Nikolai Alekseevich field. Nikolai Alekseevich Polevoy

Nikolai Alekseevich Polevoy was born renowned critic, journalist and writer, 06/22/1796 in the city of Irkutsk. Its roots went back to the Kursk old merchant class. His ancestors left the city for quite a long time and were engaged in trade on Far East. Subsequently, Polevoy repeatedly recalled his distant homeland, Siberia, famous for dense forests and gold. These memories were associated with the first youthful dreams and favorite childhood games. Meanwhile, it is worth noting that such a childhood was far from conducive to the development of the boy's mental abilities, allowing him to prepare a famous journalist and famous writer in him.

His father was a man of high morals and strong character enthusiastic, passionate. At the same time, he was a worthy reader in terms of fiction and historical literature relating to the 18th century. Despite his knowledge, the father was completely absorbed in his commercial business and looked at literature with a prejudice, having somewhat strange ideas about education. Polevoy's mother was a meek and tender woman, brought up in the walls of a maiden monastery in Irkutsk, under the piercing supervision of her aunt, a treasurer's mother, possessing deep religious concepts, combined with a passion for novels. In her life, she completely relied on the authority of her husband, and in her dreams she often stopped looking at the characters of Ducret-Duminil, Genlis and Richardson.

Having inherited the strength of character from his father, and kindness and religiosity from his mother, from the very childhood, Polevoy began to show unique features of his own personality, showing a desire for authorship and special curiosity. In fact, at the age of six, he learned to read, and by his tenth birthday, he had already become familiar with all the publications that came to hand. Among them: "The Travels of Cook and Anson", "A Conversation on General History", "The Cases of Peter the Great", individual works by Kheraskov, Karamzin, Lomonosov, Sumarokov and others. He started writing poetry and publishing handwritten newspapers quite early. He dreamed of finishing the work of Golikov, created a tragedy called Blanca of Bourbon, a drama called The Marriage of Alexei Mikhailovich.

The boy's desire for learning was not satisfied. On the one hand, living on a distant periphery interfered, and on the other hand, the tough father's decision to adapt his son to trade. All this served as insurmountable obstacles to the formation of the natural desires and inclinations of the Field Jr. He did not enter the Commercial School of St. Petersburg, where his father intended to arrange him, who made acquaintance with V. S. Podshivalov, the director of the school. Often the boy had to grieve when the books were taken away by his father, who burned his magazines and dramas, and also scolded him for his inattention to office affairs, which he was forced to look at from childhood. Meanwhile, the desire for science prevailed over the fear of punishment - the young writer turned out to be incorrigible and after some time started his former studies.

In 1811, his father sent him to Moscow with certain assignments, where the entire Polevoy family subsequently moved, but before that, in fact, he had spent a year in ancient capital live alone. In Moscow, Nikolai Alekseevich first encountered theatrical performances, admired "Virginia and Pavel" and the game of the Samoilovs. Here he acquired and studied a large amount of all kinds of literature, and at times "penetrated" the University, where he got acquainted with Merzlyakov's lectures. In Moscow, a lot of paper was spoiled, and many works got a start - they were the experience of an inept yet, but distinguished by a brisk pen - “Yan Ushmovets” - a story; "Vasilko Rostislavovich" - a tragedy, a continuation of Elagin. All works aroused the terrible anger of the father and were mercilessly burned. From this moment and for 10-11 years, the life and biography of Polevoy are endowed with a wandering color. Unsuccessful measures taken or abandoned by his father forced him to travel to Kursk, to Irkutsk, to the Don, to Moscow, and finally to Petersburg. The more problems arose on the way to self-education, the greater the desire for knowledge appeared.

“A seductive world was revealed before him, and in the future captivating pictures were drawn by imagination.” Beginning in 1814, Polevoy began to study Sokolov's grammar. Around the same time, he began to study foreign languages. “The drunken barber of Napoleon’s army, the Italian, who remained to live out his own life in the barbershop of Kursk, demonstrated the pronunciation of French words. Music teacher, an old man, a Bohemian, who taught the daughters of the merchant Baushev to play the piano, for whom Polevoy had to serve as a clerk, and also honored to sit after lessons in the office room and smoke a pipe, taught him the German alphabet. Further development foreign languages became more productive, in which the Pole Gorsky, who lives in exile, and the pastor of the Lutheran church, Bekker, rendered all possible assistance. Naturally, systems were alien to such education, since training took place in fits and starts, at night and in the evenings. Quite often, having extinguished a candle at dawn, a young worker went on his father's business or to his master's office.

In 1817, Emperor Alexander the First visited Kursk, and the cordiality with which he was greeted by the inhabitants of the city ignited Field's imagination. He sets out his own impressions and feelings in an article that, with significant corrections, was published by S. N. Glinka in the Russian Bulletin, in which a couple more articles by Polevoy were published a little later, devoted to memories associated with the capture of Paris, as well as to Count Barclay - de Tolly, who visited Kursk. Naturally, the conversation concerns the first published works of Polevoy, which nevertheless managed to produce some resonance in Kursk. In particular, the young author was able to get acquainted with the governor himself. Somewhat later, Bishop Eugene turned his attention to the poem written by Polevoy.

Gradually, Polevoy is endowed with fame, acquiring the location of significant personalities in the city, which provided him with more confident ground. Somewhat encouraged by his success, with great zeal, the young writer began to fill in the gaps in his knowledge.

Nikolai Alekseevich was very fascinated by Grech's indication of the lack of development of the Russian language, and he decided to reconjugate all the verbs written out from the Heim dictionary, which would allow the formation of a newly appeared system of Russian conjugations. Along the way, he tried to translate works from foreign languages ​​and create small articles. He sent all his works to Vestnik Evropy, where they were not denied placement.

