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Birthday anniversary of Ivan V. Kireyevsky, slavophile, literary critic, philosopher
March 22 (April 3), 1806, in Moscow, in an aristocratic noble family, was born one of the main theorists of Slavophilism, idealist philosopher and literary critic, Ivan Vasilievich Kireyevsky.
In 1812, Ivan's father, a retired Major General Vasily Ivanovich, died having become infected with typhus in the hospital that he had arranged for Russian soldiers wounded in the hostilities of the Patriotic War. Ivan's mother, Avdotia Petrovna, a niece of V. A. Zhukovsky, who after that married A. A. Elagin, was the mistress of the famous social and literary salon, which had been one of the centers of Moscow cultural life for several decades, giving way to the great literature to many writers and public figures who later became famous.
Along with his brother Peter, Kireyevsky was well educated at home in the field of history, literature and foreign languages. In 1822, to complete his education, Ivan attended private lectures of professors at Moscow University, and two years later joined the Moscow Archive of Ministry of Foreign Affairs. There, jointly with other "archival boys" – A. I. Koshelev, S. P. Shevyryov, S. A. Sobolevsky, D. V. Venevitinov, V. F. Odoevsky - he created the "Society of Wisdom" - literary and philosophical circle aimed at the study of German idealistic philosophy and contemporary German literature. After the suppression of the Decembrist uprising, whom the members of the group greatly sympathized, the "Society of Wisdom" was dissolved.
In 1827, wishing to actively serve the public good, freedom and enlightenment of the people Kireyevsky leaves the public service. That same year took place his full-fledged literary debut - a poem "Tsaritsynskaya night" written in the romantic style. Soon, the young writer began to cooperate with the "Moscow Gazette" and its publishers, M. P. Pogodin and S. P. Shevyryov. In 1828 appeared Kireyevsky’s first printed work – an article "Something about the nature of Pushkin's poetry."
Knowing the poet personally, Ivan, first among the critics, attempted to fully analyze the literary works of Pushkin and define the periodization of Pushkin's work in the context of European literary tradition. The article was highly appreciated by his contemporaries, including Pushkin himself. The next remarkable publication by Kireyevsky was the article "Survey of Russian Literature of 1829", where he studied the works of Karamzin, Zhukovsky, Baratynsky, Delvig. In addition, Ivan gave tribute to the work of a famous publisher, N. I. Novikov.
Almost the whole year of 1830, Kireyevsky spent in Germany with his brother. There he met the major European scholars and public figures of the time, including Hegel. Returning to Russia, Ivan tried to realize the old idea - to open his own socio-literary journal titled "A European." However, the new journal was prepared for a very short life. In February 1832 it was banned by the 3rd Division on the personal orders of Emperor Nicholas I.
The reason for such a severe decision were Kireyevsky’s articles, "Nineteenth Century" and "Woe from Wit" at Moscow Theater," where the censors found seditious, freedom-loving thoughts and judgments. Despite the rapid closure, "A European" was one of the most significant events in the public life of Russia at the time. On its pages, two philosophical trends that had emerged in the Moscow enlightened society - Westernism and Slavophilism - co-existed in a unique manner. The struggle of these trends became critical to the life of Russian intellectuals in the years to come.
In 1839, when the Yelagins’ salon A. S. Khomiakov read his article, "The old and the new" - one of the most orthodox manifestos of Slavophilism, Kireyevsky criticized some of his provisions "In response to A. S. Khomiakov," which was not published during his lifetime, but was widely dispersed in the lists.
The next stage in the life of Ivan was his co-operation with the "Muscovite", owned by M. Pogodin, in 1840-s. By this time Kireyevsky already was one of the leaders of the moderate trend of Slavophilism. In 1845 he published a programmatic article "Review of the current state of literature." In addition, he published a series of articles on philology, among which stood aside "Public lectures of Professor Shevyryov." After the second failed attempt to publish his own journal, Kireyevsky finally quits all the public activity. The last articles of Ivan - "On the nature of education in Europe and its relation to the Russian education" and "On the necessity and possibility of new beginnings for the philosophy" proclaimed the move of Kireyevsky from moderate to orthodox positions in Slavophilism.
Ivan Kireyevsky died from cholera 11 (23) June 1856, at the age of 50. He was buried in the Optina Monastery.
Lit.: Киреевский И. В. Полное собрание сочинений: В 2 тт. М., 1911; Он же. Избранные статьи. М., 1984; Он же. Критика и эстетика. М., 1998; Он же. Разум на пути к истине. М., 2002; Европеец, журнал И. В. Киреевского. М., 1989; Антонов М. Ф. Проблема русского нравственного идеала в трудах И. В. Киреевского. Новосибирск, 1990; Благова Т. И. Родоначальники славянофильства Алексей Хомяков и Иван Киреевский. М., 1995; Иван и Пётр Киреевские в русской культуре / Сост. Г. И. Ловецкий, А. Ф. Малышевский. Калуга, 2001.
Based on the Presidential Library’s materials: