Nikolai Alekseevich field. Literary map of the Kursk region - Nikolai Alekseevich Polevoy Field critic

POLEVOI, NIKOLAY ALEKSEEVICH(1796–1846), Russian writer, literary critic, journalist, historian, translator. Born June 22 (July 3), 1796 in Irkutsk. My father served in Irkutsk as the manager of the Russian-American Company, owned faience and vodka factories, but shortly before Napoleon's invasion, he began to suffer losses, in connection with which the family moved to Moscow, then to Kursk. In 1822 Polevoy inherited his father's business.

Published since 1817: in the "Russian Bulletin" S.N. Glinka appeared his description of the visit to Kursk by Emperor Alexander I. In February 1820 he moved to Moscow, where he became addicted to the theater and attended lectures by A.F. .Kachenovsky and others. In the summer of 1821 he visited St. Petersburg, in whose literary circles he was accepted as a "nugget", "self-taught merchant"; met with A.S. Griboyedov, V.A. Zhukovsky, met with F.V. Bulgarin, N.I. Grech. P. Svinin in his "Notes of the Fatherland" published his articles on literary and historical topics, poems, translations of Mrs. Montolier's stories.

In 1821 for a treatise A new way to conjugate Russian verbs received a silver medal of the Russian Academy. In those same years, he became close to VF Odoevsky, studied the philosophy of F. Schelling and the works of his interpreters. Published in the journals "Mnemosyne", "Son of the Fatherland", "Northern Archive", "Proceedings of the Society of Russian Literature". In 1825-1834 he published the Moscow Telegraph magazine of "literature, criticism and art", which became the main business of his life and a stage in the development of Russian culture. He was the first to create a type of Russian encyclopedic journal, on the model of which “Library for Reading”, “Domestic Notes” by A.A. Kraevsky, N.A. Nekrasov, M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin and others, “Sovremennik” were later published. In an effort to "acquaint with everything interesting" in Russia and in the West, Polevoy distributed the materials of the journal into sections: science and art, literature, bibliography and criticism, news and mixture. Maintaining constant informational contacts with the Parisian literary and journalistic journal Revue encyclopedique, he attached particular importance to the department of criticism, noting later: “No one will dispute my honor that I was the first to make a permanent part of the Russian journal out of criticism, the first to collect criticism on all the most important modern items."

The Moscow Telegraph published the satirical supplements The New Painter of Society and Literature (1830–1831) and Camera Obscura of Books and People (1832). The magazine published works by I.I. Lazhechnikov, V.I. Dal, A.A. Bestuzhev-Marlinsky (especially active in the 1830s), A.F. Polevoy himself; from foreign authors - V. Scott, V. Irving, E.T.A. Hoffmann, P. Merime, B. Constant, V. Hugo, O. Balzac and others. (V.F. Odoevsky, E.A. Baratynsky, A.I. Turgenev, S.A. Sobolevsky and others) from the circle of A.S. Pushkin-P.A. Vyazemsky, the leading magazine critic, whose break with Polev occurred in 1829 due to sharp criticism by the latter History of the Russian State N.M. Karamzin. Since that time, a sharp controversy between the Moscow Telegraph and the “literary aristocracy” began, led mainly by Polev himself and his brother Xenophon, who actually became the editor-in-chief of the magazine (in 1835–1844 the editor of the magazine “Picturesque Review”, in 1856–1859 the publisher of the magazine “Picturesque Russian Library"; author of literary and critical works; author of books M.V. Lomonosov, 1836; Notes on the life and works of N.A. Polevoy, 1888).

