There was a Karamzin. Karamzin, Nikolai Mikhailovich
A. Venetsianov "Portrait of N.M. Karamzin"
“I was looking for a path to the truth,
I wanted to know the reason for everything...” (N.M. Karamzin)
“History of the Russian State” was the last and unfinished work of the outstanding Russian historian N.M. Karamzin: a total of 12 volumes of research were written, Russian history was presented up to 1612.
Karamzin developed an interest in history in his youth, but there was a long way to go before he was called as a historian.
From the biography of N.M. Karamzin
Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin born in 1766 in the family estate of Znamenskoye, Simbirsk district, Kazan province, in the family of a retired captain, an average Simbirsk nobleman. Received home education. Studied at Moscow University. He served for a short time in the Preobrazhensky Guards Regiment of St. Petersburg; it was during this time that his first literary experiments dated back.
After retiring, he lived for some time in Simbirsk and then moved to Moscow.
In 1789, Karamzin left for Europe, where he visited I. Kant in Konigsberg, and in Paris he witnessed the Great french revolution. Returning to Russia, he publishes “Letters of a Russian Traveler,” which make him a famous writer.
Writer
“Karamzin’s influence on literature can be compared with Catherine’s influence on society: he made literature humane”(A.I. Herzen)
Creativity N.M. Karamzin developed in line with sentimentalism.
V. Tropinin "Portrait of N.M. Karamzin"
Literary direction sentimentalism(from fr.sentiment- feeling) was popular in Europe from the 20s to the 80s of the 18th century, and in Russia - from the end of the 18th to early XIX V. J.-J. is considered the ideologist of sentimentalism. Ruso.
European sentimentalism penetrated into Russia in the 1780s and early 1790s. thanks to translations of Goethe's Werther, novels by S. Richardson and J.-J. Rousseau, who were very popular in Russia:
She liked novels early on;
They replaced everything for her.
She fell in love with deceptions
And Richardson and Russo.
Pushkin speaks here about his heroine Tatyana, but sentimental novels all the girls of that time were engrossed.
The main feature of sentimentalism is that attention is primarily paid to the spiritual world of a person; feelings come first, not reason and great ideas. The heroes of works of sentimentalism have innate moral purity and innocence; they live in the lap of nature, love it and are merged with it.
Such a heroine is Liza from Karamzin’s story “Poor Liza” (1792). This story had great success among readers, it was followed by numerous imitations, but the main significance of sentimentalism and in particular Karamzin’s story was that such works revealed inner world common man, which evoked the ability to empathize in others.
In poetry, Karamzin was also an innovator: the previous poetry, represented by the odes of Lomonosov and Derzhavin, spoke the language of the mind, and Karamzin’s poems spoke the language of the heart.
N.M. Karamzin - reformer of the Russian language
He enriched the Russian language with many words: “impression”, “falling in love”, “influence”, “entertaining”, “touching”. Introduced the words “era”, “concentrate”, “scene”, “moral”, “aesthetic”, “harmony”, “future”, “catastrophe”, “charity”, “freethinking”, “attraction”, “responsibility” ", "suspiciousness", "industrial", "sophistication", "first-class", "humane".
His language reforms caused heated controversy: members of the “Conversation of Lovers of the Russian Word” society, headed by G. R. Derzhavin and A. S. Shishkov, adhered to conservative views and opposed the reform of the Russian language. In response to their activities, in 1815 it was formed literary society“Arzamas” (it included Batyushkov, Vyazemsky, Zhukovsky, Pushkin), which ironized the authors of “Conversation” and parodied their works. The literary victory of “Arzamas” over “Beseda” was won, which strengthened the victory of Karamzin’s linguistic changes.
Karamzin also introduced the letter E into the alphabet. Before this, the words “tree”, “hedgehog” were written like this: “yolka”, “yozh”.
Karamzin also introduced the dash, one of the punctuation marks, into Russian writing.
Historian
In 1802 N.M. Karamzin wrote historical story“Martha the Posadnitsa, or the Conquest of Novagorod”, and in 1803 Alexander I appointed him to the position of historiographer, thus Karamzin devoted the rest of his life to writing “The History of the Russian State”, essentially finishing with fiction.
Studying manuscripts of the 16th century, Karamzin discovered and published in 1821 Afanasy Nikitin’s “Walking across Three Seas.” In this regard, he wrote: “... while Vasco da Gamma was only thinking about the possibility of finding a way from Africa to Hindustan, our Tverite was already a merchant on the banks of the Malabar”(historical region in South India). In addition, Karamzin was the initiator of the installation of a monument to K. M. Minin and D. M. Pozharsky on Red Square and took the initiative to erect monuments outstanding figures national history.
"History of Russian Goverment"
Historical work by N.M. Karamzin
This is a multi-volume work by N. M. Karamzin, describing Russian history from ancient times to the reign of Ivan IV the Terrible and the Time of Troubles. Karamzin’s work was not the first in describing the history of Russia; before him there were already historical works by V.N. Tatishchev and M.M. Shcherbatov.
But Karamzin’s “History” had, in addition to historical ones, high literary merits, including due to the ease of writing; it attracted not only specialists to Russian history, but also simply educated people, which greatly contributed to the formation national identity, interest in the past. A.S. Pushkin wrote that "everything, 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.”
It is believed that in this work Karamzin nevertheless showed himself more not as a historian, but as a writer: “History” is written in a beautiful literary language (by the way, in it Karamzin did not use the letter Y), but the historical value of his work is unconditional, because . the author used manuscripts that were first published by him and many of which have not survived to this day.
