Herzen Alexander Ivanovich - Russian prose writer, publicist.
Born on March 25 (April 6), 1812 in Moscow in the family of a noble Moscow gentleman I.A. Yakovlev and a German woman, Louise Haag. The parents' marriage was not officially registered, so the illegitimate child was considered his father's pupil. This explains the invented surname - from the German word Herz (heart). The future writer spent his childhood in his uncle’s house on Tverskoy Boulevard (now building 25, which houses the A.M. Gorky Literary Institute). Although Herzen was not deprived of attention from childhood, his position as an illegitimate child gave him a feeling of orphanhood. In his memoirs, the writer called his home a “strange abbey”, and considered the only pleasures of childhood to be playing with the yard boys, playing in the hall and playing with the girls. Childhood impressions of the life of serfs, according to Herzen, aroused in him “an irresistible hatred of all slavery and all arbitrariness.”
Oral memories of living witnesses of the war with Napoleon, the freedom-loving poems of Pushkin and Ryleev, the works of Voltaire and Schiller - these are the main milestones in the development of the soul of young Herzen. The uprising of December 14, 1825 turned out to be the most significant event in this series. After the execution of the Decembrists, Herzen, together with his friend N. Ogarev, vowed to “take revenge on those executed.”
In 1829, Herzen entered the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Moscow University, where he soon formed a group of progressively thinking students. Members of this group Ogarev, N.H. Ketcher and others discussed the burning problems of our time: the French Revolution of 1830, the Polish uprising of 1830–1831, other events modern history. This time included a fascination with the ideas of Saint-Simonism and attempts to present his own vision social order. Already in his first articles (On the place of man in nature, 1832, etc.) Herzen showed himself not only as a philosopher, but also as a brilliant writer. The essay by Hoffmann (1833–1834, published 1836) showed a typical style of writing: introducing vivid figurative language into journalistic discussions, confirming the author’s thoughts with a plot narrative.
In 1833 Herzen graduated from the university with a silver medal. Work in the Moscow expedition of the Kremlin building. The service left the young man enough free time to engage in creativity. Herzen planned to publish a magazine, but in July 1834 he was arrested for allegedly singing songs defaming royal family. During interrogations, the Investigative Commission, without proving Herzen’s direct guilt, nevertheless considered that his beliefs posed a danger to the state.
In April 1835, with an obligation to be on public service under the supervision of local authorities, Herzen was exiled first to Perm, then to Vyatka. He was friends with the architect A.L. Vitberg and other exiles, corresponded with his cousin N.A. Zakharyina, who later became his wife. In 1837, the heir to the throne visited Vyatka, who was accompanied by V.A. Zhukovsky. At the poet's request, at the end of 1837 Herzen was transferred to Vladimir, where he served in the governor's office. From Vladimir, Herzen secretly traveled to Moscow to visit his bride, and in May they got married. From 1839 to 1850, four children were born into the Herzen family. In July 1839, police surveillance was removed from Herzen, he was given the opportunity to visit Moscow and St. Petersburg, where he was accepted into the circle of V.G. Belinsky, T.N. Granovsky, I.I. Panaev and others. In 1840, Herzen’s letter was illustrated, in in which he wrote about the “murder” of a St. Petersburg security guard. The enraged Nicholas I ordered Herzen to be expelled “for spreading unfounded rumors” to Novgorod without the right to enter the capital. Only in July 1842, having retired with the rank of court councilor, after the petition of friends, Herzen returned to Moscow. I began hard work on a series of articles on the connection of science and philosophy with real life under the general title Amateurism in Science.
After several unsuccessful attempts to contact artistic prose. In 1847, Herzen and his family left Russia and began their many-year journey through Europe. Observing the life of Western countries, he interspersed personal impressions with historical and philosophical research (Letters from France and Italy, 1847–1852; From the Other Shore, 1847–1850, etc.). In 1850–1852, a series of Herzen’s personal dramas took place: his wife’s betrayal, the death of his mother in a shipwreck and youngest son, death of wife from childbirth. In 1852 Herzen settled in London. By this time he was perceived as the first figure of the Russian emigration. Together with Ogarev, he began to publish revolutionary publications - the almanac “Polar Star” (1855–1868) and the newspaper “Bell” (1857–1867), the influence of which on the revolutionary movement in Russia was enormous. Despite the many articles published by the writer in Polar Star and Kolokol and published in separate editions, his main creation of the emigrant years is The Past and Thoughts (published 1855–1919).
The past and thoughts by genre - a synthesis of memoirs, journalism, literary portraits, autobiographical novel, historical chronicle, short stories. The author himself called this book a confession, “about which stopped thoughts from thoughts were collected here and there.” The first five parts describe Herzen's life from childhood until the events of 1850–1852, when the author suffered difficult mental trials associated with the collapse of his family. The sixth part, as a continuation of the first five, is devoted to life in England. The seventh and eighth parts, even more free in chronology and theme, reflect the life and thoughts of the author in the 1860s.
At first, Herzen intended to write about the tragic events of his personal life. But “everything old, half-forgotten, was resurrected,” and the architecture of the plan gradually expanded. In general, work on the book lasted about fifteen years, and the chronology of the narrative did not always coincide with the chronology of writing. In 1865, Herzen left England and went on a long trip to Europe, trying to unwind after another family drama (three-year-old twins died of diphtheria, the new wife did not find understanding among the older children). At this time, Herzen distanced himself from the revolutionaries, especially from the Russian radicals. Arguing with Bakunin, who called for the destruction of the state, he wrote: “People cannot be liberated in external life more than they are liberated internally.” These words are perceived as spiritual testament Herzen.
