Anna Semenova - doctor historical sciences, professor, chief researcher of the Institute Russian history RAS
The passing year is rightfully considered “the year of Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin.”
The great historian was born 250 years ago on December 1, 1766 and died on May 22, 1826.
At the beginning of 1818, the streets of the capital cities were empty, “everyone, even secular women, rushed to read the history of their fatherland, hitherto unknown to them.” This is what Pushkin wrote about the appearance of the first eight volumes of “The History of the Russian State,” written by Karamzin. This work was published in a large circulation of 3 thousand copies for that time and sold out within a month. In subsequent years, four more volumes of “History” were published (the last twelfth - after the death of the historian), a number of translations appeared in the main European languages. The ninth volume, dedicated to the era of Ivan the Terrible and condemning despotism as a form of government, caused a great resonance in society.
And before that, there was a worthy education received from a provincial noble family, a trip to Europe, which allowed the future historian to become a witness of the Great French Revolution and the author of “Letters of a Russian Traveler.
The “Great Spring of the Nineties” of the 18th century illuminated the entire work of Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin. His first literary masterpiece, “Letters of a Russian Traveler,” opened this writer to readers, and “History of the Russian State” glorified his name forever. As an outstanding scientist and writer who perceived Russian history in the context of world history, he spent almost his entire life thinking about the meaning of revolutions in the life of society, and the events of the Great French Revolution gave special poignancy to his analysis. He saw the “free French” and admired the outstanding speakers in the Constituent Assembly, but at the same time he appreciated the role of demagogues and ambitious people who pursued their own interests in the revolution. The development of the revolution, the execution of the king and the terror aroused sharp rejection from Karamzin. However, several years later, believing in the ultimate triumph of enlightenment, reason and progress, he summed up great revolution: “The French people have passed through all degrees of civilization to reach the peak on which they are currently located... The French Revolution is one of those events that determine the destinies of people for many centuries to come.”
Subsequently, taking up journalism and literary creativity, laying the foundations of the Russian literary language, he gradually turned his gaze to national history and becoming the “historiographer” of Alexander I, he devoted himself entirely historical research. This is the external outline of the life of the famous figure of Russian culture.
Let us note that exactly in early XIX century, two fundamentally different approaches to the paths of development of Russia emerged. Two outstanding people - patriots: the historian Karamzin and the secretary of state of Alexander I, Mikhail Mikhailovich Speransky, are almost the same age, brought up on the same literature of the Age of Enlightenment, received an excellent education, created two political writings, in the opposite direction. Karamzin, meeting the emperor's sister Grand Duchess Ekaterina Pavlovna, in 1811, reads in her salon in Tver the “Note on Ancient and new Russia in its political and civil relations" Two years earlier, the emperor’s secretary of state, the son of a village priest, Speransky, completed work on the reform project government system Russia “Introduction to the Code of State Laws” and then carries out decrees on “examinations for rank,” that is, for holding positions, which aroused the particular ire of the nobles - “Catherine’s servants.”
If for the historiographer the center of the political concept at this time is the “ideal” enlightened monarch,” then the dream of Speransky, who was working on his projects that turned out to be unrealized on the initiative of Alexander I, (and therefore forced to limit himself in many ways) was to create such laws “to no power could transgress them.” For Karamzin the main point political life — minimum quantity transformations. For Speransky and the future Decembrists (with some of whom he was close) - a focus on political change. Formally, it is from the confrontation between these concepts that the emergence of conservative and liberal ideas in Russia is usually counted.
However, Karamzin's views were not static and unambiguous. The historian and time are a comprehensive topic; It is quite obvious that a serious scientist, building his concept of the past, cannot help but refract it through his perception of contemporary reality. His attitude toward the past often changes as his political views change.
Why then do assessments of creativity and life position Karamzin changed so dramatically over the decades and were so firmly dependent on the political situation? First of all, this was due to the complexity and multicolored palette of the historian’s own worldview. The system of division into “white - black” is least suitable for Karamzin. Unfortunately, even today, on the days of his anniversary, we are again faced with the desire of certain forces, with the help of obsequious scientists, to “privatize” the historian and see in him only the founder and stronghold of conservatism. Thus, his sympathies for the Jacobin leader Maximilian Robespierre are deliberately hushed up, upon learning of whose execution the future historian “shed a tear” and spoke of him with deep respect until the end of his life; Karamzin’s disagreements with the future Decembrists are exaggerated. And although the “young Jacobins,” according to Pushkin, were indignant after reading “History” and wrote critical articles, they invariably treated Karamzin with deep respect.
“History belongs to the kings” - this main idea of Karamzin’s main work was contrasted by members of secret societies with a different point of view: “History belongs to the peoples” - with these words the Decembrist Nikita Muravyov, with whose parents Karamzin was especially friendly, opened his “Constitution”. And although the historian, in his words, “was hungry for cannon thunder, being sure that there was no other way to stop the rebellion” on December 14 on Senate Square, he foresaw a cruel verdict and mourned the fate of the failed reformers, not living a month before the trial and execution of the leaders of the movement .
Nowadays they often try to present Karamzin as a cosmopolitan figure, vaguely and casually mentioning the patriotic essence of the “History of the Russian State.” The monarchism of the late Karamzin is interpreted primitively, without indicating the influence on it of the concept of the great French philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment, Charles Montesquieu, who created the famous triad of forms political power: republic, monarchy, despotism. What causes difficulties for reptilian historians is the desire to find almost anecdotal explanations for Karamzin’s words about his adherence “in his soul” to republican orders.