Working on “History” until the end of his life, Karamzin did not have time to finish it. The text of the manuscript breaks off at the chapter “Interregnum 1611-1612”.
Work by N.M. Karamzin on “History of the Russian State”
In 1804, Karamzin retired to the Ostafyevo estate, where he devoted himself entirely to writing “History.”
Ostafyevo Estate
Ostafyevo- estate of Prince P. A. Vyazemsky near Moscow. It was built in 1800-07. the poet's father, Prince A.I. Vyazemsky. The estate remained in the possession of the Vyazemskys until 1898, after which it passed into the possession of the Sheremetev counts.
In 1804, A.I. Vyazemsky invited his son-in-law, N.M., to settle in Ostafyevo. Karamzin, who worked here on the “History of the Russian State”. In April 1807, after the death of his father, Pyotr Andreevich Vyazemsky became the owner of the estate, under whom Ostafyevo became one of the symbols of the cultural life of Russia: Pushkin, Zhukovsky, Batyushkov, Denis Davydov, Griboyedov, Gogol, Adam Mitskevich visited here many times.
Contents of “History of the Russian State” by Karamzin
N. M. Karamzin "History of the Russian State"
In the course of his work, Karamzin found the Ipatiev Chronicle; it was from here that the historian drew many details and details, but did not clutter up the text of the narrative with them, but placed them in a separate volume of notes that have special historical significance.
In his work, Karamzin describes the peoples who inhabited the territory modern Russia, the origins of the Slavs, their conflict with the Varangians, talks about the origin of the first princes of Rus', their reign, describes everything in detail important events Russian history before 1612
The importance of N.M.’s work Karamzin
Already the first publications of “History” shocked contemporaries. They read it avidly, discovering the past of their country. Writers later used many plots for works of art. For example, Pushkin took material from “History” for his tragedy “Boris Godunov,” which he dedicated to Karamzin.
But, as always, there were critics. Mostly modern Karamzin liberals objected to the statist picture of the world expressed in the historian’s work and his belief in the effectiveness of autocracy.
Statism– this is a worldview and ideology that absolutizes the role of the state in society and promotes the maximum subordination of the interests of individuals and groups to the interests of the state; a policy of active state intervention in all spheres of public and private life.
Statism views the state as the highest institution, standing above all other institutions, although its goal is to create real possibilities for the comprehensive development of the individual and the state.
Liberals reproached Karamzin for the fact that in his work he followed only the development of the supreme power, which gradually took the form of the autocracy of his day, but neglected the history of the Russian people themselves.
There is even an epigram attributed to Pushkin:
In his “History” elegance, simplicity
They prove to us without any bias
The need for autocracy
And the delights of the whip.
Indeed, towards the end of his life Karamzin was a staunch supporter of absolute monarchy. He did not share the majority view thinking people on serfdom, was not an ardent supporter of its abolition.
He died in 1826 in St. Petersburg and was buried at the Tikhvin cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.
Monument to N.M. Karamzin in Ostafyevo
Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin is a great Russian writer, the largest writer of the era of sentimentalism. He wrote fiction, poetry, plays, and articles. Reformer of the Russian literary language. Creator of the “History of the Russian State” - one of the first fundamental works on the history of Russia.
“I loved to be sad, not knowing what...”
Karamzin was born on December 1 (12), 1766 in the village of Mikhailovka, Buzuluk district, Simbirsk province. He grew up in the village of his father, a hereditary nobleman. It is interesting that the Karamzin family has Turkic roots and comes from the Tatar Kara-Murza (aristocratic class).
Little is known about the writer’s childhood. At the age of 12, he was sent to Moscow to the boarding school of Moscow University professor Johann Schaden, where the young man received his first education, studied German and French languages. Three years later, he begins to attend lectures by the famous professor of aesthetics, educator Ivan Schwartz at Moscow University.
In 1783, at the insistence of his father, Karamzin enlisted in the Preobrazhensky Guards Regiment, but soon retired and left for his native Simbirsk. An important event for young Karamzin takes place in Simbirsk - he joins the Masonic lodge of the “Golden Crown”. This decision will play a role a little later, when Karamzin returns to Moscow and meets with an old acquaintance of their home - freemason Ivan Turgenev, as well as writers and writers Nikolai Novikov, Alexei Kutuzov, Alexander Petrov. At the same time, Karamzin’s first attempts in literature began - he participated in the publication of the first Russian magazine for children - “ Children's reading for the heart and mind." The four years he spent in the society of Moscow Freemasons had a serious influence on his creative development. At this time, Karamzin read a lot of the then popular Rousseau, Stern, Herder, Shakespeare, and tried to translate.
“In Novikov’s circle, Karamzin’s education began, not only as an author, but also as a moral one.”
Writer I.I. Dmitriev
Man of pen and thought
In 1789, a break with the Freemasons followed, and Karamzin went to travel around Europe. He traveled around Germany, Switzerland, France and England, stopping mainly in large cities, centers of European education. Karamzin visits Immanuel Kant in Königsberg and witnesses the Great French Revolution in Paris.
It was based on the results of this trip that he wrote the famous “Letters of a Russian Traveler.” These essays in the genre of documentary prose quickly gained popularity among readers and made Karamzin a famous and fashionable writer. At the same time, in Moscow, from the pen of the writer, the story “Poor Liza” was born - a recognized example of Russian sentimental literature. Many specialists in literary criticism believe that it is with these first books that modern Russian literature begins.