In 1829–1833 Polevoy wrote History of the Russian people. A convinced monarchist, like Karamzin, he reproaches the master of Russian historiography for being more of a chronicler-narrator than an analyst and researcher. Contrary to Karamzin, he argued that statehood in Russia did not exist in the ancient (before the reign of Ivan III) period, and therefore found justified the anti-boyar policy of the "centralizers" Ivan the Terrible and Boris Godunov. The same anti-aristocratic position, stated in the very title of the work, was reflected in the articles, notes and feuilletons published by Polev in the Moscow Telegraph (more than 200), in speeches read by him at the Moscow Practical Academy of Commercial Sciences ( About ignorant capital, 1828; About the merchant rank, and especially in Russia, 1832) and in other works by Polevoy, where the idea of ​​free bourgeois development was put forward, the equality of all before the law adopted in France, achieved by the revolution of 1789, was glorified, the revolution of 1830 was welcomed ( The current state of dramatic art in France, 1830, and others).

The aesthetic views of Polevoy, based on the philosophy of Schelling in the interpretation of V. Cousin, as well as on the views of the French historians F. Guizot and O. Thierry, rejected the normativity of classicism and, following the principle of the historical assessment of art as the embodiment of national self-consciousness in certain "conditions of centuries and societies" , preferred romanticism as a popular trend (high appreciation of Hugo, A. de Vigny, Constant in the article On the New School and the Poetry of the French, 1831; About the novels of V. Hugo and about the latest novels in general, 1832). In works devoted to domestic literature ( About dramatic fantasy N.Kukolnika« Torquato Tasso", 1834; articles about the works of G.R. Derzhavin, ballads and stories of V.A. Zhukovsky, about Boris Godunov Pushkin; reviews of the works of A.D. Kantemir, I.I. Khemnitser and others, combined in Essays on Russian literature, 1839), Polevoy, for the first time in a monographic study, attaching fundamental importance to the biography of the writer, in many respects anticipated the objective historical and literary concept of V.G. in 1831 - but according to the considerations of the historical age and the people and the philosophical of the most important truths and the human soul”). At the same time, advocating for the “truth of the image”, Polevoy accepted the thesis of N.I. Whether the truth of the image is the purpose of an elegant work?, 1832), and recognizing the possibility of combining these contrasting spheres only on the basis of romanticism, however, in his opinion, not in the work of Pushkin and, especially, N.V. Gogol, whose Auditor Polevoy called "farce", and in Dead souls saw only the "ugliness" and "poverty" of the content. In 1834 for Polevoy's disapproving review of the jingoistic drama of the Dollmaker The hand of the Most High Fatherland saved The Moscow Telegraph magazine (whose direction had long been regarded by censorship and police circles as "Jacobin") was closed.

Since 1837, having moved to St. Petersburg, Polevoy, under an agreement with the publisher A.F. Smirdin, took over the unspoken editorial staff of The Son of the Fatherland (headed by F.V. Bulgarin; he left the magazine in 1838) and The Northern Bee (headed by with N.I. Grech, left in 1840). In 1841–1842, he edited the Russky Vestnik, organized by Grech, an opponent of the natural school, but was not successful. In 1846, severely criticized by Belinsky for renegade, he began (under an agreement with Kraevsky) to edit the liberal Literaturnaya Gazeta.

Novel author Abbadonna(1837) and stories Emma (1829), Oath at the Holy Sepulcher, Painter, Bliss of Madness(both 1833; combined under the name. Dreams and life, book. 1–2, 1934), depicting in a romantic spirit the tragic collision of an idealist dreamer with the prose of life. At the same time, the writer constantly raised the question of the place in the noble society of the Russian bourgeois - a representative of the third estate, endowed with the best, from the point of view of Polevoy, qualities (religiosity and moral firmness), but constrained by the narrowness of interests and the cultural backwardness of their environment, which, for all that, opposes volume, soullessness and selfishness of the aristocracy with patriarchal simplicity, spiritual sincerity and patriotism ( Grandfather of the Russian fleet, 1838; loyal dramas for the Alexandrinsky Theater Igolkin, merchant of Novgorod, 1839; Parasha Siberian, 1870, which enjoyed particular stage success; Lomonosov, or Life and Poetry, 1843). Translated, among other things (published on Sat. Novels and literary passages, 1829–1830) prose tragedy Hamlet W. Shakespeare (1837; according to this translation, PS Mochalov, who became famous in the title role, played).