And, of course, few people remember Karamzin’s extraordinary words from his article “On Love for the Fatherland and People’s Pride,” published in 1802 in the journal “Bulletin of Europe” he published, and which now sound very modern: “Patriotism is love for the good and glory of the fatherland and the desire to contribute to them in all respects. It requires reasoning - and therefore not all people have it... I don’t dare think that we don’t have many patriots in Russia; but it seems to me that we are too humble in our thoughts about our national dignity, and humility in politics is harmful. He who does not respect himself will, without a doubt, be respected by others.
I’m not saying that love for the fatherland should blind us and convince us that we are better than everyone and in everything; but a Russian must at least know his worth. Let us agree that some peoples are generally more enlightened than we are: for the circumstances were happier for them; but let us also feel all the blessings of fate in the reasoning of the Russian people; Let us stand boldly along with others, say our name clearly and repeat it with noble pride.”
Speaking on December 5, 1818 at a ceremonial meeting of the Russian Academy dedicated to the publication of the first explanatory dictionary Russian language, Karamzin emphasized: “ours, without a doubt, lucky fate in all respects there is some kind of extraordinary speed: we mature not in centuries, but in decades.”
There are many artistic images great historian. One of the most famous is the portrait of the “patriarch of Moscow painting,” as V.M. Tropinin was called.
Head of the department of Russian painting of the late XVIII - first half of the 19th century century of the State Tretyakov Gallery, Doctor of Art History Lyudmila Alekseevna Markina says: “The portrait of Karamzin was painted by Tropinin in 1818. Its original is kept in St. Petersburg during All-Russian Museum A.S. Pushkin, and the author’s copy in Tretyakov Gallery. This work is one of the few paintings acquired directly by Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov, which makes it especially valuable.” Currently, along with a number of other works from the Tretyakov Gallery collection, the portrait of the historian is on display in hometown Karamzin Ulyanovsk (Simbirsk), dedicated to the anniversary of the great countryman.
Warning: getimagesize(userfiles/gallery/ed/b_eda85322faf42b34dda475f5fda31f75.jpg): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /var/sites/site/htdocs/application2012/views/scripts/publication/show-publication.phtml on line 126
Alexander I promoted Karamzin to court historiographer, assigning an annual salary of two thousand rubles in banknotes. Photo: globallookpress.com
Marks 250 years since the birth of Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin
He wrote poetry and prose, translated Shakespeare, published magazines, was the “father of Russian sentimentalism” and a reformer of literary language. “This is one of our writers that can be said that he fulfilled his entire duty, did not bury anything in the ground, and with the five talents given to him, he truly brought another five. Karamzin was the first to show that a writer can be independent and respected by everyone, as the most eminent citizen in the state,” Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol admired. “He made literature humane,” Alexander Ivanovich Herzen wrote about Karamzin. Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin called Karamzin “the first historian and the last chronicler”, calling “The History of the Russian State” a “feat” honest man" And more and more often we, people of the 21st century, turn to the great historian, with amazement finding thoughts that seem to have been written today.
Karamzin began writing the main work of his life in 1803, secluded in the silence of his office with ancient manuscripts (his assistants brought him documents from archives and monasteries). The renowned 37-year-old writer (“Letters of a Russian Traveler”, “Poor Liza”, more than a dozen stories), successful publisher of “Moscow Journal” and “Bulletin of Europe” gave up a lot, concentrating on studying history. Emperor Alexander I promoted Karamzin to court historiographer, assigning an annual salary of two thousand rubles in banknotes.
It took 15 years to write and publish eight volumes. The beginning of 1818 was marked by a book sensation - the three-thousandth edition of “The History of the Russian State” sold out in just a month. The volumes are being printed, sold at double the price, and Karamzin’s “History” is being read. ABOUT Ancient Rus', O Mongol invasion, about princes and boyars, the first tsars (the eighth volume ended with the first third of the reign of Ivan the Terrible) was first written in free Russian, without ponderous archaisms, exciting and interesting. The poet Konstantin Batyushkov called Karamzin’s work “clean, smooth and strong prose.” Three years later, the ninth volume was published, perhaps the most terrible, about the atrocities of Ivan the Terrible. Then - three more. “The History of the Russian State” focused on the period of the Time of Troubles. A fatal illness prevented the historical writer from continuing his work. In June 1826 he died.
By a fateful coincidence, Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin caught a cold in his lungs on Senate Square on December 14, 1825. An opponent of riots, he was terribly worried about the participants in the uprising and persuaded the rebels to disperse.
In his youth, traveling around Europe, Nikolai Karamzin witnessed the Great French Revolution. Shocked by the bloody events, he became a staunch opponent of radical political changes. “Slavery is evil. But its quick, unnatural abolition is also evil,” wrote Karamzin. “All violent upheavals are disastrous, and every rebel is preparing a scaffold for himself.” He dreamed that people would “be convinced of the elegance of the laws of pure reason.” He was a supporter of autocracy, but an autocracy with firm laws, an enlightened autocracy. And he objected to the abrupt abolition of serfdom, believing that the peasants must first be educated - and only then freed. Karamzin was convinced that “it is necessary to prepare a person for freedom through moral correction.”