Field in 1820, in Once again, visiting Moscow, personally managed to get acquainted with M. T. Kachenovsky. The eminent founder of the school of skeptics, at that time was listed as a professor of fine sciences, although by that time he had already written a number of historical articles in which he spoke out against Karamzin, preparing to “seize” the department of history next year. Possessing a penchant for recognizing the entire period of antiquity as fabulous, and casting doubt on the indications in the chronicles, treaties of princes and Russkaya Pravda, Kachenovsky had the opportunity to develop in his young interlocutor an interest in the history of the fatherland and make it clear that the Greek language for its thorough development is simply necessary. Nikolai Alekseevich undertook to study the languages ​​of antiquity with a special enthusiasm, and for the purpose of self-improvement he did not stop writing articles for Vestnik Evropy. At about the same time, he personally met S. N. Glinka.

At the onset of 1821, Polevoy arrived in St. Petersburg, where for the first time he had a chance to see Bulgarin, Grecha, Griboyedov and Zhukovsky. Here he was very cordially met by P. P. Svinin, who had an undisguised weakness for Russian nuggets, who immediately offered to cooperate in the Notes of the Fatherland. After some time, Polevoy was awarded a silver medal by the Russian Academy for the completed research, which was called “A Newly Appeared Variant of Russian Verb Conjugation”. In 1824, a couple of years after his father died, Nikolai Alekseevich began to participate in Mnemosyne and the Northern Archive. Further, there was a rapprochement with Prince Odoevsky, who, despite his young age, was able to engender a spark of veneration for Schelling in the minds of his interlocutors. And now, having somewhat increased the circle of his literary acquaintances, Polevoy, not without the participation of Prince Vyazemsky, decides to complete his father's trading activities, completely retrain as a journalist and start publishing the Moscow Telegraph, which existed from 1825 to 1834.

With regard to Russian journalism dating back to the first half of the 1820s, one can apply the words later written by Pushkin:

Magazine one
Filled with sugary praises
And flat swearing; all suggest
Yawning, boredom or sleep...

And in fact, at one time the popular "Bulletin of Europe" was somewhat outdated and, by its own negative criticism of Pushkin's works, demonstrated its inability to assimilate the newly appeared concepts in relation to art. In articles titled "Sons of the Fatherland" it was impossible to find deep and broad views that had an impact on readers. "Good-meaning", written by Izmailov, was published carelessly and carelessly. According to the public, the Russky Vestnik began to fall, as “the calls of Pozharsky, Minin and other old-timers of your annals began to tire the ear”, while the trend of the times required updates ...

This update immediately began to be felt after the appearance of the initial book of the Moscow Telegraph. Formed on the basis of one of the best periodicals in France - "Revue Encyclopedique", Polevoy's edition found a close relationship with the foreign press. Increasingly prominent phenomena of science Western Europe, literature, social life, began to find their echo in the publication of the Telegraph. For the first time, the best critical works of the employees of Le Catholique, Revue Francaise, Le Globe, the English Reviews, August Schlegel, found a place for themselves on its pages. big number fiction works of de Vigny, A, P. Merimet, Benjamin Constant, Balzac, E. Xu, Walter Scott, Byron, Goethe, Schiller, Hoffmann, Jean-Paul and Tieck.

In addition, excerpts from essays historical character Geeren, Quinet, Barant, Michelet and others. On this basis, having determined the goal for the reader to convey not only Russian, but all that is elegant, useful and pleasant, can be found in Russian, as well as in all recent and ancient literature. Polevoy, through the popularization of unique and living Western ideas, had a beneficial effect on the formation public mind and feelings.

Showing interest in foreign works, Polevoy did not set aside domestic ones either. In fact, all members of a certain circle formed around him, supporting his bold undertakings, were employees of his publication. It is worth noting that there were plenty of these members. Among them: Prince Odoevsky, Prince Vyazemsky, I. I. Kozlov, V. K. Kuchelbeker, M. A. Maksimovich, Ks. A. Polevoy, V. A. Ushakov, and later joined by A. F. Veltman, I. A. Krylov, V. I. Dal, A. A. Marlinsky, I. P. Sakharov, Bichurin (father Iakinf) and others . All of the above persons made a feasible contribution to the Moscow Telegraph. In addition, Vyazemsky, who, after Polevoy himself, was the main inspirer of the editorial board, tried to attract new employees - his own comrades from Pushkin's circle, who kept himself somewhat aloof.

On the basis of his mediation, Pushkin sent Polevoy his own plays of lyrical content and epigrams. Zhukovsky supplied "Fragments of Letters from Saxony" and certain poems. Boratynsky "supplied" satirical works and lyrics. Batyushkov, already half-ill, sent a small part of The Messinian Bride. Odes and messages were received from Yazykov. "Letters from Dresden" were received from A. I. Turgenev. Such assistance of the best talents of the literary sphere strengthened the title of the outstanding printed organ of the 1820-1830s for the Moscow Telegraph.

The period when the Telegraph was published can be confidently designated as a happy period for the full development of Polevoy's all-round talents, who acted in the field of literature as a historian, fiction writer, critic and journalist. It is worth noting that his attention was also attracted by such an aspect of knowledge that he was especially interested in, but in relation to which he did not have the opportunity to form something unique. This aspect was philosophy. Polevoi, endowed with a lively and inquisitive mind, was born as a philosopher. Meanwhile, his sensitive attitude to various new trends, as well as communication with the later popular extra V.P. Androsov, professor at the University of Dorpat M.P. Rozberg, as well as Yves. V. Kireevsky, contributed in many ways to his study of the Schelling system, which became widespread in the 1920s.

Meanwhile, the assimilation of the ideas of philosophy on the basis of available sources, Polevoy was not to his taste. Feeling a certain weakness for the science and literature of France, he preferred the eclecticism of Cousin to German theories, who in his own teaching developed many of the provisions of Hegel and Schelling. For the field view of Cousin, they were not useless, but were reflected in the review of the work “The Experience of the Science of Everything Fine” by A. I. Galich, as well as in the publication “On the novels of Victor Hugo and on new novels”, which tells about the manifestation in human life and the nature of the three fundamental ideas of beauty, truth and goodness, about the bearers of certain ideas, and about the people. Most importantly, they provided Polevoy with an undeniable opportunity to select the most accurate critical tricks for evaluating works of literature and presenting in a new vision many phenomena of Russian history.