Polevoy's works of art, which had a wide circle of admirers during the author's lifetime, were soon (until the end of the 20th century) forgotten. Realistic tendencies in the early work of the writer (most clearly manifested in the stories written in 1829 Tales of a Russian soldier and stories Bag of gold) were approved, in contrast to the works of the 1840s, by Belinsky, who indicated in the obituary brochure N.A. Polevoy(1846) Polevoy's contribution to the development of Russian literature, aesthetics and education, primarily as the publisher of the Moscow Telegraph. Consonant with this is the assessment of Polevoy's activity by A.I. Herzen in the book On the development of revolutionary ideas in Russia(1850): “Polevoi began to democratize Russian literature; he made her descend from aristocratic heights and made her more popular ... ".

Polevoy also published an extensive reference and bibliographic publication Russian Vivliofika, or Collection of materials for national history, geography, statistics and ancient Russian literature (1833).

The pseudonym under which the politician Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov writes. ... In 1907 he was unsuccessfully a candidate for the 2nd State Duma in St. Petersburg.

Alyabiev, Alexander Alexandrovich, Russian amateur composer. ... The romances of A. reflected the spirit of the times. As then-Russian literature, they are sentimental, sometimes corny. Most of them are written in a minor key. They almost do not differ from Glinka's first romances, but the latter has stepped far ahead, while A. has remained in place and is now outdated.

Filthy Idolishche (Odolishche) - an epic hero ...

Pedrillo (Pietro-Mira Pedrillo) - a famous jester, a Neapolitan, who arrived in St. Petersburg at the beginning of the reign of Anna Ioannovna to sing the roles of buffa and play the violin in the Italian court opera.

Dahl, Vladimir Ivanovich
Numerous novels and stories of his suffer from a lack of real artistic creativity, a deep feeling and a broad view of the people and life. Dal did not go further than everyday pictures, anecdotes caught on the fly, told in a peculiar language, smartly, lively, with well-known humor, sometimes falling into mannerism and joking.

Varlamov, Alexander Egorovich
Apparently, Varlamov did not work on the theory of musical composition at all and remained with the meager knowledge that he could have taken out of the chapel, which at that time did not care at all about the general musical development of its pupils.

Nekrasov Nikolai Alekseevich
None of our great poets has so many verses that are downright bad from all points of view; he himself bequeathed many poems not to be included in the collection of his works. Nekrasov is not sustained even in his masterpieces: and in them the prosaic, sluggish verse suddenly hurts the ear.

Gorky, Maxim
By his origin, Gorky does not at all belong to those dregs of society, of which he acted as a singer in literature.

Zhikharev Stepan Petrovich
His tragedy "Artaban" did not see a print or a stage, since, according to Prince Shakhovsky and the author's frank opinion, it was a mixture of nonsense and nonsense.

Sherwood-Verny Ivan Vasilievich
“Sherwood,” writes one contemporary, “in society, even in St. Petersburg, was not called anything but Sherwood nasty ... his comrades in military service shunned him and called him the dog name “fidelka”.

Obolyaninov Petr Khrisanfovich
... Field Marshal Kamensky publicly called him "a state thief, a bribe-taker, a fool stuffed."

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Biography

Born into a Siberian merchant family, Polevoy never forgot his origins; perhaps the first in Russian journalism to express the interests of the merchant class and the emerging bourgeoisie. Received home education. He made his debut in print in the journal "Russian Messenger" in 1817. From 1820 to 1836. lived in Moscow, then moved to St. Petersburg. Positioning himself as a representative of the people in literature, he opposed romanticism to supranational classicism (in which he saw the reflection in art of the special spirit of each people).