The Decembrists, who closely studied the “History of the Russian State,” were the main opponents of Karamzin’s monarchist views. And he treated them like a wise father - he knew the leaders of the Decembrist movement from childhood. And then he petitioned Nicholas I for their release: “Your Majesty! The errors and crimes of these young people are the errors and crimes of our century!”
Serious researchers of Karamzin’s legacy drew attention to the strange “rhymes” in his fate. Literary historian, Doctor of Philosophy Vadim Perelmuter dedicated his public lecture to this topic, which took place during the Karamzin anniversary days at the Moscow Museum of A.S. Pushkin on Prechistenka. The lecturer recalled that the volumes of “History of the Russian State” were latest books, read by the condemned Decembrists. And, perhaps, after repeated re-reading, Karamzin’s thought, ignored in the revolutionary fervor, no longer escaped their attention: “It is natural for the human heart to be benevolent to republics based on the fundamental rights of liberty, which is dear to him.”
Vadim Perelmuter clearly emphasized the line drawn by Karamzin between autocracy and despotism: “From the first there is a way out to the republic, from the second - only to the next world.” And he reminded us of the beginning of the tenth volume of “History of the Russian State.” “The first days after the death of a tyrant (says the Roman historian) are the happiest for nations: for the end of suffering is the liveliest of human pleasures.” Karamzin described the suffering and horrors of the Ivan the Terrible era in a way that makes your hair stand on end. Have those who are now foaming at the mouth erecting monuments to the bloody king read this?
Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin was not only a court historiographer, but also a constant interlocutor of Alexander I. He said to the sovereign, among others, the following words: “Your Majesty, you have a lot of pride - I have none. We are equal before God: I love only that freedom, which no tyrant can deprive me of..."
Meanwhile, to Karamzin’s question about censorship, Alexander I replied: “I myself will be your censor.” The same phrase was later repeated by Nicholas I, addressing Pushkin... Remembering the supreme censorship, Karamzin, nevertheless, on the pages of his “History” never once compromised his honor and conscience. No wonder Alexander Turgenev wrote that “it was given to Karamzin alone to live the life of the soul, mind and heart. We all sing in a low voice and do not live a full life; That’s why we can’t be completely satisfied with ourselves.”
Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin is called a poet of thought. Vadim Perelmuter uttered Pushkin’s phrase at his lecture: “History belongs to the poet” - and two refutations of it. Karamzin believed that the tsar, and the Decembrist Nikita Muravyov had no doubt that “history belongs to the people.” Lecturer and presenter of the meeting, Deputy Director of the Museum A.S. Pushkin on the scientific side, academician Natalya Mikhailova said that now is Karamzin’s time. We can only rely on enlightenment. And the question of who owns history can be answered by turning again and again to the “History of the Russian State.” Because, in the words of Karamzin himself, “human wisdom needs experience, and life is short-lived. One must know how from time immemorial rebellious passions agitated civil society and in what ways the beneficial power of the mind curbed their stormy desire to establish order, harmonize the benefits of people and give them the happiness possible on earth.”
"First spiritual food"
Karamzin was born on December 1, 1766 in the village of Znamenskoye, Simbirsk province. He grew up in the village of his father, a Simbirsk landowner, retired captain Mikhail Egorovich Karamzin. “The first spiritual food of an 8-9 year old boy,” we read in the Brockhaus and Efron dictionary, “were ancient novels, which developed his natural sensitivity. Even then, like the hero of one of his stories, “he loved to be sad, not knowing what,” and “could play with his imagination for two hours and build castles in the air.”
The boy was in poor health and by nature unusually impressionable. WITH early age he loved reading. When Nikolai was eight years old, his father gave him the key to the closet where his late mother’s small library was kept. Very soon all the books were read. The noisy games of his peers did not captivate the young dreamer - he preferred solitary walks around the neighborhood and reflection. Only there was no one to answer the questions that worried him: the father was busy with housework, and besides, a stepmother appeared in the house.
The most important episode of childhood is the one described in “A Knight of Our Time”: returning from the forest during a strong thunderstorm, the boy and his uncle stumbled upon a bear; out of fear and horror, the child lost consciousness at the very moment when furious lightning flashed, and, when he woke up, he saw in front of him a bear killed by thunder. Karamzin mentioned this incident more than once, but here’s the main thing: “A thunderclap that rolled over my head with firmament, told me the first concept of a world ruler; and this blow was the foundation of my religion.” In this confession of the writer lies the answer to the main question concerning Karamzin’s worldview: the Lord rules the world, creates, builds, sows. This was the creative credo of the writer, and the political platform of Karamzin the citizen, and the key to the success of the historiographer.
“Here is the miracle of the lordly chambers”
Nikolai is 13 years old. The father suddenly decided to interrupt the education begun in Simbirsk, and in the spring of 1780 he sent his son to a Moscow boarding school. Moscow at the end of the 18th century was not like European city. Magnificent manorial estates with white columns and huge parks alternated with ancient churches, wastelands, vegetable gardens and meadows. The Karamzins' britzka made its way through the streets of Kitai-Gorod, a shopping district of Moscow, at a pace - there was such a crowd of people. A row of bookstores stretched from Spassky Bridge to Ilyinka. How many books! There was no such wealth in Simbirsk. When we drove past the Zaikonospassky Monastery, a long, squat building looked out from the depths of the courtyard. It was the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy! The young man looked with reverence at the walls where the brilliant Russian scientist and poet Mikhailo Lomonosov lived and studied.
