A short story about Karamzin.  Karamzin N.M.

Created by Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin for the benefit of the fatherland, "History of the Russian State", the main achievement in his biography.

Karamzin biography for children, the most important

Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin was born into a noble family of a retired military man, a landowner, in 1766, in the village of Znamenskoye.

The Karamzins are nobles descended from the Crimean Tatars. Hence the name of the surname - Kara Murza - the black prince. Mother did not have a chance to raise Kolya. Ekaterina Petrovna died, leaving the child to the care of her father. Mikhail Yegorovich hired nannies and governesses to educate and educate his son. The future writer was educated at home, reading books from his mother's library.

A separate milestone in Karamzin's biography is his studies at the Shaden professorial boarding school. There the young man continued his education, studied German and French. His father contributed to the enrollment of the future historian in the regiment, which allowed him to study in Moscow at a boarding school at Moscow University.

Mikhail Yegorovich insisted that his son become a military man. As soon as his father died, his son changed his military career to work as a journalist and writer.
Young Nikolai loved to attend social events, where he met creative people. Later, in collaboration with them, he published magazines and almanacs.
He traveled and wrote about his impressions of Europe in books. Under Alexander I, he received the position of a historiographer and wrote the most important collection, The History of the Russian State. He married twice and raised 10 children of his own.

He died of untreated pneumonia in 1826, in St. Petersburg.

Youth and military service

The young graduate of boarding houses served in the Preobrazhensky Regiment, he did not like the service, he went on vacation for a year, and after the death of his father, he resigned from the service with the rank of second lieutenant. This was the end of a military career in Karamzin's biography.

Karamzin visited secular society, met philosophers and writers, made useful contacts, was interested in Freemasons, and tried his hand at literary work. With friends, he developed the first Russian children's magazine.

Traveled in Germany, Switzerland, France. The material from the trips formed the basis of the "Letters of a Russian Traveler", which became known and were approved by critics.

Literary creativity

Karamzin read reformers, progressive-minded European writers.

He organized the release of the Moscow Journal, where he subsequently published his literary novel "".

He wrote articles for the Vestniki Evropy magazine, where he showed his ability to tell stories in an interesting way.

Alexander I noted that the publicist had a progressive mind and a desire for knowledge, and appointed him a historiographer, instructing him to write the history of the country. It took twenty-two years to describe the events that have taken place in the state since the beginning of time. In 1816-1824, books of the multi-volume edition of the History of the Russian State began to be printed.

Volumes 1 to 8 of the collection, published in a print run of 3,000 books, were sold in a month. The following volumes, from the ninth to the eleventh, received translation into foreign languages. The last, unfinished twelfth volume was published after the death of the historian.

In descriptions of the way of Russia, he spoke in favor of an absolute monarchy. During his lifetime, he was awarded the title of State Councilor and awarded the Orders of Saints Anna and Vladimir.

Nikolai Mikhailovich introduced the letter "e" and new words into literary descriptions and colloquial speech.

I ate boiled rice for lunch, 2 baked apples for dinner.

When asked what was going on in Russia, he invariably answered: "They steal."

pseudonym - A. B. V.

historian, the largest Russian writer of the era of sentimentalism, nicknamed "Russian Stern"

Nikolai Karamzin

short biography

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Biography from Wikipedia

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Karamzin - writer

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

Sentimentalism

The publication by Karamzin of Letters from a Russian Traveler (1791-1792) and the story Poor Lisa (1792; a separate edition in 1796) opened the era of sentimentalism in Russia.

