The norm is its socio-historical and national character. What is national character, and is it inherent in most of us? Mentality and national character

Karamzin Nikolay Mikhailovich (1766 - 1826)

Born on December 1 (12th NS) in the village of Mikhailovka, Simbirsk province, in the family of a landowner. Received a good education at home.

At the age of 14, he began to study at the Moscow private boarding school of Professor Shaden. After graduating from it in 1783, he came to the Preobrazhensky regiment in St. Petersburg, where he met the young poet and future employee of his "Moscow magazine" Dmitriev. At the same time he published his first translation of S. Gesner's idyll "The Wooden Leg". After retiring with the rank of second lieutenant in 1784, he moved to Moscow, became one of the active participants in the magazine " Children's reading for the heart and mind ", published by N. Novikov, and became close to the Freemasons. Engaged in translations of religious and moralistic works. Since 1787 he regularly published his translations of" The Four Seasons "by Thomson," Village Evenings "by Zhanlis, the tragedy by W. Shakespeare" Julius Caesar ", Lessing's tragedy "Emilia Galotti".

In 1789, the first original story of Karamzin, "Eugene and Julia", appeared in the journal "Children's reading ..." In the spring he went on a trip to Europe: he visited Germany, Switzerland, France, where he observed the activities of the revolutionary government. In June 1790 he moved from France to England.

In the fall he returned to Moscow and soon undertook the publication of the monthly "Moscow magazine", which published most of the "Letters of the Russian traveler", the story "Liodor", " Poor Lisa"," Natalia, boyar's daughter "," Flor Silin ", essays, stories, critical articles and poems. Karamzin attracted Dmitriev and Petrov, Kheraskov and Derzhavin, Lvov Neledinsky-Meletsky, etc. literary direction- sentimentalism. In the 1790s, Karamzin published the first Russian almanacs - Aglaya (parts 1 - 2, 1794 - 95) and Aonids (parts 1 - 3, 1796 - 99). Came in 1793, when, at the third stage of the French Revolution, the Jacobin dictatorship was established, which shocked Karamzin with its cruelty. The dictatorship aroused in him doubts about the possibility for humanity to achieve prosperity. He condemned the revolution. The philosophy of despair and fatalism permeates his new works: the story "Bornholm Island" (1793); Sierra Morena (1795); poems "Melancholy", "Message to A. A. Pleshcheev", etc.

By the mid-1790s, Karamzin became the recognized head of Russian sentimentalism, which opened new page in Russian literature. He was an indisputable authority for Zhukovsky, Batyushkov, young Pushkin.

In 1802 - 1803 Karamzin published the journal Vestnik Evropy, which was dominated by literature and politics. V critical articles Karamzin, a new aesthetic program emerged, which contributed to the formation of Russian literature as a nationally distinctive. Karamzin saw the key to the originality of Russian culture in history. The most striking illustration of his views was the story "Martha the Posadnitsa". In his political articles, Karamzin made recommendations to the government, pointing out the role of education.

Trying to influence Tsar Alexander I, Karamzin gave him his "Note on the ancient and new Russia"(1811), causing his irritation. In 1819 he submitted a new note -" The Opinion of a Russian Citizen ", which caused even greater displeasure to the tsar. However, Karamzin did not renounce his belief in the salvation of the enlightened autocracy and later condemned the Decembrist uprising. However, Karamzin, the artist, is still highly appreciated by young writers who did not even share his political convictions.

In 1803, through the mediation of M. Muravyov, Karamzin received the official title of court historiographer.

In 1804 he began to create a "History of the Russian State", on which he worked until the end of his days, but did not complete it. In 1818 the first eight volumes of History, the greatest scientific and cultural feat of Karamzin, were published. In 1821, the 9th volume was published, dedicated to the reign of Ivan the Terrible, in 1824 - the 10th and 11th, about Fyodor Ioannovich and Boris Godunov. Death interrupted work on the 12th volume. This happened on May 22 (June 3 NS) 1826 in St. Petersburg.

