Herzen works list of the most famous. Alexander Herzen: biography, literary heritage

Herzen Alexander Ivanovich - Russian prose writer, publicist.

Born on March 25 (April 6), 1812 in Moscow in the family of a noble Moscow gentleman I.A. Yakovlev and a German woman Louise Gaag. The marriage of the parents was not formalized, so an illegitimate child was considered a pupil of his father. This explains the invented surname - from the German word Herz (heart). The future writer spent his childhood in his uncle's house on Tverskoy Boulevard (now house 25, which houses the Gorky Literary Institute). Although from childhood Herzen was not deprived of attention, the position of an illegitimate child evoked in him a feeling of orphanhood. In his memoirs, the writer called his home a "strange abbey", and considered the only pleasures of childhood to be playing with the yard boys, the hall and the girl's. Childhood impressions of the life of serfs, according to Herzen, aroused in him "an insurmountable hatred for any slavery and for any arbitrariness."
Oral memoirs of living witnesses of the war with Napoleon, freedom-loving poems by Pushkin and Ryleev, works by Voltaire and Schiller - these are the main milestones in the development of the soul of young Herzen. The uprising of December 14, 1825 turned out to be the most significant event in this series. After the execution of the Decembrists, Herzen, together with his friend N. Ogarev, vowed to "take revenge on the executed."

In 1829 Herzen entered the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Moscow University, where he soon formed a group of progressive-minded students. Members of this group, Ogarev, N.Kh. modern history. By this time, he was fascinated by the ideas of Saint-Simonism and attempts to present his own vision of the social order. Already in the first articles (On the Place of Man in Nature, 1832, etc.), Herzen showed himself not only as a philosopher, but also as a brilliant writer. Hoffmann's essay (1833-1834, publ. 1836) showed a typical manner of writing: an introduction to journalistic reasoning of a bright figurative language, confirmation of the author's thoughts by plot narration.

In 1833 Herzen graduated from the university with a silver medal. Work in the Moscow expedition of the Kremlin structure. The service left the young man enough free time to engage in creativity. Herzen conceived the idea of ​​publishing a magazine, but in July 1834 he was arrested - for allegedly singing songs in the company of friends discrediting the royal family. During interrogations, the Investigative Commission, without proving the direct guilt of Herzen, nevertheless considered that his convictions posed a danger to the state.

In April 1835, with the obligation to be on public service under the supervision of the local authorities, Herzen was sent first to Perm, then to Vyatka. He was friends with the architect A.L. Vitberg and other exiles, corresponded with his cousin N.A. Zakharyina, who later became his wife. In 1837 Vyatka was visited by the heir to the throne, who was accompanied by V.A. Zhukovsky. At the poet's request, at the end of 1837 Herzen was transferred to Vladimir, where he served in the governor's office. From Vladimir, Herzen secretly went to Moscow to see his bride, and in May they got married. From 1839 to 1850, four children were born in the Herzen family. In July 1839, police supervision was removed from Herzen, he got the opportunity to visit Moscow and St. Petersburg, where he was accepted into the circle of V. G. Belinsky, T. N. Granovsky, I. I. Panaev and others. in which he wrote about the "murder" of the St. Petersburg guard. The enraged Nicholas I ordered Herzen to be sent "for spreading unfounded rumors" to Novgorod without the right to enter the capitals. Only in July 1842, having retired with the rank of court adviser, after the petition of his friends, Herzen returned to Moscow. He began hard work on a series of articles on the connection of science and philosophy with real life under the general title Dilettantism in Science.

After several unsuccessful attempts to contact fiction. In 1847 Herzen left Russia with his family and began his long journey through Europe. Watching life Western countries, interspersed personal impressions with historical and philosophical studies (Letters from France and Italy, 1847-1852; From the other side, 1847-1850, etc.). In 1850–1852, a series of personal dramas by Herzen took place: the betrayal of his wife, the death of his mother and youngest son in a shipwreck, the death of his wife from childbirth. In 1852 Herzen settled in London. By this time, he was perceived as the first figure of the Russian emigration. Together with Ogarev, he began to publish revolutionary publications - the almanac "Polar Star" (1855-1868) and the newspaper "The Bell" (1857-1867), whose influence on revolutionary movement Russia was huge. Despite the many articles published by the writer in the "Polar Star" and "The Bell" and published in separate editions, his main creation of the emigrant years is the Past and Thoughts (published 1855-1919).

The past and thoughts by genre - a synthesis of memoirs, journalism, literary portraits, autobiographical novel, historical chronicle, short stories. The author himself called this book a confession, "about which stopped thoughts from thoughts gathered here and there." The first five parts describe Herzen's life from childhood to the events of 1850-1852, when the author suffered severe spiritual trials associated with the collapse of his family. The sixth part, as a continuation of the first five, is devoted to life in England. The seventh and eighth parts, even more free in chronology and subject matter, reflect the life and thoughts of the author in the 1860s.

Initially, Herzen intended to write about the tragic events of his personal life. But “everything old, half-forgotten, was resurrected,” and the architecture of the concept gradually expanded. In general, work on the book lasted about fifteen years, and the chronology of the narrative did not always coincide with the chronology of writing. In 1865, Herzen left England and went on a long journey through Europe, trying to unwind after another family drama(three-year-old twins died of diphtheria, the new wife did not find understanding among the older children). At this time, Herzen moved away from the revolutionaries, especially from the Russian radicals. Arguing with Bakunin, who called for the destruction of the state, he wrote: "People cannot be liberated in the outer life more than they are liberated inside." These words are perceived as Herzen's spiritual testament.
Like most Russian Westernizers-radicals, Herzen went through a period of deep passion for Hegelianism in his spiritual development. Hegel's influence is clearly seen in the series of articles Dilettantism in Science (1842–1843). Their pathos lies in the approval and interpretation of Hegelian dialectics as a tool for cognition and revolutionary transformation of the world (“the algebra of revolution”). Herzen severely condemned abstract idealism in philosophy and science for being isolated from real life, for "apriorism" and "spiritualism". The future development of mankind, in his opinion, should lead to the "removal" of antagonistic contradictions in society, the formation of philosophical and scientific knowledge, inextricably linked with reality. Moreover, the result of development will be the merging of spirit and matter. IN historical process knowledge of reality, a "universal mind, freed from personality" will be formed.
These ideas were further developed in the main philosophical work of Herzen - Letters on the Study of Nature (1845-1846). Continuing the criticism of philosophical idealism, Herzen defined nature as a "pedigree of thinking", and saw in the idea of ​​pure being only an illusion. For a materialistic thinker, nature is an eternally living, "wandering substance", primary in relation to the dialectic of knowledge. In the Letters, Herzen, quite in the spirit of Hegelianism, substantiated consistent historiocentrism: “neither humanity nor nature can be understood without historical being,” and in understanding the meaning of history he adhered to the principles of historical determinism. However, in the reflections of the late Herzen, the former progressivism gives way to much more pessimistic and critical assessments.
First of all, this refers to his analysis of the process of formation in society of a new type of mass consciousness, exclusively consumer, based on completely materialistic individualism (egoism). Such a process, according to Herzen, leads to total massification public life and, accordingly, to its peculiar entropy (“the turn of all European life in favor of silence and crystallization”), to the loss of individual and personal originality. “Personalities were erased, generic typism smoothed out everything sharply individual and restless” (Ends and Beginnings, 1863). Disappointment in European progress, according to Herzen, led him "to the brink of moral death", from which only "faith in Russia" saved him. Herzen hoped for the possibility of establishing socialist relations in Russia (although he had considerable doubts about the previous revolutionary paths, which he wrote about in an article To an old comrade, 1869). Herzen associated the prospects for the development of socialism primarily with the peasant community.