Like most Russian Westernized radicals, Herzen went through a period of deep fascination with Hegelianism in his spiritual development. Hegel's influence can be clearly seen in the series of articles Amateurism in Science (1842–1843). Their pathos lies in the affirmation and interpretation of Hegelian dialectics as an instrument of knowledge and revolutionary transformation of the world (“algebra of revolution”). Herzen severely condemned abstract idealism in philosophy and science for its isolation from real life, for “apriorism” and “spiritism.” The future development of humanity, in his opinion, should lead to the “removal” of antagonistic contradictions in society, the formation of philosophical and scientific knowledge inextricably linked with reality. Moreover, the result of development will be the merging of spirit and matter. In the historical process of cognition of reality, a “universal mind, freed from personality,” will be formed.
These ideas were further developed mainly philosophical essay Herzen – Letters on the Study of Nature (1845–1846). Continuing his criticism of philosophical idealism, Herzen defined nature as “the genealogy of thinking,” and saw only an illusion in the idea of pure being. For a materialistically minded thinker, nature is an ever-living, “fermenting substance”, primary in relation to the dialectics of knowledge. In the Letters, Herzen, quite in the spirit of Hegelianism, substantiated consistent historiocentrism: “neither humanity nor nature can be understood without historical existence,” and in understanding the meaning of history he adhered to the principles of historical determinism. However, in the thoughts of the late Herzen, the old progressivism gives way to much more pessimistic and critical assessments.
First of all, this relates to his analysis of the process of formation in society of a new type of mass consciousness, exclusively consumer, based on completely materialistic individualism (egoism). Such a process, according to Herzen, leads to total massification public life and accordingly to its peculiar entropy (“the turn of the whole European life in favor of silence and crystallization"), to the loss of individual and personal originality. “Personalities were erased, generic typism smoothed out everything sharply individual and restless” (Ends and Beginnings, 1863). Disappointment in European progress, as Herzen admitted, led him “to the brink of moral death,” from which only “faith in Russia” saved him. Herzen hoped for the possibility of establishing socialist relations in Russia (although he had considerable doubts about the previous revolutionary paths, as he wrote about in the article To an Old Comrade, 1869). Herzen associated the prospects for the development of socialism primarily with the peasant community.
Years of life: from 04/06/1812 to 01/21/1870
The fate of this man, who stood at the origins of populism, was connected with the great dramatic moments of Russian and European history. He became a witness and participant in a number of significant events: the formation of Marxism, the French Revolution of 1848, social upsurge in Russia in the 60s.
Alexander Ivanovich Herzen was born on March 25 (April 6), 1812. His father, Ivan Yakovlevich, was closely related to the envoy to the Westphalian court - A. A. Yakovlev. And the mother was a young German woman, Henrietta - Louise Haag, who was almost thirty years younger than her lover. The parents’ marriage was not formalized, the baby began to be officially called a “pupil” and bear the surname invented by his father: Herzen - “son of the heart,” from the German herz.
He spent his childhood, which was not cloudless, in his parents' house. It was difficult for him to get along with his father, whose character was of the “not a gift” category. Alexander had an older brother, Yegor. But he grew up in complete obscurity in the village of Pokrovskoye, where his mother, a serf peasant, was exiled.
As a child, little Herzen loved to listen to stories about the times French Revolution late 18th century. And he never missed an opportunity to listen and learn something new. He received the usual noble upbringing at home, based on reading foreign literature of the late 18th century. Novels and comedies by Beaumarchais, Kotzebue, Goethe, Schiller and early years caused him awe and delight.
Thanks to his desire to learn new things and interest in Schiller’s work, Herzen was imbued with freedom-loving aspirations, the development of which was greatly facilitated by the teacher of Russian literature I. E. Protopopov. This was also facilitated by the influence of Tanya Kuchina, Herzen’s cousin (married Tatyana Passek), who supported the childish pride of the young dreamer, prophesying an extraordinary future for him.
At the age of 13, Herzen met the future poet and publicist Nikolai Ogarev, who was only 12 years old at the time of the meeting. After the news of the Decembrist uprising on December 14, 1825, Herzen, together with his friend Nikolai, began to dream of revolutionary activity for the first time, and during one of their walks they vowed to fight for freedom.
Herzen dreamed of friendship, dreamed of fighting for freedom. In such a rather gloomy mood, in 1829 he entered Moscow University to study physics and mathematics. At the university, he takes part in the so-called “Malovsky story” - a protest of students against teachers. This protest ended with the imprisonment of the young rebel along with his comrades in a punishment cell. The youth were in a stormy mood: they welcomed the July Revolution and other popular movements. The group of young rebel friends grew, and from time to time they indulged in small revelries, of an innocent nature, of course.
But of course, all these protests and the struggle for freedom did not go unnoticed by the authorities. In 1834, members of Herzen's circle and he himself were arrested. The punishment was exile. Herzen was first exiled to Perm, and then to Vyatka, where he was assigned to serve in the governor’s office.
By organizing an exhibition of local works, Herzen got a chance to distinguish himself before the future Emperor Alexander II, and soon, at the request of Zhukovsky, he was transferred to serve as an adviser to the board in Vladimir. In 1838 he got married, secretly taking his bride, Natalya Aleksandrovna Zakharyina, from Moscow.
At the beginning of 1840, Herzen was allowed to return to Moscow. In May of this year, he moved to St. Petersburg, where, at the insistence of his father, he began to serve in the office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. But in July 1841, for a harsh review in one letter about the activities of the police, Herzen was exiled to Novgorod. Already here he encountered the famous circle of Stankevich and Belinsky, who defended the thesis of the useful rationality of all activities. Most Stankevich’s friends became close to Herzen and Ogarev, and a camp of Westerners was formed.
Herzen came to Europe with a radical republican character rather than a socialist one. The February Revolution of 1848 seemed to him the fulfillment of all his hopes and desires. The subsequent June workers' uprising and its suppression shocked Herzen, who decisively turned to socialism. He became close to Proudhon and other prominent figures of the revolution and European radicalism. In 1849, after the defeat of the radical opposition by President Louis Napoleon, Herzen was forced to leave France and moved to Switzerland, and from there to Nice, which then belonged to the Kingdom of Sardinia.
