Famous works by N.M. Karamzin. Literary and historical notes of a young technician

Biography, life story of Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin

Childhood and youth

Nikolai Karamzin was born on December 12 (1 according to the old style) December 1766 in the Znamenskoye estate (Mikhailovka village, Simbirsk province, Russian Empire). Some historians claim that Karamzin was actually born in the Orenburg province, but the first version is considered to be official.

Until 1778, Nikolai studied at home, then he was sent to the boarding school of Moscow University professor Johann Matthias Schaden. At the same time, during the year (from 1781 to 1782) Nikolai attended lectures by the famous educator Ivan Grigorievich Schwartz at the University. Karamzin studied foreign languages, philosophy, history and literature with great pleasure.

Nikolai's father Mikhail Egorovich Karamzin was a retired captain. It was he who insisted that his son, after completing his studies, enlist in the Preobrazhensky Guards Regiment of St. Petersburg. Nikolai Karamzin did not want to contradict his father’s will and carried out his decree. However, he did not stay in the regiment for long - Nikolai retired very soon.

Creative activity

Karamzin first tried his hand at literature during his military service. Even then he began to take notes (exclusively for himself); even then he felt that writing was much more enjoyable for him than military work. After Karamzin left the service, he lived for some time in Simbirsk, then moved to Moscow. In Simbirsk, Nikolai Mikhailovich was a member of the Golden Crown Masonic lodge. Arriving in Moscow, he joined the “Friendly Scientific Society”, engaged in charitable and educational activities, and remained a member of this Masonic meeting for four whole years - from 1785 to 1789. At this time, he met many famous writers, communication with whom greatly influenced the future fate of the writer. Around the same time, Karamzin began creating the first Russian children's magazine, Children's Reading for the Heart and Mind.

CONTINUED BELOW

From 1789 to 1790, Nikolai Karamzin was on a trip across the expanses of Europe. Thanks to this trip, Karamzin was able to significantly expand his horizons - he met Immanuel Kant, saw the Great French Revolution with his own eyes... The result of the trip was the collection “Letters of a Russian Traveler”, after the publication of which they started talking about Karamzin. The writer gained fame and was loved by readers and colleagues. By the way, it is thanks to “Letters of a Russian Traveler,” which over time began to be considered the first book of modern Russian literature, that Karamzin is considered one of the most important Russian writers.

Returning to Moscow, Karamzin continued to write - in 1792 the story “Poor Liza” was published, which became the starting point for the emergence of sentimentalism in Russia. Later, sentimentalism became the main literary movement in Russia, and Nikolai Karamzin became the generally recognized leader of this movement, the creator and disseminator of this genre.

Nikolai Karamzin wrote both prose and poetry, and was the editor of many famous magazines. Any task that the writer took on turned out to be easy and natural for him. Nikolai Mikhailovich carried out a real reform in the Russian language - it was he who eliminated from the prose the familiar and already quite boring church vocabulary, heavy and difficult to perceive. Karamzin, inspired by the French language, made modern literature lighter, airier, gentle, and pleasant to the ear. In addition, the writer introduced many neologisms into use, such as “falling in love,” “freethinking,” “humane,” and so on. Karamzin is also one of the first to use the letter “ё” in writing.

In 1803, by decree, Karamzin became a historiographer and began creating the “History of the Russian State.” Nikolai Mikhailovich worked on this work until the end of his days, while simultaneously creating other masterpieces.

Family

Nikolai Karamzin was married twice. In April 1801, he married Elizaveta Protasova, an educated girl of a noble family. A year later, Elizabeth gave birth to her husband’s daughter Sophia. Alas, the woman’s health turned out to be very poor - she died a month after giving birth.

In January 1804, Karamzin found himself a new wife. She became Ekaterina Kolyvanova, the illegitimate daughter of Prince Vyazemsky. In the marriage of Nikolai and Catherine, nine children were born - daughters Natalya (1804-1810), Ekaterina (1806-1867), also Natalya (1812-1815), Elizaveta (1821-1891) and sons Andrei ( 1807-1813), again Andrey (1814-1854), Alexander (1815-1888), Nikolai (1817-1833), Vladimir (1819-1879).

last years of life

At the beginning of 1818, the first eight volumes of the History of the Russian State were published. Over the next few years, three more volumes were released, and the writer continued to work on another part. All this time Karamzin lived in Tsarskoe Selo, often communicated with

Biography

Carier start

Trip to Europe

Return and life in Russia

Karamzin - writer

Sentimentalism

Karamzin's poetry

Works by Karamzin

Karamzin's language reform

Karamzin - historian

Karamzin - translator

Works of N. M. Karamzin

(December 1, 1766, family estate Znamenskoye, Simbirsk district, Kazan province (according to other sources - the village of Mikhailovka (now Preobrazhenka), Buzuluk district, Kazan province) - May 22, 1826, St. Petersburg) - an outstanding historian, the largest Russian writer of the era of sentimentalism, nicknamed Russian Stern.

