A short biography of Chernyshevsky is the most important thing. Nikolai Chernyshevsky - biography, information, personal life G Chernyshevsky main
Chernyshevsky Nikolai Gavrilovich - prominent public figure XIX century. Famous Russian writer, critic, scientist, philosopher, publicist. His most famous work is the novel “What is to be done?”, which had a very great influence on the society of his time. In this article we will talk about the life and work of the author.
Chernyshevsky: biography. Childhood and youth
Born on July 12 (24), 1828 in Saratov. His father was the archpriest of the local Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, came from serf peasants in the village of Chernysheva, and this is where the surname originates. At first he studied at home under the supervision of his father and cousin. The boy also had a French tutor who taught him the language.
In 1846, Nikolai Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky entered St. Petersburg University in the historical and philological department. Already at this time, the circle of interests of the future writer began to take shape, which would later be reflected in his works. The young man studies Russian literature, reads Feuerbach, Hegel, and positivist philosophers. Chernyshevsky realizes that the main thing in human actions- this is benefit, not abstract ideas and useless aesthetics. The works of Saint-Simon and Fourier made the greatest impression on him. Their dream of a society where everyone was equal seemed to him quite real and achievable.
After graduating from university in 1850, Chernyshevsky returned to his native Saratov. Here he took the place of a literature teacher at the local gymnasium. He did not at all hide his rebellious ideas from his students and clearly thought more about how to transform the world than about teaching children.
Moving to the capital
In 1853, Chernyshevsky (the writer’s biography is presented in this article) decides to quit teaching and move to St. Petersburg, where he begins a journalistic career. Very quickly he became the most prominent representative of the Sovremennik magazine, where he was invited by N. A. Nekrasov. At the beginning of his collaboration with the publication, Chernyshevsky focused all his attention on the problems of literature, since the political situation in the country did not allow him to speak openly on more pressing topics.
In parallel with his work at Sovremennik, the writer defended his dissertation in 1855 on the topic “Aesthetic relations of art to reality.” In it he denies the principles of " pure art” and formulates a new view - “beautiful is life itself.” According to the author, art should serve for the benefit of people, and not exalt itself.
Chernyshevsky develops the same idea in “Essays Gogol period", published in Sovremennik. In this work, he analyzed the most famous wills of the classics from the point of view of the principles he voiced.
New orders
Chernyshevsky became famous for his unusual views on art. The writer’s biography suggests that he had both supporters and ardent opponents.
With the coming to power of Alexander II, the political situation in the country changed dramatically. And many topics that were previously considered taboo became allowed to be discussed publicly. In addition, the whole country expected reforms and significant changes from the monarch.
Sovremennik, led by Dobrolyubov, Nekrasov and Chernyshevsky, did not stand aside and participated in all political discussions. Chernyshevsky, who tried to express his opinion on any issue, was the most active in publishing. In addition, he was involved in reviewing literary works, evaluating them from the point of view of their usefulness to society. In this regard, Fet suffered greatly from his attacks, and was eventually forced to leave the capital.
However, the news of the liberation of the peasants received the greatest resonance. Chernyshevsky himself perceived the reform as the beginning of even more serious changes. What I often wrote and spoke about.
Arrest and exile
Chernyshevsky's creativity led to his arrest. It happened on June 12, 1862, the writer was taken into custody and imprisoned Peter and Paul Fortress. He was accused of drawing up a proclamation entitled “Bow to the lordly peasants from their well-wishers.” This view was handwritten and delivered to a person who turned out to be a provocateur.
Another reason for the arrest was a letter from Herzen intercepted by the secret police, in which a proposal was made to publish the banned Sovremennik in London. In this case, Chernyshevsky acted as an intermediary.
The investigation into the case lasted a year and a half. The writer did not give up all this time and actively fought with the investigative committee. Protesting against the actions of the secret police, he went on a hunger strike that lasted 9 days. At the same time, Chernyshevsky did not abandon his calling and continued to write. It was here that he wrote the novel “What is to be done?”, later published in parts in Sovremennik.
The verdict was handed down to the writer on February 7, 1864. It reported that Chernyshevsky was sentenced to 14 years of hard labor, after which he would have to settle permanently in Siberia. However, Alexander II personally reduced the time of hard labor to 7 years. In total, the writer spent more than 20 years in prison.
For 7 years, Chernyshevsky was transferred from one prison to another more than once. He visited the Nerchinsk penal servitude, the Kadai and Akatuysk prisons and the Alexandria Plant, where the house-museum named after the writer is still preserved.
After completing hard labor, in 1871, Chernyshevsky was sent to Vilyuysk. Three years later, he was officially offered release, but the writer refused to write a petition for pardon.
Views
Chernyshevsky's philosophical views throughout his life were sharply rebellious. The writer can be called a direct follower of the Russian revolutionary-democratic school and progressive Western philosophy, especially social utopians. His passion for Hegel during his university years led to criticism of the idealistic views of Christianity and liberal morality, which the writer considered “slave.”
Chernyshevsky’s philosophy is called monistic and is associated with anthropological materialism, since he focused on the material world, neglecting spirituality. He was sure that natural needs and circumstances shape a person’s moral consciousness. If all people's needs are satisfied, the personality will flourish and there will be no moral pathologies. But to achieve this, it is necessary to seriously change living conditions, and this is only possible through revolution.
His ethical standards are based on anthropological principles and the concept of reasonable egoism. Man belongs to the natural world and obeys its laws. Chernyshevsky did not recognize free will, replacing it with the principle of causality.
Personal life
Chernyshevsky got married quite early. The writer’s biography says that this happened in 1853 in Saratov, Olga Sokratovna Vasilyeva became the chosen one. The girl was a great success in local society, but for some reason she preferred the quiet and awkward Chernyshevsky to all her fans. During their marriage, they had two boys.
Chernyshevsky's family lived happily until the writer was arrested. After he was sent to hard labor, Olga Sokratovna visited him in 1866. However, she refused to go to Siberia after her husband - the local climate did not suit her. She lived alone for twenty years. During this time beautiful woman several lovers changed. The writer did not at all condemn his wife’s connections and even wrote to her that it was harmful for a woman to remain alone for a long time.