Russian revolutionary, philosopher, writer A. I. Herzen was born in Moscow on March 25, 1812. He was born from an extramarital affair between a wealthy landowner Ivan Yakovlev and a young German woman of bourgeois blood Louise Haag, originally from Stuttgart. They came up with the surname Herzen for their son (translated from German as “heart”).

The child grew up and was brought up in the Yakovlev estate. He was given a good education at home, he had the opportunity to read books from his father's library: works by Western enlighteners, poems by banned Russian poets Pushkin and Ryleev. As a teenager, he became friends with the future revolutionary and poet N. Ogarev. This friendship lasted a lifetime.

Youth of Herzen

When Alexander was thirteen years old, the December Uprising took place in Russia, the events of which forever affected the fate of Herzen. So, from a very young age, he had eternal idols, patriotic heroes who came to Senate Square to deliberate death for the future new life of the younger generation. He swore an oath to avenge the execution of the Decembrists and continue their work.

In the summer of 1828, on Sparrow Hills in Moscow, Herzen and Ogarev swore an oath to devote their lives to the struggle for the freedom of the people. Friends kept the loyalty to the oath for life. In 1829 Alexander began his studies at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Moscow University. In 1833 he graduated from it, receiving the degree of candidate. In their student years, Herzen and Ogarev grouped around themselves progressive youth from like-minded people. They were occupied with questions of freedom, equality, education. The university leadership considered Herzen a dangerous freethinker with very daring plans.

Arrest and exile. Herzen's marriage

A year after graduating from the university, he was arrested for active propaganda and exiled to Perm, then transferred to Vyatka, then to Vladimir. The harsh conditions of exile in Perm and Vyatka changed during his stay in Vladimir towards improvement. Now he could travel to Moscow, meet friends. He took his fiancee N. A. Zakharyina from Moscow to Vladimir, where they got married.

1838 - 1840 were especially happy years for young spouses. Herzen, who had already tried his hand at literature before, was not marked by creative achievements during these years. He wrote two romantic dramas in verse ("Licinius", "William Pen"), which have not survived, and the story "Notes of a young man". Alexander Ivanovich knew that creative imagination- not his element. He was better able to realize himself as a publicist and philosopher. Nevertheless, he did not leave classes in the field of literary creativity.

Philosophical works. The novel “Who is to blame?”

After serving his exile in 1839, he returned to Moscow, but soon showed negligence in correspondence with his father and spoke sharply against the tsarist police. He was arrested again and sent into exile again, this time to Novgorod. Returning from exile in 1842, he published his work, on which he worked in Novgorod, - "Amateurism in Science", then - a very serious philosophical study "Letters on the Study of Nature".

In his years of exile, he began work on the novel "Who is to blame?". In 1845 he completed the work, devoting five years to it. Critics consider the novel "Who is to blame?" Herzen's biggest creative achievement. Belinsky believed that the strength of the author is in the "power of thought", and the soul of his talent is in "humanity".

"Thieving Magpie"

Herzen wrote The Thieving Magpie in 1846. It was published two years later, when the author was already living abroad. In this story, Herzen focused his attention on the particularly difficult, disenfranchised position of the serf actress. An interesting fact: the narrator in the story is " famous artist", the prototype of the great actor M. S. Shchepkin, who for a long time was also a serf.

Herzen Abroad

January 1847. Herzen and his family left Russia forever. Settled in Paris. But in the autumn of that year he went to Rome to participate in demonstrations and engage in revolutionary activities. In the spring of 1848 he returned to Paris, engulfed in revolution. After her defeat, the writer suffered an ideological crisis. About this is his book of 1847 - 50 years "From the Other Bank".

1851 - tragic for Herzen: a shipwreck claimed the lives of his mother and son. And in 1852 his beloved wife died. In the same year, he left for London and began work on his main book, Past and Thoughts, which he wrote for sixteen years. It was a book - a confession, a book of memories. In 1855 he published the almanac "Polar Star", in 1857 - the newspaper "The Bell". Herzen died in Paris on January 9, 1870.