The methods by which Polevoy approached the consideration of various questions of literature were still unknown to his era. Criticism related to early XIX century, was in the same deplorable state as contemporary journalism. Polevoy wrote that she sings wildly from someone else's voice, and most likely he was right. There was a criticism of trifles and words, which, to the analysis of the whole work, resembled the laws and rules characteristic of a particular subject, in which the significant influence of La Harpe could not be felt. And here the conversation was not only about critical essays of insignificant writers, but also about those persons who, by their talent and education, are considered outstanding, to which include Zhukovsky and Merzlyakov, who submitted to the direction under consideration. As the only merit of these essays, one can consider the method of comparison, which consisted in the ratio of Western European and Russian works.

Of course, in a number of articles, such as Karamazov's works on Vyazemsky and Bogdanovich - on Dmitrov and Ozerov, there is an opportunity to discern the experiments of a biographical-critical study, but in this case, the criticism itself remains unchanged by Merzlyakov's method of correlation without analyzing the conditions of history that prompted the creation of a certain poetic work. Consideration of the historical key is the merit of Polevoy, who noticed the differences in the deep, bright criticism of the authors of the Revue Franciase magazine or the Le Globe newspaper, as well as the outdated reasoning of La Harpe, Marmantel.

While studying the works of Wilmain, Mrs. Stahl, Macaulay, S. Bev, Polevoy was able to realize that literature reflects social expression, and behind the work it is worth guessing the author, who is a native of a certain area and a contemporary of a particular era. It also became clear to him that it was worth considering not only internal development the state, but also external influences on it; that all kinds of theories of the form a priori cannot be presented and must be deduced by means of an a posteriori way.

Imbued with these ideas, Polevoy for the first time tried to form a critical study, identical to the English essays. Partly in essays about Lomonosov and Kantemir, as well as in articles about Derzhavin, where a sensible and intelligent assessment of the works of the mentioned writers was manifested. Undoubtedly, the study of Derzhavin provides best description poetry and life of the “Singer Felitsa”, rather than the previous essays by Pletnev, Vyazemsky, Merzlyakov, which were devoted to the same subject. At the same time, it was also provided with certain bibliographic notes, which benefited J.K. Grot at the beginning of his monumental activity.

In those articles that tell about Zhukovsky, a good description of his work is given - a lack of originality, melancholy, a selection of German plays that fully correspond to the translator's inner mood, a lack of nationality and cosmopolitanism are noted. The Kukolnik's articles "Torquato Tasso" and Pushkin about "Boris Godunov" have the task of revealing the fundamental characteristics of the romantic drama. When forming the theory of drama, Polevoy wanted to apply his favorite idea, on the basis of which, taking into account observations of certain works of art, it becomes possible to draw the most important generalized conclusions.

Bowing before the great Shakespeare and guided by the views of the reviewers of the theater "Revue Francaise", "Le Globe" and other critics, led by Victor Hugo and Ave. Schlegel, Polevoy tried to determine the necessary conditions for the formation of a newly-founded, basically historical drama, by comparing several plays by various authors who described one topic. The selection of an acceptable plot, the understanding in the character of poetry of truth, his life, his contemporaries, the era, the preservation of a single action, characteristic consistency, and, despite all of the above, the observance of the accuracy of historical chronology, which is most manifested in the penetration of epoch-making ideas, rather than in ensuring the safety of details. It was precisely these requirements for the playwright that were made by Polevoy, who initially himself was unable to support his own theory with proper examples.

Polevoy's attitude towards the novel was somewhat different. Regarding him, he expressed theoretical arguments and, confirming the latter, even at the start of the 1830s, he wrote a number of fiction works. The plot component of Polevoy's great first story is historical. Polevoy belonged to the category of writers (Lazhechnikov, Zagoskin, Marlinsky), who were seized by an unbridled interest in relation to ancient legends, and being an admirer of V. Scott, he treated his German followers with disdain. Meanwhile, Polevoy gave a high appraisal to the French school of novelist historians, from the total number of which he singled out A. de Vigny, a very difficult imitator of W. Scott, who managed to surpass his teacher as a student.

The sharp influence of "Saint-Mars" was manifested both in the method of formation, and in the process of borrowing details, types, provisions of the "Oath at the Lord's Sepulcher" (1832). It is worth noting that the preface to the story indicates the mandatory characteristics of the novel. historical genre: the presence of a certain arbitrariness in the field of coverage of facts and their grouping, the impact on the moral notes of the reader, but most importantly, fidelity to the primary sources. Ignoring sentimentality and artificiality, the story is endowed with professionally grasped features of the life of the people. In the formation of the character of Gudochnik, around whom all the events take place, an attempt is drawn to portray the type of an old Russian pilgrim-doctor. Meanwhile, Polevoy himself joins the writers who deal with the issue of art in their own works (Gogol, Kukolnik, Odoevsky, Pushkin, Zhukovsky).

In such a story as "Abbadonna" (1834), developed on the basis of the scheme of Schiller's drama "Love and Cunning", the ideas that seriously "touch" the consciousness of the novelists of Europe in the 1820s are reflected with maximum brightness. A modified view of a woman, an interest in the nature of the artist, humanity towards the fallen, opposition to society itself, which hinders the development of art itself and is the result of the reproduction of the unfortunate ...

In addition to the stories considered in the Telegraph, other fictional works by Polevoy were published: Emma, ​​The Painter, and others. Somewhat later, Byzantine Legends (1841) saw the light of day, a novel that depicted the life of Byzantium in the 10th century.

Despite certain shortcomings, Polevoy's fiction is endowed with an undeniable merit, since, having a close relationship with European mental life, she managed to Russian society get to know this life.

Polevoy was engaged not only in fiction: from childhood he was fascinated by history. At that time, domestic historical science was enriched by Karamzin's "History of the Russian State", and in France the works of Guizot, Thierry, Niebuhr and other historians were popular, who especially closely followed the development of state institutions(“institutions”), and paid much less attention to court, military and diplomatic history. The French approach turned out to be more attractive for Polevoy, and in 1829 he published The History of the Russian People, a work that, in essence, entered into controversy with Karamzin and, thereby, brought dissatisfaction of many of his admirers to Polevoy.

