Biography of Radishchev. Alexander radishchev - biography, information, personal life
Alexander Nikolaevich Radishchev. Born on August 20 (31), 1749 in Upper Ablyazovo (Saratov province) - died on September 12 (24), 1802 in St. Petersburg. Russian prose writer, poet, philosopher, de facto head of the St. Petersburg customs, a member of the Commission for the Drafting of Laws under Alexander I. He became best known for his main work "A Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow", which he published anonymously in 1790.
Alexander Radishchev was the firstborn in the family of Nikolai Afanasyevich Radishchev (1728-1806), the son of the Starodub colonel and large landowner Afanasy Prokopyevich.
He spent his childhood on his father's estate in the village of Nemtsovo, Borovsk district, Kaluga province. In the initial training of Radishchev, his father, a devout man, who spoke well Latin, Polish, French and German, apparently took a direct part.
As was customary at that time, the child was taught Russian reading and writing according to the book of hours and the psalter. By the age of six, a French teacher was assigned to him, but the choice was unsuccessful: the teacher, as they later learned, was a fugitive soldier.
Soon after the opening of Moscow University, around 1756, his father took Alexander to Moscow, to the house of his maternal uncle (whose brother, A. M. Argamakov, was the director of the university in 1755-1757). Here Radishchev was entrusted with the care of a very good French governor, a former adviser to the Rouen parliament, who fled from the persecution of the government of Louis XV. The children of the Argamakovs had the opportunity to study at home with professors and teachers of the university gymnasium, so it cannot be ruled out that Alexander Radishchev prepared here under their leadership and went through, at least in part, the program of the gymnasium course.
In 1762, after the coronation, Radishchev was granted a page and sent to St. Petersburg to study in the Page Corps. The corps of pages trained not scientists, but courtiers, and pages were obliged to serve the empress at balls, in the theater, at ceremonial dinners.
Four years later, among twelve young nobles, he was sent to Germany, to the University of Leipzig, to study law. During the time spent there, Radishchev expanded his horizons enormously. In addition to a solid scientific school, he adopted the ideas of the leading French enlighteners, whose works to a great extent paved the way for the bourgeois revolution that broke out twenty years later.
Of Radishchev's comrades, Fyodor Ushakov is especially remarkable for the great influence he had on Radishchev, who wrote his Life and published some of Ushakov's works. Ushakov was a more experienced and mature person than his other associates, who immediately recognized his authority. He served as an example for other students, guided their reading, instilled in them strong moral convictions. Ushakov's health was upset even before his trip abroad, and in Leipzig he still spoiled it, partly with poor nutrition, partly overworking, and fell ill. When the doctor announced to him that “tomorrow he will no longer be involved in life,” he firmly met the death sentence. He said goodbye to his friends, then, summoning one Radishchev to him, handed over all his papers at his disposal and told him: "remember that you need to have rules in life in order to be blessed." The last words of Ushakov "were marked by an indelible mark in the memory" of Radishchev.
In 1771 Radishchev returned to St. Petersburg and soon entered the service in the Senate, as a protocol officer, with the rank of titular councilor. He did not serve for long in the Senate: the comradeship of clerks, the rude treatment of his superiors, weighed heavily. Radishchev entered the headquarters of General-in-Chief Bruce, who was in command in St. Petersburg, as chief auditor and stood out for his conscientious and courageous attitude to his duties. In 1775 he retired and married, and two years later he entered the service of the Commerce Collegium in charge of trade and industry. There he became very close friends with Count Vorontsov, who subsequently helped Radishchev in every possible way during his exile to Siberia.
From 1780 he worked in the St. Petersburg customs, having risen to the position of its chief by 1790. From 1775 to June 30, 1790 he lived in St. Petersburg at 14 Gryaznaya Street (now Marata Street).
The foundations of Radishchev's outlook were laid in the earliest period of his activity. Returning to St. Petersburg in 1771, a couple of months later he sent an excerpt from his future book to the editorial office of the Zhivopisets magazine "Travel from St. Petersburg to Moscow", where he was printed anonymously. Two years later, Radishchev's translation of Mably's book Reflections on Greek History was published. Other works of the writer belong to this period, such as "Officers' Exercises" and "Diary of a Week".