Nikolai Mikhailovich was assigned to the boarding school of a professor at Moscow University, Schaden, whose knowledge was very extensive: he taught philosophy, logic, literature, rhetoric, taught languages - Greek and Latin, taught classes in German language and literature. Having discovered young Karamzin a natural gift of words, the professor tried to expand his reading circle and fully develop his literary taste. Karamzin studied at the boarding school for about four years and was already thinking about entering the university, when suddenly a letter arrived from his father demanding that he go to St. Petersburg, to join the guard. Nikolai started there military service in the Preobrazhensky Guards Regiment.
Simbirsk joys
He did not have to serve for long. His father died suddenly, and the dreamy young man resigned. In 1784 he arrived in his native Simbirsk. Of course, the educated metropolitan young man made a strong impression on provincial society. He was invited to best houses, Simbirsk youth sought friendship with him, and caring mothers saw him as an enviable groom for their daughters. Success, a distracted life and complete, uncontrolled freedom initially captivated Karamzin. But not for long. Emptiness social life and constant idleness were not to the liking of the hardworking young man, and he became bored.
One day, returning from a visit with his father’s old friend, Ivan Petrovich Turgenev, Karamzin admitted that he was increasingly thinking about changing his lifestyle. Widely educated, progressive, Ivan Petrovich was the closest assistant to the Russian educator N.I. Novikova. Turgenev recognized the extraordinary abilities of a writer in young Karamzin and invited him to go to Moscow, where he promised to introduce him to interesting people.
Friendly Society
Ivan Petrovich Turgenev did not forget his promise. Soon after returning to Moscow, he ordered the pawning of a carriage with coats of arms, in which he traveled only on special occasions, and together with Karamzin went to the Lubyanka to visit his “heart friend” Nikolai Ivanovich Novikov, who was widely known in Moscow as the publisher and organizer of the “Friendly Scientific Society” " Novikov gathered young talented writers around him, involving them in the Masonic brotherhood.
“It began here,” wrote our fellow countryman I.I. Dmitriev, “Karamzin’s education is not only authorial, but also moral.” The influence of Novikov's circle lasted four years. Karamzin read and translated a lot, became interested in Rousseau and Stern, Herder and Shakespeare, enjoyed friendship, strived for the ideal and was slightly sad about the imperfections of this world. In 1789, Karamzin’s first story, “Eugene and Yulia,” was published.
A serious rapprochement with Freemasonry never happened. Karamzin said goodbye to his brothers in Freemasonry forever and went to travel: from May 1789 to September 1790, he traveled around Germany, Switzerland, France and England. Returning to Moscow, Karamzin began publishing the Moscow Journal, where his Letters from a Russian Traveler appeared.
“The first educated writer in Rus'”
“Moscow Journal” was not like previous Russian magazines. Everything about it was new and exciting. Karamzin, according to Belinsky, “the first educated writer in Rus',” managed to preserve Russian originality and put his publication on a par with the best Western European magazines. Karamzin’s famous story “Poor Liza” was published in the Moscow Journal. Following her, two more stories appeared: “Natalya, the Boyar’s Daughter” and “Frol Silin”.
Despite being surrounded by talented contemporary poets - Derzhavin, Zhukovsky, Batyushkov - Karamzin occupies his own special place in Russian poetry: with the simplicity of his language, natural, sincere intonations:
Love and friendship - that's what you can do
Comfort yourself under the sun!
We should not seek bliss,
But it should suffer less...
Love - suffering and happiness
Ten happy years Karamzin was associated with the Pleshcheev family. The writer dedicated poems to a charming woman and interesting interlocutor, Nastasya Ivanovna, and entrusted his innermost thoughts and plans. When the Pleshcheevs’ financial affairs began to shake, Karamzin, in order to help them, sold his share of his father’s inheritance to his brothers. In April 1801, Nikolai Mikhailovich married Nastasya Ivanovna’s sister, Elizaveta. “It is with heartfelt joy that I inform you,” he wrote to his brother, “that I married Elizaveta Ivanovna Protasova, whom I have known and loved for 13 years.” And later: “I am completely satisfied with my condition and thank fate.” In March 1802, the young couple had a daughter, but the happiness was short-lived. Elizaveta Ivanovna began to develop transient consumption, and in the summer of 1802 she died.
At the beginning of 1804 N.M. Karamzin married the daughter of A.I. Vyazemsky Ekaterina Andreevna - an extraordinary, charming, wise woman. For the writer’s two-year-old daughter Sonechka, she became a real mother. Marriage brought material security and created favorable conditions for further creativity. Karamzin spent most of his time with his family in Ostafyevo. Here, in the spacious office of the Vyazemsky estate, the “History of the Russian State” will be created.
Birth of a historian
In 1802, Karmazin began publishing the journal “Bulletin of Europe”. In terms of subject matter and content, it was richer than any other Russian magazine. Karamzin was already a major, authoritative writer, he boldly expressed his opinions and expressed his political preferences.
On the pages of the "Bulletin of Europe" he began to sharpen the historian's pen. In the first three issues of the magazine, the story “Martha the Posadnitsa” appears, and then several historical works written lively and with knowledge of the subject (“Historical memories and remarks on the path to the Trinity”).
At the suggestion of Comrade Minister of Public Education M.N. Muravyov On October 31, 1803, Karamzin received the title of historiographer and an annual pension of 2,000 rubles - write full story Russia.