"IN initial period In his literary activity, Karamzin was characterized by a broad and politically rather vague “cultural optimism”, a belief in the salutary influence of cultural success on individuals and society. Karamzin hoped for the progress of science and the peaceful improvement of morals. He believed in the painless implementation of the ideals of brotherhood and humanity that permeated literature XVIII century as a whole."
Yu.M. Lotman
In contrast to classicism with its cult of reason, following in the footsteps of French writers, Karamzin affirms in Russian literature the cult of feelings, sensitivity, and compassion. New “sentimental” heroes are important primarily in their ability to love and surrender to feelings. "Oh! I love those objects that touch my heart and make me shed tears of tender sorrow!”(“Poor Lisa”).
“Poor Liza” is devoid of morality, didacticism, and edification; the author does not teach, but tries to evoke empathy for the characters in the reader, which distinguishes the story from previous traditions of classicism.
“Poor Liza” was received by the Russian public with such enthusiasm because in this work Karamzin was the first to express the “new word” that Goethe said to the Germans in his “Werther.”
Philologist, literary critic V.V. Sipovsky
Nikolai Karamzin at the “Millennium of Russia” monument in Veliky Novgorod. Sculptors Mikhail Mikeshin, Ivan Schroeder. Architect Victor Hartman. 1862
Giovanni Battista Damon-Ortolani. Portrait of N.M. Karamzin. 1805. Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin
Monument to Nikolai Karamzin in Ulyanovsk. Sculptor Samuil Galberg. 1845
At the same time, the reform of the literary language began - Karamzin abandoned the Old Slavonicisms that populated the written language, Lomonosov’s pomposity, and the use of Church Slavonic vocabulary and grammar. This made "Poor Liza" an easy and enjoyable story to read. It was Karamzin’s sentimentalism that became the foundation for the development of further Russian literature: the romanticism of Zhukovsky and early Pushkin was based on it.
“Karamzin made literature humane.”
A.I. Herzen
One of Karamzin’s most important merits is the enrichment of the literary language with new words: “charity”, “falling in love”, “freethinking”, “attraction”, “responsibility”, “suspiciousness”, “refinement”, “first-class”, “humane”, “sidewalk” ", "coachman", "impression" and "influence", "touching" and "entertaining". It was he who introduced into use the words “industry”, “concentrate”, “moral”, “aesthetic”, “era”, “scene”, “harmony”, “catastrophe”, “future” and others.
“A professional writer, one of the first in Russia who had the courage to write literary work source of existence, who valued independence of his own opinion above all else.”
Yu.M. Lotman
In 1791, Karamzin began his career as a journalist. This becomes an important milestone in the history of Russian literature - Karamzin founded the first Russian literary magazine, the founding father of the current “thick” magazines - “Moscow Journal”. A number of collections and almanacs appear on its pages: “Aglaya”, “Aonids”, “Pantheon of Foreign Literature”, “My Trinkets”. These publications made sentimentalism mainstream literary movement in Russia late XIX century, and Karamzin as its recognized leader.
But Karamzin’s deep disappointment in his old values soon follows. A year after Novikov’s arrest, the magazine was closed, after Karamzin’s bold ode “To Grace”, Karamzin himself lost the favor of the “powerful of the world”, almost falling under investigation.
“As long as a citizen can calmly, without fear, fall asleep, and all your subjects can freely direct their lives according to their thoughts; ...as long as you give everyone freedom and do not darken the light in their minds; as long as your trust in the people is visible in all your affairs: until then you will be sacredly honored... nothing can disturb the peace of your state.”
N.M. Karamzin. "To Grace"
Karamzin spent most of 1793–1795 in the village and published collections: “Aglaya”, “Aonids” (1796). He is planning to publish something like a textbook on foreign literature“Pantheon of Foreign Literature”, but with great difficulty makes its way through censorship prohibitions, which did not allow even Demosthenes and Cicero to be published...
Karamzin expresses his disappointment in the French Revolution in poetry:
But time and experience destroy
Castle in the air of youth...
...And I see clearly that with Plato
We cannot establish republics...
During these years, Karamzin increasingly moved from lyrics and prose to journalism and development philosophical ideas. Even the “Historical eulogy to Empress Catherine II,” compiled by Karamzin upon the accession to the throne of Emperor Alexander I, is primarily journalism. In 1801-1802, Karamzin worked in the journal “Bulletin of Europe”, where he wrote mainly articles. In practice, his passion for education and philosophy is expressed in writing works on historical topics, increasingly creating famous writer the authority of the historian.
The first and last historiographer
By decree of October 31, 1803, Emperor Alexander I granted Nikolai Karamzin the title of historiographer. It is interesting that the title of historiographer in Russia was not renewed after Karamzin’s death.
From this moment Karamzin stops all literary work and for 22 years has been exclusively engaged in compiling historical work, familiar to us as “History of the Russian State”.
Alexey Venetsianov. Portrait of N.M. Karamzin. 1828. Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin
Karamzin sets himself the task of compiling a history for the general educated public, not to be a researcher, but “choose, animate, color” All "attractive, strong, worthy" from Russian history. Important point- the work must also be designed for foreign readers in order to open Russia to Europe.
In his work, Karamzin used materials from the Moscow College of Foreign Affairs (especially spiritual and contractual letters of princes, and acts of diplomatic relations), the Synodal Repository, the libraries of the Volokolamsk Monastery and the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, private collections of manuscripts of Musin-Pushkin, Rumyantsev and A.I. Turgenev, who compiled a collection of documents from the papal archive, as well as many other sources. An important part of the work was the study of ancient chronicles. In particular, Karamzin discovered a chronicle previously unknown to science, called the Ipatiev Chronicle.
