A Zhukovsky.
This caused a friendly rebuff from the youth, who supported the literary authority of Karamzin. D. V. Dashkov, P. A. Vyazemsky, D. N. Bludov composed several witty pamphlets addressed to Shakhovsky and other members of the Conversation .... In The Vision in the Arzamas Tavern, Bludov gave the circle of young defenders of Karamzin and Zhukovsky the name "Society of Unknown Arzamas Writers" or simply "Arzamas".
In the organizational structure of this society, founded in the autumn of 1815, a cheerful spirit of parody of the serious "Conversation ..." reigned. In contrast to official pomposity, simplicity, naturalness, openness, great place given to jokes and games.
Parodying the official ritual of "Conversations ...", upon joining "Arzamas", everyone had to read a "funerary speech" to their "deceased" predecessor from among the living members of the "Conversations ..." or Russian Academy Sciences (Count D. I. Khvostov, S. A. Shirinsky-Shikhmatov, A. S. Shishkov himself, and others). "Tombstone speeches" were a form literary struggle: they parodied high genres, ridiculed stylistic archaism poetry"talkers". At the meetings of the society, the humorous genres of Russian poetry were honed, a bold and resolute struggle was waged against all sorts of officialdom, a type of independent Russian writer, free from the pressure of any ideological conventions, was formed. And although P. A. Vyazemsky, one of the organizers and active participants in the society, in his mature years condemned the youthful mischief and intransigence of his like-minded people (in particular, the rites of the “burial” of living literary opponents), he rightly called Arzamas a school of “literary fellowship” and mutual creative learning. The Arzamas and Beseda societies soon became centers of literary life and social struggle in the first quarter of the 19th century. Arzamas included such famous people, like Zhukovsky (pseudonym - Svetlana), Vyazemsky (Asmodeus), Pushkin (Cricket), Batyushkov (Achilles), etc.
Beseda broke up after Derzhavin's death in 1816; Arzamas, having lost its main opponent, ceased to exist by 1818.
Thus, by the mid-1790s, Karamzin became the recognized head of Russian sentimentalism, which opened not just a new page in Russian literature, but Russian fiction in general. Russian readers, who had absorbed only French novels, and the works of enlighteners, enthusiastically accepted Letters from a Russian Traveler and Poor Liza, and Russian writers and poets (both “conversators” and “Arzamas”) realized that they could and should write in their native language.
Karamzin and Alexander I: a symphony with power?
In 1802 - 1803 Karamzin published the journal Vestnik Evropy, which was dominated by literature and politics. Largely due to the confrontation with Shishkov, a new aesthetic program for the formation of Russian literature as a nationally original appeared in Karamzin's critical articles. Karamzin, unlike Shishkov, saw the key to the identity of Russian culture not so much in adherence to ritual antiquity and religiosity, but in the events of Russian history. The most striking illustration of his views was the story "Marfa Posadnitsa or the Conquest of Novgorod".
In his political articles of 1802-1803, Karamzin, as a rule, made recommendations to the government, the main of which was the enlightenment of the nation in the name of the prosperity of the autocratic state.
These ideas were generally close to Emperor Alexander I, the grandson of Catherine the Great, who at one time also dreamed of an “enlightened monarchy” and a complete symphony between the authorities and a European-educated society. Karamzin's response to the coup on March 11, 1801 and the accession to the throne of Alexander I was the "Historical eulogy to Catherine II" (1802), where Karamzin expressed his views on the essence of the monarchy in Russia, as well as the duties of the monarch and his subjects. "Eulogy" was approved by the sovereign, as a collection of examples for the young monarch, and favorably received by him. Alexander I, obviously, was interested in Karamzin's historical research, and the emperor rightly decided that a great country simply needed to remember its no less great past. And if you don’t remember, then at least create anew ...
In 1803, through the tsar’s educator M.N. Muravyov, a poet, historian, teacher, one of the most educated people of that time, N.M. Karamzin received the official title of court historiographer with a pension of 2,000 rubles. (A pension of 2,000 rubles a year was then assigned to officials who, according to the Table of Ranks, had a rank not lower than that of a general). Later, I. V. Kireevsky, referring to Karamzin himself, wrote about Muravyov: “Who knows, maybe without his thoughtful and warm assistance, Karamzin would not have had the means to accomplish his great deed.”