Soon the writer will stop publishing the magazine and completely immerse himself in compiling the “History”. Over the next 23 years - until his death - history will become Karamzin’s exclusive occupation, for it, history, “nourishes a moral feeling and with its righteous judgment disposes the soul to justice, which affirms our good and the consent of society.” The unfinished 12th volume will be published after his death.
To Caesar - Caesar's
In 1810, through Princess Ekaterina Pavlovna, Karamzin gave Alexander I a note “On Ancient and New Russia,” where he expressed concern about liberal reforms. The Emperor reacted to the “Note” with restraint, even coldness.
Karamzin spent the last 10 years of his life in St. Petersburg. The family spent the summer in Tsarskoe Selo. Here there was a rapprochement with the royal family. Nikolai Mikhailovich had frank political conversations with Emperor Alexander, passionately expressed his convictions, “did not remain silent about taxes in peacetime, about the absurd provincial system of finance, about formidable military settlements, about the strange choice of some of the most important dignitaries, about the Ministry of Education" and even about the "imaginary repair of roads." At the same time N.M. Karamzin acted as an opponent of Speransky and Arakcheev and defended the idea of a strong monarchical government - wise, respectable, patriotic, which itself (without liberal reforms) would gradually develop into a constitutional one.
The first popular "History"
When starting to work on “History,” Karamzin set himself a “simple” task: “to select, animate, colorize” Russian history, to make of it “something” attractive, strong, worthy of the attention of not only Russians, but also foreigners.” The writer accomplished this task brilliantly. He didn't go against official point view and even emphasized that strong power exalted Rus' in the Kiev period, and enmity between the princes led to the fragmentation and weakening of the country, and only the wisdom of the Moscow prince-gatherers returned its power to Russia.
The popular presentation of historical material and literary style made Karamzin’s “History” a sought-after work and attracted the attention of the entire Russian public to it. The first eight volumes, published in a circulation of three thousand, sold out in 25 days - an incredible phenomenon for that time! True, this does not mean at all that “History” has escaped criticism. What has Karamzin been accused of? And in excessive picturesqueness, and in incorrect interpretation of facts, and in bias. However, what are the extensive “Notes” worth, which contained many extracts from manuscripts and were completely devoid of author’s comments! Many valuable manuscripts were provided by the synodal repository and monastery libraries.
The historian received valuable documents from Musin-Pushkin from his private collection of manuscripts, as well as through Chancellor Rumyantsev. Most of them were first published by Karamzin, and later, when a fire in Moscow destroyed the Musin-Pushkin library, the “Notes” turned out to be the most valuable and only witnesses of the time.
“You need to know what you love”
Karamzin was convinced of this and considered knowledge native history the basis of patriotism. Count Fyodor Tolstoy, having read “The History of the Russian State,” exclaimed: “It turns out that I have a Fatherland!” A.S. Pushkin called Karamzin’s work a feat of an honest man and the creation of a great writer. “Everyone, even secular women,” wrote Alexander Sergeevich, “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.”
Very accurately defined the role of Karamzin’s earthly path the great Gogol: “Karamzin represents an extraordinary phenomenon. This is about one of our writers that we can say that he fulfilled his entire duty, did not bury anything in the ground, and with the five talents given to him, he truly brought another five.”
Marina Subina
"The History of the Russian State" is not only the creation of a great writer, but also the feat of an honest man.
A. S. Pushkin
It turns out that I have a Fatherland!
The first eight volumes of the History of the Russian State were published all at once in 1818. They say that, having slammed the eighth and final volume, Fyodor Tolstoy, nicknamed the American, exclaimed: “It turns out that I have a Fatherland!” And he wasn't alone. Thousands of people thought, and most importantly, felt this very thing. Everyone read “History” - students, officials, nobles, even society 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. Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin gave this confidence to the people of Russia.
Need a story
In those days, at the beginning of the 19th century, ancient, eternal Russia suddenly turned out to be young, just starting out. She was about to enter 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 the dark ages of backwardness and barbarism? Do we have a story? “Yes,” answered Karamzin.
Who is he?
We know very little about Karamzin’s childhood and youth - no diaries, no letters from relatives, no youthful writings have survived. We know that Nikolai Mikhailovich was born on December 1, 1766, not far from Simbirsk. At that time it was an incredible wilderness, a real bear 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. Karamzin stayed here for some time, and then entered active military service - this was at the age of 15! The teachers prophesied for him not only the Moscow - Leipzig University, but somehow it didn’t work out.
Karamzin's exceptional education is his personal merit.
Writer
I didn’t do military service - I wanted to write: compose, translate. And at the age of 17, Nikolai Mikhailovich was already a retired lieutenant. You have your whole life ahead of you. What should I dedicate it to? Literature, exclusively literature - decides Karamzin.
And what was she like, Russian? literature XVIII century? Also young, a beginner. Karamzin writes to a friend: “I am deprived of the pleasure of reading much in my native language. We are still poor in 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 really not enough talents? No, they exist, but the matter has become a matter of language: the Russian language has not yet adapted to convey new thoughts, new feelings, or describe new objects.
Karamzin makes a live installation colloquial speech educated people. He writes not scholarly treatises, but travel notes ("Notes of a Russian Traveler"), stories ("Bornholm Island", "Poor Lisa"), poems, articles, and translates from French and German.