Chernyshevsky: facts from life
Here are some notable events from the life of the author:
- Little Nikolai was incredibly well read. For his love of books, he even received the nickname “bibliophage,” that is, “book eater.”
- The censors passed the novel “What Is to Be Done?” without noticing its revolutionary themes.
- In official correspondence and secret police documentation, the writer was called “the enemy Russian Empire number one."
- F. M. Dostoevsky was an ardent ideological opponent of Chernyshevsky and openly argued with him in his “Notes from the Underground.”
Most famous work
Let's talk about the book "What to do?" Chernyshevsky's novel, as noted above, was written during the arrest in the Peter and Paul Fortress (1862-1863). And, in fact, it was a response to Turgenev’s work “Fathers and Sons.”
The writer handed over the finished parts of the manuscript to the investigative commission, which was in charge of his case. Censor Beketov overlooked the political orientation of the novel, for which he was soon removed from office. However, this did not help, since the work had already been published in Sovremennik by that time. Issues of the magazine were banned, but the text had already been rewritten more than once and in this form was distributed throughout the country.
The book “What to do?” became a real revelation for contemporaries. Chernyshevsky's novel instantly became a bestseller, everyone read and discussed it. In 1867, the work was published in Geneva by the Russian emigration. After that, it was translated into English, Serbian, Polish, French and other European languages.
Last years of life and death
In 1883, Chernyshevsky was allowed to move to Astrakhan. By this time he was already a sick man of advanced years. During these years, his son Mikhail begins to work for him. Thanks to his efforts, the writer moved to Saratov in 1889. However, in the same year he falls ill with malaria. The author died on October 17 (29) from a cerebral hemorrhage. He was buried at the Resurrection Cemetery in Saratov.
The memory of Chernyshevsky is still alive. His works continue to be read and studied not only by literary scholars, but also by historians.
Nikolai Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky - Russian revolutionary, democrat, writer, philosopher, economist, publicist, literary critic, scientist - was born in Saratov on July 24 (July 12, O.S.), 1828. His father was a priest, a well-educated man. Even in his childhood, Nikolai became addicted to reading and amazed those around him with his erudition.
In 1842 he became a student at the Saratov Theological Seminary. The years of study there (he completed his studies in 1845) were filled with intensive self-education. In 1846, Chernyshevsky was a student at the Faculty of Philosophy (historical and philological department) of St. Petersburg University. After his graduation in 1951-1853. He taught Russian at the local gymnasium. IN student years Chernyshevsky was formed as a person and was ready to devote his life to revolutionary activities. The first attempts at writing date back to the same period of biography.
In 1853, Nikolai Gavrilovich, having married, moved to St. Petersburg and in 1854 was assigned to the Second Cadet Corps as a teacher. Despite his teaching talent, he was forced to resign after a conflict with a colleague. The beginning of his literary activity in the form of small articles, which were published by St. Petersburg Gazette and Otechestvennye Zapiski, dates back to 1853. In 1854, Chernyshevsky became an employee of the Sovremennik magazine. The defense of the master's thesis “Aesthetic relations of art to reality” turned into a significant social event and gave rise to the development of national materialist aesthetics.
During 1855-1857. From the pen of Chernyshevsky a number of articles were published, mainly of a literary-critical and historical-literary nature. At the end of 1857, having entrusted the critical department to N. Dobrolyubov, he began composing articles covering economic and political issues, primarily related to the planned agrarian reforms. He had a negative attitude towards this step of the government and at the end of 1858 he began to call for the reform to be thwarted by revolutionary means, warning that the peasantry would face large-scale ruin.
Late 50s - early 60s. noted in his creative biography writing political economic works in which the writer expresses his conviction in the inevitability of the coming of socialism to replace capitalism, in particular, “The Experience of Land Ownership”, “Superstitions and Rules of Logic”, “Capital and Labor”, etc.
From the beginning of autumn 1861 N.G. Chernyshevsky becomes the object of secret police surveillance. During the summer of 1861-1862. he was the ideological inspirer of “Land and Freedom” - a revolutionary populist organization. Chernyshevsky was listed in the official documentation of the secret police as enemy number one of the Russian Empire. When a letter from Herzen with a mention of Chernyshevsky and a proposal to publish Sovremennik, which was banned at that time, was intercepted, Nikolai Gavrilovich was arrested on June 12, 1862. While the investigation was ongoing, he sat in the Peter and Paul Fortress, in solitary confinement, while continuing to write. So, in 1862-1863. The famous novel “What is to be done?” was written in the dungeons.
In February 1864, a verdict was passed according to which the revolutionary was to spend 14 years in hard labor followed by lifelong residence in Siberia, but Alexander II reduced the term to 7 years. In total, N. Chernyshevsky had to spend more than two decades in prison and hard labor. In 1874, he refused to write a petition for pardon, although he was given such a chance. In 1889, his family obtained permission for him to live in Saratov, but having moved, he died on October 29 (October 17, O.S.), 1889, and was buried at the Resurrection Cemetery. For several more years, until 1905, all of his works were banned in Russia.
The writer, philosopher and journalist Nikolai Chernyshevsky was popular during his lifetime among a narrow circle of readers. With the arrival Soviet power his works (especially the novel “What is to be done?”) became textbook ones. Today his name is one of the symbols of Russian literature of the 19th century century.
Childhood and youth
Nikolai Chernyshevsky, whose biography began in Saratov, was born into the family of a provincial priest. The father himself was involved in the child’s education. From him, Chernyshevsky inherited religiosity, which faded away during his student years, when the young man became interested in revolutionary ideas. Since childhood, Kolenka read a lot and devoured book after book, surprising everyone around him.
In 1843, he entered the Saratov theological seminary, but without graduating, he continued his education at the University of St. Petersburg. Chernyshevsky, whose biography was connected with the humanities, chose the Faculty of Philosophy.