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

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

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

Poetry Karamzin

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

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

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

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

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

Prose Karamzin

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

Karamzin's language reform

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

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

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

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

Karamzin the historian

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Karamzin - translator

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

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

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

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

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

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

Family

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

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

N. M. Karamzin is a well-known Russian prose writer, journalist and historical figure. Nikolai Mikhailovich was born in the Kazan province in 1766. At first, the writer was homeschooled, after that he went to study at the Moscow Boarding School. At this time, Karamzin was fond of literature, and in particular Shakespeare. Also, the novice prose writer spoke several ancient and new languages.
In 1789 Karamzin's journey abroad began. He went to Europe, where the development of his creative path began. Here Karamzin wrote the work Letters of a Russian Traveler. The text was not a biography, his letters were a literary text, the purpose was to describe the discoveries made by Karamzin during his travels.
After returning to his homeland, Nikolai Mikhailovich publishes his work “Poor Liza”, it was it that brought him recognition and fame. His creation was imbued with real life, not sublime style. This work contributed to the development of such a direction in literature as sentimentalism. Karamzin wanted to acquaint the ordinary reader with culture and make him a literate person. In the 1790s, Nikolai Mikhailovich began to reform the language. The main goal was to bring the literary language closer to the spoken language.
In 1803, Karamzin officially decided to engage in historical activities. He proposes his candidacy for the role of a historiographer. In 1818, the "History of the Russian State" appeared, this book would later be published in several languages ​​at once. This huge work opens a new stage in the writer's work. Journalism is now receding into the background and historical activity comes to the fore. "History of the Russian State" is a new discovery of Russia. Karamzin wrote his work for a wide educated audience. Work on the history of Russia connected the writer and Tsar Alexander the First. Thanks to this, Nikolai Mikhailovich comes to Tsarskoye Selo to be close to the court. Closer to his death, Karamzin became a supporter of the monarchy. The writer died of a severe cold in 1826 in St. Petersburg.
Karamzin had a huge impact on journalism, reform and educational activities, history, literature and Russian culture in general. In journalism, he put forward examples of political publications, which would later become traditional. In his reform activities, Karamzin combined the literary and colloquial word. In educational activities, it was Nikolai Mikhailovich who introduced the book into home education. As a historical figure, Karamzin wrote a work that to this day remains the subject of numerous disputes and discussions. As a writer, Nikolai Mikhailovich showed by his own example that a real writer must be incorruptible and independent in his judgments.

Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin is a famous Russian writer and historian, famous for his reforms of the Russian language. He created the multi-volume "History of the Russian State" and wrote the story "Poor Liza". Nikolai Karamzin was born near Simbirsk on December 12, 1766. The father was retired at the time. The man belonged to a noble family, which, in turn, came from the ancient Tatar dynasty of Kara-Murza.

Nikolai Mikhailovich began to study in a private boarding school, but in 1778 his parents sent the boy to the boarding school of Moscow University professor I.M. Shaden. Karamzin had a desire to learn and develop, so for almost 2 years Nikolai Mikhailovich attended the lectures of I.G. Schwartz in an educational institution in Moscow. Father wanted Karamzin Jr. to follow in his footsteps. The writer agreed with the parental will and entered the service in the Preobrazhensky Guards Regiment.

Nicholas was not a military man for long, he soon resigned, but he learned something positive from this period of his life - the first literary works appeared. After his resignation, he chooses a new place of residence - Simbirsk. Karamzin at this time becomes a member of the Golden Crown Masonic Lodge. Nikolai Mikhailovich did not stay long in Simbirsk - he returned to Moscow. For four years he was a member of the Friendly Scientific Society.

Literature

At the dawn of his literary career, Nikolai Karamzin went to Europe. The writer met with, looked at the Great French Revolution. The result of the trip was "Letters from a Russian Traveler". This book brought fame to Karamzin. Such works had not yet been written before Nikolai Mikhailovich, therefore philosophers consider the creator to be the founder of modern Russian literature.

Returning to Moscow, Karamzin begins an active creative life. He not only writes stories and short stories, but also manages the Moscow Journal. The publication published works by young and famous authors, including Nikolai Mikhailovich himself. During this period of time, “My trifles”, “Aglaya”, “Pantheon of foreign literature” and “Aonides” came out from under the pen of Karamzin.

Prose and poetry alternated with reviews, analyzes of theatrical productions and critical articles that could be read in the Moscow Journal. The first review, created by Karamzin, appeared in the publication in 1792. The writer shared his impressions of the ironic poem Virgil's Aeneid, Turned Inside Out, written by Nikolai Osipov. During this period, the creator writes the story "Natalya, the boyar's daughter."