During the years of work on “History...” Karamzin mainly lived in Moscow, from where he traveled only to Tver and Nizhny Novgorod, during the occupation of Moscow by the French in 1812. He usually spent the summer in Ostafyevo, the estate of Prince Andrei Ivanovich Vyazemsky. In 1804, Karamzin married the prince’s daughter, Ekaterina Andreevna, who bore the writer nine children. She became the writer's second wife. The writer first married at the age of 35, in 1801, to Elizaveta Ivanovna Protasova, who died a year after the wedding from puerperal fever. From his first marriage, Karamzin had a daughter, Sophia, a future acquaintance of Pushkin and Lermontov.
The main social event in the writer’s life during these years was “A Note on Ancient and New Russia in its Political and civil relations", written in 1811. The “Note...” reflected the views of conservative sections of society dissatisfied with the liberal reforms of the emperor. “The note...” was handed over to the emperor. In it, once a liberal and a “Westernizer,” as they would say now, Karamzin appears in the role of a conservative and tries to prove that no fundamental changes are needed in the country.
And in February 1818, Karamzin released the first eight volumes of his “History of the Russian State.” A circulation of 3,000 copies (huge for that time) was sold out within a month.
A.S. Pushkin
“The History of the Russian State” became the first work aimed at the widest reader, thanks to the high literary merits and scientific scrupulousness of the author. Researchers agree that this work was one of the first to contribute to the formation of national identity in Russia. The book has been translated into several European languages.
Despite his enormous work over many years, Karamzin did not have time to finish writing “History...” before his time - the beginning of the 19th century. After the first edition, three more volumes of “History...” were released. The last was the 12th volume, describing the events of the Time of Troubles in the chapter “Interregnum 1611–1612”. The book was published after Karamzin’s death.
Karamzin was entirely a man of his era. The establishment of monarchist views in him towards the end of his life brought the writer closer to the family of Alexander I, last years he spent close to them, living in Tsarskoe Selo. The death of Alexander I in November 1825 and the subsequent events of the uprising on Senate Square were a real blow for the writer. Nikolai Karamzin died on May 22 (June 3), 1826 in St. Petersburg, he was buried at the Tikhvin cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.
Karamzin Nikolai Mikhailovich is a famous Russian historian, as well as a writer. At the same time, he was engaged in publishing, reforming the Russian language and was the brightest representative of the era of sentimentalism.
Since the writer was born into a noble family, he received an excellent primary education at home. Later he entered a noble boarding school, where he continued his own education. Also in the period from 1781 to 1782, Nikolai Mikhailovich attended important university lectures.
In 1781, Karamzin went to serve in the St. Petersburg Guards Regiment, where his work began. After the death of his own father, the writer put an end to military service.
Since 1785, Karamzin began to seriously develop his creative abilities. He moves to Moscow, where he joins the “Friendly Scientific Community”. After that significant event Karamzin participates in the publication of the magazine and also collaborates with various publishing houses.
For several years, the writer traveled around European countries, where he met various outstanding people. This is exactly what served further development his creativity. A work such as “Letters of a Russian Traveler” was written.
More details
The future historian named Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin was born in the city of Simbirsk on December 12, 1766 into a family of hereditary nobles. Nikolai received his very first basic education at home. After receiving primary education, my father sent me to a noble boarding school, which was located in Simbirsk. And in 1778, he moved his son to a Moscow boarding school. In addition to basic education, young Karamzin I was also very interested in foreign languages and attended lectures at the same time.
After completing his education, in 1781, Nikolai, on the advice of his father, entered military service in the elite Preobrazhensky Regiment at that time. Karamzin's debut as a writer took place in 1783, with a work called "Wooden Leg". In 1784 Karamzin decided to end his military career and therefore retired with the rank of lieutenant.
In 1785 after finishing his military career, Karamzin makes a strong-willed decision to move from Simbirsk, in which he was born and lived almost his entire life, to Moscow. It was there that the writer met Novikov and the Pleshcheevs. Also, while in Moscow, he became interested in Freemasonry and for this reason he joined a Masonic circle, where he started communicating with Gamaleya and Kutuzov. In addition to his hobby, he is also publishing his first children's magazine.
In addition to writing his own works, Karamzin also translates various works. So in 1787 he translated Shakespeare's tragedy "Julius Caesar". A year later he translated "Emilia Galotti" written by Lessing. The first work entirely written by Karamzin was published in 1789 and was called “Eugene and Yulia”, it was published in a magazine called “Children’s Reading”
In 1789-1790 Karamzin decides to diversify his life and therefore goes on a trip throughout Europe. The writer visited such major countries as Germany, England, France, Switzerland. During his travels, Karamzin met many famous historical figures of that time, for example Herder and Bonnet. He even managed to attend the performances of Robespierre himself. During the trip, he did not easily admire the beauties of Europe, but he carefully described all this, after which he called this work “Letters of a Russian Traveler.”
Detailed biography
Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin is the greatest Russian writer and historian, the founder of sentimentalism.
Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin was born on December 12, 1766 in the Simbirsk province. His father was a hereditary nobleman and had his own estate. Like most representatives high society, Nikolai was educated at home. In adolescence he leaves native home and enters the Moscow Johann Schaden University. He is making progress in learning foreign languages. In parallel with the main program, the guy attends lectures by famous educators and philosophers. It is there that his literary activity begins.