Time has changed a lot in the assessment of Polevoy's historical work: what at first seemed to be a "mess" dedicated to Niebuhr, later turned out to be a noticeable step forward in comparison with the work of Karamzin and an extremely witty objection to him. Polevoy, not engaging in national "self-aggrandizement" and the search for morality and lessons of virtue in Russian history, he strove for a philosophical interpretation of facts and the solution of purely research problems. He, as is typical of a true historian, was looking for the relationship between the individual elements of Russian national history and introduced it into a number of histories of other peoples of the world.

The first of these problems was solved most successfully. Polevoy believed that in Russia until the end of the 15th century there was not one state, but several, and thus, as the main idea, requiring philosophical reflection, believed the idea of ​​autocracy. He deliberately moved away from the role of personality and chance in history. Milyukov, a historian and member of the Kadets, later wrote that in Polevoi’s work, the history of Russia appears not as a “series of mistakes” that led to a “series of disasters”, but as a sequence of certain periods, the passage of which was inevitable for Russia due to the prevailing in the state and society of factors.

Polevoy expressed a view, new for that time, on the specific period in the history of Russia: he did not evaluate feudal fragmentation as the time of the decline of Rus'. In his opinion, the specific principalities, having a certain autonomy, got the opportunity to develop their original features, and this, in turn, undermined the authority of the Grand Duke. The independence that the principalities acquired, and the personal relationships of the princes, in turn, contributed to the formation of such circumstances in which civil strife between the Yaroslavichs turned out to be an expected and logical continuation of the political life of Rus'. In this, Polevoi partly anticipated Solovyov's observation of Tmutarakan, where the dispossessed princes lived.

In addition, Polevoy pointed out that with the change in the order of succession to the great reign, the candidacy of the next prince was decided "by force and luck." The Mongol-Tatar invasion and the rule of the Golden Horde were an inevitable page in Russian history under such conditions, and in in a certain sense Tatar dominion over the Russian lands contributed to the unification of Rus', first against a common enemy, and in the long term - in the state-political sense. Polevoy even assesses the attitude of the Grand Dukes towards the Horde as a means of resolving conflicts between Russian lands, which is justified: the strengthening of Moscow’s power and the weakening of Tver at a certain point really contributed to the punitive operations authorized by the Golden Horde.

At the beginning of the second volume of his work, Polevoy gives a surprisingly accurate picture of the life of Russian society of that period, which, according to Bestuzhev-Ryumin, testifies to the historian's ability to group elements, select facts and draw analogies between different events.

However, Polevoy's work was not without errors: at that time, the history of society was characterized as the history of power, and in the process of approaching the formation of a single state, there was a noticeable resemblance to Karamzin's scheme. Polevoy's lack of special knowledge and the subjectivity of his view are evident, but at that time the very development of historical science could hardly offer better means for studying historical processes. At the same time, Polevoy correctly guessed the idea historical process, and in an attempt to outline an organic view of the history and life of the people approached the historical and legal school of a later time.

The last volume of the History was published at the end of 1833, and in 1834 last number Moscow Telegraph. This ended the time of Polevoy's varied and extensive activities.

Even during his work at the Telegraph, Polevoy caused a hostile attitude towards himself from many people. Journalists did not favor him, since, starting from 1825, they began to lose popularity with the success of the new edition. Polevoy's apt remarks were not to the liking of the writers, and the entire Pushkin circle was indignant at the criticism of Karamzia's Field work. Scholars were not happy about the publication of History, and the Ministry of Public Education, together with S. S. Uvarov, did not have warm feelings for Polevoy. Anonymous letters were written about Polevoy addressed to high-ranking officials, and in these letters he was portrayed as a figure sympathetic to the Decembrists.

Polevoy was considered a writer who did not enjoy the trust of the government and failed to present his new projects devoted to journalistic work. When he published a critical article about the drama "The Hand of the Most High Fatherland Saved" by Kukolnik, the Telegraph was banned, and Polevoy, as its editor, was deprived of the opportunity to speak publicly in the press.

The magazine's ban marked the end of a happy period in Polevoy's life: a long period of struggle and decline lay ahead. IN further biography N. A. Polevoy comes to the fore and overshadows him literary achievements. As Bestuzhev-Ryumin later said, Polevoy can hardly be judged by the writings created during the period when he "died in slow agony", not having the opportunity to appear in print and putting up with the need and condemnation of many contemporaries.

Polevoy, left without his own magazine and bearing the burden of old debts, in 1835 became the unofficial editor of the Zhivopisnoye Obozrenie magazine. An article about the monument to Peter the Great was published here, which was approved by Nicholas I. This, as well as the benevolent attitude of A. Kh. Benkendorf, gave Polevoy strength for a while, and he stopped worrying about the future. Polevoy decided to move to St. Petersburg and accept A.F. Smirdin's proposal to edit Son of the Fatherland and The Northern Bee. He began to complete the Moscow affairs - he handed over the Picturesque Review to his brother, ended his cooperation with the Moscow Observer and the Library for Reading. Confident in the future, Polevoy even promised a job in St. Petersburg to V. G. Belinsky, whom he had met shortly before.

However, Polevoy's hopes were not justified: in many ways, life in St. worse than life in Moscow. He lost the support of enlightened writers, who did not leave him until the move, and was forced to maintain relations with Bulgarin and Grech, which did not go well, despite joint work in print publications. The lack of funds pushed Polevoy to work and communicate with people who could not become close to him, since they had little in common. At the same time, Polevoy did not lose energy and continued to be active. He set out to change the content of The Bee, bring it closer to the Journal des Debats, and especially tried to restore the popularity of The Son of the Fatherland. His efforts, however, were in vain.

In 1838, Polevoy left Severnaya Pchela, because relations with Bulgarin did not go well, and subsequently, in 1840, he resigned as editor of Son of the Fatherland - by that time the entire magazine was actually dependent on him, and this, in turn , did not contribute to the establishment of relations with Smirdin and Grech. Smirdin's position was shaken - he could no longer pay Polevoy the necessary amounts on time, which led Polevoy to a constant search for additional earnings: he compiled and edited other people's texts. Feeling like it doesn't fit him own desires, and the financial situation is getting worse, Field suffered. This was aggravated by the fact that many of his old acquaintances, who were not privy to the intricacies of "behind the scenes" life and who observed Polevoy's forced communication with their own literary opponents, eventually began to treat him with disdain.