Karamzin achieved success in poetic art. The poet used European sentimentalism, which did not fit into the traditional poetry of that time. No odes or, with Nikolai Mikhailovich, a new stage in the development of the poetic world in Russia began.

Karamzin praised the spiritual world of man, ignoring the physical shell. "Language of the heart" was used by the creator. Logical and simple forms, meager rhymes and the almost complete absence of paths - that's what the poetry of Nikolai Mikhailovich was.

In 1803, Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin became officially a historian. The corresponding decree was signed by the emperor. The writer became the first and last historiographer of the country. Nikolai Mikhailovich devoted the second half of his life to the study of history. Karamzin was not interested in government posts.

The first historical work of Nikolai Mikhailovich was "Note on ancient and new Russia in its political and civil relations." Karamzin presented the conservative strata of society, expressed their opinion on the emperor's liberal reforms. The writer tried to prove with creativity that Russia does not need transformations. This work is a sketch for a large-scale work.

Only in 1818 did Karamzin publish his main work, The History of the Russian State. It consisted of 8 volumes. Later, Nikolai Mikhailovich released 3 more books. This work helped bring Karamzin closer to the imperial court, including the tsar.

From now on, the historian lives in Tsarskoe Selo, where the sovereign gave him a separate apartment. Gradually, Nikolai Mikhailovich went over to the side of the absolute monarchy. The last, 12th volume of the "History of the Russian State" was never completed. In this form, the book was published after the death of the writer. Karamzin was not the founder of descriptions of the history of Russia. According to researchers, Nikolai Mikhailovich was the first to be able to reliably describe the life of the country.

“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 - ", - said.

The popularity of history books is due to the fact that Karamzin acted more as a writer than a historian. He respected the beauty of the language, but did not offer readers personal assessments of the events that happened. In special manuscripts for volumes, Nikolai Mikhailovich made explanations and left comments.

Karamzin is known in Russia as a writer, poet, historian and critic, but little information remains about Nikolai Mikhailovich's translation activities. In this direction, he worked for a short time.

Among the works is a translation of the original tragedy "", written. This book, translated into Russian, was not censored, so it was sent to be burned. Karamzin attached prefaces to each work, in which he assessed the work. For two years, Nikolai Mikhailovich worked on the translation of the Indian drama "Sakuntala" by Kalidas.

The Russian literary language changed under the influence of Karamzin's work. The writer deliberately ignored the Church Slavonic vocabulary and grammar, giving the works a touch of vitality. Nikolai Mikhailovich took the syntax and grammar of the French language as a basis.

Thanks to Karamzin, Russian literature was replenished with new words, including “attraction”, “charity”, “industry”, “love”. There was also a place for barbarism. For the first time, Nikolai Mikhailovich introduced the letter "ё" into the language.

Karamzin as a reformer caused a lot of controversy in the literary environment. A.S. Shishkov and Derzhavin created the Conversation of Russian Word Lovers community, whose members tried to preserve the "old" language. Members of the community loved to criticize Nikolai Mikhailovich and other innovators. The rivalry between Karamzin and Shishkov ended in a rapprochement between the two writers. It was Shishkov who contributed to the election of Nikolai Mikhailovich as a member of the Russian and Imperial Academy of Sciences.

Personal life

In 1801, Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin was legally married for the first time. The wife of the writer was Elizaveta Ivanovna Protasova. The young woman was a longtime lover of the historian. According to Karamzin, he loved Elizabeth for 13 years. The wife of Nikolai Mikhailovich was known as an educated citizen.

She helped her husband when needed. The only thing that worried Elizaveta Ivanovna was her health. In March 1802, Sofia Nikolaevna Karamzina was born, the daughter of a writer. Protasova suffered from postpartum fever, which turned out to be fatal. According to researchers, the work "Poor Lisa" was dedicated to the first wife of Nikolai Mikhailovich. Daughter Sophia served as a maid of honor, was friends with Pushkin and.

Being a widower, Karamzin met Ekaterina Andreevna Kolyvanova. The girl was considered the illegitimate daughter of Prince Vyazemsky. In this marriage, 9 children were born. At a young age, three descendants died, including two daughters of Natalia and son Andrei. At the age of 16, the heir Nikolai died. In 1806, a replenishment happened in the Karamzin family - Catherine was born. At 22, the girl married a retired lieutenant colonel, Prince Peter Meshchersky. The son of the spouses Vladimir became a publicist.