At the university, the future writer developed his personality. He became a utopian socialist. His ideology was influenced by members of Irinarch Vvedensky’s circle, with whom the student communicated and argued a lot. At the same time, he began his literary activity. First works of art were only a training exercise and remained unpublished.
Teacher and journalist
Having received his education, Chernyshevsky, whose biography was now connected with pedagogy, became a teacher. He taught in Saratov, and then returned to the capital. During these same years, he met his wife Olga Vasilyeva. The wedding took place in 1853.
The beginning of Chernyshevsky’s activities as a journalist was connected with St. Petersburg. In the same 1853, he began publishing in the newspapers Otechestvennye Zapiski and St. Petersburg Vedomosti. But most of all Nikolai Gavrilovich was known as a member of the editorial board of the Sovremennik magazine. There were several circles of writers, each of which defended its position.
Work at Sovremennik
Nikolai Chernyshevsky, whose biography was already known in the literary circles of the capital, became closest to Dobrolyubov and Nekrasov. These authors were passionate about revolutionary ideas, which they wanted to express in Sovremennik.
A few years earlier, civil riots took place throughout Europe, which echoed throughout Russia. For example, in Paris, Louis Philippe was overthrown by the bourgeoisie. And in Austria, the nationalist movement of the Hungarians was suppressed only after Nicholas I came to the rescue of the emperor, who sent several regiments to Budapest. The Tsar, whose reign began with the suppression of the Decembrist uprising, was afraid of revolutions and increased censorship in Russia.
This caused concern among liberals in Sovremennik. They Vasily Botkin, Alexander Druzhinin and others) did not want the radicalization of the magazine.
Chernyshevsky's activities increasingly attracted the attention of the state and officials responsible for censorship. A bright event was a public defense of a dissertation on art, at which the writer gave a revolutionary speech. As a sign of protest, the Minister of Education Abraham Norov did not allow the prize to be awarded to Nikolai Gavrilovich. Only after he was replaced in this position by the more liberal Evgraf Kovalevsky, the writer became a master of Russian literature.
Chernyshevsky's views
It is important to note some features of Chernyshevsky’s views. They were influenced by schools such as French materialism and Hegelianism. As a child, the writer was a zealous Christian, but in adulthood he began to actively criticize religion, as well as liberalism and the bourgeoisie.
He branded especially vehemently serfdom. Even before the Manifesto on the liberation of the peasants of Alexander II was published, the writer described in many articles and essays future reform. He proposed radical measures, including the transfer of land to peasants free of charge. However, the Manifesto had little in common with these utopian programs. Since it was established that they prevented the peasants from becoming completely free, Chernyshevsky regularly scolded this document. He compared the situation of Russian peasants with the life of black slaves in the United States.
Chernyshevsky believed that within 20 or 30 years after the liberation of the peasants, the country would get rid of capitalist agriculture, and socialism with a communal form of ownership would come. Nikolai Gavrilovich advocated the creation of phalansteries - premises in which residents of future communes would work together for mutual benefit. This project was utopian, which is not surprising, because its author was the Phalanster and was described by Chernyshevsky in one of the chapters of the novel “What is to be done?”
"Land and Freedom"
The propaganda of the revolution continued. One of her inspirations was Nikolai Chernyshevsky. Brief biography writer in any textbook necessarily contains at least a paragraph stating that it was he who became the founder of the famous “Land and Freedom” movement. This is true. In the second half of the 50s, Chernyshevsky began to have a lot of contact with Alexander Herzen. went into exile due to pressure from the authorities. In London, he began publishing the Russian-language newspaper Kolokol. She became the mouthpiece of revolutionaries and socialists. It was sent in secret editions to Russia, where the issues were very popular among radical students.
Nikolai Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky also published in it. The writer's biography was known to any socialist in Russia. In 1861, with his enthusiastic participation (as well as the influence of Herzen), “Land and Freedom” appeared. This movement united a dozen circles in the largest cities of the country. It included writers, students and other supporters of revolutionary ideas. It is interesting that Chernyshevsky even managed to attract officers with whom he collaborated, publishing in military magazines.
Members of the organization were engaged in propaganda and criticism of the tsarist authorities. “Walking among the people” has become a historical anecdote over the years. Agitators trying to find common language with the peasants, they were also handed over to the police. For many years, revolutionary views did not find a response in common people, remaining the lot of a narrow stratum of the intelligentsia.
Arrest
Over time, Chernyshevsky’s biography, in short, became of interest to secret investigation agents. On business with Kolokol, he even went to see Herzen in London, which, of course, only attracted more attention to him. From September 1861, the writer found himself under secret surveillance. He was suspected of provocations against the authorities.
In June 1862, Chernyshevsky was arrested. Even before this event, clouds began to gather around him. In May, the Sovremennik magazine was closed. The writer was accused of drafting a proclamation defaming the government, which ended up in the hands of provocateurs. The police also managed to intercept Herzen’s letter, where the emigrant proposed publishing the closed Sovremennik again, only this time in London.
"What to do?"
The accused was placed in the Peter and Paul Fortress, where he remained during the investigation. It went on for a year and a half. At first the writer tried to protest against the arrest. He went on hunger strikes, which, however, did not change his situation. On days when the prisoner felt better, he took up his pen and began working on a sheet of paper. So the novel “What is to be done?” was written, which became the most famous work, which was published by Nikolai Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky. A short biography of this figure, published in any encyclopedia, necessarily contains information about this book.
The novel was published in the newly opened Sovremennik in three issues in 1863. It is interesting that there might not have been any publication. The only original was lost on the streets of St. Petersburg during transportation to the editorial office. A passerby found the papers and only out of his kindness returned them to Sovremennik. Nikolai Nekrasov, who worked there and was literally going crazy from the loss, was overjoyed when the novel was returned to him.
Sentence
Finally, in 1864, the verdict was announced disgraced writer. He was sent to hard labor in Nerchinsk. The sentence also contained a clause according to which Nikolai Gavrilovich had to spend the rest of his life in eternal exile. Alexander II changed the term of hard labor to 7 years. What else can Chernyshevsky’s biography tell us? Briefly, literally in a nutshell, let's talk about the years spent by the materialist philosopher in captivity. The harsh climate and difficult conditions greatly deteriorated his health. Despite surviving hard labor. Later he lived in several provincial towns, but never returned to the capital.