In 1820-1824, he published poems, notes, essays, articles, translations from French in the Notes of the Fatherland, the Northern Archive, the Son of the Fatherland, and the almanac Mnemosyne. The Russian word "journalism", Introduced into circulation in the early 1820s by Polev himself, was initially perceived ambiguously. At that time, literary activity was reserved exclusively for the nobility. The appearance in the press of people from the tax-paying estates, who owe their careers only to their own efforts and abilities, such as, for example, N. Polevoy and M. Pogodin, caused bewilderment and ridicule.

From 1825 to 1834 Polevoy published the Moscow Telegraph magazine in unprecedented editions in Moscow, where he published his own articles on literature, history and ethnography. The magazine emphasized the positive role of the merchants, trade and industry in the life of Russia. Polevoy often allowed himself to attack noble literature and criticized its main representatives for being isolated from the people and their needs. The magazine was closed by personal order of Nicholas I for Polevoy's disapproving review of the play by N. V. Kukolnik "The Hand of the Most High Saved the Fatherland."

After the termination of the magazine, Polevoy left for St. Petersburg, where he changed his liberal views to loyal ones. In 1835-1844 he published an illustrated yearbook "A picturesque review of memorable objects from sciences, arts, arts, industry and a hostel, with the addition of a picturesque journey around the globe and biographies of famous people." Participated in the Northern Bee, in 1837-1838 he was in charge of the literary department of the newspaper. In 1838-1840 he was the editor of The Son of the Fatherland.

Polevoy died at the age of 49 "of a nervous fever" caused by the imprisonment of his student son, Nyktopolion, in the Shlisselburg fortress, who was detained while trying to arbitrarily cross the border. He was one of the first writers buried in that part of the Volkov cemetery, which later became known as the Literary Bridges (photo of the grave). From Nikolsky Cathedral, where the funeral service was held, to the cemetery, the crowd carried the coffin in their arms. P. A. Vyazemsky wrote in his diary:

Belinsky, who himself actively argued with Polevoy, nevertheless acknowledged his significant literary merits in his obituary. The next generation honored in Polevoe the predecessor of that Raznochinskaya intelligentsia, which entered the arena of social and literary life in the forties, but his writings were quickly forgotten and ceased to be published.

Artistic compositions

Polevoy not only promoted the aesthetics of romanticism (in the spirit of simplified Schellingism) in his journals, but he himself wrote the romantic novels The Bliss of Madness (1833), The Painter (1833), Emma (1834), etc. The main theme of Polevoy's fiction - class obstacles that gifted raznochintsy face in a noble society. The usual hero of Polevoy's story is a pious, morally pure native of the philistinism (bourgeoisie) environment, who is disgusted by the narrowness of views and the backwardness of his environment. The aristocrats are presented as selfish, hiding their lack of conviction and immorality behind a false façade of brilliant mannerisms.

Field owns four dozen plays. Most often he refers to the events and figures of Russian history. A. N. Ostrovsky noted that during the reign of Nicholas I, the patriotic plays of Polevoy and Kukolnik gave Russian theaters "large and constant fees."

From July 1829, Polevoy published a satirical supplement to the Moscow Telegraph, which continued the traditions of educational satire of the late 18th century - "The New Painter of Society and Literature." Almost all the content of The New Painter, diverse in genres, came from the pen of the publisher himself; according to Belinsky, this is "the best work of all the literary activity" of Polevoy. A distinctive feature of Polevoi's manner as a satirist is seen as a rejection of exaggerations and hyperbole.

In addition to translations of foreign prose made for the Moscow Telegraph (in particular, the tales of V. Gauf), Polevoy owns a very free prose translation of Shakespeare's Hamlet (1837) - with abbreviations and additions. Shakespeare scholar D. M. Urnov spoke with admiration about this translation:

... there were wonderful successes, like "Hamlet", translated by Polevoy. He cleaned decently, and wrote “his own”, but he did it with talent, powerfully, with pressure. Just remember this: “I’m scared for a man!” There was something to shine for Karatygin and Mochalov.