The theater was Polevoy's only joy. He continued to write plays, and some of them went on stage with great success (like "Siberian Parasha" and "Grandfather of the Russian Navy"). But the rapid success of the plays aroused suspicion in some respected writers, and this, as well as Polevoi's own assessment of his success as a playwright (he called his plays "pathetic impotence against great examples") poisoned the last joy of the writer.

Polevoy grieved over the fact that he had ceased to grow as an author, researcher and critic - this is confirmed by his criticism of Gogol, in which the author's misunderstanding of new literary trends is clearly visible. Disorder in business, death of relatives, clashes with censorship, with opponents in literary work and criticism undermined Polevoy's health. According to his son, in his father's diary during that period, the "continuous cry" of a man forced to put up with a desperate situation and praying to God for deliverance from sorrows is constantly heard. He wrote to his brother that he had to "shut up in time" - as early as 1834.

Polevoi's attempts to edit Russkiy Vestnik failed, and the journal did not recoup the cost of its own printing. Urgent payments did not leave time for long reflections, and Polevoy again got along with Senkovsky and Bulgarin, returned to work on The Northern Bee and The Library for Reading. It was all too painful for Polevoy, and he made the last desperate step- removed the "Literary Gazette" from A. A. Kraevoy and updated its editorial board. A month and a half after restarting this printed edition, February 22, 1846, Field died of illness.
His family received a pension of 1,000 silver rubles, and Belinsky dedicated an excellent article to Polevoy, in which he listed his merits as a prominent literary figure.

Please note that in the biography Field Nicholas Alekseevich presents the most important moments from life. Some minor life events may be omitted from this biography.

Nikolai Alekseevich Polevoy (1796-1846) - famous novelist, critic, theorist of romanticism, prose writer, historian, publisher of the Moscow Telegraph magazine (1825-1831). Having first reached great heights, and then ended up in a strip of almost complete oblivion, Polevoy became an example dramatic fate self-assertion of a commoner in the life of Russia in the 1820s-1840s; a man who ended his journey at the age of 50 with an amazing feeling of spiritual catastrophe and the hopelessness of existence.

Nikolai Polevoy came from an old family of Kursk merchants. Polevoy's parents stood out noticeably in the merchant environment - there was a good library in the Polevoy's house. The boy's father wanted his son to continue his business, but Polevoy Jr. early years attracted to literature and history. This hobby caused sharp dissatisfaction with Polevoy Sr., who even refused to give his son money for education. But this did not stop the boy: from childhood until the end of his days, he was engaged exclusively in self-education - he was self-taught. Everything that the writer managed to achieve in life was achieved by him at the expense of many-sided talents, multiplied by exhausting work. Without outside help, he mastered history, literature, languages ​​- Latin, Greek, French, German. Since childhood, he began to write poetry, dramas, published a home newspaper and magazine.

When old age falls so terribly,
What is youth left? Scary.
I'm scared for the man!

Polevoy Nikolai Alekseevich

Polevoy's literary debut took place in 1817, in the magazines "Russian Messenger" and "Bulletin of Europe". Other publications soon follow. The first literary successes reconcile him with his father. Having moved to Moscow in 1820, Polevoy completely surrenders literary activity, gets acquainted with writers, journalists, writers. Adaptation in the literary circles of the "self-taught merchant" was surprisingly fast and successful. He is engaged in criticism and translation, writes poetry, research - a study he wrote in 1822 on Russian verbs brought him a silver medal of the Russian Academy and the title of a member of the Society of Russian Literature Lovers at Moscow University.

The stellar period of Polevoy's literary career is coming. From 1825 to 1834 he published the literary-critical magazine "Moscow Telegraph" - "the best magazine in Russia since the beginning of journalism" according to V. G. Belinsky. The magazine quickly becomes the most popular magazine in both the capital and the provinces; and the romantic orientation of the work of his publisher immediately turns him into an organ of romanticism. It publishes Pushkin, Zhukovsky, Vyazemsky, Baratynsky, and publishes works by Western European authors - Goethe, Hoffmann, Hugo, Constant, Merimee, and others. Russian society - merchants and industrialists.

Speaking on the pages of his journal as a critic, publicist, prose writer, historian and poet, Polevoy defended the democratic nature of Russian literature, criticizing the "literary aristocracy" common in the literature of that time, denying it originality. This pro-bourgeois position of Polevoy eventually led to a break with the writers of the "Pushkin circle", who, being "doubly aristocrats", openly did not accept the positions of the writer.

In the late 1820s and early 1830s, Polevoy tried his hand at creating his own description of Russian history. From 1829 to 1833, he published in his journal the study "The History of the Russian People", in which he criticized the historical views of N. M. Karamzin. This instantly turns the few aristocratic writers remaining in his journal (after the break with Pushkin) against him: Baratynsky and Vyazemsky leave the editorial office.

In the "telegraph period" Polevoy enters Russian literature not only as a critic and journalist, but also as a romantic prose writer. Polevoy's first stories dedicated to historical topics and closely related to the periods of interest to the author Russian history, appear on the wave of general enthusiasm for Russian antiquity and are very warmly received by the reading public. His novel "The Oath at the Holy Sepulcher" becomes one of the most popular historical novels of that time. In the early 1830s Polevoy begins to write on romantic subjects. His first work in this genre - the story "The Bliss of Madness" - turns out to be the most successful. "The Bliss of Madness" is a kind of anthology of romantic motifs of poetry and prose of the 1820-1830s, dedicated to fatal love and the madness associated with it (and going hand in hand with it). This story, like all Polevoy's romantic stories, ends tragically - loyalty to the ideals of love, beauty and kindness, incompatible with happiness in earthly life, leads to the death of the heroes.

Nikolai Alekseevich Polevoy (June 22, 1796, city of Russian empire- February 22, 1846, St. Petersburg, Russian Empire) - Russian writer, playwright, literary and theater critic, journalist and historian.