In the 1780s, Radishchev worked on The Journey and wrote other works in prose and poetry. By this time there was a huge social upsurge throughout Europe. The victory of the American Revolution and the French Revolution that followed created a favorable climate for promoting the ideas of freedom, which Radishchev took advantage of.
In 1789 he opened a printing house at his home, and in May 1790 he published his main work, A Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow. His treatise "On Man, His Mortality and Immortality" contains numerous paraphrases of Herder's works "A Study on the Origin of Language" and "On the Knowledge and Sensation of the Human Soul."
The book began to sell out quickly. His bold reflections on serfdom and other sad phenomena of the then public and state life attracted the attention of the empress herself, to whom someone had delivered the "Journey" and who called Radishchev - "a rebel worse than Pugachev."
Radishchev was arrested, his case was entrusted to SI Sheshkovsky. Imprisoned in the fortress, during interrogations, Radishchev led the line of defense. He did not name a single name from among his assistants, he saved the children, and also tried to save his life. The Criminal Chamber applied to Radishchev the articles of the Code on "attempted assassination of the sovereign's health", on "conspiracies and treason" and sentenced him to death. The verdict, transmitted to the Senate and then to the Council, was approved in both instances and presented to Catherine.
On September 4, 1790, a personal decree was issued, which found Radishchev guilty of a crime of oath and the office of a subject by publishing a book “filled with the most harmful speculations, destroying public peace, diminishing the respect due to the authorities, striving to generate indignation among the people against the bosses and superiors and finally, offensive and violent expressions against the dignity and authority of the king ”; Radishchev's guilt is such that he fully deserves the death penalty, to which he was sentenced by the court, but "out of mercy and for everyone's joy" the execution was replaced by his ten-year exile to Siberia, to the Ilimsky prison.
Emperor Paul I, shortly after his accession (1796), returned Radishchev from Siberia. Radishchev was ordered to live on his estate in the Kaluga province, the village of Nemtsov.
After accession to the throne, Radishchev received complete freedom; he was summoned to Petersburg and appointed a member of the Commission to draw up laws.
There is a legend about the circumstances of Radishchev's suicide: summoned to the commission to draw up laws, Radishchev drew up the "Draft Liberal Code", in which he spoke of the equality of all before the law, freedom of the press, etc.
The chairman of the commission, Count P.V. Zavadovsky, made him a stern suggestion for his way of thinking, sternly reminding him of his previous hobbies and even mentioning Siberia. Radishchev, a man with severe health problems, was so shocked by Zavadovsky's reprimand and threats that he decided to commit suicide: he drank poison and died in terrible agony.
In the book "Radishchev" by D. S. Babkin, published in 1966, a different version of Radishchev's death is proposed. The sons who were present at his death testified about a serious physical illness that struck Alexander Nikolaevich already during his Siberian exile. The immediate cause of death, according to Babkin, was an accident: Radishchev drank a glass with "strong vodka prepared in it to burn out the old officer's epaulettes of his eldest son" (royal vodka). The burial documents speak of natural death.
In the statement of the church of the Volkovskoe cemetery in St. Petersburg on September 13, 1802, the list of those buried included “collegiate adviser Alexander Radishchev; fifty-three years old, died of consumption ", priest Vasily Nalimov was during the removal.
The grave of Radishchev has not survived to this day. It is assumed that his body was buried near the Resurrection Church, on the wall of which a memorial plaque was installed in 1987.
Family and personal life of Radishchev:Alexander Radishchev was married twice.
The first time he married in 1775, Anna Vasilyevna Rubanovskaya (1752-1783), who was the niece of his fellow student in Leipzig, Andrei Kirillovich Rubanovsky, and the daughter of an official of the Main Palace Chancellery, Vasily Kirillovich Rubanovsky. In this marriage, four children were born (not counting two daughters who died in infancy):
Vasily (1776-1845) - staff captain, lived in Ablyazov, where he married his serf Akulina Savvateevna. His son Aleksey Vasilyevich became a court councilor, leader of the nobility and mayor of Khvalynsk.