The first years of the boy were sad and lonely, but his unusually richly gifted nature began to unfold very early. He learned from his mother German, in conversations with his father and tutors - French. Yakovlev had a rich library, consisting almost exclusively of works by French writers of the 18th century, and the boy rummaged through it quite freely. Such a reading aroused in the boy's soul many questions that needed to be resolved. It was with them that young Herzen turned to his French teachers, among whom was the old man Buchot, who took part in the French revolution, and to Russians, especially to the seminarian student Protopopov, who, noticing the boy’s curiosity, introduced him to the works of new Russian literature and - how Herzen later wrote - he began to carry to him "finely copied and very worn out notebooks of Pushkin's poems -" Ode to Freedom "," Dagger "- and Ryleev's "Dumas." Herzen wrote off all this and memorized it. The events of December 14, 1825 determined the direction of Herzen's thoughts and aspirations, likes and dislikes. “The stories of indignation, of the trial, the horror in Moscow,” Herzen wrote in his memoirs, “struck me; new world which became more and more the focus of my entire moral existence; I don’t know how it happened, but, understanding little or very vaguely what was the matter, I felt that I was on the wrong side from which buckshot and victories, prisons and chains. The execution of Pestel and his comrades finally awakened the childish dream of my soul "... The boy's loneliness also ended. He met, and soon became close friends with the son of a distant relative of Yakovlev, Ogarev. This closeness then turned into the closest friendship. Kind, gentle, dreamy Ready to devote himself entirely to the service of his neighbors, Ogarev perfectly complemented the lively, energetic Herzen. Friends saw each other very often, read together, took long walks together, during which their thoughts and dreams rushed to fight against the injustice that surrounded Russian life. walks, in 1828, on Sparrow Hills, Herzen and Ogarev swore eternal friendship and an unchanging decision to devote their whole lives to the service of freedom. What was meant by this "freedom" was still unclear to them, but the imagination also drew the heroes of the French revolution, and the Decembrists, and Karl Mora, and Fiesco, and the Marquis Pozu ... Overcoming obstacles from his father, who wanted to arrange a military or diplomatic career for his son, Herzen entered Moscow University and plunged into a new, noisy world. Distinguished by an extremely lively temperament, Herzen studies a lot, reads a lot, but speaks, argues, and preaches even more. “Life at the university,” he recalls, “has left us with the memory of one long feast of ideas, a feast of science and dreams, sometimes stormy, sometimes gloomy, wild, but never vicious.” In addition to Ogarev, Herzen became close at this time with N.I. Sazonov (later a famous emigrant), N.M. Satin (translator of Shakespeare), A.N. Savich (astronomer), N.Kh. Catcher. This circle sometimes asked "mountain feasts", but the feasts were inspired by deep content. Their participants were talking and arguing about science, literature, art, philosophy, politics; If not the “alliance of Pestel and Ryleev” that Herzen dreamed about when entering the university, then the embryo of opposition against the three famous “dogmas” of Russian social political life. The July Revolution, the Polish uprising, the political and literary questions that occupied Europe - all this found a lively response in the student circle, the center of which was Herzen. And then they saw in the circle "with inner horror" that "in Europe, especially in France, from where they were waiting for a political password and a slogan, things are not going well." In 1833 Herzen graduated from the university with a candidate's degree and a silver medal. However, he clearly understood that there was still a lot to learn, and in one letter, written a few days after finishing the university course, he wrote: “Although I completed the course, I collected so little that it’s a shame to look at people” . While still at the university, he became acquainted with the teachings of Saint-Simonis

which made a very strong impression on him. His thought had already turned to the study of the socialist writers of the West, but, of course, it cannot be said that from that time Herzen became a socialist. Herzen, not only at the beginning, but also at the end of the 1930s, was a man passionately searching, and not finally stopping at something, although the direction of his thoughts and sympathies was quite definite and expressed in the desire for freedom. A year after the end of the course, Herzen, Ogarev and several other people were arrested. The reason for the arrest was the very fact of the existence in Moscow of "unemployed", always talking about something, worrying and seething young people, and the reason was one student party, at which a song containing a "impudent censure" was sung, and a bust of Emperor Nicholas was smashed Pavlovich. The inquiry found out that Sokolovsky composed the song, Ogarev was familiar with Sokolovsky, Herzen was friends with Ogarev, and although neither Herzen nor Ogarev were even at the party, nevertheless, on the basis of "indirect evidence" regarding their "way of thinking", they were involved in the case of the "failed, as a result of the arrest, conspiracy of young people devoted to the teachings of Saint-Simonism." Ogarev was arrested before his friend. In the last days of his life at liberty, Herzen met his relative Natalya Alexandrovna Zakharyina, a young girl who was very religious and already loved Herzen, although he had not noticed this before. Herzen entered into conversation with her "for the first time after many years of acquaintance." He was indignant at the arrest of Ogarev, expressed indignation at the conditions of life under which such facts are possible. Natalya Alexandrovna pointed out to him the need to meekly endure trials, remembering Christ and the Apostle Paul. After ending up in prison, he writes from there, as well as from exile, letters full of prayerful mood. “No, faith burns in my chest, strong, alive,” he wrote in a letter dated December 10, 1834, “There is Providence. Herzen spent nine months in prison, after which, according to him, “we were read, as a bad joke, a death sentence, and then it was announced that, driven by such inadmissible kindness, so characteristic of him, the emperor ordered that only a corrective measure be applied to us, in the form of a link. Herzen was appointed the place of exile in Perm. “What do I care about Perm or Moscow, and Moscow-Perm,” Herzen wrote then. “Our life is decided, the die is cast, the storm has carried away. .. With such a mood, Herzen arrived in exile. He lived with him for a long time, but in him he aspired - to freedom. Natalya Alexandrovna brought him the words of the Apostle Paul: "He who lives in God cannot be chained," and in this Herzen saw the path to freedom, inner freedom, achievable for everyone, and through this and as a result of this, to universal freedom. Here begins the second period of Herzen's life. Herzen spent only three weeks in Perm and then, by order of the authorities, was transferred to Vyatka, with enrollment as a "clerk" in the service of Governor Tyufyaev, typical representative pre-reform administration. Tyufyaev received Herzen very hostilely, and it is not known how his cavils and persecutions would have ended if some circumstances favorable for the exile had not happened. The Minister of the Interior decided to establish provincial statistical committees throughout Russia and demanded that the governors send him their comments on this matter. In order to compile an answer to such an unheard-of "inbox", I had to turn to the "scientific candidate of Moscow University." Herzen promised not only to draw up the required "review," but also to engage in the actual implementation of the minister's desire, so that he would be released from the useless daily stay in the governor's office and allowed to work at home. Tyufyaev had to agree to this. Soon Herzen clashed with Tyufyaev in a sharper form, and the exile would probably have had to travel to much more distant places if fate had not once again come to Herzen's aid. At this time of travel

l in Russia, accompanied by Zhukovsky and Arsenyev, who was then heir to the throne, Alexander Nikolayevich. Tyufyaev received from St. Petersburg an order to arrange an exhibition in Vyatka, in order to familiarize the heir with the natural wealth of the region, placing the exhibits "in the three kingdoms of nature." I had to turn again to Herzen, who also gave explanations to the heir. Surprised by the abundance of knowledge of a young man in the Vyatka wilderness, Zhukovsky and Arseniev began to ask Herzen in detail who he was and how he got to Vyatka. Having learned what was the matter, they promised to petition for the return of Herzen from exile. This petition was not crowned with complete success, but, thanks to Zhukovsky and Arseniev, an order was soon issued to transfer Herzen from Vyatka to Vladimir. Meanwhile, an order was made from Petersburg to start in all provincial cities"Gubernskiye Vedomosti", with an appendix to them, the so-called

