The Presidential Library illustrates “poet-minister” Gavrila Derzhavin

July 14, 2019 marks the 276th anniversary of the birth of Gavrila Derzhavin, the first Russian poet of his time, extraordinary and successful statesman: he was the governor of Olonets and Tambov Governorates, the cabinet secretary of Catherine II, the minister of justice of Russia and retired as a senator and a real secret advisor. The Presidential Library’s portal features the electronic collection “Gavrila Derzhavin (1743–1816)” consisting of rare materials: military notes, poems and notes of songs written in the words of the poet as well as  digital copies of the memoirs of contemporaries, odes and plays of Derzhavin himself.

The academic edition of Yakov Grot “The life of Derzhavin following his writings, letters, and historical documents. V. 2” (1883) highlights the brightest and most complex milestones in Derzhavin’s ascent from the rank of a soldier to an officer’s rank, and later on to a governor-general’s rank, to the status of a court superior caste. Analyzing the reasons for such a swift and brilliant career, the author first of all notes Derzhavin's patriotism, manifested, in particular, during the period of his Volga expedition, aimed at suppressing Yemelyan Pugachev's troops. The chapter of Grot’s book "Report of princess Golitsyna on the expedition of Derzhavin" says : "This lieutenant Derzhavin on August 30 with five hundred peasants went on a campaign directly to Uzeni, intercepted up to a thousand predators Kirgiz-Kasak and these were defeated here". The fearlessness of Derzhavin-military man is also reflected in Grot’s rare book of 1861 "The activities and correspondence of Derzhavin during the Pugachev rebellion".

During the reign of Emperors Paul I and Alexander I, Derzhavin continued to actively participate in the state life of the country, occupying high positions: the ruler of the office of the Senate, the state treasurer, the minister of justice. It is widely known what active participation Gavrila Romanovich took in the formation of the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum of the first, Pushkin’s entry.

At the same time, the fame of Derzhavin as a poet, an innovator in the field of language, who wrote odes and lyrical poems, which were shifted to music, as well as a sharp satire on court bribe-takers and bureaucrats, grew. He took plots from life: in one of the volumes of the “Senate Archive” a detailed report of G. R. Derzhavin on the case of D. A. Lopukhin, one of the most conspicuous corruption cases of the end of the XVIII - beginning of the XIX century, was included.

In “Notes ...” Derzhavin, for example, describes (talks about himself in the third person) how once, being a governor, he encountered what the Olonets governor wrote a whole book of laws, “not written by him and the imperial power not approved”, and strictly demanded from the subordinates of their execution. “But they were not consistent”, Derzhavin writes, “for example: the governor-general ordered the economy director to submit annual reports to himself, how many tens of forests in each place were planted or sown, while Olonets province was full of tundra and forests; in short, being surprised at such game and bold boldness, Derzhavin doubted to adopt those laws for execution”.

According to Yevgeny Turmenir in his work “Poet-Viceroy”, “he was a zealous official and even put his public service above his literary occupations”.

Moral guidelines identified in the works of Derzhavin and supported by his whole life allowed the journalist and writer N. N. Novikov to write in 1912 “The Catechism of a True Russian Man, compiled according to the views of Lomonosov, Derzhavin, Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol, Aksakov, Khomyakov and other best true Russian writers”. There he noted the priority of the poet in the formulation of the problem of public and personal freedom:

“It would be wrong, however, to think that Pushkin and Lermontov were the first Russian poets who rebelled against "freedom, genius and fame of executioners": Derzhavin, who belonged to a much earlier generation, in his poem, with a little indignation, spoke about those who "see - and do not know“ about the “earthly gods”.

In the dedication to the "Catechism ..." the words were written that most accurately expressed the human and civil essence of Gavrila Derzhavin, as well as all others from this list: "Unforgettable and noble memory of people who laid the soul for the material and spiritual liberation of the Russian people".