According to one version, he was born in the village of Znamenskoye, Simbirsk district (now the Mainsky district of the Ulyanovsk region), according to the other, in the village of Mikhailovka, Buzuluk district, Kazan province (now the village of Preobrazhenka, Orenburg region). V recent times experts were in favor of the "Orenburg" version of the writer's birthplace.

Karamzin belonged to a noble family, descended from the Tatar Murza, named Kara-Murza. Nikolai was the second son of a retired captain, a landowner. He lost his mother early, she died in 1769. In his second marriage, his father married Ekaterina Dmitrieva, the aunt of the poet and fabulist Ivan Dmitriev.

Karamzin spent his childhood at his father's estate, studied in Simbirsk at the noble boarding house of Pierre Fauvel. At the age of 14, he began to study at the Moscow private boarding school of Professor Johann Schaden, while attending classes at Moscow University.

In 1781, Karamzin began service in the Preobrazhensky regiment in St. Petersburg, where he was transferred from the army regiments (enrolled in service in 1774), received the rank of ensign.

During this period, he became close to the poet Ivan Dmitriev and began literary activity translation from German language"Conversation of the Austrian Maria Theresa with our Empress Elisabeth in Champs Elysees"(not preserved). The first published work of Karamzin was the translation of Solomon Gesner's idyll" Wooden leg "(1783).

In 1784, after the death of his father, Karamzin retired with the rank of lieutenant and never served again. After a short stay in Simbirsk, where he joined the Masonic lodge, Karamzin moved to Moscow, was introduced to the circle of the publisher Nikolai Novikov and settled in a house that belonged to the Novikov Friendship Scientific Society.

In 1787-1789 he was an editor in the journal "Children's reading for the heart and mind" published by Novikov, where he published his first story "Eugene and Julia" (1789), poetry and translations. He translated into Russian the tragedies "Julius Caesar" (1787) by William Shakespeare and "Emilia Galotti" (1788) by Gotthold Lessing.

In May 1789, Nikolai Mikhailovich went abroad and until September 1790 traveled across Europe, visiting Germany, Switzerland, France and England.

Returning to Moscow, Karamzin began to publish the "Moscow Journal" (1791-1792), which published the "Letters of a Russian Traveler" written by him, in 1792 the story "Poor Liza" was published, as well as the stories "Natalia, the boyar's daughter" and ", which have become examples of Russian sentimentalism.

Karamzin. In the first Russian poetic anthology "Aonids" (1796-1799), compiled by Karamzin, he included his own poems, as well as the poems of his contemporaries - Gabriel Derzhavin, Mikhail Kheraskov, Ivan Dmitriev. In "Aonids" the letter "ё" of the Russian alphabet first appeared.

Some of the prose translations Karamzin combined in the "Pantheon of Foreign Literature" (1798), brief characteristics Russian writers were given to them for publication "The Pantheon of Russian Authors, or Collection of Their Portraits with Notes" (1801-1802). Karamzin's response to the accession to the throne of Alexander I was "Historical Commendation to Catherine II" (1802).

In 1802-1803 Nikolai Karamzin published the literary and political journal Vestnik Evropy, in which, along with articles on literature and art, issues of foreign and domestic policy of Russia, history and political life foreign countries. In the Vestnik Evropy, he published works on Russian medieval history"Martha Posadnitsa, or the Conquest of Novgorod", "News about Martha Posadnitsa, taken from the life of St. Zosima", "Travel around Moscow", "Historical memoirs and notes on the way to Trinity", etc.

Karamzin developed a language reform aimed at bringing the book language closer to colloquial speech educated society. Limiting the use of Slavicisms, widely using linguistic borrowings and tracing papers from European languages ​​(mainly from French), introducing new words, Karamzin created a new literary syllable.

On November 12 (October 31, old style), 1803, by the personal imperial decree of Alexander I, Nikolai Karamzin was appointed a historiographer "to compose full history Fatherland. "From that time until the end of his days, he worked on the main work of his life -" The History of the Russian State. "Libraries and archives were opened for him. In 1816-1824, the first 11 volumes of the work, the 12th volume Karamzin did not have time to finish describing the events of the "Time of Troubles," he came out after the death of the historiographer in 1829.