omitted "informal department". Governor Kornilov, who replaced Tyufyaev, offered Herzen the head of this department. Herzen traveled a lot around the province to collect materials for the newspaper, got acquainted with the life of the people, placed in the "Gubernskiye Vedomosti" whole line articles of economic and ethnographic content. With his active participation in Vyatka, the first public library was founded, during which he delivered a speech, which later became part of the complete collection of his works. In Vyatka, Herzen became close to the famous architect Vitberg, who was in exile there, and experienced his influence very strongly. “Natalie,” wrote Herzen, “simply showed me God, and I began to believe. The fiery soul of the artist crossed the boundaries and was lost in dark, but majestic mysticism, and I found more life and poetry in mysticism than in philosophy. I bless that time ". At the same time, Herzen began writing The Legend of St. Theodore and Thought and Revelation. Of the last article, Herzen responds as follows: "in it I described my own development in order to reveal how experience led me to a religious outlook." Herzen was in the same mood in Vladimir, where big fact his life was marriage to N.A. Zakharyina. “I confessed today for the first time from my birth,” Herzen wrote on March 13, 1838, “I achieved such a victory with the help of Natasha over my soul.” But this was followed by a crisis. “Whatever you say, dear friend,” he wrote to the same Natasha, “but I can’t force myself to that heavenly meekness, which is one of the main properties of your character, I’m too fiery.” The strong mind of Herzen, the huge amount of collected information, which was still disorderly in the mind, the restless spirit and nature thirsting for activity - all this was still shrouded in a thick veil of Vyatka-Vladimir moods, but it was already torn to break them, it was only waiting for a push to give that Herzen, hallmark which was not "resignation", but a thirst for struggle. Such an impetus was for Herzen the study of Hegel, whose works were read at that time by all Herzen's friends in Moscow. This study led Herzen to conclusions opposite to those drawn from Hegel by Belinsky and other "Hegelians" of that time. Belinsky preached the well-known "reconciliation"; Herzen found that Hegel's philosophy is the "algebra of revolution". It was on this basis that Herzen's clash with Belinsky soon took place, ending in their temporary rupture; later, when Belinsky admitted his views were wrong, a friendship was established between him and Herzen, which lasted all their lives. After Vladimir Herzen was allowed to live in St. Petersburg, but then the "vile Russian reality" made itself felt again. In St. Petersburg, the watchman killed a passerby; this story was talked about everywhere, and Herzen told about it, as one of the news from St. Petersburg, in a letter to his father. The letter was read through, and Herzen was again assigned a link to Vyatka. Only with the help of great efforts was it possible to change the exile in Vyatka to exile in Novgorod, where Herzen was sent to serve as an adviser to the provincial government. There he had to manage cases of abuse of landlord power, cases of schismatics and ... cases of persons under police supervision, and among such persons was himself. In parallel with the accumulation of lessons drawn from life itself, Herzen worked continuously on theoretical questions. Soon he managed to get acquainted with the book of the most "leftist" of the Hegelians: Ogarev was abroad and from there he brought Feuerbach's The Essence of Christianity. Reading this book made a very strong impression on Herzen. In Novgorod, Herzen began to write his famous novel, "Who is to blame." Thanks to the efforts of friends, Herzen managed to escape from Novgorod, retire and move to Moscow. There he lived from 1842 to 1847 - the last period of his life in Russia. This period is filled with the most intensive work. Constant communication with Belinsky, Granovsky, Chaadaev and others, disputes with the Slavophiles, literary activity were the main content of Herzen's life. He grew more and more into such an outstanding force that Belinsky prophesied for him a place

"not only in the history of Russian literature", but also "in the history of Karamzin". As in many other cases, Belinsky was not mistaken. Herzen's literary activity did not put him in the ranks of the Russian classic writers, but nevertheless it high degree wonderful. Here are the development of philosophical problems, and questions of ethics, and the Russian life of that time, with its oppressive influence on the living forces of the country, and an ardent love for native land, native people. Like all the best Russian people of the "forties", Herzen saw very well that the main evil of Russia is serfdom, but it was especially difficult to fight in literature precisely against this evil, which, along with autocracy, was recognized as the "dogma of political religion" in Russia. Nevertheless, in the story "The Thieving Magpie" and in the well-known novel "Who is to blame" Herzen, as far as possible, touched on this forbidden topic. Herzen peered intently into another question, even more complex - the question of the relationship between the sexes. This question is the main theme of the novel "Who is to blame"; Herzen returned to it more than once in his other works, especially in the article: "About one drama." This article was written under the impression of "the most ordinary play," but the strength of Herzen's intellectual and moral personality lies in the fact that his gaze saw aspects in the most "ordinary" things that thousands of people pass by with complete indifference. Herzen peered just as intently into the question of the role of abstract knowledge, theoretical ideas, and abstract philosophy. To this theme he devoted the articles "Amateurs in Science", "Dilevantle-Roantiksh", "Dshlhtanty0i0tskhkh0uzeyykh" and "Buddhism in Aukh", yarshchm0pyud "science" Herzen means in general the theoretical work of human thought and, in particular, philosophy. Herzen demands from a person both breadth and depth. To a specialist in a particular field, he demands to respond to all the demands of living life, in other words, to be a citizen. He makes the same demand to "amateurs", insisting that at least one question be thoroughly studied. Herzen was also deeply occupied with the question of the relationship between the individual and the collectivity. IN ancient world the individual was wholly sacrificed to the collectivity. "The Middle Ages turned the question around - they made the person essential, the res publica insignificant. But neither one nor the other solution can satisfy the perfect man." "One reasonable, conscious combination of the individual and the state will lead to the true concept of the person in general. This combination - hardest task posed by modern thinking "... If we add to this such works by Herzen as "Letters on the Study of Nature", which are essays on the history of philosophy and an exposition of the philosophical views of Herzen himself, then all the versatility of topics that worried him back in the forties will become clear. And over all these topics it blew living feeling, which determined the content of Herzen's entire life. He described this content himself, already at the end of his days, in the following words: "the dominant axis around which our life went is our attitude towards the Russian people, faith in him, love for him, desire to actively participate in his destinies." Under the conditions under which Herzen's life in Russia proceeded, he could express in print only a small fraction of the thoughts on which he worked hard. His mental interests and demands were enormous. He closely follows the development of socialist doctrines in Europe, studies Fourier, Considerant, Louis Blanc, pays tribute to them, but retains independence and his own thought. He says about them in his diary: "well, extremely good, but not a complete solution to the problem. They are cramped in a wide light phalanstery; this arrangement of one side of life is awkward for others." This entry refers to 1844, but Herzen is already heard in it during the period of his life in Europe. Proudhon makes the most complete impression on Herzen, about famous work which, "Qu" est ce que la proprieteN", Herzen responded in his diary as follows: " beautiful work, not only not lower, but higher than what was said and written about not

m ... Development is excellent, apt, strong, sharp and imbued with fire. "At the same time, Herzen studies the history of Russia, the life of the Russian people, the way of his mental life. He approaches the question: what force has preserved many of the wonderful qualities of the Russian people, despite on the Tatar yoke, the German drill and the domestic whipN - This is the power of Orthodoxy, - said the Slavophiles: only from it comes, as a derivative, the spirit of the catholicity of the people, and the external expression of this spirit is the communal life of the Russian peasantry. period" of Russian history, and this is all our misfortune. The whole question now boils down to returning "to the people", to merging with it. The Russian people in their everyday life solved the very task that the "West" set only in thought. Herzen did not agree with the premises from which the views of the Slavophils proceeded, but there is no doubt that their views on "special