In 1783 Karamzin became a soldier in the Preobrazhensky Regiment, where he served until the death of his father. After being notified of his death, the future writer goes to his homeland, where he remains to live. There he meets the poet Ivan Turgenev, who is a member of the Masonic lodge. It is Ivan Sergeevich who invites Nikolai to join this organization. After joining the ranks of the Masons, young poet is interested in the literature of Rousseau and Shakespeare. His worldview gradually begins to change. In the end, captivated European culture, he breaks all ties with the lodge and goes on a journey. Visiting the leading countries of that period, Karamzin witnesses the revolution in France and makes new acquaintances, the most famous of whom was the popular philosopher of that time, Immanuel Kant.
The above events greatly inspired Nikolai. Being impressed, he creates documentary prose “Letters of a Russian Traveler,” which fully outlines his feelings and attitude towards everything that is happening in the West. Readers liked the sentimental style. Noticing this, Nikolai begins work on a standard work of this genre, known as “Poor Liza.” It reveals thoughts and experiences different heroes. This work was positively received in society, it actually shifted classicism to the bottom.
In 1791, Karamzin became involved in journalism, working for the Moscow Journal newspaper. In it he publishes his own almanacs and other works. In addition, the poet is working on reviews theatrical productions. Until 1802, Nikolai was engaged in journalism. During this period, Nicholas became closer to the royal court, actively communicated with Emperor Alexander I, they were often spotted walking in gardens and parks, the publicist earned the trust of the ruler, and in fact became his close confidant. A year later, he changes his vector to historical notes. The idea of creating a book telling about the history of Russia gripped the writer. Having received the title of historiographer, he writes his most valuable creation, “History of the Russian State.” 12 volumes were published, the last of which was completed by 1826 in Tsarskoe Selo. It was here that Nikolai Mikhailovich spent his last years of his life, dying on May 22, 1826 due to a cold.
According to one version, he was born in the village of Znamenskoye, Simbirsk district (now Mainsky district, 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, descended from the Tatar Murza, named Kara-Murza. Nikolai was the second son of a retired captain and landowner. He lost his mother early; she died in 1769. For his second marriage, my father married Ekaterina Dmitrieva, the aunt of the poet and fabulist Ivan Dmitriev.
Karamzin spent his childhood years on his father's estate and studied in Simbirsk at the noble boarding school of Pierre Fauvel. At the age of 14, he began studying at the Moscow private boarding school of Professor Johann Schaden, while simultaneously attending classes at Moscow University.
In 1781, Karamzin began serving in the Preobrazhensky Regiment in St. Petersburg, where he was transferred from the army regiments (he was enlisted in the service in 1774), and received the rank of lieutenant ensign.
During this period, he became close to the poet Ivan Dmitriev and began literary activity translation from German "Conversation between Austrian Maria Theresa and our Empress Elizabeth in Champs Elysees"(not preserved). Karamzin's first printed work was a translation of Solomon Gesner's idyll "The 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 to 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. Translated into Russian the tragedies "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 publishing the Moscow Journal (1791-1792), where the “Letters of a Russian Traveler” written by him were published; in 1792, the story “Poor Liza” was published, as well as the story “Natalia, boyar's daughter" and "Liodor", which became examples of Russian sentimentalism.
Karamzin. In the first Russian poetic anthology “Aonids” (1796-1799) compiled by Karamzin, he included his own poems, as well as poems by his contemporaries - Gabriel Derzhavin, Mikhail Kheraskov, Ivan Dmitriev. In "Aonids" the letter "ё" of the Russian alphabet appeared for the first time.
Karamzin combined some of the prose translations in the “Pantheon of Foreign Literature” (1798), brief characteristics Russian writers were given to them for the publication of "Pantheon Russian authors, or a collection of their portraits with comments" (1801-1802). Karamzin's response to the accession to the throne of Alexander I was "Historical eulogy to Catherine the Second" (1802).
In 1802-1803, Nikolai Karamzin published the literary and political magazine "Bulletin of Europe", in which, along with articles on literature and art, issues of foreign and domestic policy Russia, history and political life foreign countries. In the "Bulletin of Europe" he published essays on Russian medieval history“Martha the Posadnitsa, or the Conquest of Novagorod”, “News about Martha the Posadnitsa, taken from the life of St. Zosima”, “Journey around Moscow”, “Historical memories and notes on the way to the Trinity”, etc.
Karamzin developed a language reform aimed at bringing the book language closer to the spoken language of an educated society. By limiting the use of Slavicisms, widely using linguistic borrowings and tracings from European languages (mainly French), introducing new words, Karamzin created a new literary syllable.
On November 12 (October 31, old style), 1803, by a personal imperial decree of Alexander I, Nikolai Karamzin was appointed historiographer “to write complete History 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, the 12th volume , dedicated to describing the events of the “time of troubles,” Karamzin did not have time to finish; it was published after the death of the historiographer in 1829.
In 1818 Karamzin became a member Russian Academy, honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. He received an active state councilor and was awarded the Order of St. Anne, 1st degree.
In the early months of 1826 he suffered from pneumonia, which undermined 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 for the second time to Ekaterina Kolyvanova (1780-1851), sister of the poet Pyotr Vyazemsky, who was the mistress of the best literary salon St. Petersburg, where poets Vasily Zhukovsky, Alexander Pushkin, Mikhail Lermontov, and writer Nikolai Gogol visited. She helped the historiographer, 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 had a daughter, Sophia (1802-1856), who became a maid of honor, was the owner of a literary salon, and a friend of the poets Alexander Pushkin and Mikhail Lermontov.