In 1818 Karamzin became a member Russian Academy, an honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. He received a full state councilor and was awarded the Order of St. Anne, 1st degree.

In the first months of 1826, he suffered pneumonia, which undermined his health. June 3 (May 22, old style) 1826 Nikolai Karamzin died in St. Petersburg. Buried at the Tikhvin cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

Karamzin was married a second time to Ekaterina Kolyvanova (1780-1851), the sister of the poet Pyotr Vyazemsky, who was the mistress of the best literary salon in St. Petersburg, where the poets Vasily Zhukovsky, Alexander Pushkin, Mikhail Lermontov, the writer Nikolai Gogol visited. She helped the historiographer by proofreading the 12-volume History, and after his death she completed the publication of the last volume.

His first wife, Elizaveta Protasova, died in 1802. From his first marriage, Karamzin left a daughter, Sophia (1802-1856), who became a maid of honor, was the mistress of a literary salon, a friend of the poets Alexander Pushkin and Mikhail Lermontov.

In the second marriage, nine children were born to the historiographer, and five survived to adulthood. Daughter Catherine (1806-1867) married Prince Meshchersky, her son - the writer Vladimir Meshchersky (1839-1914).

The daughter of Nikolai Karamzin Elizabeth (1821-1891) became a maid of honor of the imperial court, son Andrei (1814-1854) died in Crimean war... Alexander Karamzin (1816-1888) served in the guard and at the same time wrote poetry for the magazines Sovremennik and Otechestvennye zapiski. Youngest son Vladimir (1819-1869)

Famous writer, historian, poet, publicist. Creator of the "History of the Russian State".

A family. Childhood

Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin was born in the Simbirsk province into a family of poor educated nobles. Received a good education at home. At the age of 14, he began to study at the Moscow private boarding school of Professor Shaden. Upon graduation in 1783, he went to St. Petersburg to serve c. In the capital, Karamzin met the poet and future collaborator of his "Moscow magazine" Dmitriev. At the same time he published the first translation of S. Gesner's idyll "Wooden leg". After serving in the army for less than a year, Karamzin retired in 1784 with the low rank of lieutenant and returned to Simbirsk. Here he led an outwardly secular life, but at the same time he was engaged in self-education: he studied history, literature and philosophy. Family friend Ivan Petrovich Turgenev, a freemason and writer, who was in great friendship with, played a certain role in the life of the future writer. On his advice, Nikolai Mikhailovich moved to Moscow and met with Novikov's circle. Thus began a new period in his life, covering the time from 1785 to 1789.

Moscow period (1785-1789). Travel to Europe (1789-1790)

In Moscow, Karamzin translates fiction, since 1787 regularly publishes his translations of Thomson's Seasons, Zhanlis's Village Evenings, Julius Caesar's tragedy, Lessing's Emilia Galotti's tragedy. He also begins to write for the magazine "Children's reading for the heart and mind", which was published by Novikov. In 1789, the first original story of Karamzin "Eugene and Julia" appeared in it.

Soon, Nikolai Mikhailovich decides to go on a trip to Europe, for the sake of which he lays down the hereditary estate. It was a bold step: it meant giving up life on the income from the hereditary estate and providing for oneself at the expense of the labor of serfs. Now Nikolai Mikhailovich had to earn his living by his own labor of a professional writer. He spends about a year and a half abroad. During this time, he visits Germany, Switzerland, France, where he observes the activities of the revolutionary government. In June 1789, Karamzin moved from France to England. During the entire journey, the writer meets interesting and outstanding people. Nikolai Mikhailovich is interested in people's dwellings, historical monuments, factories, universities, street festivities, taverns, village weddings. He evaluates and compares the characters and mores of a particular nationality, studies the peculiarities of speech, recording various conversations and his own reflections.

At the origins of sentimentalism

In the fall of 1790, Karamzin returned to Moscow, where he undertook the publication of the monthly "Moscow Journal", which published his stories (such as "Liodor", "Natalia, Boyar's Daughter", "Flor Silin"), critical articles and poems. The famous "Letters of a Russian Traveler" and the story "Poor Liza" were also published here. For cooperation in the magazine, Karamzin attracted Dmitriev and Petrov, Kheraskov and others.