awn" economic life Russia were largely assimilated by him and took their place in his later views. This he himself admitted. In spite of his exuberant mental life, Herzen felt that there was no work, permanent work, for his forces in Russia at that time, and this thought sometimes almost drove him to despair. “We argued, argued,” he wrote in his diary, “and, as always, ended in nothing, cold speeches and witticisms. Our state is hopeless, because it is false, because historical logic indicates that we are outside the needs of the people, and our cause is desperate pain." Herzen was drawn to Europe, but to Herzen's request for a foreign passport for the treatment of his wife there, Emperor Nicholas put a resolution: "no need." The conditions of Russian life pressed Herzen terribly; meanwhile, Ogarev was already abroad and from there he wrote to his friend: “Herzen! But you can’t live at home. I’m convinced that it’s impossible. A person who is a stranger to his family is obliged to break with his family ... an act. I, weak, indecisive, impractical, dem Grubelenden, need an act. What next for you, stronger than meN "Herzen himself felt with his whole being that "it is impossible to live at home", but he had endured many difficult days before, when the desired opportunity came, and the doors of the stuffy Russian prison of the 1940s opened before him. The joy of liberation, the novelty of the feeling of being able to breathe with a free chest, and that heightened atmosphere that distinguished all of Europe, and especially in France, on the eve of the storms of 1848 - all this filled Herzen's soul with joy. Arriving, in 1847, directly in Paris, he was completely immersed in the new life. He quickly became close to the leaders of the French social movement of that time and was therefore able to observe the unfolding events very closely. “Herzen’s house,” recalls Annenkov, who was also abroad at that time, “became like a Dionysian ear, where all the noise of Paris was clearly reflected, the slightest movements and unrest that ran through the surface of his street and intellectual life.” But through the outer scenery of this life, Herzen soon discerned its shadow sides. Already in "Letters from Avenue Marigny" there are lines that clearly indicate the dissatisfaction that he then experienced. "France has never fallen so deeply in moral terms as it is now," he wrote on September 15, 1847. deeper antipathy. “Debauchery,” he wrote, “penetrated everywhere: into the family, into the legislative body, literature, the press. It is so common that no one notices it, and does not want to notice it. And this debauchery is not wide, not chivalrous, but petty, soulless, stingy. This is the debauchery of a huckster." As for the leaders of the movement, here, too, the first impression of conversations with them, equal, as he jokingly remarked, "to some extent to rank, promotion," was quickly replaced by a skeptical attitude towards them. "I have all the experiences of idolatry and idols do not hold and very soon give way to complete denial." He was drawn to Italy, where at that time the liberation movement was going, apparently, in a different direction than in France. “I recovered morally,” wrote Herzen, “crossing the borders of France; I owe Italy a renewal of faith in my own strength and in the strength of others; many hopes have risen again in my soul; I saw animated faces, tears, I heard passionate words ... All of Italy woke up before my eyes. I saw the Neapolitan king, made by hand, and the pope, humbly begging for alms of people's love. " The news of the February revolution in France and the proclamation of the Second Republic there again attracted Herzen to Paris, where the fever of events seized him very strongly; but the impression that France made on him on his first visit there has not diminished in the least even now. He saw more and more clearly that the revolution had nothing to rely on and that Paris was irresistibly heading towards disaster. It happened in the "June days" that Herzen experienced in Paris. They made a terrible impression.

but him. “On the evening of June 26, after the victory over Paris, we heard correct volleys, with small arrangements ... We all looked at each other, everyone had green faces. “After all, they are shooting,” we said in one voice and turned away from each other. I pressed my forehead against the glass of the window and was silent..." The scenes that followed were of the same character: "The haughty National Guard, with dull malice on their face, took care of their shops, threatening with a bayonet and butt; jubilant crowds of drunken mobiles walked along the boulevards, singing; boys They boasted about the blood of their brothers for 15-17 years.Cavaignac took with him some kind of monster who killed a dozen Frenchmen... Doubt brought its heavy leg to the last assets, it shook up not the church sacristy, not doctoral robes, but revolutionary banners"... Soon Herzen had to flee from Paris to Geneva in order to avoid arrest, although on paper a republic continued to exist in France. While still in Paris, Herzen made up his mind not to return to Russia. No matter how terrible everything he experienced in Europe, Herzen managed to get used to such living conditions, after which the return to his homeland seemed downright beyond human strength. To fight against the conditions of Russian life - and Herzen decided to fight them by a direct attack on them in the press in Russian and foreign languages ​​- was possible only by remaining in Europe. In addition, he wanted to acquaint Europe with Russia - the real Russia, and not the one that Europe was often drawn by bribed pens. But before Herzen's position as an emigrant was finally determined, some other events took place in his life. Hiding from Paris to Geneva, he met there many people from different countries and, among other things, with Mazzini, for whom he retained the warmest sympathy for the rest of his life. There he also received a letter from Proudhon asking him to help him publish the newspaper La voix du Peuple and become its closest collaborator. Herzen sent Proudhon the 24,000 francs necessary for making a bail and began to write in his newspaper. But this did not last long: a number of fines were imposed on the newspaper, nothing was left of the pledge, and the newspaper ceased. After that, Herzen finally naturalized in Switzerland. The aggravation of the reaction was joined by a series of heavy blows in Herzen's personal life. All this brought Herzen into the gloomiest mood of the spirit, and when the December coup d "etat took place, Herzen wrote the article "Vive la mort!" ... He lived then in Nice. At one time it seemed to him that "everything collapsed - general and private, European revolution and domestic shelter, freedom of the world and personal happiness. He himself called the state in which he was "the edge of moral death", but he emerged victorious from it: according to him, he was saved by "faith in Russia", and he decided to devote himself entirely to serving her. While living in Nice, he published a number of his works: first in German, "Letters from France and Italy", then a pamphlet "On the Development of Revolutionary Ideas in Russia" (originally the same in German in "Deutsche Jahrbucher", then a separate edition in French "Du developpement des idees revolutionnaires en Russie") and, finally, "Le peuple russe et le socialisme" ("Letter to Michelet"). Both of these pamphlets were banned in France. At the same time, Herzen's famous work "From the Other Bank" (originally also in German: "Von andern Ufer") appeared in print. In that famous work Herzen posed the question: "Where is the need for the future to play out a program we have thought up?" In other words, what are the objective guarantees that the ideals of socialism are realizable? Having declared to Khomyakov back in Moscow that he could accept “the terrible results of the most ferocious immanence, because the conclusions of the mind are independent of whether a person wants to or not,” Herzen called on the judgment of reason and earthly religion, the religion of humanity, the religion of progress. “Explain to me, please,” he asked, “why it is ridiculous to believe in God, but to believe in humanity is not funny, to believe in the kingdom of heaven