Journalist
Finally, they decide to publish a magazine. It was called simply: "Moscow Journal". The famous playwright and writer Ya. B. Knyazhnin picked up the first issue and exclaimed: “We didn’t have such prose!”
The success of "Moscow Magazine" was enormous - as many as 300 subscribers. A very large figure for those times. This is how small not only writing and reading Russia is!
Karamzin works incredibly hard. He also 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 was the number one writer of his time.
Historian
And suddenly Karamzin takes on the 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 thousand rubles a year. Now for the rest of my life I am a historian. But apparently it was necessary.
Chronicles, decrees, codes of law
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 are looking for it in monasteries, in the archives of Oxford, Paris, Venice, Prague and Copenhagen. And how many things were found!
Ostromir Gospel of 1056 - 1057 (this is still the oldest dated Russian book), Ipatiev and Trinity Chronicles. Code of Law of Ivan the Terrible, a work of ancient Russian literature “The Prayer of Daniil the Prisoner” and much more.
They say that having discovered a new chronicle - the Volyn one, Karamzin did not sleep for several nights with joy. Friends laughed that he had become simply unbearable - all he talked about was history.
What will it be like?
The materials are being collected, but how to take on the text, how to write a book that even the simplest person can 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 these volumes. Each is divided into two parts: in the first - a detailed, written great master, the story is for the common reader; in the second - detailed notes, links to sources - this is for historians.
That's how true patriotism
Karamzin writes to his brother: “History is not a novel: a lie can always be beautiful, but only some minds like the truth in its garb.” So what should I write about? Set forth in detail the glorious pages of the past, and only turn over the dark ones? Maybe this is exactly what a patriotic historian should do? No, Karamzin decides, patriotism does not come at the expense of distorting history. He doesn’t add anything, doesn’t invent anything, doesn’t glorify victories or downplay defeats.
By chance, drafts of volume VII-ro were 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 peace...” It’s not the same, it’s not true. The historian crosses out what was written and concludes: “In relations with Lithuania, Vasily expressed peace 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
It is written ancient history Russia, and modern things are happening around: Napoleonic stinks, the Battle of Austerlitz, the Peace of Tilsit, Patriotic War 12th year, Moscow fire. 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 everything sold out in 25 days. Unheard of! But the price is considerable: 50 rubles.
The last volume stopped at 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 a document, to put it mildly, in which he thoroughly proved that “Karamzin’s works are filled with freethinking and Jacobin poison.” “If only he should have been given an order, it would have been time to lock him up long ago.”
Why is this so? First of all - for independence of judgment. Not everyone likes this.
There is an opinion that Nikolai Mikhailovich has never betrayed his soul even once in his life.
Monarchist! - exclaimed others, young people, future Decembrists.
Yes, main character"Stories" of Karamzin - Russian autocracy. The author condemns bad sovereigns and sets good ones as examples. And he sees prosperity for Russia in an enlightened, wise monarch. That is, we need a “good king”. Karamzin does not believe in revolution, much less a quick one. So, before us is truly a monarchist.
And at the same time, the Decembrist Nikolai Turgenev would later remember how Karamzin “shed tears” when he learned about 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 in my feelings I will remain a republican, and, moreover, a loyal subject of the Russian Tsar: this is a contradiction, but only an imaginary one.”
Why then is he not with the Decembrists? 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 begin 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.
Previous historians did not dare to openly describe this reign. Not surprising. For example, Moscow’s conquest of free Novgorod. Karamzin the historian, however, 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 was carried out:
“John and his son were tried in this way: every day they presented to them from five hundred to a thousand Novgorodians; they beat them, tortured them, burned them with some kind of fiery mixture, tied them with their heads or feet to a sleigh, dragged them to the bank of the Volkhov, where this river does not freeze in winter, and They threw whole families into the water, wives with husbands, mothers with infants. Moscow warriors rode on boats along the Volkhov with stakes, hooks and axes: whoever was thrown into the water was stabbed and cut into pieces. These killings continued for five weeks. and concluded by common robbery."
And so on almost every page - executions, murders, burning of prisoners upon the news of the death of the tsar's favorite villain Malyuta Skuratov, the order to destroy an elephant who refused to kneel before the tsar... and so on.
Remember, this is written by a man who is convinced that autocracy is necessary in Russia.
Yes, Karamzin was a monarchist, but during the trial the Decembrists referred to the “History of the Russian State” as one of the sources of “harmful” thoughts.
He didn't 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 then December 14, 1825. Having received news of the uprising (for Karamzin this is, of course, a rebellion), the historian goes out into the street. He was in Paris in 1790, was in Moscow in 1812, in 1825 he walks towards 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 of their rebels are the Muravyov brothers, Nikolai Turgenev Bestuzhev, Kuchelbecker (he translated “History” into German).
A few days later Karamzin would say this about the Decembrists: “The delusions and crimes of these young people are the delusions and crimes of our century.”
After the uprising, Karamzin fell fatally ill - he caught a cold on December 14. 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, very far from ideal image enlightened monarch.
Karamzin could no longer write. The last thing he managed to do was, together with Zhukovsky, he persuaded the tsar to return Pushkin from exile.
And volume XII froze during the interregnum of 1611 - 1612. And here are the last words last volume- about a small Russian fortress: “Nut 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 letters, finally. But Karamzin’s book - a history-chronicle - is one of a kind and there will never be another like it.