Lifetime editions of fiction by N. A. Polevoy

• "Tales and Literary Fragments". M., 1829-30
• "Dreams and Life". Ch. 1-4. M., 1833-1834
• "Abbaddonna", novel M., 1834, St. Petersburg, 1840
• Byzantine legends. John Tzimisces". Ch. 1-2. M., 1841
• “There were also fables” St. Petersburg, 1843
• "Tales of Ivan the Hudoshnik", St. Petersburg, 1843
• "The Old Tale of Ivan the Fool", St. Petersburg, 1844

Historical writings

Initially, Polevoy planned to write 12 volumes (like Karamzin) and announced a subscription to just that many volumes, but due to personal difficulties he was able to write and publish only 6, which caused accusations of financial dishonesty. The last volumes of The History of the Russian People are not as interesting as the first two; they reflect the haste of the writer, who "strays" into the traditional "statist" scheme of presentation, retells the sources, etc. Polevoy brought the presentation to the capture of Kazan by Ivan the Terrible.

After the "History" Polevoy wrote a number of historical articles for the general reader. In the work “Little Russia, Its Inhabitants and History” (Moscow Telegraph. - 1830. - No. 17-18) he made a radical denial of the ethnic and historical kinship of Great Russians and Little Russians, suggested recognizing that Little Russia was never the “ancient property” of Russia (as Karamzin insisted on this):

Notes

1. Bernstein D.I. Field // Brief literary encyclopedia - M. :

Nikolai Alekseevich Polevoy (June 22, 1796, Russian Empire - February 22, 1846, St. Petersburg, Russian Empire) - Russian writer, playwright, literary and theater critic, journalist and historian.

Brother of critic and journalist K.A. Polevoy and writer E.A. Avdeeva, father of the writer and critic P.N. Field. He published a magazine in Moscow, in which Pushkin, Turgenev, Zhukovsky, Dal sought to be published. The author of the word "journalism", which he created in the early 1820s (this is how he titled the section on magazines in the Moscow Telegraph in 1825). Initially, this word caused ridicule.

He came from an old Kursk merchant family. His father served as a manager in the Russian-American Trading Company, owned a faience and vodka factories. The head of the family was famous for his strong and quick-tempered character. Mother was known as a soft and meek woman. She was brought up in the Irkutsk nunnery, and therefore was very religious. At the same time, she was fond of fiction novels, which her husband treated with great displeasure. And to the literature of their children, who received home education, and even more so. But, despite this, three writers grew up in the family - Nikolai, Xenophon and, who became the first Siberian writer, publisher of Russian folk tales and books on home economics.

Nikolai Alekseevich combined the qualities of both parents - the willpower of his father and the gentleness and religiosity of his mother. From early childhood, he showed great curiosity. At the age of six he had already learned to read, and by the age of ten he had become acquainted with all the books that were in the house. Among them are works by Sumarokov, Lomonosov, Karamzin, Kheraskov, Golikov. Having become familiar with literature, Polevoy himself began to write poetry, he publishes his own handwritten newspapers, composes the drama The Marriage of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and the tragedy Blanca of Bourbon. But his father saw in him only a merchant, therefore from the age of ten he attracted his son to clerical affairs, burned his literary opuses, and selected books. True, this did not stop Nikolai - he inherited a stubborn character from the priest.

In 1811, a real turning point occurred in the life of the future writer. With commercial assignments, his father sent him to Moscow, for almost a year Nikolai lived in the capital. It was then that he got acquainted with the theater, was able to read the books he wanted, and without prohibitions. Sometimes he even managed to get to lectures at Moscow University. Polevoy continued to write, but his father, who arrived, destroyed all his manuscripts upon learning of their existence.

It so happened that shortly before the war of 1812, the family business began to suffer serious losses. Therefore, the Fields had to leave for Moscow, and then to Kursk. Father sent Nikolai on assignments throughout the country. Such a nomadic life could not give a young man even the slightest opportunity to engage in literature. But the desire grew.