Under the influence of the collapse of old ideals and the reaction that occurred throughout Europe, Herzen formed a specific system of views about doom. By decree of Nicholas I, in July 1849, all the property of Herzen and his mother was seized. After the death of his wife in 1852, Herzen moved to London, where he founded the Free Russian Printing House to print prohibited publications. In 1857 he began publishing the weekly newspaper Kolokol.
The peak of Kolokol's influence occurred in the years preceding the liberation of the peasants, when the newspaper was regularly read in Winter Palace. After the peasant reform, her popularity begins to decline. At that time, Herzen was already too revolutionary for the public. On March 15, 1865, under the insistent demand of the Russian government, the editorial board of Kolokol, headed by Herzen, left London forever and moved to Switzerland. In April of the same year, the “Free Russian Printing House” was also transferred there. Soon people from Herzen’s circle, such as Nikolai Ogarev, began to move to Switzerland.
On January 21 (according to the new calendar), Alexander Ivanovich Herzen died of pneumonia in Paris, where he had recently arrived on family business. He was buried in Nice, his ashes were transferred from the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris.
Circumstances of personal life.
They were practically not mentioned in those days when Herzen’s personality was considered only from the point of view of social significance in the revolutionary reorganization of Russian and European society. While some facts of his personal and family life may shock...
Despite all the “storms” that happened in his life with his first wife, they were happy. And already in 1839 their son Alexander was born, and two years later - a daughter. In 1842, a son, Ivan, was born, who died 5 days after birth. In 1843, a son, Nikolai, was born, who was deaf and mute. Nicholas lived only 10 years and died along with Herzen’s mother during a sea voyage to Nice as a result of a ship collision. In 1844, daughter Natalya was born. In 1845, a daughter, Elizabeth, was born, who died 11 months after birth. In 1850, Herzen's wife gave birth to a daughter, Olga. The year 1852 brought Herzen a series of tragic losses: his wife gave birth to a son, Vladimir, and died two days later; his son also died soon after.
In 1857, Herzen began cohabiting with Nikolai Ogarev’s second wife, Natalya Alekseevna Ogareva-Tuchkova, who took care of Herzen’s children. They had a daughter, Elizabeth, who lived a short life. At the age of 17, she committed suicide due to unrequited love (in Florence in December 1875). In 1869, Tuchkova received the surname Herzen, which she bore until her return to Russia in 1876, even after Herzen’s death.
Russian publicist, writer, philosopher, teacher
Alexander Herzen
Brief biography
Russian writer, publicist, philosopher, revolutionary, founder of domestic political emigration - was the illegitimate child of a wealthy Moscow landowner I. Yakovlev. Born on April 6 (March 25, O.S.), 1812, the boy was given the surname Herzen, invented by his father. He grew up in his father's house and received an upbringing typical of noble families of that time. The opportunity to read French educators and encyclopedists from his home library influenced the formation of his worldview. As a teenager, Alexander met Nikolai Ogarev, a friendship with whom he carried through the years. The Decembrist uprising of 1825 became a landmark event for Herzen's biography. The impressions from him turned out to be so strong that Herzen and Ogarev swore an oath to serve freedom all their lives.
In 1829, Herzen became a student at Moscow University (department of physics and mathematics). He and his faithful comrade Ogarev become active participants in a circle of freedom-loving youth opposed to the actions of the government. In 1834, Herzen was among the arrested participants and was exiled to Perm. Later he was sent to Vyatka, where he served in the governor's office. When the royal heir, the future Alexander II, came to the city, Herzen participated in a local exhibition and gave explanations to a high-ranking person. Thanks to this, he was transferred to Vladimir, where he served as an adviser to the board and married a Moscow bride. Despite being in exile, Herzen recalled these days as the happiest of his life.
In 1836, he began to publish and act as a publicist, taking the pseudonym Iskander. At the beginning of 1840, Herzen was allowed to return to Moscow, and in the spring he changed his place of residence to St. Petersburg. The father insisted that his son get a job in the office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but after Herzen spoke impartially about the police in a letter to him, he was exiled again in July 1841, this time to Novgorod.
A year later, in 1842, Herzen returned to the capital. At that time, the main direction of social thought was the ideological dispute between Slavophiles and Westerners. Herzen not only, by actively participating in it, shares the position of the latter - thanks to his erudition, talent for thinking, and conducting polemics, he turns into one of the key figures in Russian public life. In 1842-1843. he published a series of articles “Amateurism in Science” in 1844-1845. – “Letters on the Study of Nature,” in which he calls for an end to the opposition between philosophy and natural sciences. Seeing in literature a mirror of social life and an effective way of struggle, the writer presents to the public anti-serfdom works of fiction - “Doctor Krupov” (1847), “The Thieving Magpie” (1848). During 1841-1846. Herzen writes a socio-psychological novel, one of the first of its kind in Russia - “Who is to Blame?”
The move to Europe (France) in 1847 after the death of his father marked the beginning of a new period in Herzen’s biography. He happened to witness the defeat of the revolutions of 1848-1849, and under the influence of disappointment in the revolutionary potential of Western countries, thoughts of dying old Europe the philosopher creates the “theory of Russian socialism” and lays the foundations of populism. The literary embodiment of the ideas of that time were the books “From the Other Shore” (1847-1850), “On the Development of Revolutionary Ideas in Russia” (1850).
In 1850, Alexander Ivanovich and his family settled in Nice, where he closely communicated with representatives of European emigration and the Italian national liberation movement. In 1851, the Russian government assigned Herzen the status of an eternal exile and deprived him of all rights for disobedience to the requirement to return to his homeland. Having lost his wife, in 1852 Herzen went to live in London and a year later founded the “Free Russian Printing House”, intended for printing literature prohibited in Russia. In 1855, Herzen became the publisher of the Polar Star almanac, and in 1857, after N. Ogarev moved to London, he began publishing the first Russian revolutionary newspaper, Kolokol. From its pages, merciless criticism fell on the Russian government, calls were made for radical reforms, for example, the liberation of the peasantry, openness in court, the elimination of censorship, etc. This publication played a huge role in the formation of Russian social thought and the worldview of young revolutionaries. “The Bell” existed for 10 years.