Andrey was born in 1814. The young man studied at Dorpat University, but then went abroad due to health problems. Andrei Nikolaevich resigned. He married Aurora Karlovna Demidova, but no children appeared in the marriage. However, Karamzin's son had illegitimate heirs.

After 5 years, replenishment happened again in the Karamzin family. Son Vladimir became the pride of his father. A witty, resourceful careerist - this is how the heir Nikolai Mikhailovich was described. He was witty, resourceful, reached serious heights in his career. Vladimir worked in consultation with the Minister of Justice, a senator. Owned the estate of Ivnya. Alexandra Ilyinichna Duka, the daughter of a famous general, became his wife.

The maid of honor was the daughter of Elizabeth. The woman even received a pension for being related to Karamzin. After her mother died, Elizabeth moved in with her older sister Sophia, who at that time lived in the house of Princess Catherine Meshcherskaya.

The fate of the maid of honor was not easy, but the girl was known as a good-natured and sympathetic, intelligent person. Even considered Elizabeth "an example of selflessness." In those years, photos were rare, so portraits of family members were painted by special artists.

Death

The news of the death of Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin spread around Russia on May 22, 1826. The tragedy occurred in St. Petersburg. The official biography of the writer says that the cause of death was a cold.

The historian fell ill after visiting Senate Square on December 14, 1825. The funeral of Nikolai Karamzin took place at the Tikhvin cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

Bibliography

• 1791-1792 - "Letters from a Russian Traveler"
• 1792 - "Poor Lisa"
• 1792 - "Natalia, the boyar's daughter"
• 1792 - "The Beautiful Princess and the Happy Karla"
• 1793 - "Sierra Morena"
• 1793 - "Bornholm Island"
• 1796 - "Julia"
• 1802 - "Martha the Posadnitsa, or the Conquest of Novgorod"
• 1802 - "My confession"
• 1803 - "Sensitive and cold"
• 1803 - "Knight of our time"
• 1816-1829 - "History of the Russian State"
• 1826 - "On Friendship"

"History of Russian Goverment"
is not only the creation of a great writer,
but also the feat of an honest man.
A. S. Pushkin

Karamzin Nikolai Mikhailovich (1766 1826), writer, historian.

He was born on December 1 (12 n.s.) in the village of Mikhailovka, Simbirsk province, in the family of a landowner. He received a good education at home.

At the age of 14, he began to study at the Moscow private boarding school of Professor Shaden. After graduating in 1783, he came to the Preobrazhensky Regiment in St. Petersburg, where he met the young poet and future employee of his "Moscow Journal" Dmitriev. Then he published his first translation of S. Gesner's idyll "Wooden Leg". After retiring with the rank of second lieutenant in 1784, he moved to Moscow, became one of the active participants in the magazine Children's Reading for the Heart and Mind, published by N. Novikov, and became close to the Masons. Engaged in translations of religious and moral writings. From 1787 he regularly published his translations of Thomson's The Seasons, Janlis's Village Evenings, W. Shakespeare's tragedy Julius Caesar, and Lessing's tragedy Emilia Galotti.

In 1789, Karamzin's first original story, Evgeny and Yulia, appeared in the magazine "Children's Reading ...". In the spring, he went on a trip to Europe: he visited Germany, Switzerland, France, where he observed the activities of the revolutionary government. In June 1790 he moved from France to England.

In the autumn he returned to Moscow and soon undertook the publication of the monthly "Moscow Journal", in which most of the "Letters of a Russian Traveler" were printed, the stories "Liodor", "Poor Liza", "Natalia, the Boyar's Daughter", "Flor Silin", essays, short stories, critical articles and poems. Karamzin attracted Dmitriev and Petrov, Kheraskov and Derzhavin, Lvov Neledinsky-Meletsky and others to cooperate in the journal. Karamzin's articles asserted a new literary trend - sentimentalism. In the 1790s, Karamzin published the first Russian almanacs, Aglaya (parts 1 2, 1794 95) and Aonides (parts 1 3, 1796 99). The year 1793 came, when the Jacobin dictatorship was established at the third stage of the French Revolution, shocking Karamzin with its cruelty. The dictatorship aroused in him doubts about the possibility for mankind to achieve prosperity. He condemned the revolution. 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.