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the natural is stupid, but to believe in earthly utopias is smartN "- The goal of each generation, according to Herzen, is itself. It must live, and live a human life - to live in social environment in which the individual is free, and at the same time society is not destroyed. But the creation of such relations between the individual and society depends only partly on ourselves, but mainly on the conditions already given by previous history. Exploring living conditions European countries, Herzen comes to conclusions for these countries are very pessimistic. He finds that Europe is mired in the impenetrable swamp of "philistinism." She, perhaps, will get rid of the autocracy of private property by realizing the economic side of the problem of socialism. This will be the best case, but even then she will not be able to wash off her philistinism; its very socialism will be petty-bourgeois socialism. In the worst case, this will not happen either - then Europe will completely stagnate in the terry bloom of philistinism

and finally disintegrate in it. With such a turn of affairs, the possibility is not ruled out that she will become a victim Eastern peoples with fresher blood. Herzen saw the objective conditions for other possibilities in Russia with the communal way of life of its people and the thought free from prejudice of the advanced stratum of Russian society, what later became known as the intelligentsia. Herzen was led to the same conclusion by his ardent love for Russia. He wrote that faith in Russia saved him then "on the verge of moral death." This faith resurrected all Herzen's strength, and in the same work "From the Other Shore" he wanted to speak to Europe about the Russian people, "powerful and unsolved, which secretly formed a state of 60 million, which grew so strongly and surprisingly, without losing the communal principle, and carried him through the initial upheavals of state development; who retained stately features, a lively mind and a wide revelry of a rich nature under the yoke of serfdom and to Peter's order to be formed - responded a hundred years later with the enormous phenomenon of Pushkin. This theme takes over Herzen completely, he varies it in different ways, comes to the conclusion about the possibility for Russia of a different path of development, different from the Western European one, considers the community and the artel as the basis for such development, sees in the secular gathering an embryo from which the widest public, lays the foundation for the later Russian populism - in a word, imposes the stamp of his personality on the movement of the Russian intelligentsia, which then continued for decades. Living in Nice, Herzen hardly saw Russians. Lived there at the same time, also as an emigrant, Golovin, who edited there even the newspaper "Le Carillon" (Trezvon); Perhaps this name prompted Herzen to give his Russian organ the name Kolokol later on. Herzen did not establish any close relations with Golovin. Engelson was also in Nice (later an employee of the Polar Star); Herzen had closer relations with him than with Golovin. After burying his wife in Nice, Herzen moved to London. There he installed the first free Russian press machine. Leaflets and brochures were printed on this machine ("St. George's Day", "Poles Pierce Us", "Baptized Property", etc.), then the magazine "Polyarnaya Zvezda" and, finally, the famous "Bell", the first issue of which was published on July 1, 1857 The Kolokola program included three specific provisions: 1) the liberation of the peasants from the landowners, 2) the liberation of the word from censorship, and 3) the liberation of the taxable estate from beatings. Outlining this program, Herzen, of course, looked at it as a minimum program and, calling himself in his famous letter to Alexander II "an incorrigible socialist", he wrote the following lines: "I am ashamed of how little we are ready to be content with. We want things that you have as little doubt about as fair as everyone else. For the first time, this is enough for you. "The breadth of outlook, combined with the ability to raise questions on practically feasible ground, attracted to Herzen the warm sympathy of the best elements of Russia in the late 50s and early 60s. Shevchenko entered in his diary that he wanted to redraw portrait of Herzen, "honoring the name of this holy man" and that, seeing the "Bell" for the first time, he "reverently kissed it." Kavelin wrote to Herzen: "When you denounced everything with unheard of and unprecedented courage, when you threw in your brilliant articles and pamphlets of thoughts that ran centuries ahead, and for the current day set the most moderate demands, the most immediate, standing in line, you seemed to me that great person who should begin a new Russian history. I wept over your articles, knew them by heart, chose epigraphs from them for future historical works, political and philosophical studies. "With tears in my eyes," says P.A. Kropotkin, - we read Herzen's famous article: "You won, Galilean" ... Such reviews about Herzen and his journal could be cited a lot. "Bell" and the role played by "Bell" in resolving the peasant question and in general in public

movement in Russia in the late 50s and early 60s, a special article will be devoted. With the advent of reaction, and especially after the Polish uprising, Herzen's influence fell sharply; The Bell continued to be published until 1867, inclusive, but it no longer had its former significance. Last period Herzen's life was for him a time of isolation from Russia and loneliness. "Fathers" recoiled from him for "radicalism", and "children" - for "moderation". Herzen's state of mind was, of course, very difficult, but he believed that the truth would triumph, believed in the powerful spiritual forces of the Russian people, and firmly endured his position. Everyone who saw him at that time unanimously testifies that, despite everything experienced and experienced, it was still the same lively, charming, witty Herzen. As before, he was interested in the course of events in Russia, as before, he kept a vigilant eye on the state of affairs in Europe. How penetratingly Herzen looked at everything that was happening around him can be seen from such a striking example: living at the end of 1867 (after the end of The Bell) in Genoa, Herzen wrote an article about Napoleonic France, which can be called prophetic. "Holy father, now it's your business" - these words from Schiller's "Don Carlos" (Philip II transfers the life of his son into the hands of the Grand Inquisitor), taken by Herzen as an epigraph to the article, Herzen "one wants to repeat Bismarck. The pear is ripe, and without his lordship will not do. Do not stand on ceremony, count. I am sorry that I am right; I seem to be touched by the fact that in in general terms foresaw him. I am annoyed with myself, as a child is annoyed with a barometer that indicates a storm and ruins a walk ... Count Bismarck, now it's up to you!" Those were the words of a seer. A year after Herzen wrote this article (it appeared in the last book "Polar Stars"), he arrived in Paris, where he died on January 9/21, 1870. He was buried first at the Pere Lachaise cemetery, and then his ashes were transported to Nice, where he rests to this day. Above the grave rises a beautiful, depicting Herzen standing to his full height, with his face turned towards Russia, monument by Zabello March 25, 1912 all cultural Russia celebrated the centenary of the birth of Herzen. Many newspapers dedicated that day to the memory of the glorious citizen of the Russian land hot articles that were read by hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of readers, and thus the beginning of Herzen's "spiritual return" to his homeland was laid. With the change in the conditions of political life existing in Russia, such a "return" will no doubt be carried out much more in full. Then not only the spirit of Herzen, in the form of a complete collection of his works and letters, but, hopefully, the ashes of the great exile will be returned to Russia and laid to rest in his dearly beloved native land. Literature. The main source for the study of Herzen are, first of all, his own works, available in two editions, foreign and Russian. Both editions are far from complete. They did not include many works by Herzen, not to mention the great importance to study the life and work of Herzen, his correspondence with various persons. Biographies of Herzen: Smirnova (Ev. Solovieva; 1897); Vetrinsky (1908) and Bogucharsky (1912). Herzen is also devoted to: an article by Ovsyaniko-Kulikovsky (characteristic); Baturinsky's book "Herzen, his friends and acquaintances"; Gershenzon "Social and political views of Herzen"; Plekhanov, an article in the 13th issue of the "History of Russian Literature of the 19th Century", etc. A detailed bibliography of Herzen and about Herzen, compiled by A.G. Fomin (brought to 1908). V. Bogucharsky.