While still in hard labor, like-minded people tried to free him and came up with various escape plans. However, they were never implemented. Nikolai Chernyshevsky (his biography says that this was towards the end of the revolutionary-democrat’s life) spent the time from 1883 to 1889 in Astrakhan. Shortly before his death, he returned to Saratov thanks to the patronage of his son.
Death and meaning
October 11, 1889 at hometown N. G. Chernyshevsky died. The writer's biography became the subject of imitation by many followers and supporters.
Soviet ideology put him on a par with figures of the XIX centuries that were the harbingers of the revolution. The novel “What to do?” has become a must school curriculum. In modern literature lessons, this topic is also studied, only fewer hours are allocated to it.
In Russian journalism and publicism there is a separate list of the founders of these areas. It included Herzen, Belinsky and Chernyshevsky. Biography, summary his books, as well as their influence on social thought - all these issues are being studied by writers today.
Quotes from Chernyshevsky
The writer was known for his sharp tongue and ability to construct sentences. Here are the most famous quotes Chernyshevsky:
- Personal happiness is impossible without the happiness of others.
- Youth is a time of freshness of noble feelings.
- Learned literature saves people from ignorance, and elegant literature saves people from rudeness and vulgarity.
- They flatter in order to dominate under the guise of submission.
- Only in truth is the power of talent; wrong direction destroys the strongest talent.
CHERNYSHEVSKY Nikolai Gavrilovich was born into the family of a priest - publicist, literary critic, writer, philosopher.
He received a good education at home under the guidance of his father.
From the age of 8 he was listed as a student at the Saratov Theological School, without studying there.
In 1842 he was enrolled in the theological seminary.
Already at the age of 16, he thoroughly studied nine languages: Latin, Ancient Greek, Persian, Arabic, Tatar, Hebrew, French, German, and English.
In 1846 Nikolai Gavrilovich entered St. Petersburg University at the Faculty of History and Philology, where he studied for four years (1846-50). The young man was attracted by a scientific career; he went to St. Petersburg with an ardent desire to gain knowledge, but he soon became convinced that he was mistaken in his expectations. Without hoping for university, Chernyshevsky persistently engages in self-education. “Reading yourself is much more useful than listening to lectures,” he writes to his family ( Complete collection works, volume XIV, p. 86).
During his student years, Chernyshevsky undergoes an intensive process of mastering cultural wealth and developing a worldview. His range of interests is wide: philosophy, social teachings, political economy, history, aesthetics, fiction. During these same years, the activities of Belinsky, Herzen, and the Petrashevites took place, which had an ideological influence on advanced student youth. The rapid maturation of Nikolai Gavrilovich’s worldview was also facilitated by the pan-European events of 1848, when a revolutionary storm swept over France, Hungary, Germany, and Italy. The bourgeoisie, which came to power by deceiving the people, arouses their anger and sharp condemnation. His sympathy is on the side of the people, and he counts himself among the supporters of “socialists and communists and extreme republicans...” (I, 122). He meets Petrashevites A.V. Khanykov and I.M. Debu.
With the first of them he spoke “about the possibility and proximity of revolution in our country” (I, 196). Chernyshevsky did not exclude the possibility that over time he would intervene in the Petrashevsky society.
In his diary of 1850, Nikolai Gavrilovich wrote: “... the way of thinking about Russia: an irresistible expectation of an imminent revolution, a thirst for it” (I 358). He thinks about the “secret printing press”, about writing an appeal calling for revolution. Thus, by the time he graduated from university, the revolutionary worldview of Chernyshevsky N.G. finally formed.
In 1851-53 he taught at the Saratov gymnasium. His pedagogical activity left an indelible mark on the history of the Saratov gymnasium and in the minds of its students.
In 1853 he married the daughter of a Saratov doctor O.S. Vasilyeva and soon moved to St. Petersburg. In July of the same year, Chernyshevsky’s journal activities began. He meets Nekrasov.
Until 1857, Nikolai Gavrilovich wrote mainly on issues of aesthetics and literature.
In 1855 his master's thesis appeared in print. "Aesthetic relations of art to reality"; Soon her defense took place.
Chernyshevsky’s historical and literary work is published in Sovremennik. (1855-56).
His books were published in 1856 "A. S. Pushkin. His life and writings".
In 1856-57 “Lessing. His time, his life and work".
Nikolai Gavrilovich's popularity as a journalist increases, he becomes the editor of the Military Collection (1858).
In 1858, an intensive organization of underground circles took place, the activities of which were strongly influenced by the ideas of Chernyshevsky. The direction of Sovremennik is also changing, becoming the center of revolutionary thought in Russia. Dobrolyubov began to lead the critical department there, and Chernyshevsky took up international reviews and coverage of the bourgeois revolution in France. He writes articles
"Cavaignac"
"The Struggle of Parties in France under Louis XVIII and Charles X" (1858),
"France under Louis Napoleon" (1859),
"July Monarchy" (1860),
and in political reviews he gave a deep analysis of the national liberation movement in Italy and civil war in the USA. Russia, preparing for revolutionary events, according to Chernyshevsky’s plan, had to master the experience of the liberation movement in Europe. In connection with the start of the work of the editorial commission to prepare the reform, he writes a series of articles on the peasant issue:
“The arrangement of life of landowner peasants”,
“Is it difficult to buy back land?”(1859) and others.
During the years of the first revolutionary situation (1859-61), Chernyshevsky wrote economic studies ( "Capital and Labor", "Foundations of Political Economy" etc.), in which he showed the bourgeois character of classical political economy. He seeks to create his own economic program in which he completely denies exploitation.