By the mid-1790s, Karamzin had become the recognized head of Russian sentimentalism, opening a new page in Russian literature. He was an indisputable authority for Zhukovsky, Batyushkov, the young Pushkin.

In 1802 1803 Karamzin published the journal Vestnik Evropy, which was dominated by literature and politics. In the critical articles of Karamzin, a new aesthetic program emerged, which contributed to the formation of Russian literature as a nationally original one. Karamzin saw the key to the identity of Russian culture in history. The most striking illustration of his views was the story "Marfa Posadnitsa". In his political articles, Karamzin made recommendations to the government, pointing out the role of education.

Trying to influence Tsar Alexander I, Karamzin gave him his Note on Ancient and New Russia (1811), irritating him. In 1819 he filed a new note, "The Opinion of a Russian Citizen", which caused even greater displeasure of the tsar. However, Karamzin did not abandon his faith in the salvation of the enlightened autocracy and later condemned the Decembrist uprising. However, Karamzin the artist was still highly appreciated by young writers who did not even share his political convictions.

In 1803, through M. Muravyov, Karamzin received the official title of court historiographer.

In 1804, he began to create the "History of the Russian State", on which he worked until the end of his days, but did not complete it. In 1818 the first eight volumes of History, Karamzin's greatest scientific and cultural achievement, were published. In 1821 the ninth volume, devoted to the reign of Ivan the Terrible, was published, in 1824 the 10th and 11th, about Fyodor Ioannovich and Boris Godunov. Death interrupted work on the 12th volume. It happened on May 22 (June 3, NS) 1826 in St. Petersburg.

It turns out that I have a Fatherland!

The first eight volumes of The History of the Russian State came out all at once in 1818. They say that, closing the eighth and last volume, Fyodor Tolstoy, nicknamed the American, exclaimed: "It turns out that I have a Fatherland!" And he was not alone. Thousands of people thought, and most importantly, felt this very thing. Everyone read the "History" - students, officials, nobles, even secular ladies. They read it in Moscow and St. Petersburg, they read it in the provinces: distant Irkutsk alone bought 400 copies. After all, it is so important for everyone to know that he has it, the Fatherland. This confidence was given to the people of Russia by Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin.

Need a story

In those days, at the beginning of the 19th century, ancient, age-old Russia suddenly turned out to be young, a beginner. Here she entered the big world. Everything was born anew: the army and navy, factories and manufactories, science and literature. And it might seem that the country has no history was there anything before Peter, except for the dark ages of backwardness and barbarism? Do we have history? "Yes," answered Karamzin.

Who is he?

We know very little about Karamzin's childhood and youth - neither diaries, nor letters from relatives, nor youthful writings have been preserved. We know that Nikolai Mikhailovich was born on December 1, 1766, not far from Simbirsk. At that time it was an incredible backwoods, a real bearish corner. When the boy was 11 or 12 years old, his father, a retired captain, took his son to Moscow, to a boarding school at the university gymnasium. Here Karamzin stayed for some time, and then entered the active military service at the age of 15! The teachers prophesied for him not only the Moscow Leipzig University, but somehow it did not work out.

Karamzin's exceptional education is his personal merit.

Writer

Military service did not go I wanted to write: compose, translate. And now, at the age of 17, Nikolai Mikhailovich is already a retired lieutenant. A whole life ahead. What to dedicate it to? Literature, exclusively literature decides Karamzin.

And what was it like, Russian literature of the 18th century? Also young, a beginner. Karamzin writes to a friend: "I am deprived of the pleasure of reading a lot in my native language. We are still poor writers. We have several poets who deserve to be read." Of course, there are already writers, and not just a few, but Lomonosov, Fonvizin, Derzhavin, but there are no more than a dozen significant names. Are there too few talents? No, they do exist, but it's up to the language: the Russian language has not adapted yet to convey new thoughts, new feelings, to describe new objects.