In his works of this period, Karamzin asserts a new literary direction - sentimentalism. This trend declared the dominant of "human nature" to feel, not reason, which distinguished it from classicism. Sentimentalism is the ideal human activity believed not a "reasonable" reorganization of the world, but the release and improvement of "natural" feelings. His hero is more individualized, his inner world is enriched with the ability to empathize, responsive to what is happening around him.

In the 1790s, the writer publishes almanacs. Among them are "Aglaya" (parts 1-2, 1794-1795), "Aonids", written in verse (parts 1-3, 1796-1799), as well as the collection "My trinkets", which includes various stories and poems. Fame comes to Karamzin. He is known and loved throughout Russia.

One of the first works of Karamzin, written in prose, is the historical story "Martha the Posadnitsa" published in 1803. It was written long before the fascination with the novels of Walter Scott began in Russia. This story showed Karamzin's gravitation towards antiquity, the classics as an unattainable ideal of morality. In an epic, antique form, Karamzin presented the struggle of the Novgorodians with Moscow. "Posadnitsa" touched upon important worldview issues: about the monarchy and the republic, about the people and leaders, about the "divine" historical predestination and disobedience of an individual person. The author's sympathies were clearly on the side of the Novgorodians and Martha, and not on the side of monarchical Moscow. This story also revealed the writer's worldview contradictions. The historical truth was undoubtedly on the side of the Novgorodians. However, Novgorod is doomed, bad omens are harbingers of the city's imminent death, and later they are justified.

But the most successful was the story "Poor Liza", published in 1792 and which became an iconic work of sentimentalism. Often found in Western literature of the eighteenth century, the plot about how a nobleman seduced a peasant woman or a bourgeois woman was first developed in this story by Karamzin in Russian literature. The biography of a morally pure, beautiful girl, as well as the idea that such tragic fates can also be found in the reality around us, contributed to the enormous success of this work. It was also important that N.M. Karamzin taught his readers to notice the beauty of their native nature and love it. The humanistic orientation of the work was invaluable for the literature of that time.

In the same 1792, the story "Natalia, the Boyar's Daughter" was born. She is not as famous as "Poor Liza", however, it touches on very important moral issues that worried N.M.'s contemporaries. Karamzin. One of the most important in the work is the problem of honor. Alexei, Natalia's lover, was an honest man who served the Russian Tsar. Therefore, he confessed to his "crime", that he had kidnapped the daughter of Matvey Andreev, the beloved boyar sovereign. But the Tsar blesses their marriage, seeing that Alexei is a worthy man. The girl's father does the same. Finishing the story, the author writes that the newlyweds lived happily ever after and were buried together. They were distinguished by sincere love and devotion to the sovereign. In the story, the question of honor is inseparable from serving the king. Happy is he whom the sovereign loves.

The year 1793 became a landmark for Karamzin and his work. At this time, the Jacobin dictatorship was established in France, which shocked the writer with its cruelty. She aroused in him doubts about the possibility for humanity to achieve prosperity. He condemned the revolution. The philosophy of despair and fatalism permeates his new works: the stories "Bornholm Island" (1793), "Sierra-Morena" (1795), the poems "Melancholy", "Message to A. A. Pleshcheev", etc.

By the mid-1790s, Nikolai Karamzin became the recognized head of Russian sentimentalism, which opened a new page in Russian literature. He was an indisputable authority for the young Batyushkov.

"Bulletin of Europe". "A note on old and new Russia"

In 1802 - 1803, Karamzin published the journal Vestnik Evropy, which is dominated by literature and politics. In his critical articles of this time, a new aesthetic program emerged, which contributed to the formation of Russian literature as a nationally distinctive one. Karamzin saw the key to the originality of Russian culture in history. The most striking illustration of his views was the story "Martha the Posadnitsa" mentioned above. In his political articles, Karamzin made recommendations to the government, pointing out the role of education.