In 1868, Herzen finished writing the autobiographical novel “The Past and Thoughts,” which he began back in 1852. It is considered not only the pinnacle of his creativity as an artist of words, but also one of the best examples of Russian memoirs. At the end of his life, Herzen came to the conclusion that violence and terror are unacceptable methods of struggle. Recent years his life is connected with different cities: Geneva, Lausanne, Brussels, Florence. A.I. died Herzen January 21, 1870 in Paris from pneumonia. He was buried in the Père Lachaise cemetery, then his ashes were reburied in Nice.
Biography from Wikipedia
Alexander Ivanovich Herzen(March 25 (April 6) 1812, Moscow - January 9 (21), 1870, Paris) - Russian publicist, writer, philosopher, teacher, one of the most prominent critics of official ideology and politics Russian Empire in the 19th century, a supporter of revolutionary changes.
Childhood
Herzen was born into the family of a wealthy landowner Ivan Alekseevich Yakovlev (1767-1846), descended from Andrei Kobyla (like the Romanovs). Mother is 16-year-old German Henriette Wilhelmina Luisa Haag, the daughter of a minor official, a clerk in the state chamber in Stuttgart. The parents' marriage was not formalized, and Herzen bore the surname invented by his father: Herzen - “son of the heart” (from German Herz).
Father of A. I. Herzen - Ivan Alekseevich Yakovlev
In his youth, Herzen received the usual noble education at home, based on reading works of foreign literature, mainly from the end of the 18th century. French novels, the comedies of Beaumarchais, Kotzebue, the works of Goethe, Schiller from an early age set the boy in an enthusiastic, sentimental-romantic tone. There were no systematic classes, but the tutors - French and Germans - gave the boy a solid knowledge of foreign languages. Thanks to his acquaintance with Schiller’s work, Herzen was imbued with freedom-loving aspirations, the development of which was greatly facilitated by the teacher of Russian literature I. E. Protopopov, who brought Herzen notebooks of Pushkin’s poems: “Odes to Freedom”, “Dagger”, “Thoughts” by Ryleev, etc., as well as Bouchot, a participant in the French Revolution, who left France when the “depraved and rogues” took over. Added to this was the influence of Tanya Kuchina, Herzen’s young aunt, “Korchevskaya cousin” (married Tatyana Passek), who supported the childish pride of the young dreamer, predicting an extraordinary future for him.
In December 1820, I. A. Yakovlev enrolled his son in the department of the “expedition of the Kremlin building,” indicating his age as 14 years old instead of 8; in 1823 he was awarded the rank of collegiate registrar.
Already in childhood, Herzen met and became friends with Nikolai Ogarev. According to his memoirs, the news of the Decembrist uprising on December 14, 1825 made a strong impression on the boys (Herzen was 13, Ogarev was 12 years old). Under his impression, their first, still vague dreams of revolutionary activity arise; During a walk on the Sparrow Hills, the boys vowed to fight for freedom.
Already in 1829-1830, Herzen wrote a philosophical article about “Wallenstein” by F. Schiller. During this youthful period of Herzen’s life, his ideal was Karl Moor, the hero of F. Schiller’s tragedy “The Robbers” (1782).
University (1829−1833)
In the fall of 1823, Herzen entered the department of physical and mathematical sciences at Moscow University, and here this mood intensified even more. At the university, Herzen took part in the so-called “Malov story” (student protest against an unloved teacher), but got off relatively lightly - with a short imprisonment, along with many of his comrades, in a punishment cell. Of the teachers, only M.T. Kachenovsky with his skepticism and M.G. Pavlov, who introduced listeners to German philosophy at agricultural lectures, awakened young thought. The youth were, however, quite stormy; she welcomed the July Revolution (as can be seen from Lermontov's poems) and other popular movements (the excitement of students was facilitated by the cholera that appeared in Moscow, in the fight against which all university youth took an active part). At this time, Herzen met with Vadim Passek, which later turned into friendship, the establishment of a friendly connection with Ketcher and others. The group of young friends grew, made noise, seethed; from time to time she allowed small revelries, of a completely innocent nature, however; She read diligently, being carried away mainly by social issues, studying Russian history, assimilating the ideas of Saint-Simon (whose utopian socialism Herzen then considered the most outstanding achievement of contemporary Western philosophy) and other socialists.
Link
In 1834, all members of Herzen's circle and he himself were arrested. Herzen was exiled to Perm, and from there to Vyatka, where he was assigned to serve in the governor’s office.
For organizing an exhibition of local works and the explanations given during its inspection to the heir to the throne (the future Alexander II), Herzen, at the request of Zhukovsky, was transferred to serve as an adviser to the board in Vladimir, where he got married, having secretly taken his bride from Moscow, and where he spent his happiest and bright days of your life.
After the link
At the beginning of 1840, Herzen was allowed to return to Moscow. In May 1840, he moved to St. Petersburg, where, at the insistence of his father, he began to serve in the office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. But in July 1841, for a harsh review in one letter about the activities of the police, Herzen was exiled to Novgorod, where he served in the provincial government until July 1842, after which he settled in Moscow.
Here he had to face the famous circle of Hegelians Stankevich and Belinsky, who defended the thesis of the complete rationality of all reality.
Most of Stankevich’s friends became close to Herzen and Ogarev, forming a camp of Westerners; others joined the Slavophil camp, with Khomyakov and Kireevsky at their head (1844).