Honorary member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences (1818), full member of the Imperial Russian Academy (1818). Creator of the “History of the Russian State” (volumes 1-12, 1803-1826) - one of the first generalizing works on the history of Russia. Editor of the Moscow Journal (1791-1792) and Vestnik Evropy (1802-1803).

Karamzin went down in history as a great reformer of the Russian language. His style is light in the Gallic manner, but instead of direct borrowing, Karamzin enriched the language with tracing words, such as “impression” and “influence,” “falling in love,” “touching” and “entertaining.” It was he who introduced into use the words “industry”, “concentrate”, “moral”, “aesthetic”, “era”, “scene”, “harmony”, “catastrophe”, “future”.

Biography

Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin was born on December 1 (12), 1766 near Simbirsk. He grew up on the estate of his father, retired captain Mikhail Egorovich Karamzin (1724-1783), a middle-class Simbirsk nobleman, a descendant of the Tatar Murza Kara-Murza. Received home education. In 1778 he was sent to Moscow to the boarding school of Moscow University professor I.M. Schaden. At the same time, he attended lectures by I. G. Schwartz at the University in 1781-1782.

Carier start

In 1783, at the insistence of his father, he entered service in the Preobrazhensky Guards Regiment of St. Petersburg, but soon retired. The first literary experiments date back to his military service. After retirement, he lived for some time in Simbirsk, and then in Moscow. During his stay in Simbirsk, he joined the Masonic lodge of the Golden Crown, and after arriving in Moscow, for four years (1785-1789) he was a member of the Friendly Scientific Society.

In Moscow, Karamzin met writers and writers: N.I. Novikov, A.M. Kutuzov, A.A. Petrov, and participated in the publication of the first Russian magazine for children - “Children’s Reading for the Heart and Mind.”

Trip to Europe

In 1789-1790 he made a trip to Europe, during which he visited Immanuel Kant in Königsberg, and was in Paris during the great French Revolution. As a result of this trip, the famous “Letters of a Russian Traveler” were written, the publication of which immediately made Karamzin a famous writer. Some philologists believe that it is from this book that modern Russian literature begins. Be that as it may, in the literature of Russian “travels” Karamzin truly became a pioneer - quickly finding both imitators (V.V. Izmailov, P.I. Sumarokov, P.I. Shalikov) and worthy successors (A.A. Bestuzhev, N. A. Bestuzhev, F. N. Glinka, A. S. Griboyedov). It is since then that Karamzin has been considered one of the main literary figures in Russia.

Return and life in Russia

Upon returning from a trip to Europe, Karamzin settled in Moscow and began working as a professional writer and journalist, starting the publication of the Moscow Journal 1791-1792 (the first Russian literary magazine, in which, among other works of Karamzin, the story “Poor” appeared, which strengthened his fame Liza"), then published a number of collections and almanacs: “Aglaya”, “Aonids”, “Pantheon of Foreign Literature”, “My Trinkets”, which made sentimentalism the main literary movement in Russia, and Karamzin its recognized leader.

Emperor Alexander I, by personal decree of October 31, 1803, granted the title of historiographer to Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin; 2 thousand rubles were added to the rank at the same time. annual salary. The title of historiographer in Russia was not renewed after Karamzin’s death.

From the beginning of the 19th century, Karamzin gradually moved away from fiction, and from 1804, having been appointed by Alexander I to the post of historiographer, he stopped all literary work, “taking monastic vows as a historian.” In 1811, he wrote “A Note on Ancient and New Russia in its Political and Civil Relations,” which reflected the views of conservative layers of society dissatisfied with the liberal reforms of the emperor. Karamzin’s goal was to prove that no reforms were needed in the country.

“A Note on Ancient and New Russia in its Political and Civil Relations” also played the role of an outline for Nikolai Mikhailovich’s subsequent enormous work on Russian history. In February 1818. Karamzin released the first eight volumes of “The History of the Russian State,” the three thousand copies of which sold out within a month. In subsequent years, three more volumes of “History” were published, and a number of translations of it into the main European languages ​​appeared. Coverage of the Russian historical process brought Karamzin closer to the court and the tsar, who settled him near him in Tsarskoe Selo. Karamzin's political views evolved gradually, and by the end of his life he was a staunch supporter of absolute monarchy.

The unfinished XII volume was published after his death.

Karamzin died on May 22 (June 3), 1826 in St. Petersburg. His death was the result of a cold contracted on December 14, 1825. On this day Karamzin was on Senate Square.

He was buried at the Tikhvin Cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

Karamzin - writer

Collected works of N. M. Karamzin in 11 volumes. in 1803-1815 was printed in the printing house of the Moscow book publisher Selivanovsky.

