Nikolai Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky: biography, activities, life history and quotations

The writer, philosopher and journalist Nikolai Chernyshevsky was popular during his lifetime in a narrow readership. With the advent of the Soviet government, his work (especially the novel "What to do?") Became a textbook. Today his name is one of the symbols of nineteenth-century Russian literature.

Childhood and youth

Nikolai Chernyshevsky, whose biography began in Saratov, was born in the family of a provincial priest. Father himself was engaged in the education of a child. From him Chernyshevsky was given religiousness, which came to naught in his student years, when the young man was carried away by revolutionary ideas. Since childhood Kolenka read a lot and swallowed the book for the book, which amazed everyone around.

In 1843 he entered the seminary of Saratov, but, not finishing it, 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 has 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 communicated and argued a lot. At the same time, he began his literary career. The first works of art were only training and remained unpublished.

Teacher and journalist

Having received education, Chernyshevsky, whose biography was now connected with pedagogy, became a teacher. He taught in Saratov, and then returned to the capital. In those same years he met his wife Olga Vasilyeva. The wedding took place in 1853.

Chernyshevsky began his career as a journalist with St. Petersburg. In the same year 1853 he began to be published 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 journal Sovremennik. There existed several circles of writers, each of whom defended his position.

Work in the Contemporary

Nikolai Chernyshevsky, whose biography was already known in the literary environment of the capital, most closely approached Dobrolyubov and Nekrasov. These authors passionately fond of revolutionary ideas, which they wanted to express in the Contemporary.

A few years before, civil riots took place across Europe, which echoed across Russia. For example, in Louis, Louis Philippe was overthrown by the bourgeoisie. And in Austria, the Hungarian nationalist movement was suppressed only after Nicholas I came to the aid of the emperor, who sent several regiments to Budapest. The tsar, whose reign began with the suppression of the Decembrist uprising, feared revolutions and strengthened censorship in Russia.

This caused concern of the liberals in Sovremennik. They (Ivan Turgenev, 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 striking event was the public defense of the thesis on art, on which the writer delivered a revolutionary speech. As a sign of protest, Minister of Education Avraham Norov did not give the award 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.

The views of Chernyshevsky

It is important to note some features of Chernyshevsky's views. They were influenced by such schools 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 branded serfdom. Even before the Manifesto on the Emancipation of the Peasants of Alexander II was published, the writer in many articles and essays described the future reform. He proposed radical measures, including the transfer of land to the peasants on a no-cost basis. However, the Manifesto had little in common with these utopian programs. Since it was established redemption payments, which prevented the peasants from becoming completely free, Chernyshevsky regularly scolded this document. The situation of Russian peasants, he compared with the life of black slaves in the United States.

Chernyshevsky 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 phalanstery - premises in which the inhabitants of future communes would work together for mutual benefit. This project was utopian, which is not surprising, because he was authored by Charles Fourier. The phalanstery was described by Chernyshevsky in one of the chapters of the novel What Is To Be Done?

"Land and Freedom"

Propaganda of the revolution continued. One of its inspirers was Nikolai Chernyshevsky. A brief biography of the writer in any textbook necessarily contains at least a paragraph about the fact that he became the founder of the famous movement "Land and Freedom". This is really so. In the second half of the 50-ies Chernyshevsky began to get in touch with Alexander Herzen. This journalist went into exile because of the pressure of the authorities. In London, he began to publish a Russian-language newspaper Kolokol. It became the mouthpiece of revolutionaries and socialists. Her secret circulations were sent to Russia, where the numbers enjoyed great popularity among radical students.

Printed in it and Nikolai Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky. The biography of the writer was known to any socialist in Russia. In 1861, with his ardent participation (and also the influence of Herzen), Earth 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 draw officers there, with whom he collaborated, by printing in military journals.

Members of the organization engaged in propaganda and criticism of the tsarist authorities. "Walking to the people" over the years became a historical anecdote. Agitators, trying to find common language with the peasants, they also issued police. Over the years, revolutionary views have not found a response in the ordinary people, remaining the lot of a narrow stratum of the intelligentsia.

Arrest

Over time, Chernyshevsky's biography, in short, interested agents of secret investigation. On affairs of the "Bell" he even went to Herzen to London, which, of course, only attracted more attention to him. Since September 1861, the writer was 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 magazine Sovremennik was closed. The writer was accused of drafting a proclamation defaming the government, which was in the hands of provocateurs. The police also succeeded in intercepting Herzen's letter, where the emigrant offered to re-publish the closed "Contemporary", only in London.

"What to do?"

The accused was placed in the Peter and Paul Fortress, where he was during the investigation. It was a year and a half ago. At first the writer tried to protest against the arrest. He declared hunger strikes, which, however, did not change his position in any way. On days when the arrested man was getting better, he took up his pen and began working on a sheet of paper. So the novel "What to do?" Was written, which became the most famous 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 rooms for 1863. It is interesting that there could be no publication. The only original was lost in the streets of St. Petersburg during transportation to the editorial office. Paper found a passerby and only on their own soulful kindness returned them to the "Contemporary". Nikolai Nekrasov, who worked there and literally went crazy with loss, was beside himself with happiness, when he returned the novel.

Sentence

Finally, in 1864, the verdict of the disgraced writer was announced. He went to penal servitude in Nerchinsk. Also, the verdict 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 for 7 years. What else can tell us Chernyshevsky's biography? Briefly, in a nutshell, let's say the years spent by the material philosopher in captivity. Severe climate and severe conditions greatly worsened his health. Despite this, the writer survived hard labor. Later he lived in several provincial towns, but never returned to the capital.

Even in hard labor, like-minded people tried to release him, who devised various plans for escape. However, they were never implemented. Time from 1883 to 1889, Nikolai Chernyshevsky (his biography says that this was at the end of the life of a revolutionary democrat) was held in Astrakhan. Shortly before his death, he returned to Saratov thanks to the patronage of his son.

Death and meaning

October 11, 1889 in his hometown died N. G. Chernyshevsky. The biography of the writer became 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 forerunners of the revolution. The novel "What to do?" Became a mandatory item of the school curriculum. In modern literature lessons, this topic is also being studied, only it takes fewer hours.

In the Russian journalism and journalism there is a separate list of the founders of these directions. It included Herzen, Belinsky and Chernyshevsky. Biography, a brief content of his books, as well as the impact on public thought - all these issues are investigated by writers today.

Citations of Chernyshevsky

The writer was known for his sharp language and ability to build sentences. Here are the most famous quotes of Chernyshevsky:

• Personal happiness is impossible without the happiness of others.
• Youth - the time of freshness of noble feelings.
• Scientific literature saves people from ignorance, and graceful - from rudeness and vulgarity.
• Flatter then to dominate under the guise of obedience.
• Only in truth is the power of talent; The wrong direction destroys the strongest talent.