Brother of critic and journalist K.A. Polevoy and writer E.A. Avdeeva, father of the writer and critic P.N. Field. He published a magazine in Moscow, in which Pushkin, Turgenev, Zhukovsky, Dal sought to be published. The author of the word "journalism", which he created in the early 1820s (this is how he titled the section on magazines in the Moscow Telegraph in 1825). Initially, this word caused ridicule.

He came from an old Kursk merchant family. His father served as a manager in the Russian-American Trading Company, owned a faience and vodka factories. The head of the family was famous for his strong and quick-tempered character. Mother was known as a soft and meek woman. She was brought up in the Irkutsk nunnery, and therefore was very religious. At the same time, she was fond of fiction novels, which her husband treated with great displeasure. And to the literature of their children, who received home education, and even more so. But, despite this, three writers grew up in the family - Nikolai, Xenophon and, who became the first Siberian writer, publisher of Russian folk tales and books on home economics.

Nikolai Alekseevich combined the qualities of both parents - the willpower of his father and the gentleness and religiosity of his mother. From early childhood, he showed great curiosity. At the age of six he had already learned to read, and by the age of ten he had become acquainted with all the books that were in the house. Among them are works by Sumarokov, Lomonosov, Karamzin, Kheraskov, Golikov. Having become familiar with literature, Polevoy himself began to write poetry, he publishes his own handwritten newspapers, composes the drama The Marriage of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and the tragedy Blanca of Bourbon. But his father saw in him only a merchant, therefore from the age of ten he attracted his son to clerical affairs, burned his literary opuses, and selected books. True, this did not stop Nikolai - he inherited a stubborn character from the priest.

In 1811, a real turning point occurred in the life of the future writer. With commercial assignments, his father sent him to Moscow, for almost a year Nikolai lived in the capital. It was then that he got acquainted with the theater, was able to read the books he wanted, and without prohibitions. Sometimes he even managed to get to lectures at Moscow University. Polevoy continued to write, but his father, who arrived, destroyed all his manuscripts upon learning of their existence.

It so happened that shortly before the war of 1812, the family business began to suffer serious losses. Therefore, the Fields had to leave for Moscow, and then to Kursk. Father sent Nikolai on assignments throughout the country. Such a nomadic life could not provide young man even the slightest opportunity to engage in literature. But the desire grew.

Finally, in 1814, Polevoy began to study the Russian language, as well as studying foreign ones - there were people who agreed to tell the young man about the intricacies of grammar and pronunciation (he then served as a clerk for the Kursk merchant Baushev). Of course, there was no system in such studies - I had to form often at night, in fits and starts. During the day, to deal with clerical and paternal affairs.

In 1817, Alexander I arrived in Kursk. The tsar's visit impressed Polevoy so much that Nikolai wrote an article and it was published in the Russky Vestnik magazine by Sergei Nikolaevich Glinka. Two more of his articles were soon published here - memories of the capture of Paris and the arrival of Barclay de Tolly in Kursk. The novice publicist gains some fame in the city, even honored with an acquaintance with the governor. They begin to reckon with him. All this spurs him to further self-education.

He studies an article by Nikolai Grech, which says that the Russian language is not sufficiently developed, and decides to compile new system Russian conjugations. Then he began to translate foreign press. He sends these works and his articles to Vestnik Evropy, where they are published.

Polevoy becomes known in literary circles. In 1820, Nikolai personally met his first editor, Glinka. And in 1821 in St. Petersburg he already met with the great people of his time - Zhukovsky, Griboyedov, Grech, Bulgarin. Pavel Petrovich Svinin invites him to work in the Notes of the Fatherland. Polevoi works hard - finishes his research " New way conjugations of Russian verbs. His work was highly appreciated - Polevoy was awarded silver medal Russian Academy.

In 1822, his father dies, and Polevoy inherits his business. True, he soon decides that literature and journalism are more important, and completely stops trading. He intends to publish his own magazine.

Just at this time, Russian magazines are not going through the best period. Vestnik Evropy is already considered obsolete, Son of the Fatherland also ceases to satisfy the interests of readers, and Russkiy Vestnik is bored with reverting to antiquity that is not connected with modernity. An update was needed. And Polevoy opens the Moscow Telegraph. The author takes as its basis one of the leading French journals - Revue Encyclopedique.

Nikolai Alekseevich wants to popularize not only new domestic ideas, but also Western ones. Moscow Telegraph covers all outstanding European events in literature, science, public life. It contains translations of August Schlegel, Shakespeare, Balzac, Walter Scott, Byron, Schiller, Goethe, Hoffmann and other famous classics. Materials of French and English journals are published in Russian. But also about home country The publisher doesn't forget. This has a very beneficial effect on the Russian intelligentsia.

In addition, the magazine becomes encyclopedic. It also highlights fashion trends. There are articles about fine arts, Polevoi is the first to publish reproductions in his edition famous paintings. The Moscow Telegraph was published twice a month - on the 1st and 15th. It doesn’t matter if holidays fell on these days or something else, even though the flood happened, it didn’t stop.

Among the authors of the journal are Kuchelbecker, Odoevsky, Krylov, Dal. Brother Xenophon helped Polevoy publish the Moscow Telegraph. Prince Vyazemsky - the right hand of Nikolai Alekseevich - is in charge of the department of literary criticism. Looking for new employees from the so-called Pushkin Circle. Pushkin sent his plays and epigrams to the editors of the Moscow Telegraph. The works of Zhukovsky, Batyushkov, Baratynsky, Turgenev were printed here. The magazine flourished. It became the main event of a whole decade - the 20s of the XIX century.

Polevoy himself knew how to organize the work of the editorial board. He showed himself as a journalist, and as a critic, and as a historian. Fascinated by philosophy, he writes criticism of works and even criticism of criticism. Nikolai Alekseevich said that behind the work it is important to see the personality of the author, to think globally, and not just within the limits of one's own country. He is engaged in fiction, writes historical works, plays and novels. He was the first to translate Shakespeare's Hamlet into Russian. Alexander Herzen said about him: "This man was born to be a journalist."