“Karamzin’s influence on literature can be compared with Catherine’s influence on society: he made literature humane,” wrote A. I. Herzen.

Sentimentalism

Karamzin’s publication of “Letters of a Russian Traveler” (1791-1792) and the story “Poor Liza” (1792; separate publication 1796) ushered in the era of sentimentalism in Russia.

Sentimentalism declared feeling, not reason, to be the dominant of “human nature,” which distinguished it from classicism. Sentimentalism believed that the ideal of human activity was not the “reasonable” reorganization of the world, but the release and improvement of “natural” feelings. His hero is more individualized, his inner world is enriched by the ability to empathize and sensitively respond to what is happening around him.

The publication of these works was a great success among readers of that time; “Poor Liza” caused many imitations. Karamzin's sentimentalism had a great influence on the development of Russian literature: it inspired, among other things, the romanticism of Zhukovsky and the work of Pushkin.

Karamzin's poetry

Karamzin's poetry, which developed in line with European sentimentalism, was radically different from the traditional poetry of his time, brought up on the odes of Lomonosov and Derzhavin. The most significant differences were the following:

Karamzin is not interested in the external, physical world, but in the internal, spiritual world of man. His poems speak “the language of the heart,” not the mind. The object of Karamzin’s poetry is “simple life”, and to describe it he uses simple poetic forms - poor rhymes, avoids the abundance of metaphors and other tropes so popular in the poems of his predecessors.

“Who is your dear?”

I'm ashamed; it really hurts me

The strangeness of my feelings is revealed

And be the butt of jokes.

The heart is not free to choose!..

What to say? She...she.

Oh! not important at all

And talents behind you

Has none;

The Strangeness of Love, or Insomnia (1793)

Another difference between Karamzin’s poetics is that the world is fundamentally unknowable for him; the poet recognizes the existence of different points of view on the same subject:

It's scary in the grave, cold and dark!

The winds howl here, the coffins shake,

Quiet in the grave, soft, calm.

The winds blow here; sleepers are cool;

Herbs and flowers grow.

Cemetery (1792)

Works by Karamzin

• “Eugene and Yulia”, story (1789)
• "Letters of a Russian Traveler" (1791-1792)
• "Poor Liza", story (1792)
• “Natalia, the Boyar’s Daughter”, story (1792)
• “The Beautiful Princess and the Happy Karla” (1792)
• "Sierra Morena", a story (1793)
• "The Island of Bornholm" (1793)
• "Julia" (1796)
• “Martha the Posadnitsa, or the Conquest of Novagorod”, story (1802)
• “My Confession,” letter to the magazine publisher (1802)
• "Sensitive and Cold" (1803)
• "A Knight of Our Time" (1803)
• "Autumn"

Karamzin's language reform

Karamzin's prose and poetry had a decisive influence on the development of the Russian literary language. Karamzin purposefully refused to use Church Slavonic vocabulary and grammar, bringing the language of his works to the everyday language of his era and using the grammar and syntax of the French language as a model.

Karamzin introduced many new words into the Russian language - as neologisms (“charity”, “love”, “freethinking”, “attraction”, “responsibility”, “suspiciousness”, “industry”, “refinement”, “first-class”, “humane” ") and barbarisms ("sidewalk", "coachman"). He was also one of the first to use the letter E.

The changes in language proposed by Karamzin caused heated controversy in the 1810s. The writer A. S. Shishkov, with the assistance of Derzhavin, founded in 1811 the society “Conversation of Lovers of the Russian Word”, the purpose of which was to promote the “old” language, as well as criticize Karamzin, Zhukovsky and their followers. In response, in 1815, the literary society “Arzamas” was formed, which ironized the authors of “Conversation” and parodied their works. Many poets of the new generation became members of the society, including Batyushkov, Vyazemsky, Davydov, Zhukovsky, Pushkin. The literary victory of “Arzamas” over “Beseda” strengthened the victory of the linguistic changes that Karamzin introduced.

Despite this, Karamzin later became closer to Shishkov, and, thanks to the latter’s assistance, Karamzin was elected a member of the Russian Academy in 1818.

Karamzin - historian

Karamzin developed an interest in history in the mid-1790s. He wrote a story on a historical theme - “Martha the Posadnitsa, or the Conquest of Novagorod” (published in 1803). In the same year, by decree of Alexander I, he was appointed to the position of historiographer, and until the end of his life he was engaged in writing “The History of the Russian State,” practically ceasing his activities as a journalist and writer.