Trying to influence Tsar Alexander I in this direction, Karamzin gave him his "Note on Ancient and New Russia in its Political and Civil Relations" (1811), which reflected the views of the conservative strata of society who did not approve of the liberal reforms of the sovereign. The note irritated the latter. In 1819, the writer submitted a new note - "The Opinion of a Russian Citizen", which aroused even greater displeasure of the tsar. However, Karamzin did not abandon his belief in the salvation of the enlightened autocracy and later condemned the Decembrist uprising. Despite this, Karamzin the artist was still highly regarded by young writers who did not even share his political convictions.

"History of Russian Goverment"

In 1803, through his friend and former teacher of the young emperor, Nikolai Mikhailovich received the official title of court historiographer. This was of great importance for him, since now, thanks to the pension appointed by the sovereign and access to the archives, the writer could carry out the work he had conceived on the history of the fatherland. In 1804, he left the literary field and plunged headlong into work: in the archives and book collections of the Synod, the Hermitage, the Academy of Sciences, the Public Library, Moscow University, the Alexander Nevsky and Trinity-Sergius Lavra, he read manuscripts and books on history, analyzed ancient tomes (, Trinity Chronicle, Code of Laws of Ivan the Terrible, "Praying" and many others) wrote out, compared. It is difficult to imagine what an enormous amount of work the historian Karamzin did. Indeed, the creation of twelve volumes of his "History of the Russian State" took more than twenty years of hard work, from 1804 to 1826. The presentation of historical events here was distinguished, as far as possible, by impartiality and reliability, as well as by an excellent artistic style. The narrative has been brought up to. In 1818, the first eight volumes of "History" were published, in 1821 the 9th volume, dedicated to the reign, was published, in 1824 - the 10th and 11th volumes, about Fyodor Ioannovich and. Death interrupted the work on the 12th volume and did not allow the implementation of the large-scale plan to the end.

The 12 volumes of the History of the Russian State, published one after the other, evoked numerous readers' responses. Perhaps for the first time in history, a printed book provoked such a surge in the national consciousness of the inhabitants of Russia. Karamzin opened his history to the people, explained his past. It was said that, having closed the eighth volume, he exclaimed: “It turns out that I have a Fatherland!”. Everyone was read by "History" - students, officials, nobles, even ladies of the world. We read it in Moscow and St. Petersburg, read it in the provinces: for example, 400 copies were bought in Irkutsk.

But the content of the work was perceived ambiguously. Thus, the freedom-loving youth was inclined to challenge the support of the monarchical system, which Karamzin showed in the pages of the History of the Russian State. And young Pushkin even wrote daring epigrams for a historian who was venerable in those years. In his opinion, this work proved "the need for autocracy and the charm of the whip." Karamzin, whose books did not leave anyone indifferent, in response to criticism was always restrained, calmly perceived both ridicule and praise.

Last years

Having moved to St. Petersburg, Karamzin, starting in 1816, spends every summer with his family. The Karamzins were hospitable hosts, receiving such famous poets, like Zhukovsky and Batyushkov (they were members of the Arzamas society, created in 1815 and defended the Karamzin trend in literature), as well as educated youth. Young A.S. also often visited this place. Pushkin, listening to the elders recite poetry, courting N.M. Karamzina Ekaterina Andreevna (she was the second wife of the writer, the couple had 9 children), already an elderly, but charming and intelligent woman, to whom he even decided to send a declaration of love. The wise and experienced Karamzin forgave the young man's trick, as well as his daring epigrams to History. Ten years later, Pushkin, already a mature person, will look differently at the great work of Nikolai Mikhailovich. In 1826, while in exile in Mikhailovskoye, he wrote in the "Note on public education" that the history of Russia should be taught according to Karamzin, and would call this work not just the work of a great historian, but also the feat of an honest man.

Generally, last years the life of the historian and writer can be called happy. He was tied by friendship with Tsar Alexander. Together they often walked, chatting, in Tsarskoye Selo Park. The event that darkened these years was. On December 14, 1825, Karamzin was present at the Senate Square. The historian, of course, was against the uprising, although he saw the familiar faces of the Muravyovs among the rioters. A few days after the speech, Nikolai Mikhailovich said: "The delusions and crimes of these young people are the essence of the delusions and crimes of our century."