In 1859 Nikolai Gavrilovich traveled to London to discuss some tactical issues with Herzen. At this time, secret revolutionary organizations “Velikoruss”, “Library of Kazan Students”, “Land and Freedom” were born, proclamations appeared “Velikorus”, “To the younger generation”. In response to the predatory reform, he writes a proclamation "The lordly peasants"(1861). He is being followed. In the same year, articles by Chernyshevsky appeared in Sovremennik:
"Polemical beauties",
"National faux pas",
“Is this the beginning of a change?”, they clearly have revolutionary appeals.
On the night of July 8, 1862, Nikolai Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky was arrested and imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress. Lacking direct evidence, the government resorted to the “services” of bribed witnesses and provocateur Vs. Kostomarova. The court sentenced him to 7 years of hard labor and eternal settlement in Siberia. However, Chernyshevsky did not consider himself defeated. During his 22 months in the fortress, he wrote 205 literary works, of which 68 were fiction (novel “What to do?”, “Autobiography”, unfinished novels "Alferyev", "Tales within a Tale" and others). On May 20, after a civil execution, he was sent to hard labor.
From August 1864 to September 1866 he was in Kadai, where his wife O. S. Chernyshevskaya (1866) came to visit him. From the Kadai mine he was sent to the Aleksandrovsky plant, where he stayed until the end of 1871. Here Nikolai Gavrilovich wrote a lot, he created plays:
"About Liberals"
“Cook, or Mistress of Cooking Porridge”,
"Others are not allowed"
novels read or told to fellow convicts
"Old Man"
"Prologue of the Prologue",
story "The Story of a Girl" and other works of fiction.
At the end of 1871, Chernyshevsky was sent to settle in the Vilyuisky prison, where he stayed until 1883. Attempts by Chernyshevsky’s like-minded people (G. Lopatin - 1871, I. Myshkin - 1875) to organize his escape were unsuccessful. Nikolai Gavrilovich courageously endured the terrible conditions of Vilyui captivity, but categorically refused to submit a petition for pardon when he was offered to do so. Repeated requests from relatives to alleviate the lot of the sick prisoner remained unanswered. In Vilyuisk, Chernyshevsky wrote a lot and himself destroyed what he wrote, fearing a search.
Only on July 15, 1883, a decree was issued with the knowledge of the new tsar Alexandra III about moving him to Astrakhan. He returned from Siberia full of hopes and creative plans. But even in Astrakhan he continued to be under police supervision. He was not allowed to publish, and if some works appeared in print, it was under the pseudonym Andreev. Chernyshevsky had to do the translation « General history» Weber. He worked a lot collecting materials for the biography of Dobrolyubov. This book went out of print after the author's death (1890).
Only in June 1889 was he allowed to settle in his native Saratov, where he died of a cerebral hemorrhage.
Nikolai Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky was a man of encyclopedic intelligence and multifaceted talents. Philosopher, scientist, historian, publicist, art critic, literary critic, artist of words - this is the range of his spiritual activity, Political Views it developed under the influence of Russian reality, and its rapid maturation was facilitated by the revolutionary traditions of Russia and Western Europe. He came to the correct conclusion, arguing that all human history develops in an irreconcilable struggle between rich and poor, workers and parasites. The existing monarchical power also protects the interests of the aristocracy, and therefore the absolute monarch is “like the apex of the cone of the aristocracy” (I. 356). In his opinion, social inequality can only be abolished through a popular revolution, which will destroy tsarism, take away the land from the landowners in favor of the peasants and open the way to socialist transformation. Chernyshevsky associated the possibility of such a victory with the presence of a peasant community. His belief in peasant socialism was one of the forms of utopian socialism. But this faith inspired the revolutionaries to fight for a wonderful future. He understood class character philosophical teachings. As a representative of “the last link in a series of philosophical systems” (VII. 77), he, following Belinsky and Herzen, criticized idealism in all its varieties. The pinnacle of idealism was the philosophy of Hegel, with which Nikolai Gavrilovich was well acquainted both in the Russian presentation and in the original. He discovered in Hegel “colossal contradictions” between principles and conclusions. In his opinion, “Hegel’s principles were extremely powerful and broad, but his conclusions were narrow and insignificant” (III. 205). Following Belinsky and Herzen, Chernyshevsky adopted the principle of dialectics, knowing that Hegel could only be defeated with his own weapons. According to Chernyshevsky, philosophical thought Russia, in the person of Herzen and Belinsky, has long overcome the one-sidedness of Hegel. The philosophy of Feuerbach, who “had completely correct concepts about things” (XI, 23), was a complete revelation for him. Nikolai Gavrilovich solved the main question of philosophy - the relationship of spirit to matter - as a consistent materialist, recognizing the primacy of matter and the secondary nature of spirit. Matter exists and develops according to its own laws, which do not depend on human will. Based on natural science data, he asserted the principle of “unity human body”and thereby dealt a blow to dualism in explaining human nature. Human mental activity is a consequence of the manifestation of matter. But he did not identify the material process with the mental process, as vulgar materialists did. “With the unity of nature,” he wrote, “we notice in man two different series of phenomena: phenomena of the so-called material order (man eats, walks) and phenomena of the so-called moral order (man thinks, feels, desires)” (VII. 241- 242).
In the theory of knowledge, Nikolai Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky was a consistent materialist. Things not only exist objectively, but they are also knowable. “We see objects as they really exist,” he wrote (XV. 275). He considered our knowledge to be reliable, but not complete, relative, which depends on historical conditions and the degree of development of science. The reliability of our knowledge is tested by practice. “What is subject to debate in theory is decided for clarity in the practice of real life,” he wrote (II. 102-103). The theory of his knowledge is a new link on the path to dialectical materialism, but it is not free from limitations and metaphysical ideas. Chernyshevsky, like his predecessors, was mainly interested in the process of cognition, but he did not seriously study the forms of cognition or the development of the concepts themselves. However, for its time, Chernyshevsky’s theory of knowledge was both revolutionary and fruitful. In the fight against idealism and mysticism, he relied on data from natural science and anthropology. He called his main philosophical work: "Anthropological principle in philosophy" (1860).