In his second marriage, the historiographer had nine children, five of whom lived to adulthood. Daughter Ekaterina (1806-1867) married Prince Meshchersky, her son is writer Vladimir Meshchersky (1839-1914).
Nikolai Karamzin's daughter Elizaveta (1821-1891) became a maid of honor at the imperial court, son Andrei (1814-1854) died in the Crimean War. Alexander Karamzin (1816-1888) served in the guard and at the same time wrote poetry, which was published by the magazines Sovremennik and Otechestvennye zapiski. Younger son Vladimir (1819-1869)
Karamzin's childhood and youth
Karamzin the historian
Karamzin-journalist
Karamzin's childhood and youth
Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin was born on December 1 (12), 1766 in the village of Mikhailovka, Buzuluk district, Simbirsk province, into a cultured and well-born, but poor noble family, descended from paternal line from a Tatar root. He inherited his quiet disposition and penchant for daydreaming from his mother Ekaterina Petrovna (née Pazukhina), whom he lost at the age of three. Early orphanhood and loneliness in his father’s house strengthened these qualities in the boy’s soul: he fell in love with rural solitude, the beauty of the Volga nature, and early became addicted to reading books.
When Karamzin was 13 years old, his father took him to Moscow and sent him to the boarding school of Moscow University professor I.M. Schaden, where the boy received a secular upbringing, studied to perfection European languages and attended lectures at the university. At the end of the boarding school in 1781, Karamzin left Moscow and joined the Preobrazhensky Regiment in St. Petersburg, to which he had been assigned since childhood. Friendship with I.I. Dmitriev, future famous poet and fabulist, strengthened his interest in literature. Karamzin first appeared in print with a translation of the idyll of the German poet S. Gessner in 1783.
After the death of his father, in January 1784, Karamzin retired with the rank of lieutenant and returned to his homeland in Simbirsk. Here he led a rather absent-minded lifestyle, typical of young nobleman those years. A decisive turn in his fate was made by a chance acquaintance with I.P. Turgenev, an active freemason, writer, associate of the famous writer and book publisher of the late 18th century N.I. Novikova. I.P. Turgenev takes Karamzin to Moscow, and for four years the aspiring writer moves in Moscow Masonic circles and becomes close friends with N.I. Novikov, becomes a member of the "Friendly Scientific Society".
Moscow Rosicrucian Masons (knights of the gold-pink cross) were characterized by criticism of Voltairianism and the entire legacy of the French encyclopedists and educators. Masons considered human reason to be the lowest level of knowledge and placed it in direct dependence on feelings and Divine revelation. The mind, outside the control of feeling and faith, is unable to correctly understand the world, this is the “dark”, “demonic” mind, which is the source of all human misconceptions and troubles.
The book of the French mystic Saint-Martin “On Errors and Truth” was especially popular in the “Friendly Learned Society”: it is no coincidence that the Rosicrucians were called “Martinists” by their ill-wishers. Saint-Martin declared that the teaching of the Enlightenment about the social contract, based on the atheistic “faith” in the “good nature” of man, is a lie that tramples the Christian truth about the “darkening” of human nature by “original sin.” It is naive to consider state power the result of human “creativity.” It is the subject of God’s special care for sinful humanity and is sent by the Creator to tame and restrain the sinful thoughts to which fallen man is subject on this earth.
State power Catherine II, who was under the influence of French enlighteners, was considered by the Martinists to be an error, a Divine allowance for the sins of the entire Peter the Great period of our history. Russian Freemasons, among whom Karamzin moved in those years, created a utopia about beautiful country believers and happy people, governed by selected Masons according to the laws of the Masonic religion, without bureaucracy, clerks, police, nobles, and arbitrariness. In their books, they preached this utopia as a program: in their state, need will disappear, there will be no mercenaries, no slaves, no taxes; everyone will learn and live peacefully and sublimely. To do this, it is necessary for everyone to become Freemasons and cleanse themselves of filth. In the future Masonic "paradise" there will be neither a church nor laws, but there will be free society good people, believers in God, whatever they want.
Soon Karamzin realized that, denying the “autocracy” of Catherine II, the Freemasons were hatching plans for their own “autocracy”, opposing the Masonic heresy to everything else, sinful humanity. With external consonance with truths Christian religion in the process of their cunning reasoning, one untruth and lie was replaced by another no less dangerous and insidious one. Karamzin was also alarmed by the excessive mystical exaltation of his “brothers”, so far from the “spiritual sobriety” bequeathed by Orthodoxy. I was confused by the cover of secrecy and conspiracy associated with the activities of Masonic lodges.
And so Karamzin, like the hero of Tolstoy’s epic novel “War and Peace” Pierre Bezukhov, experiences deep disappointment in Freemasonry and leaves Moscow, setting off on a long journey through Western Europe. His fears are soon confirmed: the affairs of the entire Masonic organization, as the investigation found out, were run by some dark people who left Prussia and acted in its favor, hiding their goals from their sincerely misguided, beautiful-hearted Russian “brothers.” Karamzin's journey through Western Europe, which lasted a year and a half, marked the writer's final break with the Masonic hobbies of his youth.
"Letters of a Russian Traveler". In the fall of 1790, Karamzin returned to Russia and from 1791 began publishing the Moscow Journal, which was published for two years and had great success with the Russian reading public. In it he published his two main works - “Letters of a Russian Traveler” and the story “Poor Liza”.
