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Birthday anniversary of Alexander I. Herzen, Russian author, philosopher and writer of political essays
March 25 (April 6) 1812, in the family of the landowner I. Yakovlev and a German Henrietta Wilhelmina Luisa Haag was born Alexander Herzen, future Russian author, philosopher, writer of political essays, revolutionary; one of the founders of the Free Russian Press (1853). His parents' marriage was not officially registered, so Yakovlev imagined for his son the name "Herzen" from German Herz - «the heart."
In 1833, Herzen graduated from the Moscow University, Physics and Mathematics Department. The views of the young man were strongly influenced by the Decembrist movement, the events of the July Revolution in France in 1830, the Polish uprising of 1830-1831. His essay "About the place of a man in nature" (1832) shows the author's familiarity with the issues of natural science, philosophical ideas and social teachings of European philosophers A. de Saint-Simon, F. W. J. Schelling, V. Cousin.
At the Moscow University, Herzen formed a circle of a democratic nature, whose members studied political doctrines and utopian socialism. In July of 1834 the activities of the illegal circle became known to the authorities: its head, along with some members of the circle, was arrested and a year later sent to Perm, and from there - to Vyatka, where he was employed by the provincial office. In late 1837 he was allowed to move to Vladimir. Two years later, Herzen returned to Moscow, then moved to St. Petersburg, where, at the urging of his father, joined the Office of the Ministry of Interior. But in July of 1841, having given a sharp opinion about the police in a private letter, he was sent to Novgorod, where he served in the provincial government.
In the years of the exile ideological ideas if Herzen had socio-religious forms, which reflected both in his letters and in his philosophical and literary works "From the Roman scenes" (1838), "William Penn" (1839). Having returned from exile in July of 1842 and settled in Moscow, he took part in the struggle of the Slavophiles and Westernists, and until the mid 1840s, he was the head of the left-wing of Westernists.
In his articles, "Amateurism in Science" (1842-1843) following the path of understanding the unity of man and nature (matter and consciousness), Herzen tried to justify the appropriateness of the mankind’s movement to the non antagonistic society. The philosopher believed that when spirit and matter merged, would begin the time of "conscious act", which he saw as the true essence of human activity. Herzen saw literature as a reflection of social life and a means of struggle against autocracy. His work, "Who is to blame?" (1841-1846) was one of the first Russian socio-psychological novels, whose main character reflected philosophical ideals of the author.
In his philosophical "Letters on the Study of Nature" (1844-1845) Herzen developed the idea of unity of opposites, stressed the importance of overcoming the antagonism between natural science and philosophy, or, as he put it, between "empiricism" and "idealism." He searched for appropriateness of historical development in the objective conditions of life of human society. At the same time, he considered the struggle between the privileged and the oppressed classes, and conflicts between the individual and the environment as the contradictions that lie at the heart of social development.
In 1847, Herzen and his family moved to Paris. The defeat of the 1848 revolution in France, that he witnessed and took part in, led him to the revision of his own philosophy. In 1849, he published an article entitled "Russia", where he first formulated his views on the rural community, and in subsequent years, began to develop the theory of "Russian socialism", becoming one of the founders of populism. The basis of his theory formed the ideas of the socialist reconstruction of society similar to the peasant community. Most fully his views on Russian historical process were formulated in "On the development of revolutionary ideas in Russia" (1850).
In 1849, Herzen moved to Geneva, where he took part in the publication of the "People’s voice" by French journalist P. J. Proudhon. In 1850 Herzen settled in Nice, where he became friends with the leaders of the Italian liberation movement. Two years later, he moved to London, where he founded the Free Russian Printing House. In the early 1850's the writer started working on the autobiography "The past and the thoughts."
In 1855 Herzen began publishing the almanac "Polar Star" which soon widely spread in Russia too. The next year a close friend of A. I. Herzen, poet and journalist Nikolai Ogarev moved to London. Together they started to issue "The Bell" - the first Russian revolutionary newspaper. After the Emancipation reform (1861) "The Bells" published articles strongly criticizing incompleteness of the reform, and revolutionary leaflets. The spread of the newspaper in Russia contributed to the unity of the opposition forces and the creation of a revolutionary organization called "Land and Freedom". During the Polish uprising in 1863-1864 Herzen spoke in support of the rebels, which alienated a significant part of Russian readers from "The Bell", and the paper's circulation declined several times. In 1867, the publication of "The Bell" was dropped.
Herzen’s latest work - letters "To the old friend" (1869), addressed to Mikhail Bakunin and directed against his appeals for the destruction of the state, the immediate social revolution and total freedom was a sort of theoretical will of Herzen.
Alexander Herzen died on 9 (21) January 1870 in Paris and was buried in the cemetery of Pere-Lachaise. Later, the remains of Herzen were moved to Nice.
Lit.: А. И. Герцен [Электронный ресурс] // Philolog.ru. Б. д. URL: http://philolog.petrsu.ru/herzen/index.html; А. И. Герцен. 1870 — 21 янв. 1920: Сб. статей. Пг., 1920; Белявская И. М. А. И. Герцен и польское национально-освободительное движение 60-х гг. XIX в., М., 1954; Володин А. И. Герцен. М., 1970; Герцен А. И. Собрание сочинений: В 30 т. М., 1954-1966; Гинзбург Л. «Былое и думы» Герцена. Л., 1957; Каменев Л. Герцен Александр Иванович // Литературная энциклопедия: В 11 т. Т. 2. М., 1929; То же [Электронный ресурс] URL: http://feb-web.ru/feb/litenc/encyclop/le2/le2-4841.htm; Нович И. С. Молодой Герцен. Страницы жизни и творчества. М., 1986; Павлов А. Т. От дворянской революционности к революционному демократизму: идейная эволюция А. И. Герцена. М., 1977; Пипер Л. О. Мировоззрение Герцена: Историко-философские очерки. М.; Л., 1935; Пирумова Н. М. А. Герцен, М., 1962; Проблемы изучения Герцена: Сб. статей. М., 1963; Семёнов В. С. Александр Герцен. М., 1989; Смирнова З. В. Социальная философия А. И. Герцена. М., 1973; Филатова Е. М. Экономические взгляды Герцена и Огарёва. М., 1953; Чуковская Л. К. «Былое и думы» Герцена. М., 1966; Шпет Г. Философское мировоззрение Герцена. Пг., 1921; Эйдельман Н. Я. Герценовский «Колокол». М., 1963.
Based on the Presidential Library’s materials:
Батуринский В. П. А.И. Герцен, его друзья и знакомые. СПБ., 1904;
Богучарский В. Я. Александр Иванович Герцен. СПб., 1912;
Ганжулевич Т. Я. Достоевский и Герцен в истории русского самосознания. СПб., 1907;
Герцен А. И. Император Александр I и В. Н. Каразин. СПб., 1906;
Герцен А. И. Сочинения : в 2 т. М., 1985 Т. 1;
Герцен А. И. Сочинения : в 2 т. М., 1986 Т. 2;
Герцен А. И. Тюрьма и ссылка: из записок Искандера. Лондон, 1858;
Литературное наследство. 39/40: А. И. Герцен. I. М., 1941;
Литературное наследство. 41/42: А. И. Герцен. II. М., 1941;
Материалы для будущей истории Сибири и ссылки [М. Л.] Михайлова. Лейпциг, 1881;
Материалы для истории царствования императора Николая Павловича : [Сборник]. Лейпциг, 1880;
Некролог. А. И. Герцен // Вестник Европы. [Г. 5 1870, т. 1, кн. 2, февраль]. СПб., 1870. С. 935-945;