Karamzin’s “History” was not the first description of the history of Russia; before him there were the works of V.N. Tatishchev and M.M. Shcherbatov. But it was Karamzin who opened the history of Russia to a wide educated public. According to A.S. Pushkin, “Everyone, even secular women, rushed to read the history of their fatherland, hitherto unknown to them. She was a new discovery for them. Ancient Russia seemed to be found by Karamzin, like America by Columbus.” This work also caused a wave of imitations and contrasts (for example, “The History of the Russian People” by N. A. Polevoy)

In his work, Karamzin acted more as a writer than a historian - when describing historical facts, he cared about the beauty of the language, least of all trying to draw any conclusions from the events he described. Nevertheless, his commentaries, which contain many extracts from manuscripts, mostly first published by Karamzin, are of high scientific value. Some of these manuscripts no longer exist.

In his “History” elegance, simplicity

They prove to us, without any bias,

The need for autocracy

And the delights of the whip.

Karamzin took the initiative to organize memorials and erect monuments to outstanding figures of Russian history, in particular, K. M. Minin and D. M. Pozharsky on Red Square (1818).

N. M. Karamzin discovered Afanasy Nikitin’s “Walking across Three Seas” in a 16th-century manuscript and published it in 1821. He wrote:

Karamzin - translator

In 1792-1793, N. M. Karamzin translated a wonderful monument of Indian literature (from English) - the drama “Sakuntala”, authored by Kalidasa. In the preface to the translation he wrote:

Family

N. M. Karamzin was married twice and had 10 children:

Memory

The following are named after the writer:

• Karamzin passage in Moscow
• Regional clinical psychiatric hospital in Ulyanovsk.

A monument to N.M. Karamzin was erected in Ulyanovsk, and a memorial sign was erected in the Ostafyevo estate near Moscow.

In Veliky Novgorod, on the monument “1000th Anniversary of Russia”, among 129 figures of the most outstanding personalities in Russian history (as of 1862), there is the figure of N. M. Karamzin

The Karamzin Public Library in Simbirsk, created in honor of the famous fellow countryman, opened for readers on April 18, 1848.

Addresses

Saint Petersburg

• Spring 1816 - house of E.F. Muravyova - embankment of the Fontanka River, 25;
• spring 1816-1822 - Tsarskoye Selo, Sadovaya street, 12;
• 1818 - autumn 1823 - house of E.F. Muravyova - embankment of the Fontanka River, 25;
• autumn 1823-1826 - Mizhuev apartment building - Mokhovaya street, 41;
• spring - 05/22/1826 - Tauride Palace - Voskresenskaya street, 47.

Moscow

• The Vyazemsky-Dolgorukov estate is the home of his second wife.
• The house on the corner of Tverskaya and Bryusov Lane, where he wrote “Poor Liza”, has not survived

Works of N. M. Karamzin

• History of the Russian State (12 volumes, until 1612, Maxim Moshkov’s library)
• Poems
• Karamzin, Nikolai Mikhailovich in the library of Maxim Moshkov
• Nikolai Karamzin in the Anthology of Russian Poetry
• Karamzin, Nikolai Mikhailovich “Complete collection of poems.” Library ImWerden.(See other works by N. M. Karamzin on this site.)
• Karamzin N. M. Complete collection of poems / Introduction. Art., prepared. text and notes Yu. M. Lotman. L., 1967.
• Karamzin, Nikolai Mikhailovich “Letters to Ivan Ivanovich Dmitriev” 1866 - facsimile reprint of the book
• “Bulletin of Europe”, published by Karamzin, facsimile pdf reproduction of magazines.
• Karamzin N. M. Letters of a Russian traveler / Ed. prepared Yu. M. Lotman, N. A. Marchenko, B. A. Uspensky. L., 1984.
• N. M. Karamzin. A note on ancient and new Russia in its political and civil relations
• Letters from N. M. Karamzin. 1806-1825
• Karamzin N. M. Letters from N. M. Karamzin to Zhukovsky. (From Zhukovsky’s papers) / Note. P. A. Vyazemsky // Russian Archive, 1868. - Ed. 2nd. - M., 1869. - Stb. 1827-1836.
• Karamzin N. M. Selected works in 2 volumes. M.; L., 1964.

Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin

Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin was born on December 1, 1766. in the family of a Simbirsk landowner, who came from an old noble family. He was brought up in a private Moscow boarding school. In his adolescence, the future writer read historical novels, in which he was especially fascinated by “dangers and heroic friendship.” According to the noble custom of that time, enlisted in military service as a boy, he, “coming of age,” entered the regiment in which he had long been enrolled. But army service weighed heavily on him. The young lieutenant dreamed of doing literary work. The death of his father gave Karamzin a reason to ask for resignation, and the small inheritance he received made it possible to fulfill his long-standing dream - a trip abroad. The 23-year-old traveler visited Switzerland, Germany, France and England. This trip enriched him with a variety of impressions. Returning to Moscow, Karamzin published “Letters of a Russian Traveler,” where he described everything that struck him and was remembered in foreign lands: landscapes and the appearance of foreigners, folk morals and customs, city life and political system, architecture and painting, his meetings with writers and scientists , as well as various social events that he witnessed, including the beginning of the French Revolution (1789-1794).