Polevoy's sharp tongue helped him make many enemies in literary circles. Some of the journalists could not stand him for taking away the audience from their magazines, the Pushkin circle was angry because of Polevoy's criticism of N.M. Karamzin's "History of the Russian State". Yes, and not the most flattering reviews of the Literary Gazette by Pushkin and Delvig were not in vain. Vyazemsky refused to work for the magazine.

The well-known persecutor of Pushkin, Uvarov, the head of the Ministry of Public Education, was also dissatisfied with Polevoy's activities. In addition, the Moscow Telegraph was considered the first bourgeois journal. And many did not like the glorification of the merchant class in it (Polevoi never forgot about his roots).

The last straw of the patience of the authorities was Nikolai Alekseevich’s critical review of the Kukolnik’s drama “The Hand of the Most High Fatherland Saved”, timed to coincide with the anniversary of the Romanov dynasty. The plot is familiar to her: Ivan Susanin leads enemies into a swamp and, at the cost of his life, saves the new tsar. In 1834, this story also had a certain political subtext - the ideas of autocracy and nationality. Therefore, all critics were given the exact instructions to write well about the play, because Nicholas I himself was sitting among the audience! But Polevoy criticized this creation. The Moscow Telegraph ceased to exist, and its editor was outlawed.

Nikolai Alekseevich was forbidden to engage in journalistic activities, and even more so to publish his own magazine again. And he had big family in which seven children grew up. He could earn only by writing. Under strict secrecy, Polevoy becomes the unspoken editor of Live Review. Worked under a false name or simply anonymously. A little later, he was offered to edit the St. Petersburg publications Northern Bee and Son of the Fatherland.

The disgraced writer passes control of the Review to brother Xenophon and, with the hope of better life leaves Moscow. But in the northern capital, he still cannot find like-minded people. Even worse, the editors of the magazines Bulgarin and Grech, with whom he has to work, are his worst enemies. Despite his wounded pride, Polevoy has a lot of ideas on how to improve magazines. But, having not found responses to his proposals, Nikolai Alekseevich refuses both the Northern Bee and the Son of the Fatherland.

The last years of Polevoy were very difficult. To earn money, he edited the works of incoming authors, he himself believed that it was impossible to exchange for small coins, but he could not do anything. The attitude of good friends towards him also changed - they did not recognize him.

The only joy was that Polevoy's plays, staged in the theater, were quite popular. True, and this was overshadowed by the fact that now the once sharp and uncompromising author was accused of currying favor with the authorities. Polevoy had something to change his attitude to life. The death of his son and sister, constant attacks from all sides greatly undermined his health. He himself had already begun to dream of death.

He understood that his views were outdated, that he had become old. All attempts to publishing remained fruitless. On February 22, 1846, at the age of 52, Nikolai Alekseevich passed away. His family received a pension of 1000 rubles. And Vissarion Belinsky wrote a posthumous article about how much Polevoy did for Russian literature and society.

A humanitarian center has been opened in Irkutsk today - a library named after the Polev family. The descendants handed over very valuable and expensive books for readers to the hometown of their dynasty.

In preparing the material, an article by N.K. Kozmina "Field Nikolai Alekseevich"

Notes

ProskurinO.A. Literary scandals Pushkin era. M.: OGI, 2000.

Literature

1. Polevoy N.A. Two years, 1864 and 1865, from the history of the peasant business in the Minsk province. // Russian antiquity, 1910. T. 141. No. 1. P. 47-68; No. 2. S.247-270.
2. Polevoy N.A. Diary of N.A. Field. (1838-1845) // Historical Bulletin, 1888. T. 31. No. 3. P. 654-674; T. 32. No. 4. S.163-183.
3. Sukhomlinov M.I. ON THE. Polevoy and his magazine "Moscow Telegraph" // Historical Bulletin, 1886. T. 23. No. 3. P. 503-528.

Nikolai Alekseevich Polevoy
Aliases	Ivan Balakirev
Date of Birth	June 22 (July 3)
Place of Birth
Date of death	February 22 (March 6)(49 years old)
A place of death
Citizenship (citizenship)
Occupation	novelist, playwright, theater and literary critic, journalist, historian
Language of works	Russian
Works on the site Lib.ru
Files at Wikimedia Commons

Biography

Born in the Siberian merchant family, Polevoy never forgot about his origin; perhaps the first in Russian journalism to express the interests of the merchant class and the emerging bourgeoisie. Received home education. He made his debut in print in the journal "Russian Messenger" in 1817. From 1820 to 1836. lived in Moscow, then moved to St. Petersburg. Positioning himself as a representative of the people in literature, he opposed romanticism to supranational classicism (in which he saw the reflection in art of the special spirit of each people).

In 1820-1824, he published poems, notes, essays, articles, translations from French in the Notes of the Fatherland, the Northern Archive, the Son of the Fatherland, and the almanac Mnemosyne. Russian word"journalism", Introduced into circulation in the early 1820s by Polev himself, was initially perceived ambiguously. At that time, literary activity was reserved exclusively for the nobility. The appearance in the press of people from the tax-paying estates, who owe their careers only to their own efforts and abilities, such as, for example, N. Polevoy and M. Pogodin, caused bewilderment and ridicule.

From 1825 to 1834 Polevoy published the Moscow Telegraph magazine in unprecedented editions in Moscow, where he published his own articles on literature, history and ethnography. The magazine emphasized the positive role of the merchants, trade and industry in the life of Russia. Polevoy often allowed himself to attack noble literature and criticized its main representatives for being isolated from the people and their needs. The magazine was closed by personal order of Nicholas I for Polevoy's disapproving review of the play by N. V. Kukolnik "The Hand of the Most High Saved the Fatherland."

After the termination of the journal, Polevoy left for St. Petersburg, where he changed his liberal views to loyal ones. In 1835-1844 he published an illustrated yearbook "A picturesque review of memorable objects from sciences, arts, arts, industry and a hostel, with the addition of a picturesque journey around the globe and biographies of famous people." Participated in the Northern Bee, in 1837-1838 he was in charge of the literary department of the newspaper. In 1838-1840 he was the editor of The Son of the Fatherland.