The anthropological principle suffers from abstractness in the judgments of anthropologists we're talking about about a person in general. However, unlike Feuerbach, from whom Nikolai Gavrilovich borrowed the principle, he was able to largely overcome abstract anthropologism in his views on man. “A person,” Chernyshevsky wrote, “is not an abstract legal personality, but a living being, in whose life and happiness the material side (economic life) is of great importance” (IV. 740). The source of all human affairs and actions, in his opinion, are the desires and aspirations of people. He was unable to create scientific ethics, but he took a step towards its creation. The cornerstone of his ethical teaching is the theory of rational egoism, which Nikolai Gavrilovich filled with revolutionary content. He tried to give direction in solving the problem of the individual and the collective on the basis of serving the advanced public interests. The sharp edge of judgment is directed against individualism, asceticism and puritanism, on which the morality of the exploitative society was based. In criticizing idealism, V.I. Lenin noted, “Chernyshevsky is completely at the level of Engels...” (Works, vol. 14, p. 345). Chernyshevsky is an outstanding dialectician. He viewed dialectics as a methodological weapon, using which he substantiated the inevitability of the peasant revolution.
Chernyshevsky Nikolai Gavrilovich created an integral materialist doctrine of art, which was the pinnacle aesthetic thought pre-Marxian period. His master's thesis (1855) was the result of the achievements of advanced art and at the same time the rationale for the path of its further development. Approving realistic direction in art, he sharply criticized the idealistic theory of “art for art’s sake.” The main problems of aesthetics were solved by him from a materialistic position. Chernyshevsky gave a materialistic definition of beauty: “beauty is life; Beautiful is the being in which we see life as it should be according to our concepts; beautiful is the object that evokes life in itself or reminds us of life” (II, 10). Consequently, in a work of art it is necessary to distinguish between the dialectical unity of the objective, the real (beauty exists in reality itself) and the artist’s subjective perception of the beautiful in the light of his aesthetic ideal. But human ideas about beauty depend on class, national and historical conditions. “A commoner and a member of the upper classes of society,” said Chernyshevsky, “understand life and the happiness of life differently; therefore they understand human beauty differently...” (II.143). He opposed the limited understanding of the content and essence of art, which was characteristic of the theorists of “pure art”. The concept of art, he pointed out, is broader than the concept of beauty. According to Nikolai Gavrilovich, “the essential meaning of art is the reproduction of everything that is interesting for a person in life; very often, especially in poetry, an explanation of life, a verdict on its phenomena also comes to the fore” (II.111). Truly typical persons or typical characters, Chernyshevsky argued, exist in reality itself. A necessary condition To create typical images is knowledge of life and the ability to explain it. The talent of an artist and the power of a thinker must be organically fused. “Then the artist becomes a thinker, and the work of art, while remaining in the field of art, acquires scientific significance” (II, 86). Nikolai Gavrilovich assigned great social importance to art, calling it a “textbook of life.” It will be able to justify its lofty mission only if it disseminates advanced ideas and responds to the essential needs of society. In the conditions of the 60s. There was an urgent need to create images of positive heroes worthy of imitation. There were not so many “new people” in life itself, and yet he considered them types worthy of reproduction in literature. The future belongs to them, according to the revolutionary democrat. Chernyshevsky gave a materialist justification for the categories of the sublime and tragic. Idealist aesthetics associated the category of the sublime with the “manifestation of the absolute,” with the idea of the infinite. Chernyshevsky N.G. points out that the sublime exists in reality itself. “The superiority of the great (or sublime) over the small and ordinary consists in a much greater magnitude (sublime in space or time) or in a much greater force (sublime of the forces of nature and sublime in man)” (II. 21). In his opinion, “true sublimity lies in man himself, in his inner life” (II. 64). The manifestation of the sublime in a person is thought of as a feat, even to the point of self-sacrifice in the name of science, revolutionary or patriotic duty.
In explaining the tragic, the writer also expressed his disagreement with idealistic aesthetics, which considered tragic manifestation fate, predestination. He objected to the theory of tragic guilt. To see in every dying person the culprit of his own death, notes Chernyshevsky, is a cruel thought. According to his definition, “the tragic is the terrible in life itself.” The fate of a scientist or revolutionary who was ahead of his time is tragic. The materialist aesthetics of the philosopher has elements of anthropology and rationalism, and yet it had a huge influence on the development of Russian realistic art, on the work of the Wanderers, composers of the “mighty handful”. And for the aesthetics of socialist realism it continues to be fruitful. Understanding the connection between art and life, the problem of the ideal, the beautiful, the concept of class and tendentiousness (the beginnings of the doctrine of partisanship) in art, Chernyshevsky’s interpretation of the sublime and the tragic - all this is an integral part of Marxist-Leninist aesthetics.
Nikolai Gavrilovich developed and concretized his aesthetic theory in literary critical works. His appearance as a literary critic coincided with passionate debates about the Pushkin and Gogol movements. These terms concealed opposing aesthetic principles. The so-called Pushkin movement was defended by theorists of “pure art”; they tried to make the great poet an ally in the fight against the critical, Gogol movement.
In the historical and literary work “Essays on the Gogol period of Russian literature” Chernyshevsky N.G. found out the meaning in the literature of Pushkin, Gogol and Belinsky, who substantiated the principles of the “natural school”, that is, the principles of realism. Chernyshevsky considered realism and nationality to be historically logical trends in the development of literature. When assessing the writers of the past, he was guided by the principle of historicism and strictly took into account literary traditions. From these positions, he assessed the work of Fonvizin, Krylov, Griboyedov, Lermontov, Koltsov and other literary artists.
Following Belinsky, the writer considered Pushkin’s work to be the result of the entire previous development of literature and its highest achievement in the 1st century. thirds of the XIX V. Pushkin is an original poet, whose genius “raised literature in our country to the dignity of a national cause.” The critic appreciated the author of “Eugene Onegin” for the realism and nationality of his poetry. Pushkin's genius is characterized by a breadth of life, the ability to typify observed phenomena. According to Chernyshevsky, Pushkin is “ true father our poetry, he is the educator of aesthetic feeling and love for noble aesthetic pleasures in the Russian public, the mass of which has increased extremely significantly thanks to him - these are his rights to eternal glory in Russian literature” (II. 516). Admiring Pushkin's poetry, he, however, saw in it, first of all, aesthetic value, the beauty of form. The critic clearly underestimated the progressiveness of Pushkin's views and the ideological significance of his poetry.