Despite mutual bitterness and disputes, both sides had much in common in their views and, above all, according to Herzen himself, the common thing was “a feeling of boundless love for the Russian people, for the Russian mentality, embracing the entire existence.” The opponents, “like a two-faced Janus, looked in different directions, while the heart beat alone.” “With tears in our eyes”, hugging each other, recent friends, and now principled opponents, went in different directions.
Herzen often traveled to St. Petersburg for meetings of the Belinsky circle; and soon after the death of his father he went abroad forever (1847).
In the Moscow house where Herzen lived from 1843 to 1847, the A. I. Herzen House Museum has been operating since 1976.
In exile
Herzen arrived in Europe more radically republican than socialist, although the publication he began in Otechestvennye zapiski of a series of articles entitled “Letters from Avenue Marigny” (later published in revised form in “Letters from France and Italy”) shocked him friends - Western liberals - with their anti-bourgeois pathos. The February Revolution of 1848 seemed to Herzen the fulfillment of all his hopes. The subsequent June workers' uprising, its bloody suppression and the ensuing reaction shocked Herzen, who decisively turned to socialism. He became close to Proudhon and other prominent figures of the revolution and European radicalism; Together with Proudhon, he published the newspaper “The Voice of the People” (“La Voix du Peuple”), which he financed. The beginning of his wife's passion for the German poet Herwegh dates back to the Parisian period. In 1849, after the defeat of the radical opposition by President Louis Napoleon, Herzen was forced to leave France and moved to Switzerland, and from there to Nice, which then belonged to the Kingdom of Sardinia.
During this period, Herzen moved among the circles of radical European emigration that gathered in Switzerland after the defeat of the revolution in Europe, and, in particular, became acquainted with Giuseppe Garibaldi. He became famous for his book of essays “From the Other Shore,” in which he reckoned with his past liberal convictions. Under the influence of the collapse of old ideals and the reaction that occurred throughout Europe, Herzen formed a specific system of views about the doom, the “dying” of old Europe and the prospects for Russia and the Slavic world, which are called upon to realize the socialist ideal.
In July 1849, Nicholas I arrested all the property of Herzen and his mother. After this, the seized property was pledged to the banker Rothschild, and he, negotiating a loan to Russia, achieved the lifting of the imperial ban.
“The Bell” by A. I. Herzen, 1857
After a series of family tragedies that befell Herzen in Nice (his wife’s infidelity with Herwegh, the death of a mother and son in a shipwreck, the death of his wife and newborn child), Herzen moved to London, where he founded the Free Russian Printing House to print prohibited publications and, from 1857, published a weekly newspaper "Bell".
A. I. Herzen, approx. 1861
The peak of the influence of the Bell occurs in the years preceding the liberation of the peasants; then the newspaper was regularly read in the Winter Palace. After the peasant reform, its influence begins to decline; support for the Polish uprising of 1863 sharply undermined circulation. At that time, Herzen was already too revolutionary for the liberal public, and too moderate for the radical one. On March 15, 1865, under the persistent demand of the Russian government to the British government, the editorial board of Kolokol, headed by Herzen, left London forever and moved to Switzerland, of which Herzen had by that time become a citizen. In April of the same 1865, the “Free Russian Printing House” was also transferred there. Soon people from Herzen’s entourage began to move to Switzerland, for example, in 1865 Nikolai Ogarev moved there.
A. I. Herzen on his deathbed
On January 9 (21), 1870, Alexander Ivanovich Herzen died of pneumonia in Paris, where he had recently arrived on family business. He was buried in Nice (the ashes were transferred from the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris).
Literary and journalistic activities
Herzen's literary activity began in the 1830s. In the Athenaeum for 1831 (II volume) his name is found under one translation from French. The first article signed by a pseudonym Iskander, was published in the Telescope for 1836 (“Hoffmann”). The “Speech delivered at the opening of the Vyatka” dates back to the same time. public library" and "Diary" (1842). In Vladimir written: “Notes of a young man” and “More from the notes of a young man” (“Otechestvennye zapiski”, 1840-1841; in this story Chaadaev is depicted in the person of Trenzinsky). From 1842 to 1847, he published articles in “Domestic Notes” and “Contemporary”: “Amateurism in Science”, “Romantic Amateurs”, “Workshop of Scientists”, “Buddhism in Science”, “Letters on the Study of Nature”. Here Herzen rebelled against learned pedants and formalists, against their scholastic science, alienated from life, against their quietism. In the article “On the Study of Nature” we find philosophical analysis various methods of knowledge. At the same time, Herzen wrote: “About one drama”, “On various occasions”, “New variations on old themes”, “A few remarks about historical development honor”, “From the notes of Doctor Krupov”, “Who is to blame?”, “The Thieving Magpie”, “Moscow and St. Petersburg”, “Novgorod and Vladimir”, “Edrovo Station”, “Interrupted Conversations”. Of all these works, the story “The Thieving Magpie”, which depicts the terrible situation of the “serf intelligentsia”, and the novel “Who is to Blame?”, dedicated to the issue of freedom of feeling, especially stand out. family relationships, the position of a woman in marriage. The main idea of the novel is that people who base their well-being solely on the basis of family happiness and feelings, alien to the interests of social and universal humanity, cannot ensure lasting happiness for themselves, and in their lives it will always depend on chance.
Of the works written by Herzen abroad, the following are especially important: letters from “Avenue Marigny” (the first published in Sovremennik, all fourteen under the general title: “Letters from France and Italy”, edition of 1855), representing a remarkable description and analysis of events and the moods that worried Europe in 1847-1852. Here we encounter a completely negative attitude towards the Western European bourgeoisie, its morality and social principles, and the author’s ardent faith in the future significance of the fourth estate. Herzen’s work “From the Other Shore” (originally in German “Vom anderen Ufer”, Hamburg, 1850; in Russian, London, 1855; in French, Geneva, 1870) made a particularly strong impression both in Russia and in Europe. in which Herzen expresses complete disappointment with the West and Western civilization - the result of that mental revolution that determined Herzen’s worldview in 1848-1851. It is also worth noting the letter to Michelet: “The Russian people and socialism” - a passionate and ardent defense of the Russian people against the attacks and prejudices that Michelet expressed in one of his articles. “The Past and Thoughts” is a series of memoirs, partly of an autobiographical nature, but also providing a whole series of highly artistic pictures, dazzlingly brilliant characteristics, and observations of Herzen from what he experienced and saw in Russia and abroad.
All other works and articles of Herzen, such as: “The Old World and Russia”, “Russian People and Socialism”, “Ends and Beginnings”, etc., represent a simple development of ideas and sentiments that were fully defined in the period 1847-1852 in his writings mentioned above.
In general, as B. A. Kuzmin noted, “having started - and not by chance - by studying with Heine, Herzen then created his own special genre of fiction. The entire presentation is very emotional. The author’s attitude to the events described is expressed in his remarks, exclamations, and digressions.”
Philosophical views of Herzen during the years of emigration
Attraction to freedom of thought, “freethinking”, in best value This word was especially strongly developed in Herzen. He did not belong to any one party, either open or secret. The one-sidedness of “men of action” alienated him from many revolutionary and radical figures in Europe. His mind quickly comprehended the imperfections and shortcomings of those forms of Western life to which Herzen was initially drawn from his ugly, distant Russian reality of the 1840s. With amazing consistency, Herzen abandoned his passions for the West when it turned out in his eyes to be lower than the previously drawn up ideal.
As a consistent Hegelian, Herzen believed that the development of humanity proceeds in steps, and each step is embodied in a certain people. Herzen, who laughed at the fact that Hegel’s god lived in Berlin, essentially transferred this god to Moscow, sharing with the Slavophiles the belief in the coming replacement of the German period by the Slavic. At the same time, as a follower of Saint-Simon and Fourier, he combined this belief in the Slavic phase of progress with the doctrine of the upcoming replacement of the rule of the bourgeoisie with the triumph of the working class, which should come thanks to the Russian community, just discovered by the German Haxthausen. Together with the Slavophiles, Herzen became disillusioned with Western culture. The West has rotted, and new life cannot be injected into its dilapidated forms. Faith in the community and the Russian people saved Herzen from a hopeless view of the fate of humanity. However, Herzen did not deny the possibility that Russia too would go through the stage of bourgeois development. Defending the Russian future, Herzen argued that there is a lot of ugliness in Russian life, but there is no vulgarity that is rigid in its forms. The Russian tribe is a fresh, virgin tribe that has the “aspiration of the future century,” an immeasurable and endless supply of vitality and energy; “The thinking person in Russia is the most independent and most unprejudiced person in the world.” Herzen was convinced that the Slavic world was striving for unity, and since “centralization is contrary to the Slavic spirit,” the Slavs would unite on the principles of federations. Having a free-thinking attitude towards all religions, Herzen recognized, however, that Orthodoxy had many advantages and merits in comparison with Catholicism and Protestantism.
Herzen's philosophical and historical concept emphasizes the active role of man in history. At the same time, it implies that reason cannot realize its ideals without taking into account existing facts history, that its results constitute the “necessary basis” for the operations of the mind.
Pedagogical ideas
There are no special theoretical works on education in Herzen's legacy. However, throughout his life Herzen was interested in pedagogical problems and was one of the first Russian thinkers and public figures of the mid-19th century to address the problems of education in his works. His statements on issues of upbringing and education indicate the presence thoughtful pedagogical concept.
Herzen's pedagogical views were determined by philosophical (atheism and materialism), ethical (humanism) and political (revolutionary democracy) beliefs.
Criticism of the education system under Nicholas I
Herzen called the reign of Nicholas I a thirty-year persecution of schools and universities and showed how the Nicholas Ministry of Education stifled public education. The tsarist government, according to Herzen, “laid in wait for the child at the first step in life and corrupted the cadet-child, the schoolboy-adolescent, the student-boy. Mercilessly, systematically, it eradicated the human embryos in them, weaned them, as if from a vice, from all human feelings except obedience. It punished minors for violation of discipline in a way that hardened criminals are not punished in other countries.”
He resolutely opposed the introduction of religion into education, against the transformation of schools and universities into a tool for strengthening serfdom and autocracy.
Folk pedagogy
Herzen believed that the simplest people have the most positive influence on children, that it is the people who bear the best Russian national qualities. Young generations learn from the people respect for work, selfless love for their homeland, and aversion to idleness.
Upbringing
Herzen considered the main task of education to be the formation of a humane, free personality who lives in the interests of his people and strives to transform society on a reasonable basis. Children must be provided with conditions for free development. “Reasonable recognition of self-will is the highest and moral recognition of human dignity.” In everyday educational activities, an important role is played by the “talent of patient love,” the teacher’s disposition towards the child, respect for him, and knowledge of his needs. A healthy family environment and correct relationships between children and teachers are a necessary condition for moral education.
Education
Herzen passionately sought the spread of education and knowledge among the people, calling on scientists to take science out of the classroom walls and make its achievements public domain. Emphasizing the enormous educational importance of the natural sciences, Herzen was at the same time in favor of a system of comprehensive general education. He wanted students secondary school along with natural science and mathematics, they studied literature (including the literature of ancient peoples), foreign languages, history. A. I. Herzen noted that without reading there is and cannot be either taste, style, or multifaceted breadth of understanding. Thanks to reading, a person survives centuries. Books influence the deepest areas of the human psyche. Herzen emphasized in every possible way that education should contribute to the development of independent thinking in students. Educators should, relying on children’s innate inclinations to communicate, develop social aspirations and inclinations in them. This is achieved through communication with peers, collective children's games, and general activities. Herzen fought against the suppression of children's will, but at the same time gave great value discipline, considered the establishment of discipline a necessary condition for proper education. “Without discipline,” he said, “there is no calm confidence, no obedience, no way to protect health and prevent danger.”