Nikolay (1779-1829) - writer, author of the poem "Alyosha Popovich".
Catherine (1782)
Paul (1783-1866).
Anna Vasilievna died at the birth of her son Pavel in 1783. Soon after the expulsion of Radishchev, the younger sister of his first wife Elizaveta Vasilievna Rubanovskaya (1757-97) came to Ilimsk with his two youngest children (Ekaterina and Pavel). In exile, they soon began to live as husband and wife. Three children were born in this marriage:
Anna (1792)
Thekla (1795-1845) - married Pyotr Gavrilovich Bogolyubov and became the mother of the famous Russian marine painter A.P. Bogolyubov.
Afanasy (1796-1881) - Major General, Podolsk, Vitebsk and Covenian Governor.
Alexander Nikolaevich Radishchev was born on August 20 (31 - according to the new style), 1749 in the family of a wealthy landowner. He studied literacy according to the Book of Hours and the Psalter. When Radishchev was six years old, a French teacher was assigned to him. It was later revealed that he was a fugitive soldier. Then the father decided to send the child to Moscow and give him up for upbringing in the house of MF Argamakov, a relative on the maternal side. There Radishchev received a good education. Not least thanks to the French governor, a former councilor of the Rouen parliament, who fled from the persecution of the government of Louis XV. Perhaps it was he who first introduced Radishchev to some of the ideas of philosophy of the Enlightenment.
In 1762 Radishchev moved to St. Petersburg to begin his studies at the Corps of Pages. In 1766, by order of Catherine II, twelve young noblemen were sent to Leipzig for scientific studies. Among them was Radishchev. The years spent at Leipzig University were not in vain. Radishchev returned to his homeland in 1771, being one of the most educated people of his time, and not only in Russia.
Arriving in St. Petersburg, Alexander Nikolayevich entered the service in the Senate, but could not stay there for a long time. In particular, he was hampered by his poor knowledge of the Russian language, which he practically forgot during his stay in Germany. In addition, Radishchev did not like the rudeness of his superiors. After Alexander Nikolaevich became the chief auditor at the headquarters of General-in-Chief Bruce, who was in command in St. Petersburg. In 1775 Radishchev retired and married. In 1778 he joined the Commerce Collegium. From 1780 he worked in the St. Petersburg customs, in ten years he managed to rise to the position of its chief.
In 1790, Radishchev published his main work, A Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow, in his own home printing house. The book fell into the hands of Catherine II and aroused her displeasure. A copy has survived, speckled with the empress's cynical remarks. Radishcheva Catherine II described as follows: "He is a rebel worse than Pugachev." As a result, the writer was arrested. During interrogations, Alexander Nikolaevich repented, hoping to mitigate the punishment that threatened him. At the same time, he sometimes expressed the same thoughts that appeared in "Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow."
In September 1790, a personal decree was issued. It said that Radishchev deserves the death penalty. “Out of mercy and for the joy of everyone,” she was replaced by a ten-year exile to Siberia, to the Ilimsky prison. Emperor Paul I returned from exile Radishchev in 1796. Alexander Nikolaevich was ordered to live on his estate in the village of Nemtsov, Kaluga province. The governor was ordered to observe the correspondence and behavior of Radishchev. The writer received complete freedom only after the accession to the throne of Alexander I in 1801. Radishchev was summoned to St. Petersburg and appointed a member of the Commission to draw up laws. Alexander Nikolaevich died on 12 (24 - according to the new style) September 1802. The grave of the writer has not survived to this day.
Brief analysis of creativity
Among the first literary experiments of Radishchev, intended for publication, was the translation of Mably's book "Reflections on Greek History" (1773), which Alexander Nikolaevich added to his family with his own notes. One of them can be considered a synopsis of Rousseau's work "On the social contract, or the principles of political law" (1762). In particular, in this note, Radishchev discusses autocracy, calling it "the most contrary state to human nature."