Gogol's work is a new link in the development of realism. He, notes Chernyshevsky, saturated literature with significant content, created the only fruitful school, “of which Russian literature can be proud” (III. 20). Gogol, driven by a sense of civic duty, gave literature a satirical direction and thereby “awakened in us consciousness about ourselves - this is his true merit” (III. 20). However, in the new historical conditions, Gogol’s works could no longer meet “all the modern needs of the Russian public.” In the works of some modern writers, following Gogol, Nikolai Gavrilovich saw “the guarantees of a more complete and satisfactory development of ideas that Gogol embraced only on one side, without fully realizing their connection, their causes and consequences” (III, 10). Using the example of the tragic fate of Gogol, Chernyshevsky warned contemporary writers about the danger that threatens them if they lag behind the progressive ideas of their time.
Chernyshevsky N.G. intended to continue "Essays on the Gogol period of Russian literature". Articles and reviews about Shchedrin, Ostrovsky, Ogarev, L. Tolstoy should be considered as a partial implementation of this plan.
In Ogarev’s work, the critic saw a reflection of the sentiments of the advanced noble youth of the 40s. In this he saw the enduring significance of the poetry of Herzen's friend.
Shchedrin’s “Provincial Sketches” deserved high praise, in which Gogol’s traditions were particularly reflected. However, the student ideologically went further than his teacher, showing himself not only to be an artist-accuser, but also a deep thinker. The satirist, according to the critic, did not set out to correct the morals of individual people, he exposed the depravity of the entire state system.
Chernyshevsky gave a deep interpretation of the unique talent of the author of the trilogy and “Sevastopol Stories”. Tolstoy “knows how to move into the soul of a peasant”; he feels equally free in a peasant’s hut and in a soldier’s camp tent. The writer knows how to reveal the “dialectic of the soul” of a person, and this was a huge achievement of the realistic method. Tolstoy is characterized by “moral purity of feeling” - the most important sign of the moral maturity of society. In his interpretation of Tolstoy's early work, Chernyshevsky was a harbinger of Lenin's brilliant assessments of the great writer.
Chernyshevsky fought for Ostrovsky's talent, criticizing the writer for his passion for the ideas of the Slavophiles. He welcomed “Profitable Place”, seeing in this play a revival of the principles of the comedy “Our own people - we will be numbered.”
Nikolai Gavrilovich took under his protection the writers who came out of the “natural school” - Turgenev and Grigorovich, although ideologically he disagreed with them in many ways. He sought to tear Turgenev away from his liberal friends, valuing him as an outstanding artist of words. In the main character of the story “Asya,” Chernyshevsky saw all the signs of a “superfluous man” and pronounced a harsh sentence on the newly-minted Romeo. A new person must come to replace him.
Chernyshevsky also took a new approach to solving the problem of nationality in literature. He was not satisfied with the writers' depiction of the people of the noble camp. A compassionate attitude towards the people, passive humanism is a passed stage in the development of society. It is necessary to write “the truth without any embellishment” about the people, as N. Uspensky does, and thereby educate them in a revolutionary spirit (“Isn’t this the beginning of change?”). The sooner he becomes a conscious participant in public life, the greater the guarantee for the victory of the people's revolution.
The artistic works of Nikolai Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky also served the purpose of the revolution and the establishment of the principles of realism. We don't know everything he created. But what has been preserved gives reason to talk about the author of “What to do?” and “Prologue” as an original and original writer who came to literature with his own themes and problems and created unforgettable images of “new people”. The pathos of his works lies in the affirmation of revolutionary and socialist ideals. The relevance of the novel “What to do?” is emphasized by the title itself: the word “deed” has, first of all, a political meaning, as an encrypted call for revolutionary transformation. The main conflict in the novel is not personal, but of a social nature: the struggle of the new with the old, the inevitability of the victory of the new. The bearers of the ideal of the “communist distance” are the “new people”, who are a sign of the era of the 60s.
The pathos of the novel lies in the glorification of the feat of a “special man,” Rakhmetov, the first professional revolutionary in Russian literature. Rakhmetov served as a living example for revolutionary youth.
Under the influence of the novel “What is to be done?”, V.I. Lenin pointed out, “hundreds of people became revolutionaries.” And Lenin, according to him own confession, Chernyshevsky “plowed everything deeply” with his novel (“Questions of Literature”, 1957, No. 8, p. 132).
In the novel “What to do?” The problem of women's emancipation, which worried contemporaries, was also solved.
In the Prologue, the action takes place in 1857, and the novel was created in 1866-71. First published in London in 1877. The prototypes of the heroes of the Prologue were many historical figures. This is a socio-political novel. The attitude towards revolution and reform, towards the homeland and people determined the balance of power in Russia in the early 60s. These leading signs of the era were the demarcation line that separates the heroes of the novel by N.G. Chernyshevsky. to the fighting camps. The unity of liberals, serf owners and government bureaucracy, making a deal at the expense of the interests of the people, is surprisingly accurately and correctly shown. Only revolutionary democrats led by Volgin, in whom the features of the writer himself are noticeable, act as true friends of the people and true fighters for their interests. Volgin's camp is not large quantitatively, but its strength lies in its ideological conviction, moral fortitude, and historical correctness.
V.I. Lenin emphasized the genius of Chernyshevsky as the author of the Prologue, who was able to give a correct assessment of the predatory essence of the reform during its implementation. Nikolai Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky substantiated the inevitability of the people's revolution in the novel. Volgin is preparing cadres of revolutionaries who could lead a “peasant revolt.” Volgin has not only friends, but also enemies. They are the enemies of the writer himself.