Herzen wrote two special works in which he explained natural phenomena to the younger generation: “The Experience of Conversations with Young People” and “Conversations with Children.” These works are wonderful examples of talented, popular presentation of complex ideological problems. The author simply and vividly explains to children the origin of the Universe from a materialistic point of view. He convincingly proves the important role of science in the fight against incorrect views, prejudices and superstitions and refutes the idealistic fabrication that a soul also exists in a person, separate from his body.
Family
In 1838, in Vladimir, Herzen married his cousin Natalya Alexandrovna Zakharyina; Before leaving Russia, they had 6 children, two of whom lived to adulthood.
Russian revolutionary, philosopher, writer A. I. Herzen was born in Moscow on March 25, 1812. He was born from the extramarital affair of a wealthy landowner Ivan Yakovlev and a young German woman of bourgeois blood, Louise Haag, originally from Stuttgart. They came up with the surname Herzen for their son (translated from German as “heart”).
The child grew up and was brought up on Yakovlev’s estate. He was given a good education at home, he had the opportunity to read books from his father’s library: works by Western educators, poems by banned Russian poets Pushkin and Ryleev. While still a teenager, he became friends with the future revolutionary and poet N. Ogarev. This friendship lasted a lifetime.
Herzen's youth
When Alexander was thirteen years old, the December Uprising took place in Russia, the events of which forever influenced Herzen's fate. So since the very youth he had eternal idols, patriotic heroes who came out to Senate Square to consciously die for the sake of the future new life of the younger generation. He swore an oath to avenge the execution of the Decembrists and continue their work.
In the summer of 1828, on the Sparrow Hills in Moscow, Herzen and Ogarev swore an oath to devote their lives to the struggle for the freedom of the people. The friends remained faithful to their oath for the rest of their lives. In 1829, Aleksandr began his studies at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Moscow University. In 1833 he graduated from it, receiving a candidate's degree. IN student years Herzen and Ogarev gathered around themselves progressive youth from like-minded people. They were interested in issues of freedom, equality, and education. The university management considered Herzen a dangerous freethinker with very daring plans.
Arrest and exile. Herzen's marriage
A year after graduating from the university, he was arrested for active propaganda activities and exiled to Perm, then transferred to Vyatka, then to Vladimir. The harsh conditions of exile in Perm and Vyatka changed during his stay in Vladimir for the better. Now he could travel to Moscow and meet with friends. He took his bride N.A. Zakharyina from Moscow to Vladimir, where they got married.
The years 1838 - 1840 were especially happy for the young couple. Herzen, who had already tried his hand at literature before, did not record any creative achievements during these years. He wrote two romantic dramas in verse (“Licinius”, “William Pen”), which have not survived, and the story “Notes of a Young Man”. Aleksandr Ivanovich knew that creative imagination- not his element. He was better able to realize himself as a publicist and philosopher. But nevertheless, he did not abandon his studies in the field of literary creativity.
Philosophical works. The novel "Who is to Blame?"
Having served his exile in 1839, he returned to Moscow, but soon showed imprudence in correspondence with his father and spoke harshly to the tsarist police. He was arrested again and again sent into exile, this time to Novgorod. Returning from exile in 1842, he published his work, which he had worked on in Novgorod, “Amateurism in Science,” then a very serious philosophical study, “Letters on the Study of Nature.”
During the years of exile, he began work on the novel “Who is to Blame?” In 1845 he completed the work, devoting five years to it. Critics consider the novel "Who's to Blame?" Herzen's greatest creative achievement. Belinsky believed that the author’s strength lies in the “power of thought,” and the soul of his talent lies in “humanity.”
"The Thieving Magpie"
Herzen wrote “The Thieving Magpie” in 1846. It was published two years later, when the author was already living abroad. In this story, Herzen focused his attention on the particularly difficult, powerless position of the serf actress. Interesting fact: the narrator in the story is “ famous artist", the prototype of the great actor M. S. Shchepkin, who was also a serf for a long time.
Herzen Abroad
January 1847. Herzen and his family left Russia forever. Settled in Paris. But in the fall of the same year he went to Rome to participate in demonstrations and engage in revolutionary activities. In the spring of 1848 he returned to Paris, engulfed in revolution. After her defeat, the writer suffered an ideological crisis. His book of 1847-50 “From the Other Shore” is about this.
1851 was tragic for Herzen: a shipwreck claimed the lives of his mother and son. And in 1852 his beloved wife died. In the same year, he left for London and began work on his main book, “Past and Thoughts,” which he wrote for sixteen years. It was a book - a confession, a book of memories. In 1855 he published the almanac "Polar Star", in 1857 - the newspaper "Bell". Herzen died in Paris on January 9, 1870.
Herzen A.I. - biography Herzen A.I. - biography
Herzen Alexander Ivanovich (pseudonym Iskander) (1812 - 1870)
Herzen A.I.