Karamzin focuses on the live conversational speech of educated people. He writes not scholarly treatises, but travel notes ("Notes of a Russian Traveler"), stories ("Bornholm Island", "Poor Liza"), poems, articles, and translates from French and German.

Journalist

Finally, he decides to publish a magazine. It was called simply: "Moscow Journal". The well-known playwright and writer Ya. B. Knyazhnin picked up the first issue and exclaimed: "We did not have such prose!"

The success of the "Moscow Journal" was grandiose as many as 300 subscribers. At the time, a very large number. That's how small is not only writing, reading Russia!

Karamzin works incredibly hard. Collaborates in the first Russian children's magazine. It was called "Children's Reading for the Heart and Mind". Only FOR this magazine Karamzin wrote two dozen pages every week.

Karamzin for his time is the number one writer.

Historian

And suddenly Karamzin takes on a gigantic task of compiling his native Russian history. On October 31, 1803, Tsar Alexander I issued a decree appointing N. M. Karamzin as a historiographer with a salary of 2,000 rubles a year. Now for the rest of his life historian. But, apparently, it was necessary.

Chronicles, decrees, lawsuits

Now write. But for this you need to collect material. The search began. Karamzin literally combs through all the archives and book collections of the Synod, the Hermitage, the Academy of Sciences, the Public Library, Moscow University, the Alexander Nevsky and Trinity-Sergius Lavra. At his request, they search in monasteries, in the archives of Oxford, Paris, Venice, Prague and Copenhagen. And how much was found!

Ostromir Gospel of 1056 1057 (this is still the oldest of the dated Russian books), Ipatiev, Trinity Chronicles. Sudebnik of Ivan the Terrible, a work of ancient Russian literature "The Prayer of Daniel the Sharpener" and much more.

They say, having discovered a new chronicle Volynskaya, Karamzin did not sleep for several nights for joy. Friends laughed that he had become simply unbearable only talk about history.

What will she be?

Materials are being collected, but how to take up the text, how to write a book that even the simplest person will read, but from which even an academician will not wince? How to make it interesting, artistic, and at the same time scientific? And here are the volumes. Each is divided into two parts: in the first a detailed story written by a great master this is for the common reader; in the second detailed notes, references to sources this is for historians.

This is true patriotism

Karamzin writes to his brother: "History is not a novel: a lie can always be beautiful, and only some minds like the truth in its attire." So what to write about? To set out in detail the glorious pages of the past, and only turn over the dark pages? Perhaps this is exactly what a patriotic historian should do? No, Karamzin decides, patriotism is only not due to the distortion of history. He doesn't add anything, he doesn't invent anything, he doesn't exalt victories or downplay defeats.

Drafts of the 7th volume were accidentally preserved: we see how Karamzin worked on every phrase of his "History". Here he writes about Vasily III: "In relations with Lithuania, Vasily ... always ready for peacefulness ..." It's not that, it's not true. The historian crosses out what was written and concludes: "In relations with Lithuania, Vasily expressed peacefulness in words, trying to harm her secretly or openly." Such is the impartiality of the historian, such is true patriotism. Love for one's own, but not hatred for someone else's.

Ancient Russia seemed to be found by Karamzin, like America by Columbus

The ancient history of Russia is being written, and modern history is being made around it: the Napoleonic wars, the battle of Austerlitz, the Peace of Tilsit, the Patriotic War of the 12th year, the fire of Moscow. In 1815, Russian troops enter Paris. In 1818 the first 8 volumes of The History of the Russian State were published. Circulation is a terrible thing! 3 thousand copies. And they all sold out in 25 days. Unheard of! But the price is considerable: 50 rubles.

The last volume stopped in the middle of the reign of Ivan IV the Terrible.

Some said Jacobin!

Even earlier, the trustee of Moscow University, Golenishchev-Kutuzov, submitted to the Minister of Public Education, to put it mildly, a document in which he argued in detail that "Karamzin's writings are filled with free-thinking and Jacobin poison." "It's not the order that he should be given, it's time to lock him up."

Why so? First of all, for independence of judgment. Not everyone likes it.