Why do we need it now? Bestuzhev-Ryumin said this well in his time: “A high moral feeling still makes this book the most convenient for cultivating love for Russia and goodness.”
References
E. Perekhvalskaya. Karamzin N. M. The first Russian historian .
"The History of the Russian State" is not only the creation of a great writer, but also the feat of an honest man. A. S. Pushkin It turns out that I have a Fatherland! The first eight volumes of the "History of the Russian State" were published"History of the Russian State"
is not only the creation of a great writer,
but also a feat of an honest man.
A. S. Pushkin
Karamzin Nikolai Mikhailovich (1766 1826), writer, historian.
Born on December 1 (12 NS) in the village of Mikhailovka, Simbirsk province, in the family of a landowner. Received a good home education.
At the age of 14 he began studying at the Moscow private boarding school of Professor Schaden. 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. At the same time he published his first translation of S. Gesner’s idyll “The Wooden Leg”. Having retired 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 Freemasons. He began translating religious and moral works. Since 1787, he regularly published his translations of Thomson's The Seasons, Genlis's Country Evenings, W. Shakespeare's tragedy Julius Caesar, Lessing's tragedy Emilia Galotti.
In 1789, Karamzin’s first original story, “Eugene and Yulia,” appeared in the magazine “Children’s Reading...”. 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 fall he returned to Moscow and soon undertook the publication of the monthly "Moscow Journal", in which most of the "Letters of a Russian Traveler", the stories "Liodor", "Poor Liza", "Natalia, the Boyar's Daughter", "Flor Silin", essays, stories, criticism and poems. Karamzin attracted Dmitriev and Petrov, Kheraskov and Derzhavin, Lvov Neledinsky-Meletsky and others to collaborate in the magazine. Karamzin’s articles asserted new literary direction sentimentalism. In the 1790s, Karamzin published the first Russian almanacs “Aglaya” (part 1 2, 1794 95) and “Aonids” (part 1 3, 1796 99). It was 1793, when in the third stage French Revolution The Jacobin dictatorship was established, which shocked Karamzin with its cruelty. The dictatorship aroused in him doubts about the possibility for humanity to achieve prosperity. He condemned the revolution. The philosophy of despair and fatalism permeates his new works: the story “The Island of Bornholm” (1793); "Sierra Morena" (1795); poems “Melancholy”, “Message to A. A. Pleshcheev”, etc.
By the mid-1790s, Karamzin became the recognized head of Russian sentimentalism, which opened new page in Russian literature. He was an indisputable authority for Zhukovsky, Batyushkov, and young Pushkin.
In 1802 1803 Karamzin published the journal "Bulletin of Europe", in which literature and politics predominated. In Karamzin’s critical articles, a new aesthetic program, which contributed to the formation of Russian literature as nationally distinctive. Karamzin saw the key to the uniqueness 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), causing his irritation. In 1819 he submitted a new note, “Opinion of a Russian Citizen,” which caused even greater displeasure to the Tsar. However, Karamzin did not abandon his belief in the salvation of an enlightened autocracy and later condemned the Decembrist uprising. However, Karamzin the artist was still highly valued by young writers, even those who did not share his political convictions.
In 1803, through M. Muravyov, Karamzin received the official title of court historiographer.
In 1804, he began creating the “History of the Russian State,” which he worked on until the end of his days, but did not complete. In 1818, the first eight volumes of "History" - Karamzin's greatest scientific and cultural feat - were published. In 1821 the 9th volume was published, dedicated to the reign of Ivan the Terrible, in 1824 the 10th and 11th, about Fyodor Ioannovich and Boris Godunov. Death interrupted work on the 12th volume. This happened on May 22 (June 3, n.s.) 1826 in St. Petersburg.
It turns out that I have a Fatherland!
The first eight volumes of the History of the Russian State were published all at once in 1818. They say that, having slammed the eighth and final volume, Fyodor Tolstoy, nicknamed the American, exclaimed: “It turns out that I have a Fatherland!” And he wasn't alone. Thousands of people thought, and most importantly, felt this very thing. Everyone was engrossed in History: students, officials, nobles, even society 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. Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin gave this confidence to the people of Russia.
Need a story
In those days, at the beginning of the 19th century, ancient, eternal Russia suddenly turned out to be young, just starting out. She was about to enter 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 the dark ages of backwardness and barbarism? Do we have a story? “Yes,” answered Karamzin.
Who is he?
We know very little about Karamzin’s childhood and youth; no diaries, letters from relatives, or youthful writings have survived. We know that Nikolai Mikhailovich was born on December 1, 1766, not far from Simbirsk. At that time it was an incredible wilderness, a real bear 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. Karamzin stayed here for some time, and then entered active military service - this was at the age of 15! The teachers prophesied for him not only Moscow Leipzig University, but somehow it didn’t work out.
Karamzin's exceptional education is his personal merit.
Writer
I didn’t go to military service; I wanted to write: compose, translate. And at the age of 17, Nikolai Mikhailovich was already a retired lieutenant. You have your whole life ahead of you. What should I dedicate it to? Literature, exclusively literature decides Karamzin.
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 much in my native language. We are still poor in 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 really not enough talents? No, they exist, but the matter has become a matter of language: the Russian language has not yet adapted to convey new thoughts, new feelings, or describe new objects.
Karamzin focuses on the lively spoken language of educated people. He writes not scholarly treatises, but travel notes ("Notes of a Russian Traveler"), stories ("Bornholm Island", "Poor Lisa"), poems, articles, and translates from French and German.
