Writer, philosopher and journalist Nikolai Chernyshevsky was popular during his lifetime in a narrow circle of readers. With the advent of Soviet power, his works (especially the novel What Is to Be Done?) became textbooks. Today his name is one of the symbols of Russian literature of the 19th century.
Childhood and youth
Nikolai Chernyshevsky, whose biography began in Saratov, was born into the family of a provincial priest. The father himself was engaged in the education of the child. From him, Chernyshevsky was transferred to religiosity, which faded away in his student years, when the young man became interested in revolutionary ideas. Since childhood, Kolenka read a lot and swallowed book after book, which surprised everyone around him.
In 1843 he entered the theological seminary of Saratov, but, without graduating from it, 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 formed socio-political views. He became a utopian socialist. His ideology was influenced by members of the circle of Irinarkh Vvedensky, with whom the student talked and argued a lot. At the same time, he began his literary activity. Firstthe artwork was only a workout and remained unpublished.
Teacher and journalist
Having received an education, Chernyshevsky, whose biography was now connected with pedagogy, became a teacher. He taught in Saratov, and then returned to the capital. In the same years, he met his wife Olga Vasilyeva. The wedding took place in 1853.
The beginning of Chernyshevsky's journalistic activity was connected with St. Petersburg. In the same 1853, he began to publish 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 environment of the capital, became closest to Dobrolyubov and Nekrasov. These writers were passionate about the revolutionary ideas they wanted to express in Sovremennik.
A few years earlier, civil riots had taken place across Europe, which echoed throughout Russia. For example, Louis-Philippe was overthrown by the bourgeoisie in Paris. 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 (Ivan Turgenev, Vasily Botkin, Alexander Druzhinin and others) did not want the magazine to be radicalized.
Chernyshevsky's activities increasingly attracted the attention of the state and officials responsible for censorship. A striking event was the public defense of a dissertation on art, at which the writer delivered a revolutionary speech. In protest, Minister of Education Avraam Norov did not allow Nikolai Gavrilovich to be awarded the prize. Only after he was replaced in this position by the more liberal Yevgraf Kovalevsky, did the writer become 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.
Especially violently he stigmatized serfdom. Even before the Manifesto on the Liberation of the Peasants of Alexander II was published, the writer described the future reform in many articles and essays. He proposed drastic measures, including the transfer of land to peasants free of charge. However, the Manifesto had little to do with these utopian programs. Since redemption payments were established that 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 USA.
ChernyshevskyHe believed that in 20 or 30 years after the liberation of the peasants, the country would get rid of capitalist agriculture, and socialism would come with a communal form of ownership. Nikolai Gavrilovich advocated the creation of phalansters - premises in which the inhabitants of future communes would work together for mutual benefit. This project was utopian, which is not surprising, because Charles Fourier acted as its author. Phalanster was described by Chernyshevsky in one of the chapters of the novel What Is to Be Done?
Land and Freedom
Propaganda for the revolution continued. One of her inspirations was Nikolai Chernyshevsky. A short biography of the 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. It really is. In the second half of the 1950s, Chernyshevsky began to have many contacts with Alexander Herzen. This journalist went into exile due to pressure from the authorities. In London, he began publishing the Russian-language newspaper The Bell. She became the mouthpiece of revolutionaries and socialists. It was sent in secret editions to Russia, where the numbers were very popular among radical students.
Nikolai Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky also published in it. The biography of the writer was known to any socialist in Russia. In 1861, with his ardent 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. Interestingly, Chernyshevsky even managed to drag the officers with whom he collaborated there,published in military magazines.
Members of the organization were engaged in propaganda and criticism of the tsarist authorities. "Going to the People" has become a historical anecdote over the years. The agitators, who tried to find a common language with the peasants, were handed over to the police by them. For many years, revolutionary views did not find a response among the common people, remaining the lot of a narrow stratum of the intelligentsia.
Arrest
Over time, the biography of Chernyshevsky, in short, interested the agents of the secret investigation. On Kolokol's business, he even went to see Herzen in London, which, of course, only drew more attention to him. From September 1861, the writer was under covert 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 compiling a proclamation discrediting the authorities, which ended up in the hands of provocateurs. The police also managed to intercept a letter from Herzen, where the emigrant offered to publish the closed Sovremennik again, only in London.
What to do?
The accused was placed in the Peter and Paul Fortress, where he was during the investigation. It went on for a year and a half. At first, the writer tried to protest against the arrest. He announced hunger strikes, which, however, did not change his position in any way. On days when the prisoner was getting better, he took up the pen and began to work on a sheet of paper. Thus was written the novel "What is to be done?", which became the most famousa work published by Chernyshevsky Nikolai Gavrilovich. A brief biography of this figure, printed in any encyclopedia, necessarily contains information about this book.
The novel was published in the newly opened Sovremennik in three issues in 1863. Interestingly, there might not have been any publication. The only original was lost on the streets of St. Petersburg during transportation to the editorial office. The papers were found by a passer-by and only out of his spiritual kindness returned them to Sovremennik. Nikolai Nekrasov, who worked there and literally went crazy with the loss, was beside himself with happiness when the novel was returned to him.
Sentence
Finally, in 1864, the sentence of the disgraced writer was announced. He went to hard labor in Nerchinsk. The verdict also contained a clause according to which Nikolai Gavrilovich was 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 worsened his he alth. Despite this, the writer survived hard labor. Later he lived in several provincial towns, but never returned to the capital.
Even at hard labor, like-minded people tried to free him, who came up with various escape plans. However, they were never implemented. Time from 1883 to 1889 Nikolai Chernyshevsky (his biography says that it was at the end of the life of a democratic revolutionary)spent in Astrakhan. Shortly before his death, he returned to Saratov thanks to the patronage of his son.
Death and meaning
On October 11, 1889, N. G. Chernyshevsky died in his native city. The biography of the writer has become the subject of imitation of many followers and supporters.
Soviet ideology put him on a par with the figures of the XIX century, who were the harbingers of the revolution. The novel "What to do?" became a mandatory element of the school curriculum. At modern literature lessons, this topic is also studied, only fewer hours are allotted for it.
In Russian journalism and journalism there is a separate list of the founders of these trends. It included Herzen, Belinsky and Chernyshevsky. Biography, a summary of his books, as well as the impact on public thought - all these issues are being investigated by writers today.
Chernyshevsky Quotes
The writer was known for his sharp tongue and ability to build sentences. Here are Chernyshevsky's most famous quotes:
- Personal happiness is impossible without the happiness of others.
- Youth is the time of freshness of noble feelings.
- Scholarly literature saves people from ignorance, and elegant literature from rudeness and vulgarity.
- Flatter then to dominate under the guise of submission.
- Only in truth is the power of talent; wrong direction destroys the strongest talent.