In 1804, Karamzin practically departed from literary and publishing activities and began to create the "History of the Russian State", on which he worked until the end of his days. Through his influence M.N. Muravyov made available to the historian many of the previously unknown and even "secret" materials, opened libraries and archives for him. Modern historians can only dream of such favorable conditions for work. Therefore, in our opinion, to speak of the "History of the Russian State" as a "scientific feat" N.M. Karamzin, not entirely fair. The court historiographer was in the service, conscientiously doing the work for which he was paid money. Accordingly, he had to write such a story that was currently needed by the customer, namely, Tsar Alexander I, who at the first stage of his reign showed sympathy for European liberalism.
However, under the influence of studies in Russian history, by 1810 Karamzin became a consistent conservative. During this period, the system of his political views finally took shape. Karamzin's statements that he is a "republican at heart" can only be adequately interpreted if one considers that we are talking about the "Platonic Republic of the Sages", an ideal social order based on state virtue, strict regulation and the denial of personal freedom. . At the beginning of 1810, Karamzin, through his relative Count F.V. Rostopchin, met in Moscow with the leader of the "conservative party" at court - Grand Duchess Ekaterina Pavlovna (sister of Alexander I) and began to constantly visit her residence in Tver. The salon of the Grand Duchess represented the center of conservative opposition to the liberal-Western course, personified by the figure of M. M. Speransky. In this salon, Karamzin read excerpts from his "History ...", at the same time he met Empress Dowager Maria Feodorovna, who became one of his patronesses.
In 1811, at the request of Grand Duchess Ekaterina Pavlovna, Karamzin wrote a note “On ancient and new Russia in its political and civil relations”, in which he outlined his ideas about the ideal structure of the Russian state and sharply criticized the policy of Alexander I and his immediate predecessors: Paul I , Catherine II and Peter I. In the 19th century, the note was never published in full and diverged only in handwritten lists. IN Soviet time the thoughts expressed by Karamzin in his message were perceived as a reaction of the extremely conservative nobility to the reforms of M. M. Speransky. The author himself was branded a "reactionary", an opponent of the liberation of the peasantry and other liberal steps taken by the government of Alexander I.
However, during the first full publication of the note in 1988, Yu. M. Lotman revealed its deeper content. In this document, Karamzin made a reasonable criticism of unprepared bureaucratic reforms carried out from above. While praising Alexander I, the author of the note at the same time attacks his advisers, referring, of course, to Speransky, who stood for constitutional reforms. Karamzin takes the liberty in detail, with references to historical examples, to prove to the tsar that Russia is not ready either historically or politically for the abolition of serfdom and the restriction of the autocratic monarchy by the constitution (following the example of the European powers). Some of his arguments (for example, about the uselessness of freeing peasants without land, the impossibility of constitutional democracy in Russia) look quite convincing and historically correct even today.
Along with an overview Russian history and criticism of the political course of Emperor Alexander I, the note contained an integral, original and very complex in its theoretical content concept of autocracy as a special, original Russian type of power, closely connected with Orthodoxy.
At the same time, Karamzin refused to identify "true autocracy" with despotism, tyranny or arbitrariness. He believed that such deviations from the norms were due to chance (Ivan IV the Terrible, Paul I) and were quickly eliminated by the inertia of the tradition of "wise" and "virtuous" monarchical rule. In cases of a sharp weakening and even complete absence of the supreme state and church authority (for example, during the Time of Troubles), this powerful tradition led to the restoration of autocracy within a short historical period. Autocracy was the "palladium of Russia", main reason its power and prosperity. Therefore, the basic principles of monarchical government in Russia, according to Karamzin, should have been preserved in the future. They should have been supplemented only by a proper policy in the field of legislation and education, which would lead not to undermining the autocracy, but to its maximum strengthening. With such an understanding of autocracy, any attempt to limit it would be a crime against Russian history and the Russian people.
Initially, Karamzin's note only irritated the young emperor, who did not like criticism of his actions. In this note, the historiographer proved himself plus royaliste que le roi (greater royalist than the king himself). However, subsequently the brilliant "anthem to the Russian autocracy" as presented by Karamzin undoubtedly had its effect. After the war of 1812, the winner of Napoleon, Alexander I, curtailed many of his liberal projects: Speransky's reforms were not completed, the constitution and the very idea of \u200b\u200blimiting autocracy remained only in the minds of future Decembrists. And already in the 1830s, Karamzin's concept actually formed the basis of the ideology of the Russian Empire, designated by the "theory of official nationality" of Count S. Uvarov (Orthodoxy-Autocracy-Nationhood).