“I served my homeland well,” wrote N.G. Chernyshevsky, “and I have the right to its gratitude.” Even during the writer’s lifetime, his name was popular not only in people's Russia, but also far beyond.
Died - Saratov.
1828 , July 12 (24 according to the new style) - born in Saratov, in the family of the priest Gabriel Ivanovich Chernyshevsky.
1836 , December - Chernyshevsky was enrolled in the Saratov Theological School.
1842 , September - Chernyshevsky entered the Saratov Theological Seminary.
1846 , May - Chernyshevsky’s departure from Saratov to St. Petersburg to enter the university. This summer, Chernyshevsky successfully passed the exams and was enrolled in the historical and philological department of the Faculty of Philosophy of St. Petersburg University.
1850 - After graduating from the university, Chernyshevsky became a literature teacher at the 2nd St. Petersburg Cadet Corps.
1851–1853
- Having received an appointment to the Saratov gymnasium as a senior teacher of Russian literature, Chernyshevsky went to Saratov in the spring of 1851.
1853
– meets O.S. here Vasilyeva, who later became his wife.
May– leaves with O.S. Vasilyeva to St. Petersburg. Start of cooperation in " Domestic notes" Work on a master's thesis “Aesthetic relations of art to reality.” Secondary admission as a literature teacher to the 2nd St. Petersburg Cadet Corps. In the fall, Chernyshevsky meets Nekrasov and begins working at Sovremennik.
1854 - Chernyshevsky’s articles appear in Sovremennik: about the novels and stories of M. Avdeev, “On sincerity in criticism,” about the comedy of A.N. Ostrovsky “Poverty is not a vice” and others.
1855 , May – public defense of Chernyshevsky’s master’s thesis “Aesthetic relations of art to reality” at the university. In No. 12 of Sovremennik, Chernyshevsky’s first article from the series “Essays on the Gogol period of Russian literature” was published.
1856 – acquaintance and rapprochement with N.A. Dobrolyubov. N.A. Nekrasov, going abroad for treatment, transferred his editorial rights to Sovremennik to Chernyshevsky.
1858 – Chernyshevsky is appointed editor of the Military Collection. In No. 1 of Sovremennik, the article “Cavaignac” was published, in which Chernyshevsky castigates liberals for betraying the people’s cause. In No. 2 of Sovremennik, the article “On the new conditions of rural life” was published. The magazine "Athenaeus" (Part III, No. 18) published the article "Russian man at the rendez-vous." In No. 12 of Sovremennik there is an article “Criticism of philosophical prejudices against communal ownership.”
1859 - in the magazine “Sovremennik” (from No. 3) Chernyshevsky began to publish systematic reviews of foreign political life under the general title "Politics". In June, Chernyshevsky went to London to see Herzen for an explanation about the article “Very dangerous!” (“Very dangerous!”), published in Kolokol. Upon returning from London he leaves for Saratov. In September he returns to St. Petersburg.
1860 – in No. 1 of Sovremennik, Chernyshevsky’s article “Capital and Labor” was published. From the second issue of Sovremennik, Chernyshevsky began publishing his translation of D. S. Mill’s “Foundations of Political Economy” in the magazine, accompanying the translation with his own critical commentary. In No. 4 of Sovremennik, Chernyshevsky’s article “The Anthropological Principle in Philosophy” was published, which is one of the most remarkable declarations of materialism in Russian literature.
1861
– a trip to Moscow to participate in a meeting of St. Petersburg and Moscow editors on the issue of easing censorship. In No. 6 of Sovremennik, Chernyshevsky’s article “Polemical Beauty” was published, which is a response to the speeches of reactionary and liberal writers against the article “Anthropological principle in philosophy.” In August, the provocateur Vsevolod Kostomarov, through his brother, delivered two handwritten proclamations to the Third Department: “To the lordly peasants” (author N.G. Chernyshevsky) and “Russian soldiers” (author N.V. Shelgunov).
1862 – Chernyshevsky was present at the opening of the Chess Club in St. Petersburg, which had the goal of uniting representatives of the leading public of the capital. Censorship prohibited the publication of Chernyshevsky’s “Letters without an Address,” since the article contained sharp criticism of the peasant “reform” and the then situation in the country. In March Chernyshevsky performed at literary evening in the Ruadze Hall with a reading on the topic “Meeting Dobrolyubov.” In June, Sovremennik was banned for eight months. On July 7, Chernyshevsky was arrested and imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress.
1863 - in No. 3 of Sovremennik the beginning of the novel “What is to be done?” was published. (subsequent parts were published in Nos. 4 and 5 for 1863).
1864 , May 19 - public “civil execution” of Chernyshevsky on Mytninskaya Square in St. Petersburg and his exile to Siberia. In August, Chernyshevsky arrived at the Kadai mine (in Transbaikalia).
1865–1868 – work on the novel “Prologue of the Prologue”, “Levitsky’s Diary” and “Prologue”.
1866 – O.S. Chernyshevskaya and her son Mikhail arrived in Kadaya in August for a meeting with N.G. Chernyshevsky. In September, Chernyshevsky was sent from the Kadai mine to the Aleksandrovsky plant.
1871 - in Irkutsk in February, revolutionary populist German Lopatin, who came to Russia from London with the aim of freeing Chernyshevsky, was arrested. In December, Chernyshevsky was sent from the Aleksandrovsky plant to Vilyuysk.
1875 - attempt by I. Myshkin to free Chernyshevsky.
1883 – Chernyshevsky is being transferred from Vilyuysk to Astrakhan under police supervision.
1884–1888 - Chernyshevsky is doing a lot of literary work in Astrakhan. Here he wrote “Memoirs of Turgenev’s relationship with Dobrolyubov”, articles “Character human knowledge", "The origin of the theory of the beneficialness of the struggle for life", prepared "Materials for the biography of Dobrolyubov", translated from German language eleven volumes of Weber's General History.
1889
– Chernyshevsky was allowed to move to Saratov, where he moved at the end of June.
October 17 (29) Chernyshevsky, after a short illness, died of a cerebral hemorrhage.