Biography
Russian politician, writer, philosopher, publicist. Born on April 6 (old style - March 25) 1812 in Moscow. Illegitimate son noble Russian master I.A. Yakovlev and the German woman Louise Haag, whom Yakovlev, returning after many years of traveling around Europe, took with him to Moscow. Yakovlev gave the child the surname Herzen (from the German word “Herz” - heart). The boy's first years were sad and lonely. He learned from his mother German language, in conversations with his father and tutors - French. Yakovlev had a rich library, consisting almost exclusively of works French writers XVIII century, and the boy rummaged through it quite freely. The events of December 14, 1825 determined the direction of Herzen’s aspirations and sympathies. In 1833 Herzen graduated from the university with a candidate's degree and a silver medal. While still at the university, he became acquainted with the teachings of the Saint-Simonists. A year after completing the course, Herzen and his friend Ogarev were arrested. The reason for the arrest was the very fact of the existence of “non-employees” in Moscow, young people who were always talking about something, worried and fuming, and the reason was a student party at which a song containing “impudent censure” was sung, and a bust of Emperor Nicholas was smashed Pavlovich. The inquiry found that Sokolovsky composed the song, Ogarev knew Sokolovsky, Herzen was friends with Ogarev, and although neither Herzen nor Ogarev were even at the party, nevertheless, on the basis of “indirect evidence” regarding their “way of thinking,” they were involved in the case of “a failed conspiracy of young people devoted to the teachings of Saint-Simonism, which failed due to arrest.” Herzen spent nine months in prison, after which, in his words, “they read to us, like a bad joke, a sentence of death, and then they announced that, driven by the inadmissible kindness so characteristic of him, the emperor ordered only a corrective measure to be applied to us, in the form of a link." Herzen was assigned Perm as a place of exile, where he spent three weeks and then, by order of the authorities, was transferred to Vyatka, enlisted as a “clerk” in the service of Governor Tyufyaev. Soon he was transferred from Vyatka to Vladimir, and after Vladimir Herzen was allowed to live in St. Petersburg, but soon he again found himself in exile, in Novgorod. Thanks to the efforts of his friends, Herzen managed to escape from Novgorod, retire and move to Moscow. He lived there from 1842 to 1847 - the last period of his life in Russia. Herzen was drawn to Europe, but in response to Herzen’s requests for a foreign passport for the treatment of his wife there, Emperor Nicholas put down a resolution: “no need.” The conditions of Russian life pressed Herzen terribly; Meanwhile, Ogarev was already abroad and from there he wrote to his friend: “Herzen! But you can’t live at home. I’m convinced that it’s impossible. A person who is alien to his family is obliged to break with his family.” In 1847 he finally arrived in Paris, then in Geneva, and lived in Italy. After the appearance of "Letters from France and Italy", it appeared in print and famous work Herzen "From the Other Shore" (originally also in German: "Von andern Ufer"). Having buried his wife in Nice, Herzen moved to London, where he installed the first press of the free Russian press, on which the magazines “Polar Star” and “Bell” were printed, the first issue of which was published on July 1, 1857. “Bell” continued to be published until 1867. The last period of his life Herzen was for him a time of isolation from Russia and loneliness. The “fathers” recoiled from him for his “radicalism,” and the “children” for his “moderation.” He died on January 21 (old style - 9) 1870 in Paris. Herzen was buried first in the Pere Lachaise cemetery, and then his ashes were transported to Nice, where he rests to this day. Above the grave stands a beautiful monument depicting Herzen standing at full height, with his face turned towards Russia, a monument by Zabello.
Among the works are articles, stories, novels: “Notes of a Young Man” ( autobiographical story), “Moscow and St. Petersburg” (1842; the pamphlet was widely distributed; published in 1857), “Amateurism in Science” (1843), “Letters on the Study of Nature” (1845 - 1846), “Who is to Blame?” (1841 - 1846, novel), "Doctor Krupov" (1847, story), "The Thieving Magpie" (1848, story), "Duty First" (1851, story), "Damaged" (1851, story), " William Penn" (drama), "Past and Thoughts" (1852 - 1868, autobiographical novel), "For the Sake of Boredom" (1868 - 1869, essay), "Doctor, Dying and the Dead" (1869, story), "To an Old Comrade "(1869, letters - last work).
__________
Sources of information:
"Russian Biographical Dictionary"
Encyclopedic resource www.rubricon.com
Project "Russia Congratulates!" - www.prazdniki.ru
(Source: “Aphorisms from around the world. Encyclopedia of wisdom.” www.foxdesign.ru)
Consolidated encyclopedia of aphorisms. Academician 2011.
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The surname of an outstanding Russian writer and political figure. The marriage of his father, a large gentleman, I.A. Yakovlev with German girl was not a church member, so the father could not pass on his surname to his son and gave him the surname Herzen from the German Herz heart.... ... Russian surnames
Herzen- Herzen, A.I. (1812 1870) famous Russian writer and revolutionary. Started my revolutionary activity under the influence of the great utopian socialists. In 1834, together with Ogarev and others, he was exiled to Perm, and then to Vyatka. Upon returning to Moscow... ... 1000 biographies
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I Herzen Alexander Ivanovich (pseudonym Iskander), Russian revolutionary, writer, philosopher and publicist. Born into the family of a wealthy landowner I. A. Yakovlev; mother is German Louise Haag. Parents' marriage... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia
Alexander Ivanovich (pseud. Iskander) (25.III (6.IV).1812 9 (21).I.1870) Russian revolutionary figure, philosopher, writer and publicist. Genus. in Moscow in the family of a wealthy landowner. The formation of G.’s worldview was influenced by the freedom-loving... ... Soviet historical encyclopedia
1. HERTZEN Alexander Ivanovich (1812 1870), revolutionary, writer, philosopher. He graduated from Moscow University (1833), where in 1831 34 he headed the student circle together with N.P. Ogarev. Arrested in 1834, he spent 6 years in exile. Published since 1836 under ... ... Russian history
Herzen, A. I.- (1812 1870) famous Russian writer and revolutionary. He began his revolutionary activities under the influence of the great utopian socialists. In 1834, together with Ogarev and others, he was exiled to Perm, and then to Vyatka. Upon returning to Moscow, Herzen becomes... ... Historical reference book of Russian Marxist
Herzen Al-dr. Iv- HERTZEN Al dr Iv. (pseud. Iskander) (1812 70) rev. publicist, writer, philosopher. Illegitimate son of a wealthy landowner I. A. Yakovlev and Louise Haag, a native of Stuttgart. Got a house. education. From an early age he was influenced by freedom-loving ideas. In 1828... ... Russian humanitarian encyclopedic dictionary
Books
- Alexander Herzen. Selected works in 5 volumes (set), Alexander Herzen. Alexander Ivanovich Herzen is a Russian writer, publicist, theorist and literary historian, philosopher, founder of the Russian uncensored press, founder of Russian political...