For several years Karamzin published the Moscow Journal, and then the Vestnik Evropy magazine. He created a new type of magazine, in which literature, politics, and science coexisted. The various materials in these publications were written in an easy, elegant language, presented in a lively and entertaining manner, so they were not only accessible to the general public, but also contributed to the development of literary taste among readers.

Karamzin became the head of a new direction in Russian literature - sentimentalism. The main theme of sentimental literature is touching feelings, emotional experiences of a person, “the life of the heart.” Karamzin was one of the first to write about the joys and sufferings of modern, ordinary people, and not ancient heroes and mythological demigods. In addition, he was the first to introduce into Russian literature a simple, understandable language, close to colloquial.

The story “Poor Liza” brought Karamzin great success. Sensitive readers and especially female readers shed streams of tears over her. The pond at the Simonov Monastery in Moscow, where the heroine of the work Liza drowned herself because of unrequited love, began to be called “Lizin’s Pond”; real pilgrimages were made to him. Karamzin had long been planning to take the history of Russia seriously; he wrote several historical stories, including such brilliant works as “Marfa the Posadnitsa” and “Natalia, the Boyar’s Daughter.”

In 1803 The writer received from Emperor Alexander the official title of historiographer and permission to work in archives and libraries. For several years, Karamzin studied ancient chronicles, working around the clock, damaging his eyesight and damaging his health. Karamzin considered history a science that should educate people and instruct them in everyday life.

Nikolai Mikhailovich was a sincere supporter and defender of autocracy. He believed that “the autocracy founded and resurrected Russia.” Therefore, the historian’s focus was on the formation of supreme power in Russia, the reign of tsars and monarchs. But not every ruler of a state deserves approval. Karamzin was indignant towards any violence. For example, the historian condemned the tyrannical rule of Ivan the Terrible, the despotism of Peter and the harshness with which he carried out reforms, eradicating ancient Russian customs.

The enormous work created by the historian in a relatively short time was a stunning success with the public. “The History of the Russian State” was read by all enlightened Russia, it was read aloud in salons, discussed, and heated debates took place around it. When creating “The History of the Russian State,” Karamzin used a huge number of ancient chronicles and other historical documents. To give readers a true understanding, the historian has included notes in each volume. These notes are the result of colossal work.

In 1818 Karamzin was elected an honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences.

05/22/1826 (06/04). - Writer, historian Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin, author of the 12-volume “History of the Russian State” has died

Karamzin: from Freemasonry to monarchism
Towards knowledge of Russia “from the opposite” – 8

A. Venetsianov. Portrait of Karamzin. 1828

Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin (12/1/1766–5/22/1826) was born in the Simbirsk province into the family of a poor landowner (from the old Crimean Tatar family of Kara-Murza). Having been educated in private boarding schools, Karamzin studied at, and served for some time in the Preobrazhensky Regiment. After the death of his father, he retired in 1784 and became close to Novikov’s “religious and educational” group, under the influence of which his views and literary tastes were formed. He studied the literature of the French "enlightenment", German philosophers and romantic poets, and was engaged in translations of religious and moral works (he spoke many ancient and modern languages).

By 1788, Karamzin sensed a danger in Freemasonry, masked by vague religious piety, and broke off relations with the lodge. In the spring of 1789, he went on a long trip abroad, where he stayed until the fall of 1790, visited Austria, Switzerland, France, England, met with I. Kant, I. Goethe, and in Paris witnessed the events of the French Revolution. As a result of personal acquaintance with the West, he became more critical of its “advanced” ideas. “The age of enlightenment! I don’t recognize you - in blood and flame I don’t recognize you - among murders and destruction I don’t recognize you!” Karamzin wrote at that time (“Melodorus to Philalethes”). Karamzin outlined his impressions from a trip to Western European countries in “Letters of a Russian Traveler” (published in the “Moscow Journal”, which he founded, 1791–1792), which brought him all-Russian fame.

When the French Revolution developed into a bloody Jacobin dictatorship, this aroused doubts in Karamzin about the possibility for humanity to achieve earthly prosperity at all. But the conclusion from this was not yet Orthodox. The philosophy of despair and fatalism permeates his new works: the story “The Island of Bornholm” (1793); "Sierra Morena" (1795); poems “Melancholy”, “Message to A.A. Pleshcheev”, etc.