Finally, in 1814, Polevoy began to study the Russian language, as well as studying foreign ones - there were people who agreed to tell the young man about the intricacies of grammar and pronunciation (he then served as a clerk for the Kursk merchant Baushev). Of course, there was no system in such studies - I had to form often at night, in fits and starts. During the day, to deal with clerical and paternal affairs.

In 1817, Alexander I arrived in Kursk. The tsar's visit impressed Polevoy so much that Nikolai wrote an article and it was published in the Russky Vestnik magazine by Sergei Nikolaevich Glinka. Two more of his articles were soon published here - memories of the capture of Paris and the arrival of Barclay de Tolly in Kursk. The novice publicist gains some fame in the city, even honored with an acquaintance with the governor. They begin to reckon with him. All this spurs him to further self-education.

He studies an article by Nikolai Grech, which states that the Russian language is not sufficiently developed, and decides to compile a new system of Russian conjugations. Then he began to translate foreign press. He sends these works and his articles to Vestnik Evropy, where they are published.

Polevoy becomes known in literary circles. In 1820, Nikolai personally met his first editor, Glinka. And in 1821 in St. Petersburg he already met with the great people of his time - Zhukovsky, Griboyedov, Grech, Bulgarin. Pavel Petrovich Svinin invites him to work in the Notes of the Fatherland. Polevoy is working hard - he is finishing his research "A new way of conjugation of Russian verbs". His work was highly appreciated - Polevoy was awarded the silver medal of the Russian Academy.

In 1822, his father dies, and Polevoy inherits his business. True, he soon decides that literature and journalism are more important, and completely stops trading. He intends to publish his own magazine.

Just at this time, Russian magazines are not going through the best period. Vestnik Evropy is already considered obsolete, Son of the Fatherland also ceases to satisfy the interests of readers, and Russkiy Vestnik is bored with reverting to antiquity that is not connected with modernity. An update was needed. And Polevoy opens the Moscow Telegraph. The author takes as its basis one of the leading French journals - Revue Encyclopedique.

Nikolai Alekseevich wants to popularize not only new domestic ideas, but also Western ones. The Moscow Telegraph covers all outstanding European events in literature, science and public life. It contains translations of August Schlegel, Shakespeare, Balzac, Walter Scott, Byron, Schiller, Goethe, Hoffmann and other famous classics. Materials of French and English journals are published in Russian. But the publisher does not forget about his native country either. This has a very beneficial effect on the Russian intelligentsia.

In addition, the magazine becomes encyclopedic. It also highlights fashion trends. Articles about the fine arts are published, Polevoy is the first to publish reproductions of famous paintings in his edition. The Moscow Telegraph was published twice a month - on the 1st and 15th. It doesn’t matter if holidays fell on these days or something else, even though the flood happened, it didn’t stop.

Among the authors of the journal are Kuchelbecker, Odoevsky, Krylov, Dal. Brother Xenophon helped Polevoy publish the Moscow Telegraph. Prince Vyazemsky - the right hand of Nikolai Alekseevich - is in charge of the department of literary criticism. Looking for new employees from the so-called Pushkin Circle. Pushkin sent his plays and epigrams to the editors of the Moscow Telegraph. The works of Zhukovsky, Batyushkov, Baratynsky, Turgenev were printed here. The magazine flourished. It became the main event of a whole decade - the 20s of the XIX century.

Polevoy himself knew how to organize the work of the editorial board. He showed himself as a journalist, and as a critic, and as a historian. Fascinated by philosophy, he writes criticism of works and even criticism of criticism. Nikolai Alekseevich said that behind the work it is important to see the personality of the author, to think globally, and not just within the limits of one's own country. He is engaged in fiction, writes historical works, plays and novels. He was the first to translate Shakespeare's Hamlet into Russian. Alexander Herzen said about him: "This man was born to be a journalist."