Karamzin himself became a victim of the events of December 14: standing on Senate Square, he caught a terrible cold and died on May 22, 1826.

Memory

In 1848, the Karamzin public library was opened in Simbirsk. In Novgorod, at the monument "1000th Anniversary of Russia" (1862), among 129 figures the most outstanding personalities v Russian history there is also a figure of N.M. Karamzin. In Moscow, in honor of N.M. Karamzin's passage is named, in Kaliningrad - a street. A monument to the historian has been erected in Ulyanovsk, and a memorial sign in the Ostafyevo estate.

Essays

Selected works in 2 vols. M.-L., 1964.

History of Russian Goverment. SPb., 1818-1826.

Complete works in 18 vols. M., 1998-2008.

Complete collection of poems / Vstup. Art., prepared. text and notes. Yu.M. Lotman. L., 1967.

Nikolai Karamzin is a historian and writer of the 18-19th centuries. Born on December 12, 1866 in the Kazan province of the Znamenskoye family estate.

His family comes from the Crimean Tatars, his father is a retired officer, he was an average landowner, his mother died when Kolya Karamzin was still a child. His father, tutors and nannies were involved in his upbringing. Nikolai spent his entire childhood on the estate, received a home education, re-read all the books in his mother's large library.

His work was greatly influenced by his love of progressive foreign literature... It was the future publicist, writer, honorary member of the Academy of Sciences, a well-known critic, reformer of Russian literature and historiographer who grew up, he loved to read Rollin, Emin and other masters of the word of Europe.

In 1778 he entered a noble boarding house in Simbirsk, his father attached him to an army regiment, which made it possible for Nikolai Karamzin to study at the prestigious Moscow boarding school at Moscow University. Karamzin studied the humanities and attended lectures.

The future writer ended up on active service in the Preobrazhensky regiment. His military career was not attracted and he took a leave of absence for a year, and in 1784 he received a decree on his resignation with the rank of lieutenant.

In 1789 he made a great trip to Europe. During it, he met with Kant, visited Paris during the revolution, witnessed the fall of the Bastille. Collected a large number of material about European events that served for the creation of the Letters of the Russian Traveler, gained great popularity in society and are received with a bang by critics.

At the end of the trip he took up literature. He founded his own Moscow magazine, which published his bright star of sentimental creativity - Poor Liza.

In 1803 he became a historiographer. At this time, he began to work on a great work in his life - the History of the Russian State.

In 1810 he received the Order of St. Vladimir, 3rd degree. In 1816 he received the high rank of state councilor and became a knight of the Order of St. Anne of the 1st degree.

In 1818, 8 volumes of the History of the Russian State were published for the first time. He did not finish his huge work, the 12th volume was published after his death.

Karamzin's first wife - Elizaveta Protasova, married in 1801, his wife died after giving birth to his daughter Sophia. The second wife is Ekaterina Kolyvanova.

After the uprising of the Decembrists on Senate Square, Karamzin died after an aggravated cold. He rests in the Tikhvin cemetery. Karamzin was a fundamentalist of Russian sentimentalism, a reformer of the Russian language. He added many new words to the vocabulary. He was one of the first creators of a comprehensive generalizing work on the history of Russia.

Pushkin was a frequent visitor to the Karamzins.

Karamzin owns the expression that he said about Russian reality, to the question - what is happening in Russia, the answer was as follows - Steal.

Historians believe that Poor Liza is named after Protasova.

Sophia, Karamzin's daughter, was accepted by secular society, became a maid of honor at the imperial court, was friends with Pushkin and Lermontov.

Karamzin had 5 sons and 4 daughters from his second marriage.

Wow, you! .. Here, yes! .. Be healthy! ..

A. Venetsianov "Portrait of N. M. Karamzin"

“I was looking for the path to the truth,
I wanted to know the reason for everything ... "(N.M. Karamzin)

The History of the Russian State was the last and unfinished work of the outstanding Russian historian N.M. Karamzin: a total of 12 volumes of research were written, Russian history was set forth until 1612.