In "Letters of a Russian Traveler", summing up his travels abroad, Karamzin, following the tradition " A sentimental journey"Stern, rebuilds it from the inside in the Russian way. Stern pays almost no attention to the outside world, concentrating on a meticulous analysis of his own experiences and feelings. Karamzin, on the contrary, is not closed within the confines of his “I”, not too concerned with the subjective content of his emotions. The leading role the outside world plays in his narrative, the author is sincerely interested in its true understanding and objective assessment.In each country, he notices the most interesting and important: in Germany - mental life(he meets Kant in Konigsberg and meets Herder and Wieland in Weimar), in Switzerland - nature, in England - political and public institutions, parliament, jury, family life good Puritans. In the writer’s responsiveness to the surrounding phenomena of existence, in the desire to be imbued with the spirit of different countries and peoples, Karamzin already anticipates V.A.’s translation gift. Zhukovsky, and Pushkin’s “proteism” with his “worldwide responsiveness.”
Particular attention should be paid to the section of Karamzin’s “Letters...” concerning France. He visited this country at the moment when the first thunderclaps of the Great French Revolution were heard. He also saw with his own eyes the king and queen, whose days were already numbered, and attended meetings of the National Assembly. The conclusions that Karamzin made, analyzing the revolutionary upheavals in one of the most advanced countries of Western Europe, already anticipated the problems of the entire Russian literature of the 19th century century.
“Every civil society, established for centuries,” says Karamzin, “is a shrine for good citizens, and in the most imperfect one one should be amazed at the wonderful harmony, improvement, order. “Utopia” will always be a dream kind heart or it can be fulfilled by the inconspicuous action of time, through slow but sure, safe progress of reason, enlightenment, and the cultivation of good morals. When people are convinced that virtue is necessary for their own happiness, then the golden age will come, and in every government a person will enjoy the peaceful well-being of life. All sorts of violent upheaval disastrous, and every rebel is preparing a scaffold for himself. Let us surrender, my friends, let us surrender ourselves to the power of Providence: it, of course, has its own plan; the hearts of sovereigns are in his hands - and that’s enough.”
In “Letters of a Russian Traveler,” the idea that formed the basis of Karamzin’s later “Notes on Ancient and New Russia,” which he presented to Alexander I in 1811, on the eve of the Napoleonic invasion, matures. In it, the writer inspired the sovereign that the main task of government is not in changing external forms and institutions, but in people, in the level of their moral self-awareness. A beneficent monarch and his skillfully selected governors will successfully replace any written constitution. Therefore, for the good of the fatherland, first of all, good priests are needed, and then public schools.
In "Letters of a Russian Traveler" it appeared typical attitude thinking Russian person historical experience Western Europe and the lessons he learned from it. The West remained for us in the 19th century a school of life both in its best, bright, and dark sides. The deeply personal, kindred attitude of an enlightened nobleman to cultural and historical life Western Europe, obvious in “Letters...” of Karamzin, was well expressed later by F.M. Dostoevsky through the mouth of Versilov, the hero of the novel “The Teenager”: “To a Russian, Europe is as precious as Russia: every stone in it is dear and dear.”
Karamzin the historian
It is noteworthy that Karamzin himself did not take part in these disputes, but treated Shishkov with respect, not harboring any resentment towards his criticism. In 1803, he began the main work of his life - the creation of the "History of the Russian State." Karamzin had the idea for this major work a long time ago. Back in 1790, he wrote: “It hurts, but it must be fairly admitted that we still do not have a good history, that is, written with a philosophical mind, with criticism, with noble eloquence. Tacitus, Hume, Robertson, Gibbon - these are the examples They say that our history in itself is less interesting than others: I don’t think so, all you need is intelligence, taste, and talent.” Karamzin, of course, had all these abilities, but in order to master the capital work associated with studying huge amount historical documents, material freedom and independence were also required. When Karamzin began publishing “Bulletin of Europe” in 1802, he dreamed of the following: “Being not very rich, I published a magazine with the intention that through forced work of five or six years I would buy independence, the opportunity to work freely and ... write Russian history , which has been occupying my whole soul for some time."
And then a close acquaintance of Karamzin, comrade of the Minister of Education M.N. Muravyov turned to Alexander I with a petition to help the writer in realizing his plan. In a personal decree of December 31, 1803, Karamzin was approved as a court historiographer with an annual pension of two thousand rubles. Thus began the twenty-two-year period of Karamzin’s life, associated with the major work of creating the “History of the Russian State.”
About how history should be written, Karamzin said: “The historian must rejoice and grieve with his people. He should not, guided by bias, distort facts, exaggerate happiness or belittle disaster in his presentation; he must first of all be truthful; but he can, He should even convey everything unpleasant, everything shameful in the history of his people with sadness, but speak with joy and enthusiasm about what brings honor, about victories, about a flourishing state.Only in this way will he become a national writer of everyday life, which, first of all, he should to be a historian."
Karamzin began writing “The History of the Russian State” in Moscow and in the Olsufyevo estate near Moscow. In 1816, he moved to St. Petersburg: efforts began to publish the completed eight volumes of “History...”. Karamzin became a person close to the court, personally communicated with Alexander I and members royal family. The Karamzins spent the summer months in Tsarskoe Selo, where they were visited by the young lyceum student Pushkin. In 1818, eight volumes of “History...” were published, in 1821 the ninth, dedicated to the era of the reign of Ivan the Terrible, was published, in 1824 - the tenth and eleventh volumes.