KLASSNE
KLASSNE 05.11.2016 07:19:46

April 6 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of the Russian prose writer, publicist and philosopher Alexander Ivanovich Herzen.

Years of life: from 04/06/1812 to 01/21/1870

The fate of this man, who stood at the origins of populism, was connected with the great dramatic moments of Russian and European history. He witnessed and participated in a number of significant events: the formation of Marxism, the French Revolution of 1848, the social upsurge in Russia in the 60s.

Alexander Ivanovich Herzen was born on March 25 (April 6), 1812. His father, Ivan Yakovlevich, was closely related to the envoy at the Westphalian court, A. A. Yakovlev. And the mother was a young German woman, Henrietta - Louise Haag, who was almost thirty years younger than her lover. The marriage of the parents was not formalized, the baby began to be officially called the "pupil" and bear the surname invented by the father: Herzen - "son of the heart", from the German herz.

He spent his childhood, which was not cloudless, in parental home. It was hard for him to get along with his father, whose character was from the category of "not a gift." Alexander had an older brother - Yegor. But he grew up in complete obscurity in the village of Pokrovsky, where his mother, a serf, was exiled.

As a child, little Herzen was very fond of listening to stories about times French Revolution end of the 18th century. And he did not miss the opportunity to listen and learn something new for himself. He received the usual noble upbringing at home, based on reading foreign literature of the late 18th century. Novels and comedies by Beaumarchais, Kotzebue, Goethe, Schiller early years caused him awe and delight.

Thanks to his desire to learn new things and interest in the work of Schiller, Herzen was imbued with freedom-loving aspirations, the development of which was greatly facilitated by the teacher of Russian literature, I. E. Protopopov. This was also facilitated by the influence of Tanya Kuchina, Herzen's cousin (married Tatyana Passek), who supported the young dreamer's childhood pride, prophesying an extraordinary future for him.

At the age of 13, Herzen met the future poet and publicist Nikolai Ogarev, who at the time of the meeting was only 12 years old. After the news of the Decembrist uprising on December 14, 1825, Herzen, together with his friend Nikolai, for the first time begins to dream of revolutionary activity, and during one of their walks they vowed to fight for freedom.

Herzen dreamed of friendship, dreamed of fighting for freedom. In such a rather gloomy mood, in 1829 he entered Moscow University in the department of physics and mathematics. At the university, he takes part in the so-called "Malov story" - the protest of students against teachers. This protest ended with the imprisonment of the young rebel, along with his comrades, in a punishment cell. The youth was stormy: they welcomed the July Revolution and other popular movements. A handful of young rebel friends grew, at times they allowed small revels, of course, of an innocent nature.

But of course, all these protests and the struggle for freedom did not go unnoticed by the authorities. In 1834, members of Herzen's circle and he himself were arrested. Link was the punishment. Herzen was first exiled to Perm, and then to Vyatka, where he was appointed to serve in the office of the governor.

When organizing an exhibition of local works, Herzen got a chance to distinguish himself before the future emperor Alexander II, and soon, at the request of Zhukovsky, he was transferred to serve as an adviser to the board in Vladimir. In 1838 he married, having secretly taken his bride, Natalya Alexandrovna Zakharyina, from Moscow.

At the beginning of 1840, Herzen was allowed to return to Moscow. In May of this year, he moved to St. Petersburg, where, at the insistence of his father, he began to serve in the office of the Ministry of the Interior. But in July 1841, for a sharp review in one letter about the activities of the police, Herzen was exiled to Novgorod. Already here he ran into the famous circle of Stankevich and Belinsky, who defended the thesis of the useful reasonableness of any activity. Most of Stankevich's friends became close friends with Herzen and Ogaryov, and a camp of Westernizers was formed.

Herzen arrived in Europe more inclined towards a radical republican character than a socialist one. February Revolution 1848 seemed to him the fulfillment of all hopes and desires. The subsequent June uprising of the workers and its suppression shocked Herzen, who resolutely turned to socialism. He became close to Proudhon and other prominent figures of the revolution and European radicalism. In 1849, after the defeat of the radical opposition by President Louis Napoleon, Herzen was forced to leave France and moved to Switzerland, from there to Nice, which then belonged to the Kingdom of Sardinia.

Under the influence of the collapse of the old ideals and the reaction that came across Europe, Herzen formed a specific system of views about doom. By decree of Nicholas I in July 1849, all the property of Herzen and his mother was arrested. After the death of his wife in 1852, Herzen moved to London, where he founded the Free Russian Printing House for printing prohibited publications. Since 1857 he began to publish the weekly newspaper "The Bell".

The peak of Kolokol's influence falls on the years preceding the liberation of the peasants, when the newspaper was regularly read in winter palace. After the peasant reform, her popularity begins to fall. At that time, Herzen was already too revolutionary for the public. On March 15, 1865, under the insistent demand of the Russian government, the editors of The Bell, headed by Herzen, left London forever and moved to Switzerland. In April of the same year, the Free Russian Printing House was also transferred there. Soon, people from Herzen's entourage, such as Nikolai Ogaryov, began to move to Switzerland.

On January 21 (according to the new calendar), 1870, Alexander Ivanovich Herzen died of pneumonia in Paris, where he had arrived shortly before on his family business. He was buried in Nice, his ashes were transferred from the Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris.

Circumstances of personal life.
There was practically no mention of them in those days when the personality of Herzen was considered only from the point of view of social significance in the revolutionary reorganization of Russian and European society. While some facts of his personal and family life might shock...