Before the publication of the first 8 volumes of "History ..." Karamzin lived in Moscow, from where he traveled only to Tver to the Grand Duchess Ekaterina Pavlovna and to Nizhny Novgorod, while Moscow was occupied by the French. He usually spent his summers at Ostafyev, the estate of Prince Andrei Ivanovich Vyazemsky, on illegitimate daughter whom, Ekaterina Andreevna, Karamzin married in 1804. (The first wife of Karamzin, Elizaveta Ivanovna Protasova, died in 1802).
In the last 10 years of his life, which Karamzin spent in St. Petersburg, he became very close to the royal family. Although Emperor Alexander I treated Karamzin with restraint from the time the Note was submitted, Karamzin often spent his summers in Tsarskoye Selo. At the request of the empresses (Maria Feodorovna and Elizaveta Alekseevna), he more than once conducted frank political conversations with Emperor Alexander, in which he acted as a spokesman for the opponents of drastic liberal reforms. In 1819-1825, Karamzin passionately rebelled against the sovereign's intentions regarding Poland (submitted a note "Opinion of a Russian citizen"), condemned the increase state taxes in peacetime, spoke of the absurd provincial system of finance, criticized the system of military settlements, the activities of the Ministry of Education, pointed to the sovereign's strange choice of some of the most important dignitaries (for example, Arakcheev), spoke of the need to reduce internal troops, of the imaginary correction of roads, so painful for the people and constantly pointed out the need to have firm laws, civil and state.
Of course, having behind such intercessors as both empresses and grand duchess Ekaterina Pavlovna, one could criticize, and argue, and show civil courage, and try to set the monarch "on the right path." It was not for nothing that Emperor Alexander I and his contemporaries and subsequent historians of his reign called the “mysterious sphinx”. In words, the sovereign agreed with Karamzin's critical remarks regarding military settlements, recognized the need to "give fundamental laws to Russia", as well as to revise some aspects of domestic policy, but it so happened in our country that in reality - all the wise advice of state people remain "fruitless for Dear Fatherland"...
Karamzin as a historian
Karamzin is our first historian and last chronicler.
By his criticism he belongs to history,
innocence and apothegms - the chronicle.
A.S. Pushkin
Even from the point of view of modern Karamzin historical science, to name 12 volumes of his "History of the Russian State", in fact, scientific work no one dared. Even then, it was clear to everyone that the honorary title of court historiographer cannot make a writer a historian, give him the appropriate knowledge and proper training.
But, on the other hand, Karamzin did not initially set himself the task of taking on the role of a researcher. The newly minted historiographer was not going to write scientific treatise and appropriate the laurels of illustrious predecessors - Schlozer, Miller, Tatishchev, Shcherbatov, Boltin, etc.
Preliminary critical work on sources for Karamzin is only "a heavy tribute brought by reliability." He was, first of all, a writer, and therefore wanted to apply his literary talent to already finished material: "choose, animate, color" and thus make from Russian history "something attractive, strong, worthy of attention not only of Russians, but also of foreigners." And this task he performed brilliantly.
Today it is impossible not to agree with the fact that at the beginning of the 19th century, source study, paleography and other auxiliary historical disciplines were in their infancy. Therefore, to demand professional criticism from the writer Karamzin, as well as strict adherence to one or another method of working with historical sources, is simply ridiculous.
One can often hear the opinion that Karamzin simply beautifully rewrote Prince M.M. family circle. This is wrong.
Naturally, when writing his "History ..." Karamzin actively used the experience and works of his predecessors - Schlozer and Shcherbatov. Shcherbatov helped Karamzin navigate the sources of Russian history, significantly influencing both the choice of material and its arrangement in the text. Coincidentally or not, Karamzin brought The History of the Russian State to exactly the same place as Shcherbatov's History. However, in addition to following the scheme already developed by his predecessors, Karamzin cites in his essay a lot of references to the most extensive foreign historiography, almost unfamiliar to the Russian reader. While working on his "History ...", for the first time he introduced into scientific circulation a mass of unknown and previously unexplored sources. These are Byzantine and Livonian chronicles, information of foreigners about the population ancient Rus', as well as a large number of Russian chronicles, which the hand of the historian has not yet touched. For comparison: M.M. Shcherbatov used only 21 Russian chronicles in writing his work, Karamzin actively cites more than 40. In addition to the chronicles, Karamzin attracted monuments of ancient Russian law and ancient Russian fiction to the study. A special chapter of "History ..." is devoted to "Russian Truth", and a number of pages - to the newly opened "Tale of Igor's Campaign".