There is an opinion that Nikolai Mikhailovich never in his life lied.

Monarchist! exclaimed others, young people, future Decembrists.

Yes, the main character of Karamzin's "History" is the Russian autocracy. The author condemns bad sovereigns, sets good ones as an example. And he sees prosperity for Russia in an enlightened, wise monarch. That is, a "good king" is needed. Karamzin does not believe in revolution, especially in an ambulance. So, we really have a monarchist.

And at the same time, the Decembrist Nikolai Turgenev will later recall how Karamzin "shed tears" upon learning of the death of Robespierre, the hero of the French Revolution. And here is what Nikolai Mikhailovich himself writes to a friend: "I do not demand either a constitution or representatives, but by feeling I will remain a republican, and, moreover, a loyal subject of the Russian tsar: this is a contradiction, but only an imaginary one."

Why is he not with the Decembrists then? Karamzin believed that Russia's time had not yet come, the people were not ripe for a republic.

good king

The ninth volume has not yet been published, and rumors have already spread that it is banned. It began like this: "We proceed to describe the terrible change in the soul of the king and in the fate of the kingdom." So, the story about Ivan the Terrible continues.

Earlier historians did not dare to openly describe this reign. Not surprising. For example, the conquest of free Novgorod by Moscow. True, Karamzin the historian reminds us that the unification of the Russian lands was necessary, but Karamzin the artist gives a vivid picture of exactly how the conquest of the free northern city took place:

John and his son were judged in this way: from five hundred to a thousand Novgorodians were presented to them daily; they beat them, tortured them, burned them with some kind of fiery composition, tied their heads or feet to a sleigh, dragged them to the banks of the Volkhov, where this river does not freeze in winter, and whole families were thrown from the bridge into the water, wives with husbands, mothers with babies. Moscow warriors rode in boats along the Volkhov with stakes, hooks and axes: whoever of those plunged into the water surfaced, that one was stabbed, cut into pieces. These murders lasted five weeks and were committed by general robbery."

And so on almost every page executions, murders, burning of prisoners at the news of the death of the tsar's favorite villain Malyuta Skuratov, an order to destroy an elephant that refused to kneel before the tsar ... and so on.

Remember, this is written by a person who is convinced that autocracy is necessary in Russia.

Yes, Karamzin was a monarchist, but at the trial the Decembrists referred to the "History of the Russian State" as one of the sources of "harmful" thoughts.

December 14

He did not want his book to become a source of harmful thoughts. He wanted to tell the truth. It just so happened that the truth he wrote turned out to be "harmful" for the autocracy.

And here is December 14, 1825. Having received news of the uprising (for Karamzin, this, of course, is a rebellion), the historian goes out into the street. He was in Paris in 1790, was in Moscow in 1812, in 1825 he was walking towards the Senate Square. "I saw terrible faces, heard terrible words, five or six stones fell at my feet."

Karamzin, of course, is against the uprising. But how many among the rebels are the Muravyov brothers, Nikolai Turgenev Bestuzhev, Kuchelbeker (he translated "History" into German).

A few days later Karamzin would say this about the Decembrists: "The errors and crimes of these young people are the errors and crimes of our age."

After the uprising, Karamzin fell mortally ill - he caught a cold on December 14th. In the eyes of his contemporaries, he was another victim of that day. But he dies not only from a cold - the idea of ​​​​the world collapsed, faith in the future was lost, and a new king ascended the throne, very far from the ideal image of an enlightened monarch.

Karamzin could no longer write. The last thing he managed to do was, together with Zhukovsky, persuaded the tsar to return Pushkin from exile.

And Volume XII stopped at the interregnum of 1611-1612. And here are the last words of the last volume about a small Russian fortress: "Nutlet did not give up."

Now

More than a century and a half has passed since then. Today's historians know much more about ancient Russia than Karamzin, how much has been found: documents, archaeological finds, birch bark, finally. But Karamzin's book history-chronicle is the only one of its kind and will never be the same again.

Why do we need it now? Bestuzhev-Ryumin said this well in his time: "A high moral sense makes this book so far the most convenient for cultivating love for Russia and for the good."