Polevoy died at the age of 49 "of a nervous fever" caused by the imprisonment of his student son, Nyktopolion, who was detained while trying to arbitrarily cross the border in the Shlisselburg fortress. He was one of the first writers buried in that part of the Volkov cemetery, which later became known as the Literary Bridges (photo of the grave). From Nikolsky Cathedral, where the funeral service was held, to the cemetery, the crowd carried the coffin in their arms. P. A. Vyazemsky wrote in his diary:

Belinsky, who himself actively argued with Polevoy, nevertheless acknowledged his significant literary merits in his obituary. The next generation honored in Polevoy the predecessor of that Raznochinsk intelligentsia, which entered the arena of public and literary life in the forties, however, his writings were quickly forgotten and ceased to be published.

Artistic compositions

Polevoy not only promoted the aesthetics of romanticism (in the spirit of simplified Schellingism) in his journals, but he himself wrote the romantic novels The Bliss of Madness (1833), The Painter (1833), Emma (1834), etc. The main theme of Polevoy's fiction - class obstacles that gifted raznochintsy face in a noble society. The usual hero of Polevoy's story is a pious, morally pure native of the philistinism (bourgeoisie) environment, who is disgusted by the narrowness of views and the backwardness of his environment. The aristocrats are presented as selfish, hiding their lack of conviction and immorality behind a false façade of brilliant mannerisms.

Field owns four dozen plays. Most often he refers to the events and figures of Russian history. A. N. Ostrovsky noted that during the reign of Nicholas I, the patriotic plays of Polevoy and Kukolnik gave Russian theaters "large and constant fees."

From July 1829, Polevoy published a satirical supplement to the Moscow Telegraph, which continued the traditions of enlightenment satire of the late 18th century - "The New Painter of Society and Literature." Almost all the content of The New Painter, diverse in genres, came from the pen of the publisher himself; according to Belinsky, this is "the best work of all the literary activity" of Polevoy. hallmark Polevoy's manner as a satirist is seen as a rejection of exaggerations and hyperbole.

In addition to translations of foreign prose made for the Moscow Telegraph (in particular, the tales of V. Gauf), Polevoy owns a very free prose translation of Shakespeare's Hamlet (1837) - with abbreviations and additions. Shakespeare scholar D. M. Urnov spoke with admiration about this translation:

... there were wonderful successes, like "Hamlet", translated by Polevoy. He cleaned decently, and wrote “his own”, but he did it with talent, powerfully, with pressure. Just remember this: “I’m scared for a man!” There was something to shine for Karatygin and Mochalov.

Lifetime editions of fiction by N. A. Polevoy

• "Tales and Literary Fragments". M., 1829-30
• "Dreams and Life". Ch. 1-4. M., 1833-1834
• "Abbaddonna", novel M., 1834, St. Petersburg, 1840
• Byzantine legends. John Tzimisces". Ch. 1-2. M., 1841
• “There were also fables” St. Petersburg, 1843
• "Tales of Ivan the Hudoshnik", St. Petersburg, 1843
• "The Old Tale of Ivan the Fool", St. Petersburg, 1844

Historical writings

Initially, Polevoy planned to write 12 volumes (like Karamzin) and announced a subscription to just that many volumes, but due to personal difficulties he was able to write and publish only 6, which caused accusations of financial dishonesty. Latest volumes"History of the Russian people" is not as interesting as the first two; they reflect the haste of the writer, who "strays" into the traditional "statist" scheme of presentation, retells the sources, etc. Polevoy brought the presentation to the capture of Kazan by Ivan the Terrible.

After the "History" Polevoy wrote a number of historical articles for the general reader. In the work “Little Russia, Its Inhabitants and History” (Moscow Telegraph. - 1830. - No. 17-18) he made a radical denial of the ethnic and historical kinship of Great Russians and Little Russians, suggested recognizing that Little Russia was never the “ancient property” of Russia (as Karamzin insisted on this):

Notes

1. Bernstein D.I. Field // Brief literary encyclopedia - M. :

Nickname under which he writes political figure Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ... In 1907 he was unsuccessfully a candidate for the 2nd State Duma in St. Petersburg.

Alyabiev, Alexander Alexandrovich, Russian amateur composer. ... The romances of A. reflected the spirit of the times. As then-Russian literature, they are sentimental, sometimes corny. Most of them are written in a minor key. They almost do not differ from Glinka's first romances, but the latter has stepped far ahead, while A. has remained in place and is now outdated.

Filthy Idolishche (Odolishche) - an epic hero ...

Pedrillo (Pietro-Mira Pedrillo) - a famous jester, a Neapolitan, who arrived in St. Petersburg at the beginning of the reign of Anna Ioannovna to sing the roles of buffa and play the violin in the Italian court opera.

Dahl, Vladimir Ivanovich
Numerous novels and stories of his suffer from the absence of a real artistic creativity, a deep feeling and a broad view of the people and life. Dal did not go further than everyday pictures, anecdotes caught on the fly, told in a peculiar language, smartly, lively, with well-known humor, sometimes falling into mannerism and joking.

Varlamov, Alexander Egorovich
Over theory musical composition Varlamov, apparently, did not work at all and remained with the meager knowledge that he could have taken out of the chapel, which at that time did not care at all about the general musical development of its pupils.

Nekrasov Nikolai Alekseevich
None of our great poets has so many verses that are downright bad from all points of view; he himself bequeathed many poems not to be included in the collection of his works. Nekrasov is not sustained even in his masterpieces: and in them the prosaic, sluggish verse suddenly hurts the ear.

Gorky, Maxim
By his origin, Gorky does not at all belong to those dregs of society, of which he acted as a singer in literature.

Zhikharev Stepan Petrovich
His tragedy "Artaban" did not see a print or a stage, since, according to Prince Shakhovsky and the author's frank opinion, it was a mixture of nonsense and nonsense.

Sherwood-Verny Ivan Vasilievich
“Sherwood,” writes one contemporary, “in society, even in St. Petersburg, was not called anything but Sherwood nasty ... his comrades in military service shunned him and called him the dog name “fidelka”.

Obolyaninov Petr Khrisanfovich
... Field Marshal Kamensky publicly called him "a state thief, a bribe-taker, a fool stuffed."

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