Thanks to the diligent help of the directors of the Moscow Archive of the Ministry (Board) of Foreign Affairs N. N. Bantysh-Kamensky and A. F. Malinovsky, Karamzin was able to use those documents and materials that were not available to his predecessors. The Synodal depository, libraries of monasteries (Trinity Lavra, Volokolamsk Monastery and others), as well as private collections of Musin-Pushkin and N.P. Rumyantsev. Karamzin received especially many documents from Chancellor Rumyantsev, who collected historical materials in Russia and abroad through his numerous agents, as well as from AI Turgenev, who compiled a collection of documents from the papal archive.
Many of the sources used by Karamzin perished during the Moscow fire of 1812 and survived only in his "History ..." and extensive "Notes" to its text. Thus, Karamzin's work, to some extent, has itself acquired the status of a historical source, to which they have full right cite professional historians.
Among the main shortcomings of the "History of the Russian State" is traditionally noted the peculiar view of its author on the tasks of the historian. According to Karamzin, "knowledge" and "scholarship" in the historian "do not replace the talent to portray actions." Before the artistic task of history, even the moral one recedes into the background, which was set by Karamzin's patron, M.N. Muravyov. The characteristics of historical characters are given by Karamzin exclusively in a literary and romantic vein, characteristic of the direction of Russian sentimentalism he created. The first Russian princes according to Karamzin are distinguished by their "ardent romantic passion" for conquests, their retinue - nobility and loyal spirit, the "rabble" sometimes shows discontent, raising rebellions, but in the end agrees with the wisdom of noble rulers, etc., etc. P.
Meanwhile, the previous generation of historians, under the influence of Schlözer, had long developed the idea of critical history, and among Karamzin's contemporaries, the requirements for criticizing historical sources, despite the lack of a clear methodology, were generally recognized. And the next generation has already come forward with the demand for philosophical history - with the identification of the laws of development of the state and society, the recognition of the main driving forces and laws of the historical process. Therefore, the overly “literary” creation of Karamzin was immediately subjected to well-founded criticism.
According to the idea, firmly rooted in Russian and foreign historiography of the 17th - 18th centuries, the development of the historical process depends on the development of monarchical power. Karamzin does not deviate one iota from this idea: the monarchical power glorified Russia in the Kievan period; the division of power between the princes was a political mistake, which was corrected by the state wisdom of the Moscow princes - the collectors of Rus'. At the same time, it was the princes who corrected its consequences - the fragmentation of Rus' and the Tatar yoke.
But before reproaching Karamzin for not contributing anything new to the development of Russian historiography, it should be remembered that the author of The History of the Russian State did not at all set himself the task of philosophical understanding of the historical process or blind imitation of the ideas of Western European romantics (F. Guizot , F. Mignet, J. Meshlet), who already then started talking about the "class struggle" and the "spirit of the people" as the main driving force of history. Karamzin was not interested in historical criticism at all, and deliberately denied the "philosophical" trend in history. The researcher's conclusions from historical material, as well as his subjective fabrications, seem to Karamzin to be "metaphysics" that is not suitable "for depicting action and character."
Thus, with his peculiar views on the tasks of the historian, Karamzin, by and large, remained outside the dominant currents of Russian and European historiography of the 19th and 20th centuries. Of course, he participated in its consistent development, but only in the form of an object for constant criticism and the clearest example of how history should not be written.
The reaction of contemporaries
Karamzin's contemporaries - readers and admirers - enthusiastically accepted his new "historical" work. The first eight volumes of The History of the Russian State were printed in 1816-1817 and went on sale in February 1818. Huge for that time, the three-thousandth circulation sold out in 25 days. (And this despite the solid price - 50 rubles). A second edition was immediately required, which was carried out in 1818-1819 by I. V. Slyonin. In 1821 a new, ninth volume was published, and in 1824 the next two. The author did not have time to finish the twelfth volume of his work, which was published in 1829, almost three years after his death.