Karamzin developed an interest in history in his youth, but there was a long way to go before his vocation as a historian.

From the biography of N.M. Karamzin

Nikolay Mikhailovich Karamzin was born in 1766 in the family estate Znamenskoye of the Simbirsk district of the Kazan province in the family of a retired captain, a middle-ranked Simbirsk nobleman. Received education at home. Studied at Moscow University. A short time served in the Preobrazhensky Guards Regiment of St. Petersburg, it was to this time that his first literary experiments belong.

After retiring, he lived for some time in Simbirsk, and then moved to Moscow.

In 1789, Karamzin left for Europe, where he visited I. Kant in Konigsberg, and in Paris he witnessed the Great French Revolution. Returning to Russia, he publishes Letters of a Russian Traveler, which make him a famous writer.

Writer

"Karamzin's influence on literature can be compared with Catherine's influence on society: he made literature humane."(A.I. Herzen)

Creativity N.M. Karamzin developed in line with sentimentalism.

V. Tropinin "Portrait of N. M. Karamzin"

Literary direction sentimentalism(from fr.sentiment- feeling) was popular in Europe from the 20s to the 80s of the 18th century, and in Russia - from late XVIII before early XIX v. The ideologist of sentimentalism is J.-J. Ruso.

European sentimentalism penetrated into Russia in the 1780s – early 1790s. thanks to translations of Goethe's "Werther", novels by S. Richardson and J.-J. Russo, who were very popular in Russia:

She liked novels early;

They replaced everything for her.

She fell in love with deceptions

And Richardson and Russo.

Pushkin speaks here about his heroine Tatyana, but all the girls of that time read sentimental novels.

The main feature of sentimentalism is that attention in them is primarily paid to the mental world of a person, in the first place are feelings, not reason and great ideas. The heroes of the works of sentimentalism have an innate moral purity, integrity, they live in the bosom of nature, love it and are merged with it.

Such a heroine is Liza from the story of Karamzin "Poor Liza" (1792). This story was a huge success among readers, followed by numerous imitations, but the main significance of sentimentalism, and in particular Karamzin's story, was that in such works the inner world was revealed common man that evoked empathy in others.

In poetry, Karamzin was also an innovator: the former poetry, represented by the odes of Lomonosov and Derzhavin, spoke the language of reason, and Karamzin's poems spoke the language of the heart.

N.M. Karamzin - reformer of the Russian language

He enriched the Russian language with many words: "impression", "falling in love", "influence", "entertaining", "touching". Introduced the words “era”, “focus”, “stage”, “moral”, “aesthetic”, “harmony”, “future”, “catastrophe”, “charity”, “freethinking”, “attraction”, “responsibility "," Suspicion "," industry "," sophistication "," first-class "," human ".

His language reforms caused a stormy controversy: members of the society "Conversation of lovers of the Russian word", headed by G.R.Derzhavin and A.S. Shishkov, adhered to conservative views, opposed the reform of the Russian language. In response to their activities, the literary society "Arzamas" was formed in 1815 (it included Batyushkov, Vyazemsky, Zhukovsky, Pushkin), which mocked the authors of the "Conversation" and parodied their works. The literary victory of "Arzamas" over "Beseda" was won, which also strengthened the victory of Karamzin's linguistic changes.

Karamzin also introduced the letter Y into the alphabet. Prior to this, the words "tree", "hedgehog" were written like this: "іolka", "іozh".

Karamzin also introduced a dash, one of the punctuation marks, into Russian writing.

Historian

In 1802 N.M. Karamzin wrote historical story"Martha Posadnitsa, or the Conquest of Novgorod", and in 1803 Alexander I appointed him to the post of historiographer, thus, the rest of his life Karamzin devoted to writing "History of the Russian State", in fact, finished with fiction.

Examining the manuscripts of the 16th century, Karamzin discovered and published in 1821 Afanasy Nikitin's "Voyage across the Three Seas". In this regard, he wrote: "... while Vasco da Gamma only thought about the possibility of finding a way from Africa to Hindustan, our Tver was already a merchant on the banks of the Malabar"(a historical area in South India). In addition, Karamzin initiated the installation of a monument to K.M. Minin and D.M. Pozharsky on Red Square and initiated the erection of monuments to outstanding figures in Russian history.