At this time, Karamzin published the first Russian almanacs - "Aglaya" (parts 1-2, 1794–1795) and "Aonids" (parts 1-3, 1796–1799), "Pantheon of Foreign Literature" (1798), the magazine " Children's reading for the heart and mind" (1799). As a writer, Karamzin creates a new direction in Russian literature - sentimentalism ("Poor Liza"), which was highly appreciated by K. Batyushkov, young. At the same time, Karamzin introduces a new form of the Russian language into literary circulation, freeing it from the Western pretentious imitation of the Peter the Great era, bringing it closer to living, colloquial speech.

In 1791 Karamzin wrote: “In our so-called good society, without the French language you will be deaf and dumb. Isn't it a shame? How can you not have people's pride? Why be parrots and monkeys together? And his story “Natalya, the Boyar’s Daughter” (1792) began with the words: “Who among us does not love those times when Russians were Russians, when they dressed up in their own clothes, walked with their own gait, lived according to their custom, spoke in their own language and in their own way.” to your heart..?"

It is indicative of Karamzin’s way of thinking during this period that he became close to the conservative poet. In 1802, he published the “Historical Word of Praise,” which was an order to the new Sovereign, in which he expressed the program and significance of the Autocracy. During this period, Karamzin began to publish the journal “Bulletin of Europe,” from the pages of which he acted as a political writer, publicist, commentator and international observer who defended Russian national interests. “The patriot hastens to appropriate to the fatherland what is beneficial and necessary, but rejects slavish imitation in trinkets... It is good and should be studied: but woe... to the people who will be an everlasting student,” wrote Karamzin on borrowings from the West.

In 1803, through M. Muravyov, Karamzin received the official title of court historiographer. From 1803 to 1811 he writes “The History of the Russian State” (before 1611, the 12th volume was published posthumously), for the first time using sources kept in secret. Each volume had extensive documentary appendices, not inferior in volume to the main text. Karamzin, as a researcher, meticulously strove to comprehend events through the eyes of a contemporary, guided by finding out the truth of history, no matter how bitter it may be. This is what made his “History” very popular. Pushkin wrote: “Everyone, even secular women, rushed to read the history of their fatherland, hitherto unknown to them. She was a new discovery for them. Ancient Russia seemed to be found by Karamzin, like America by Colomb. They didn’t talk about anything else for a while.” (But unfortunately, residual Westernism was reflected in this work: in particular, in recognition.)

It should be noted, however, that the red thread in Karamzin’s “History” is the idea: the fate of Russia and its greatness lie in the development of the Autocracy. Under strong monarchical power, Russia prospered; under weak monarchy, it fell into decline. Thus, under the influence of his studies in Russian history, Karamzin becomes a convinced, ideological monarchist-statist. Although we must admit that we do not find the proper coordinates of the Orthodox meaning of history during this period even among such outstanding representatives of Russian patriotic thought. History seemed to Karamzin as a continuous movement towards progress, a struggle of enlightenment against ignorance; and this struggle is directed by the activities of great people.

Through his relative F.V. Rostopchina Karamzin meets the leader of the then “Russian party” at the Court - Grand Duchess Ekaterina Pavlovna, and then the Dowager Empress Maria Fedorovna, who has since become one of his patrons. On the initiative of Ekaterina Pavlovna Karamzin wrote and submitted to Alexander I in March 1811 the treatise “On Ancient and New Russia in its Political and Civil Relations” - a remarkable document of the reviving Russian conservative thought, containing a complete and original concept of Autocracy as a typically Russian principle of power, closely associated with the Orthodox Church. Autocracy is the main reason for the power and prosperity of Russia - this was the conclusion of the Note.

In the last years of his life, Karamzin lived in St. Petersburg, communicating with such prominent conservative figures as V.A. Zhukovsky, etc. In 1818, for the “History” he compiled, Karamzin was accepted as a member of the Russian Imperial Academy. The significance of his work was accurately expressed: “Karamzin’s creation is our only book, truly state, folk and monarchical.”

Karamzin condemned, which demonstrated to him firsthand the danger of Freemasonry, which he so happily avoided in his youth. He went to Senate Square on the side of the defenders of the legal monarchy and then wrote

Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin(December 1, 1766, family estate Znamenskoye, Simbirsk district, Kazan province (according to other sources - the village of Mikhailovka (now Preobrazhenka), Buzuluk district, Kazan province) - May 22, 1826, St. Petersburg) - an outstanding historian, the largest Russian writer of the era of sentimentalism, nicknamed Russian Stern.

Honorary member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences (1818), full member of the Imperial Russian Academy (1818). Creator of the “History of the Russian State” (volumes 1-12, 1803-1826) - one of the first generalizing works on the history of Russia. Editor of the Moscow Journal (1791-1792) and Vestnik Evropy (1802-1803).