“History...” was created based on the study of vast factual material, among which chronicles occupied a key place. Combining the talent of a scholar-historian with artistic talent, Karamzin skillfully conveyed the very spirit of chronicle sources by abundantly quoting them or skillfully retelling them. The historian valued not only the abundance of facts in the chronicles, but also the very attitude of the chronicler towards them. Understanding the chronicler's point of view - the main task Karamzin the artist, allowing him to convey the “spirit of the times”, popular opinion about certain events. And Karamzin the historian made comments. That is why Karamzin’s “History...” combined a description of the emergence and development of Russian statehood with the process of growth and formation of Russian national identity.
By his convictions, Karamzin was a monarchist. He believed that an autocratic form of government was most organic for such a huge country as Russia. But at the same time, he showed the constant danger that awaits autocracy in the course of history - the danger of its degeneration into “autocracy.” Refuting the widespread view of peasant rebellions and riots as a manifestation of popular “savagery” and “ignorance,” Karamzin showed that popular indignation is generated every time by the retreat of monarchical power from the principles of autocracy towards autocracy and tyranny. For Karamzin, popular indignation is a form of manifestation of the Heavenly Court, Divine punishment for the crimes committed by the tyrants. It is through folk life According to Karamzin, the Divine will manifests itself in history; it is the people who most often turn out to be a powerful instrument of Providence. Thus, Karamzin absolves the people of blame for the rebellion in the event that this rebellion has the highest moral justification.
When Pushkin became acquainted with this “Note...” in manuscript at the end of the 1830s, he said: “Karamzin wrote his thoughts about Ancient and New Russia with all the sincerity of a beautiful soul, with all the courage of a strong and deep conviction.” "Someday posterity will appreciate... the nobility of a patriot."
But the “Note...” caused irritation and displeasure of the vain Alexander. For five years, he emphasized his resentment with a cold attitude towards Karamzin. In 1816 there was a rapprochement, but not for long. In 1819, the sovereign, returning from Warsaw, where he opened the Polish Sejm, in one of his sincere conversations with Karamzin, said that he wanted to restore Poland to its ancient borders. This “strange” desire shocked Karamzin so much that he immediately composed and personally read to the sovereign a new “Note...”:
“You are thinking of restoring the ancient kingdom of Poland, but is this restoration in accordance with the law of the state good of Russia? Is it in accordance with your sacred duties, with your love for Russia and for justice itself? Can you, with a peaceful conscience, take away from us Belarus, Lithuania, Volynia, Podolia, the established property of Russia even before your reign? Do not the sovereigns swear to preserve the integrity of their powers? These lands were already Russia when Metropolitan Plato presented you with the crown of Monomakh, Peter, Catherine, whom you called Great... Nikolay Karamzin boarding house historiographer
We would have lost not only our beautiful regions, but also our love for the Tsar, our souls would have cooled towards our fatherland, seeing it as a playground of autocratic tyranny, we would have weakened not only by the reduction of the state, but we would also have humiliated ourselves in spirit before others and before ourselves. If the palace were not empty, of course, you would still have ministers and generals, but they would not serve the fatherland, but only their own personal benefits, like mercenaries, like true slaves..."
At the end of a heated argument with Alexander 1 over his policy towards Poland, Karamzin said: “Your Majesty, you have a lot of pride... I am not afraid of anything, we are both equal before God. What I told you, I would tell yours father... I despise precocious liberalists; I love only that freedom that no tyrant will take away from me... I no longer need your favors."
Karamzin passed away on May 22 (June 3), 1826, while working on the twelfth volume of “History...”, where he was supposed to talk about the people’s militia of Minin and Pozharsky, which liberated Moscow and stopped the “turmoil” in our Fatherland. The manuscript of this volume ended with the phrase: “The nut did not give up...”
The significance of “The History of the Russian State” is difficult to overestimate: its publication was a major act of Russian national self-awareness. According to Pushkin, Karamzin revealed to the Russians their past, just as Columbus discovered America. The writer in his “History…” gave an example national epic, making each Age speak its own language. Karamzin's work had a great influence on Russian writers. Relying on Karamzin, he wrote his “Boris Godunov” by Pushktn, and composed his “Dumas” by Ryleev. "History of the Russian State" had a direct impact on the development of Russian historical novel from Zagoskin and Lazhechnikov to Leo Tolstoy. “The pure and high glory of Karamzin belongs to Russia,” said Pushkin.
Karamzin-journalist
Since the publication of the Moscow Journal, Karamzin appeared before the Russian public opinion like the first professional writer and journalist. Before him, only third-tier writers decided to live on literary earnings. The cultured nobleman considered the pursuit of literature rather as fun and certainly not as a serious profession. Karamzin, with his work and constant success among readers, established the authority of writing in the eyes of society and turned literature into a profession, perhaps the most honorable and respected. There is an opinion that the enthusiastic young men of St. Petersburg dreamed of even walking to Moscow, just to look at the famous Karamzin. In the "Moscow Journal" and subsequent publications, Karamzin not only expanded the circle of readers of good Russian books, but also cultivated aesthetic taste, prepared cultural society to the perception of V.A.’s poetry Zhukovsky and A.S. Pushkin. His magazine, his literary almanacs were no longer limited to Moscow and St. Petersburg, but penetrated into the Russian provinces. In 1802, Karamzin began publishing "Bulletin of Europe" - a magazine not only literary, but also socially political, which gave the prototype to the so-called "thick" Russian magazines that existed throughout the 19th century and survived until the end of the 20th century.