Despite all the "storms" that happened in his life with his first wife, they were happy. And already in 1839 their son Alexander was born, and two years later - a daughter. In 1842, the son Ivan was born, who died 5 days after birth. In 1843, the son Nikolai was born, who was deaf and mute. Nikolai lived only 10 years and died along with Herzen's mother during sea ​​travel to Nice as a result of a collision of ships. In 1844, a daughter, Natalia, was born. In 1845, a daughter, Elizabeth, was born, who died 11 months after birth. In 1850, Herzen's wife gave birth to a daughter, Olga. The year 1852 brought Herzen a series of tragic losses: his wife gave birth to a son, Vladimir, and died two days later, his son also died soon after.

In 1857, Herzen began to cohabit with the second wife of Nikolai Ogaryov, Natalya Alekseevna Ogaryova-Tuchkova, who took care of Herzen's children. They had a daughter, Elizabeth, who lived short life. At the age of 17, she committed suicide due to unrequited love (in Florence in December 1875). In 1869, Tuchkova received the surname Herzen, which she bore until her return to Russia in 1876, even after Herzen's death.

Alexander Ivanovich Herzen - Russian revolutionary, writer, philosopher.
The illegitimate son of a wealthy Russian landowner I. Yakovlev and a young German bourgeois Louise Haag from Stuttgart. He received the fictitious surname Herzen - the son of the heart (from German Herz).
He was brought up in the house of Yakovlev, received a good education, got acquainted with the works of the French enlighteners, read the forbidden poems of Pushkin, Ryleev. Herzen was deeply influenced by friendship with a talented peer, the future poet N. P. Ogarev, which lasted all their lives. According to his memoirs, the news of the Decembrist uprising made a strong impression on the boys (Herzen was 13, Ogaryov was 12 years old). Under his impression, they have the first, still vague dreams of revolutionary activity; while walking on Sparrow Hills, the boys vowed to fight for freedom.
In 1829, Herzen entered the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Moscow University, where he soon formed a group of progressive-minded students. By this time, his attempts to present his own vision of the social order belong. Already in the first articles, Herzen showed himself not only as a philosopher, but also as a brilliant writer.
Already in 1829-1830, Herzen wrote a philosophical article on Wallenstein by F. Schiller. During this youthful period of Herzen's life, his ideal was Karl Moor, the hero of F. Schiller's tragedy The Robbers (1782).
In 1833 Herzen silver medal finished university. In 1834 he was arrested - for allegedly singing songs in the company of friends that discredited the royal family. In 1835, he was exiled first to Perm, then to Vyatka, where he was appointed to serve in the office of the governor. For the organization of the exhibition of local works and the explanations given during its inspection to the heir (the future Alexander II), Herzen, at the request of Zhukovsky, was transferred to serve as an adviser to the board in Vladimir, where he married, secretly taking his bride from Moscow, and where he spent the happiest and bright days of your life.
In 1840 Herzen was allowed to return to Moscow. Turning to fiction, Herzen wrote the novel "Who is to blame?" (1847), the novels Doctor Krupov (1847) and The Magpie-Thief (1848), in which he considered the denunciation of Russian slavery to be his main goal.
In 1847, Herzen left Russia with his family, leaving for Europe. Observing the life of Western countries, he interspersed personal impressions with historical and philosophical studies (Letters from France and Italy, 1847–1852; From the other side, 1847–1850, etc.)
In 1850-1852, a series of personal dramas of Herzen took place: the death of a mother and youngest son in a shipwreck, the death of his wife from childbirth. In 1852 Herzen settled in London.
By this time, he was perceived as the first figure of the Russian emigration. Together with Ogarev, he began to publish revolutionary publications - the almanac "Polar Star" (1855-1868) and the newspaper "The Bell" (1857-1867), whose influence on the revolutionary movement in Russia was enormous. But his main creation of the emigrant years is "The Past and Thoughts".
“The Past and Thoughts” by genre is a synthesis of memoirs, journalism, literary portraits, autobiographical novel, historical chronicle, short stories. The author himself called this book a confession, "about which stopped thoughts from thoughts gathered here and there." The first five parts describe Herzen's life from childhood to the events of 1850-1852, when the author suffered severe spiritual trials associated with the collapse of his family. The sixth part, as a continuation of the first five, is devoted to life in England. The seventh and eighth parts, even more free in chronology and subject matter, reflect the life and thoughts of the author in the 1860s.
All other works and articles by Herzen, such as, for example, "The Old World and Russia", "Le peuple Russe et le socialisme", "Ends and Beginnings", etc., represent a simple development of ideas and moods that were completely determined in the period 1847-1852 years in the works mentioned above.
In 1865 Herzen left England and went on a long journey through Europe. At this time, he distanced himself from the revolutionaries, especially from the Russian radicals. Arguing with Bakunin, who called for the destruction of the state, Herzen wrote: "People cannot be liberated in the outer life more than they are liberated inside." These words are perceived as Herzen's spiritual testament.
Like most Russian Westernizers-radicals, Herzen went through a period of deep passion for Hegelianism in his spiritual development. The influence of Hegel is clearly seen in the series of articles "Amateurism in Science" (1842-1843). Their pathos lies in the approval and interpretation of Hegelian dialectics as a tool for cognition and revolutionary transformation of the world (“the algebra of revolution”). Herzen severely condemned abstract idealism in philosophy and science for being isolated from real life, for "apriorism" and "spiritualism."
These ideas were further developed in Herzen's main philosophical work, Letters on the Study of Nature (1845–1846). Continuing the criticism of philosophical idealism, Herzen defined nature as a "pedigree of thinking", and saw in the idea of ​​pure being only an illusion. For a materialistic thinker, nature is an eternally living, "wandering substance", primary in relation to the dialectic of knowledge. In the Letters, Herzen, quite in the spirit of Hegelianism, substantiated consistent historiocentrism: “neither humanity nor nature can be understood without historical being,” and in understanding the meaning of history he adhered to the principles of historical determinism. However, in the reflections of the late Herzen, the former progressivism gives way to much more pessimistic and critical assessments.
January 21, 1870 Alexander Ivanovich Herzen died. He was buried in the Pere Lachaise cemetery. Later, his ashes were taken to Nice and buried next to the grave of his wife.

Bibliography
1846 - Who is to blame?
1846 - Passing by
1847 - Dr. Krupov
1848 - Thieving Magpie
1851 - Damaged
1864 - Tragedy over a glass of grog
1868 - Past and thoughts
1869 - Boredom for the sake of

Screen adaptations
1920 - Thieving Magpie
1958 - Thieving Magpie

Interesting Facts
Elizaveta Herzen, the 17-year-old daughter of A. I. Herzen and N. A. Tuchkova-Ogareva, committed suicide because of unrequited love for a 44-year-old Frenchman in Florence in December 1875. Suicide had a resonance, Dostoevsky wrote about it in the essay "Two Suicides".