"History of Russian Goverment"

The historical work of N.M. Karamzin

This is a multivolume essay by N.M. Karamzin, describing Russian history from ancient times to the reign of Ivan IV the Terrible and the Time of Troubles. Karamzin's work was not the first in describing the history of Russia, before him there were already the historical works of V.N. Tatishchev and M.M. Shcherbatov.

But Karamzin's History had, in addition to historical, high literary merits, also due to the ease of writing, it attracted not only specialists, but also simply educated people to Russian history, which greatly contributed to the formation of national identity, interest in the past. A.S. Pushkin wrote that “Everyone, even secular women, rushed to read the history of their fatherland, which they had never known before. She was a new discovery for them. Ancient Russia, it seemed, was found by Karamzin, as America was found by Columbus. "

It is believed that in this work Karamzin nevertheless showed himself more not as a historian, but as a writer: "History" is written beautifully literary language(by the way, Karamzin did not use the letter E in it), but the historical value of his work is unconditional, since the author used the manuscripts that were first published by him and many of which have not survived to this day.

Working on the "History" until the end of his life, Karamzin did not manage to finish it. The text of the manuscript breaks off at the chapter "Interregnum 1611-1612".

The work of N.M. Karamzin over the "History of the Russian State"

In 1804, Karamzin retired to the Ostafyevo estate, where he devoted himself entirely to writing History.

Manor Ostafyevo

Ostafyevo- the estate of Prince P.A.Vyazemsky near Moscow. It was built in 1800-07. father of the poet, Prince A. I. Vyazemsky. The estate remained in the possession of the Vyazemskys until 1898, after which it passed into the possession of the Sheremetevs.

In 1804 A.I. Vyazemsky invited his son-in-law, N.M. Karamzin, who worked here on the History of the Russian State. In April 1807, after the death of his father, Pyotr Andreevich Vyazemsky became the owner of the estate, under whom Ostafyevo became one of the symbols cultural life Russia: Pushkin, Zhukovsky, Batyushkov, Denis Davydov, Griboyedov, Gogol, Adam Mitskevich have been here many times.

Contents of "History of the Russian State" by Karamzin

N. M. Karamzin "History of the Russian State"

In the course of his work, Karamzin found the Ipatiev Chronicle, it was from here that the historian drew many details and details, but did not clutter up the text of the narrative with them, but brought them into a separate volume of notes that have special historical significance.

In his work, Karamzin describes the peoples who inhabited the territory modern Russia, the origins of the Slavs, their conflict with the Varangians, tells about the origin of the first princes of Russia, their rule, describes in detail everything important events Russian history until 1612

The value of N.M. Karamzin

Already the first publications of "History" shocked contemporaries. They read it excitedly, discovering the past of their country. Writers used many plots in the future for works of art... For example, Pushkin took material from "History" for his tragedy "Boris Godunov", which he dedicated to Karamzin.

But, as always, there were also critics. Basically, modern liberals to Karamzin objected to the statist picture of the world, expressed in the work of the historian, and his belief in the effectiveness of autocracy.

Statism- it is a worldview and ideology that absolutize the role of the state in society and propagandize the maximum subordination of the interests of individuals and groups to the interests of the state; the policy of active state intervention in all spheres of public and private life.

Statism considers the state as the highest institution, standing above all other institutions, although its goal is to create real opportunities for the comprehensive development of the individual and the state.

The liberals reproached Karamzin for following in his work only the development of the supreme power, which gradually took the form of the autocracy of his day, but neglected the history of the Russian people itself.

There is even an epigram attributed to Pushkin:

In his "History" elegance, simplicity
They prove to us without any predilection
The need for autocracy
And the delights of the whip.

Indeed, by the end of his life, Karamzin was a staunch supporter of absolute monarchy. He did not share the point of view of most thinking people on serfdom, was not an ardent supporter of its abolition.

He died in 1826 in St. Petersburg and was buried at the Tikhvin cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

Monument to N.M. Karamzin in Ostafyevo