"History ..." was admired by Karamzin's literary friends and a vast public of non-specialist readers who suddenly discovered, like Count Tolstoy the American, that their Fatherland has a history. 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.
Liberal intellectual circles of the 1820s found Karamzin's "History ..." backward in general views and unnecessarily tendentious:
Specialists-researchers, as already mentioned, treated Karamzin's work exactly as a work, sometimes even belittling its historical significance. It seemed to many that Karamzin's undertaking itself was too risky - to undertake to write such an extensive work in the then state of Russian historical science.
Already during Karamzin's lifetime, critical analyzes of his "History ..." appeared, and soon after the author's death, attempts were made to determine the general significance of this work in historiography. Lelevel pointed to an involuntary distortion of the truth, due to the patriotic, religious and political hobbies of Karamzin. Artsybashev showed the extent to which they harm the writing of "history" literary devices lay historian. Pogodin summed up all the shortcomings of the History, and N.A. Polevoy saw the common cause of these shortcomings in the fact that "Karamzin is a writer not of our time." All his points of view, both in literature and in philosophy, politics and history, became obsolete with the appearance in Russia of new influences of European romanticism. In opposition to Karamzin, Polevoy soon wrote his six-volume History of the Russian People, where he completely surrendered himself to the ideas of Guizot and other Western European romantics. Contemporaries rated this work as an "unworthy parody" of Karamzin, subjecting the author to rather vicious and not always deserved attacks.
In the 1830s, Karamzin's "History ..." becomes the banner of the officially "Russian" direction. With the assistance of the same Pogodin, its scientific rehabilitation is carried out, which is fully consistent with the spirit of Uvarov's "theory of official nationality".
In the second half of the 19th century, on the basis of the "History ...", a mass of popular science articles and other texts were written, which formed the basis of well-known educational and teaching aids. Based on the historical plots of Karamzin, many works have been created for children and youth, the purpose of which for many years was to educate patriotism, fidelity to civic duty, and responsibility. younger generation for the fate of their country. This book, in our opinion, played a decisive role in shaping the views of more than one generation of Russian people, having a significant impact on the foundations of the patriotic education of young people in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
December 14th. Final Karamzin.
The death of Emperor Alexander I and the December events of 1925 deeply shocked N.M. Karamzin and negatively affected his health.
On December 14, 1825, having received news of the uprising, the historian goes out into the street: “I saw terrible faces, heard terrible words, five or six stones fell at my feet.”
Karamzin, of course, regarded the performance of the nobility against their sovereign as a rebellion and serious crime. But there were so many acquaintances among the rebels: the Muravyov brothers, Nikolai Turgenev, Bestuzhev, Ryleev, Kuchelbeker (he translated Karamzin's History into German).
A few days later, Karamzin will say about the Decembrists: "The errors and crimes of these young people are the errors and crimes of our age."
On December 14, during his travels around St. Petersburg, Karamzin caught a bad cold and fell ill with pneumonia. In the eyes of his contemporaries, he was another victim of this day: his idea of the world collapsed, faith in the future was lost, and a new king, very far from perfect image enlightened monarch. Half-ill, Karamzin visited the palace every day, where he talked with Empress Maria Feodorovna, from memories of the late sovereign Alexander, moving on to discussions about the tasks of the future reign.
Karamzin could no longer write. Volume XII of the "History ..." stopped at the interregnum of 1611 - 1612. The last words of the last volume are about a small Russian fortress: "Nutlet did not give up." The last thing that Karamzin really managed to do in the spring of 1826 was, together with Zhukovsky, he persuaded Nicholas I to return Pushkin from exile. A few years later, the emperor tried to pass the baton of the first historiographer of Russia to the poet, but the “sun of Russian poetry” somehow did not fit into the role of the state ideologist and theorist ...
In the spring of 1826 N.M. Karamzin, on the advice of doctors, decided to go to southern France or Italy for treatment. Nicholas I agreed to sponsor his trip and kindly placed a frigate of the imperial fleet at the disposal of the historiographer. But Karamzin was already too weak to travel. He died on May 22 (June 3) 1826 in St. Petersburg. He was buried at the Tikhvin cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.