Polevoy's sharp tongue helped him make many enemies in literary circles. Some of the journalists could not stand him for taking away the audience from their magazines, the Pushkin circle was angry because of Polevoy's criticism of N.M. Karamzin's "History of the Russian State". Yes, and not the most flattering reviews of the Literary Gazette by Pushkin and Delvig were not in vain. Vyazemsky refused to work for the magazine.

The well-known persecutor of Pushkin, Uvarov, the head of the Ministry of Public Education, was also dissatisfied with Polevoy's activities. In addition, the Moscow Telegraph was considered the first bourgeois journal. And many did not like the glorification of the merchant class in it (Polevoi never forgot about his roots).

The last straw of the patience of the authorities was Nikolai Alekseevich’s critical review of the Kukolnik’s drama “The Hand of the Most High Fatherland Saved”, timed to coincide with the anniversary of the Romanov dynasty. The plot is familiar to her: Ivan Susanin leads enemies into a swamp and, at the cost of his life, saves the new tsar. In 1834, this story also had a certain political subtext - the ideas of autocracy and nationality. Therefore, all critics were given the exact instructions to write well about the play, because Nicholas I himself was sitting among the audience! But Polevoy criticized this creation. The Moscow Telegraph ceased to exist, and its editor was outlawed.

Nikolai Alekseevich was forbidden to engage in journalistic activities, and even more so to publish his own magazine again. He had a large family with seven children. He could earn only by writing. Under strict secrecy, Polevoy becomes the unspoken editor of Live Review. Worked under a false name or simply anonymously. A little later, he was offered to edit the St. Petersburg publications Northern Bee and Son of the Fatherland.

The disgraced writer hands over the management of the Review to his brother Xenophon and leaves Moscow with the hope of a better life. But in the northern capital, he still cannot find like-minded people. Even worse, the editors of the magazines Bulgarin and Grech, with whom he has to work, are his worst enemies. Despite his wounded pride, Polevoy has a lot of ideas on how to improve magazines. But, having not found responses to his proposals, Nikolai Alekseevich refuses both the Northern Bee and the Son of the Fatherland.

The last years of Polevoy were very difficult. To earn money, he edited the works of incoming authors, he himself believed that it was impossible to exchange for small coins, but he could not do anything. The attitude of good friends towards him also changed - they did not recognize him.

The only joy was that Polevoy's plays, staged in the theater, were quite popular. True, and this was overshadowed by the fact that now the once sharp and uncompromising author was accused of currying favor with the authorities. Polevoy had something to change his attitude to life. The death of his son and sister, constant attacks from all sides greatly undermined his health. He himself had already begun to dream of death.

He understood that his views were outdated, that he had become old. All attempts to publishing remained fruitless. On February 22, 1846, at the age of 52, Nikolai Alekseevich passed away. His family received a pension of 1000 rubles. And Vissarion Belinsky wrote a posthumous article about how much Polevoy did for Russian literature and society.

A humanitarian center has been opened in Irkutsk today - a library named after the Polev family. The descendants handed over very valuable and expensive books for readers to the hometown of their dynasty.

In preparing the material, an article by N.K. Kozmina "Field Nikolai Alekseevich"

Notes

ProskurinO.A. Literary scandals of the Pushkin era. M.: OGI, 2000.

Literature

1. Polevoy N.A. Two years, 1864 and 1865, from the history of the peasant business in the Minsk province. // Russian antiquity, 1910. T. 141. No. 1. P. 47-68; No. 2. S.247-270.
2. Polevoy N.A. Diary of N.A. Field. (1838-1845) // Historical Bulletin, 1888. T. 31. No. 3. P. 654-674; T. 32. No. 4. S.163-183.
3. Sukhomlinov M.I. ON THE. Polevoy and his magazine "Moscow Telegraph" // Historical Bulletin, 1886. T. 23. No. 3. P. 503-528.