Karamzin went down in history as a great reformer of the Russian language. His style is light in the Gallic manner, but instead of direct borrowing, Karamzin enriched the language with tracing words, such as “impression” and “influence,” “falling in love,” “touching” and “entertaining.” It was he who introduced into use the words “industry”, “concentrate”, “moral”, “aesthetic”, “era”, “scene”, “harmony”, “catastrophe”, “future”.

Biography

Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin was born on December 1 (12), 1766 near Simbirsk. He grew up on the estate of his father, retired captain Mikhail Egorovich Karamzin (1724-1783), a middle-class Simbirsk nobleman, a descendant of the Tatar Murza Kara-Murza. Received home education. In 1778 he was sent to Moscow to the boarding school of Moscow University professor I.M. Schaden. At the same time, he attended lectures by I. G. Schwartz at the University in 1781-1782.

Carier start

In 1783, at the insistence of his father, he entered service in the Preobrazhensky Guards Regiment of St. Petersburg, but soon retired. The first literary experiments date back to his military service. After retirement, he lived for some time in Simbirsk, and then in Moscow. During his stay in Simbirsk, he joined the Masonic lodge of the Golden Crown, and after arriving in Moscow, for four years (1785-1789) he was a member of the Friendly Scientific Society.

In Moscow, Karamzin met writers and writers: N.I. Novikov, A.M. Kutuzov, A.A. Petrov, and participated in the publication of the first Russian magazine for children - “Children’s Reading for the Heart and Mind.”

Trip to Europe

In 1789-1790 he made a trip to Europe, during which he visited Immanuel Kant in Königsberg, and was in Paris during the great French Revolution. As a result of this trip, the famous “Letters of a Russian Traveler” were written, the publication of which immediately made Karamzin a famous writer. Some philologists believe that it is from this book that modern Russian literature begins. Be that as it may, in the literature of Russian “travels” Karamzin truly became a pioneer - quickly finding both imitators and worthy successors (, N. A. Bestuzhev,). It is since then that Karamzin has been considered one of the main literary figures in Russia.

Return and life in Russia

Upon returning from a trip to Europe, Karamzin settled in Moscow and began working as a professional writer and journalist, starting the publication of the Moscow Journal 1791-1792 (the first Russian literary magazine, in which, among other works of Karamzin, the story “Poor” appeared, which strengthened his fame Liza"), then published a number of collections and almanacs: “Aglaya”, “Aonids”, “Pantheon of Foreign Literature”, “My Trinkets”, which made sentimentalism the main literary movement in Russia, and Karamzin its recognized leader.

Emperor Alexander I, by personal decree of October 31, 1803, granted the title of historiographer to Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin; 2 thousand rubles were added to the rank at the same time. annual salary. The title of historiographer in Russia was not renewed after Karamzin’s death.

From the beginning of the 19th century, Karamzin gradually moved away from fiction, and from 1804, having been appointed by Alexander I to the post of historiographer, he stopped all literary work, “taking monastic vows as a historian.” In 1811, he wrote “A Note on Ancient and New Russia in its Political and Civil Relations,” which reflected the views of conservative layers of society dissatisfied with the liberal reforms of the emperor. Karamzin’s goal was to prove that no reforms were needed in the country.

“A Note on Ancient and New Russia in its Political and Civil Relations” also played the role of an outline for Nikolai Mikhailovich’s subsequent enormous work on Russian history. In February 1818, Karamzin released the first eight volumes of “The History of the Russian State,” the three thousand copies of which sold out within a month. In subsequent years, three more volumes of “History” were published, and a number of translations of it into the main European languages ​​appeared. Coverage of the Russian historical process brought Karamzin closer to the court and the tsar, who settled him near him in Tsarskoe Selo. Karamzin's political views evolved gradually, and by the end of his life he was a staunch supporter of absolute monarchy. The unfinished XII volume was published after his death.

Karamzin died on May 22 (June 3), 1826 in St. Petersburg. His death was the result of a cold contracted on December 14, 1825. On this day Karamzin was on Senate Square.

He was buried at the Tikhvin Cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

Karamzin - writer

Collected works of N. M. Karamzin in 11 volumes. in 1803-1815 was printed in the printing house of the Moscow book publisher Selivanovsky.

“Karamzin’s influence on literature can be compared with Catherine’s influence on society: he made literature humane,” wrote A. I. Herzen.

Sentimentalism

Karamzin’s publication of “Letters of a Russian Traveler” (1791-1792) and the story “Poor Liza” (1792; separate publication 1796) ushered in the era of sentimentalism in Russia.

Sentimentalism declared feeling, not reason, to be the dominant of “human nature,” which distinguished it from classicism. Sentimentalism believed that the ideal of human activity was not the “reasonable” reorganization of the world, but the release and improvement of “natural” feelings. His hero is more individualized, his inner world is enriched by the ability to empathize and sensitively respond to what is happening around him.

