The Presidential Library rare materials illustrate Nikolai Chernyshevsky’s youth

July 24, 2018 marks Nikolai Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky’s 190^th birth anniversary. The Presidential Library's collections feature a variety of materials dedicated to the Russian philosopher, scholar, writer and literary critic. This, of course, the work of one of the outstanding figures of the XIX century, as well as numerous works that illustrate his personality and activities, including memoirs of contemporaries. 

Nikolai Chernyshevsky was born in Saratov in 1828 on July 24 (July 12 - according to the old style). "Nikolai was the first and the only child in the family. His childhood was spent in a happy atmosphere, - we read in a digital copy of the 1927 edition “The Russian Revolutionaries”. - His parents lived together. They loved their only son with all their heart and soul and lavished caress and care on him".   

The father, archpriest of the Sergievskaya church in Saratov, had a great influence on the upbringing of the boy, it is noted in the above-mentioned book: "Gavriil Ivanovich Chernyshevsky was an outstanding man. Kind, clever, educated, he stood out against the dark and rough environment of the clergy. An inquisitive mind, breadth and clarity of views, tolerance, firmness, directness, honesty and gentleness were the distinguishing features of Chernyshevsky's father. Chernyshevsky-son inherited and received from his father these traits of character and mind".

It was the father who put to his son’s soul the desire for study, to the higher requests of spirit, encouraged the study of foreign languages. "The curiosity of N. G. was strong and varied", - we read memoirs of Chernyshevsky family member A. Pypin in his book ”Chernyshevsky: His Life and Work” (1928). "What he learned, he quickly grasped and firmly preserved, to which an unusual memory helped him".

A whole series of publications about N. G. Chernyshevsky is available in the historical magazine "Russian Antiquities", which was published in Russia from 1870 to 1918, its digitized issues are stored in the Presidential Library. Thus, the September issue for 1890 presents an article devoted, in particular, to the childhood years of the future philosopher. Its author, F. V. Dukhovnikov, notes: "Children are great imitators and try to adopt from adults and do what they do; Nikolai Gavrilovich, as in a very talented and intelligent boy, had this trait especially developed; he himself wanted to read books, and he soon learned to read, Lyubov Nikolayevna carried him playing the piano, so Nikolai Gavrilovich also learned to play it".

"Nikolai was very gifted for languages. By the age of 13-14 he knew thoroughly Latin, Greek, French, German and even English. Not content with this, he began to study the Tatar and Persian languages. With the same greed, he read many books on history, geography, physics and other subject areas, was fond of literature", "The Russian Revolutionaries" book mentioned. "I became a bibliophage, a devourer of books, so early", N. G. Chernyshevsky will write later in his “Autobiography”.

The outstanding abilities of the young man were celebrated in the gymnasium. Evidence is found in the March issue of the historical journal "Russian Antiquity" for 1912: "At the lessons of literature, the teacher Voskresensky had to explain the scriptures according to the statute. Usually the whole thing was limited to reading a book. In these lessons, N.G. disturbed both the teacher and his comrades with his knowledge: such a German interpreter interprets so-and-such a French one in a different way, and the English interpreter understands this place in this sense".

Meanwhile, it is a mistake to believe that Chernyshevsky devoted time exclusively to intellectual disciplines. "Russian Antiquity" quotes a friend of his youth, V. Chesnokov: "Having read about the life of the Greeks and Romans, Nikolai Gavrilovich, in his childhood (14 years), was aware of the importance of gymnastic exercises for strengthening the body (which he repeatedly told comrades of children's games) by them, albeit on the sly from their parents, who probably forbade him from doing such a thing. In his backyard, he, along with the other boys, dug a hole through which they jumped for prizes. Whoever jumps a pit, he receives a prize: apples, nuts and so on. Usually Nikolai Gavrilovich jumped over the pit, but he himself, like the eldest of us, did not take prizes, giving them to other boys, or shared with them. Our other gymnastic exercises were: jumping over different objects, climbing on a pole, on trees, throwing a stone out of a sling, running off to start, into distillation and a friend".

Physical entertainment and physical exercises in the open air strengthened the boy's body, developed his strength, which, incidentally, helped him a lot: "They say that in the seminary he never left the book, even during the recess. When fellows begin to harass him and take him off from school, he will jump up from his desk, rushing at the pupils and driving them all away", - we read in “The Russian Antiquity”.

Rare materials from the Presidential Library collections keep a lot of information about Chernyshevsky in the memoirs of contemporaries. The further way of living was difficult, but he went forward unswervingly, towards the goal that he defined in his youth: "The highest meaning of a person's life is to serve humanity. Mankind is unhappy, suffering because of created unjust and unequal human relationships. Only science and knowledge can destroy social injustices and establish justice and equality on the ground, that is, the happiness of all mankind", - such a formulation is given in the book "Russian Revolutionaries".

The work by N. G. Chernyshevsky for the benefit of society is reflected in his works, which today are part of the Presidential Library e-collections. This is not only the "Complete Works of the Thinker", but a book from the series "Historical and Revolutionary Library" "N. G. Chernyshevsky. 1828-1928: Collection of articles, documents and memoirs", which tells how the novel "What to do? was written in the Peter and Paul Fortress, which brought up many generations, “Notes by Chernyshevsky to the Translation of "Introduction to the History of the XIX Century by Gervinus" and many other materials are published.