Journalist
Finally, they decide to publish a magazine. It was called simply: "Moscow Journal". The famous playwright and writer Ya. B. Knyazhnin picked up the first issue and exclaimed: “We didn’t have such prose!”
The success of the "Moscow Magazine" was enormous - as many as 300 subscribers. A very large figure for those times. This is how small not only writing and reading Russia is!
Karamzin works incredibly hard. He also 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 was the number one writer for his time.
Historian
And suddenly Karamzin takes on the 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 thousand rubles a year. Now for the rest of my life I am a historian. But apparently it was necessary.
Chronicles, decrees, codes of law
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 are looking for it in monasteries, in the archives of Oxford, Paris, Venice, Prague and Copenhagen. And how many things were found!
Ostromir Gospel of 1056 1057 (this is still the oldest dated Russian book), Ipatiev and Trinity Chronicles. Code of Law of Ivan the Terrible, a work of ancient Russian literature “The Prayer of Daniil the Prisoner” and much more.
They say that having discovered the new chronicle of Volynskaya, Karamzin did not sleep for several nights with joy. Friends laughed that he had become simply unbearable because he only talked about history.
What will it be like?
The materials are being collected, but how to take on the text, how to write a book that even the simplest person can 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 these 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, links 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, but only some minds like the truth in its garb.” So what should I write about? Set forth in detail the glorious pages of the past, and only turn over the dark ones? Maybe this is exactly what a patriotic historian should do? No, Karamzin decides, patriotism does not come at the expense of distorting history. He doesn’t add anything, doesn’t invent anything, doesn’t glorify victories or downplay defeats.
By chance, drafts of the VIIth volume were 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 peace...” It’s not the same, it’s not true. The historian crosses out what was written and concludes: “In relations with Lithuania, Vasily expressed peace 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: Napoleonic wars, Battle of Austerlitz, Peace of Tilsit, Patriotic War of the 12th year, 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 everything sold out in 25 days. Unheard of! But the price is considerable: 50 rubles.
The last volume stopped at 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 a document, to put it mildly, in which he thoroughly proved that “Karamzin’s works are filled with freethinking and Jacobin poison.” “If only he should have been given an order, it would have been time to lock him up long ago.”
Why is this so? First of all, for independence of judgment. Not everyone likes this.
There is an opinion that Nikolai Mikhailovich has never betrayed his soul even once in his life.
Monarchist! - exclaimed others, young people, future Decembrists.
Yes, the main character of Karamzin’s “History” is the Russian autocracy. The author condemns bad sovereigns and sets good ones as examples. And he sees prosperity for Russia in an enlightened, wise monarch. That is, we need a “good king”. Karamzin does not believe in revolution, much less a quick one. So, before us is truly a monarchist.
And at the same time, the Decembrist Nikolai Turgenev would later remember how Karamzin “shed tears” when he learned about 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 in my feelings I will remain a republican, and, moreover, a loyal subject of the Russian Tsar: this is a contradiction, but only an imaginary one.”
Why then is he not with the Decembrists? 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 begin 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.
Previous historians did not dare to openly describe this reign. Not surprising. For example, Moscow’s conquest of free Novgorod. Karamzin the historian, however, 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 was carried out:
“John and his son were tried in this way: every day they presented to them from five hundred to a thousand Novgorodians; they beat them, tortured them, burned them with some kind of fiery mixture, tied them with their heads or feet to a sleigh, dragged them to the bank of the Volkhov, where this river does not freeze in winter, and They threw whole families into the water, wives with husbands, mothers with infants. Moscow warriors rode on boats along the Volkhov with stakes, hooks and axes: whoever was thrown into the water was stabbed and cut into pieces. These killings continued for five weeks. and concluded by common robbery."
And so on almost every page - executions, murders, burning of prisoners upon the news of the death of the tsar's favorite villain Malyuta Skuratov, the order to destroy an elephant who refused to kneel before the tsar... and so on.
Remember, this is written by a man who is convinced that autocracy is necessary in Russia.
Yes, Karamzin was a monarchist, but during the trial the Decembrists referred to the “History of the Russian State” as one of the sources of “harmful” thoughts.
December 14
He didn't 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 then December 14, 1825. Having received news of the uprising (for Karamzin this is, of course, a rebellion), the historian goes out into the street. He was in Paris in 1790, was in Moscow in 1812, in 1825 he walks towards 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 of the rebels are the Muravyov brothers, Nikolai Turgenev Bestuzhev, Kuchelbecker (he translated “History” into German).
A few days later Karamzin would say this about the Decembrists: “The delusions and crimes of these young people are the delusions and crimes of our century.”
After the uprising, Karamzin fell fatally ill; he caught a cold on December 14. In the eyes of his contemporaries, he was another victim of that day. But he is dying not only from a cold - the idea of the world has collapsed, faith in the future has been lost, and a new king has ascended to 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, he persuaded the tsar to return Pushkin from exile.
And volume XII froze at the interregnum of 1611 1612. And here are the last words of the last volume about the small Russian fortress: “Nut 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 letters, finally. But Karamzin’s book history-chronicle is one of a kind and there will never be another like it.
Why do we need it now? Bestuzhev-Ryumin said this well in his time: “A high moral feeling still makes this book the most convenient for cultivating love for Russia and goodness.”