The publication of these works was a great success among readers of that time; “Poor Liza” caused many imitations. Karamzin's sentimentalism had a great influence on the development of Russian literature: it inspired, among other things, the romanticism of Zhukovsky and the work of Pushkin.

Karamzin's poetry

Karamzin's poetry, which developed in line with European sentimentalism, was radically different from the traditional poetry of his time, brought up on odes and. The most significant differences were the following:

Karamzin is not interested in the external, physical world, but in the internal, spiritual world of man. His poems speak “the language of the heart,” not the mind. The object of Karamzin’s poetry is “simple life”, and to describe it he uses simple poetic forms - poor rhymes, avoids the abundance of metaphors and other tropes so popular in the poems of his predecessors.

Another difference between Karamzin’s poetics is that the world is fundamentally unknowable for him; the poet recognizes the existence of different points of view on the same subject.

Karamzin's language reform

Karamzin's prose and poetry had a decisive influence on the development of the Russian literary language. Karamzin purposefully refused to use Church Slavonic vocabulary and grammar, bringing the language of his works to the everyday language of his era and using the grammar and syntax of the French language as a model.

Karamzin introduced many new words into the Russian language - as neologisms (“charity”, “love”, “freethinking”, “attraction”, “responsibility”, “suspiciousness”, “industry”, “refinement”, “first-class”, “humane” ") and barbarisms ("sidewalk", "coachman"). He was also one of the first to use the letter E.

The changes in language proposed by Karamzin caused heated controversy in the 1810s. The writer A. S. Shishkov, with the assistance of Derzhavin, founded in 1811 the society “Conversation of Lovers of the Russian Word”, the purpose of which was to promote the “old” language, as well as criticize Karamzin, Zhukovsky and their followers. In response, in 1815, the literary society “Arzamas” was formed, which ironized the authors of “Conversation” and parodied their works. Many poets of the new generation became members of the society, including Batyushkov, Vyazemsky, Davydov, Zhukovsky, Pushkin. The literary victory of “Arzamas” over “Beseda” strengthened the victory of the linguistic changes that Karamzin introduced.

Despite this, Karamzin later became closer to Shishkov, and, thanks to the latter’s assistance, Karamzin was elected a member of the Russian Academy in 1818.

Karamzin - historian

Karamzin developed an interest in history in the mid-1790s. He wrote a story on a historical theme - “Martha the Posadnitsa, or the Conquest of Novagorod” (published in 1803). In the same year, by decree of Alexander I, he was appointed to the position of historiographer, and until the end of his life he was engaged in writing “The History of the Russian State,” practically ceasing his activities as a journalist and writer.

Karamzin’s “History” was not the first description of the history of Russia; before him there were the works of V.N. Tatishchev and M.M. Shcherbatov. But it was Karamzin who opened the history of Russia to a wide educated public. According to A.S. Pushkin, “Everyone, even secular women, rushed to read the history of their fatherland, hitherto unknown to them. She was a new discovery for them. Ancient Russia seemed to be found by Karamzin, like America by Columbus.” This work also caused a wave of imitations and contrasts (for example, “The History of the Russian People” by N. A. Polevoy)

In his work, Karamzin acted more as a writer than a historian - when describing historical facts, he cared about the beauty of the language, least of all trying to draw any conclusions from the events he described. Nevertheless, his commentaries, which contain many extracts from manuscripts, mostly first published by Karamzin, are of high scientific value. Some of these manuscripts no longer exist.

Karamzin took the initiative to organize memorials and erect monuments to outstanding figures of Russian history, in particular, K. M. Minin and D. M. Pozharsky on Red Square (1818).

N. M. Karamzin discovered Afanasy Nikitin’s “Walking across Three Seas” in a 16th-century manuscript and published it in 1821. He wrote: “Until now, geographers did not know that the honor of one of the oldest described European journeys to India belongs to Russia of the Ioannian century... It (the journey) proves that Russia in the 15th century had its own Taverniers and Chardenis, less enlightened, but equally courageous and enterprising ; that the Indians heard about it before they heard about Portugal, Holland, England. While Vasco da Gamma was only thinking about the possibility of finding a way from Africa to Hindustan, our Tverite was already a merchant on the banks of Malabar ... "

Karamzin - translator

In 1792-1793, N. M. Karamzin translated a wonderful monument of Indian literature (from English) - the drama “Sakuntala”, authored by Kalidasa. In the preface to the translation he wrote:

“The creative spirit does not live in Europe alone; he is a citizen of the universe. A person is a person everywhere; He has a sensitive heart everywhere, and in the mirror of his imagination he contains heaven and earth. Everywhere Nature is his mentor and the main source of his pleasures. I felt this very vividly while reading Sakontala, a drama composed in an Indian language, 1900 years before this, by the Asian poet Kalidas, and recently translated into English by William Jones, a Bengali judge ... "