The American Revolution, perceived by Alexander Nikolaevich as a war of the people against the oppressors, inspired Radishchev to create the ode "Liberty" (1781-83), which is considered his most significant poetic work. In it, Radishchev glorifies the freedom of man, proclaims the right of the people to overthrow the monarch and execute him. Subsequently, it was included in the book "Travel from St. Petersburg to Moscow".
At the end of the 1780s, Alexander Nikolaevich completed work on the work "The Life of Fyodor Vasilyevich Ushakov with the introduction of some of his works." It is dedicated to a friend of Radishchev, with whom the writer studied at the University of Leipzig and who died early. The book was a success. According to Princess Dashkova, in the work "there were dangerous thoughts and expressions." Despite this, then Radishchev was not persecuted by the authorities.
"Travel from St. Petersburg to Moscow" was created by Alexander Nikolaevich for many years. In terms of form, the story follows the canons of the genre of sentimental travel. The chapters are named in honor of the settlements, past which the author follows. As for the content, the book reflects Radishchev's thoughts and feelings concerning all the main issues of the life of the Russian Empire. Particular attention is paid to the plight of the serfs.
Among the philosophical works of Radishchev, it is worth noting the treatise On Man, His Mortality and Immortality, written in exile. The main problem considered in it is: is the human soul immortal, and if so, in what form does it exist after the death of the body? Radishchev's treatise invites the reader to think to a greater extent than offers him unconditional truths.
Biography Russian writer, one of the main representatives of "educational philosophy" in Russia. Alexander, the eldest son and mother's favorite, was born on August 31 (August 20, old style) 1749. His grandfather, Afanasy Prokofievich Radishchev, one of the amusing Peter the Great, rose to the rank of brigadier and gave his son Nikolai a good upbringing for that time. Father, Nikolai Afanasyevich, was a Saratov landowner, mother, Fekla Stepanovna, came from an old noble family of the Argamakovs. The father's estate was located in Verkhniy Ablyazov. Alexander learned Russian reading and writing from the book of hours and the psalter. When he was 6 years old, a French teacher was assigned to him, but the choice was unsuccessful: the teacher, as they later learned, was a fugitive soldier. Then the father decided to send the boy to Moscow, where he was entrusted with the care of a good French tutor, a former adviser to the Rouen parliament, who fled from the persecution of the government of Louis XV. In 1756 Alexander was sent to the noble grammar school of Moscow University. Gymnasium life lasted six years. In September 1762, the coronation of Catherine II took place in Moscow, on the occasion of which Catherine raised many nobles in the ranks. On November 25, Radishchev was granted the page. In January 1764 he arrived in St. Petersburg and until 1766 studied in the page corps. When Catherine ordered to send to Leipzig, for scientific studies, twelve young nobles, including six pages of the most distinguished in behavior and success in learning, among whom was also Radishchev. When sending students abroad, instructions were given regarding their studies, written in her own hand by Catherine II. Significant funds were allocated for the maintenance of students - 800 rubles each. (from 1769 - 1000 rubles) per year for each. But assigned to the nobles as a chamberlain and educator, Major Bokum concealed a significant part of the sums in his favor, so the students were in great need. Radishchev's stay abroad was described in his "Life of FV Ushakov". The student activities in Leipzig were quite varied. They listened to philosophy, history, law. In accordance with the instructions of Catherine II, students could study "other sciences" at their request. Radishchev was engaged in medicine and chemistry, not as an amateur, but seriously, so that he could pass the exam for a doctor and then successfully engaged in treatment. Chemistry also forever remained one of his favorite things. Radishchev knew German, French and Latin well, and later he learned English and Italian. After spending five years in Leipzig, he, like his comrades, greatly forgot the Russian language, so upon returning to Russia he studied it under the guidance of the famous Khrapovitsky, Catherine's secretary. After completing his studies, Radishchev became one of the most educated people of his time, not only in Russia. In 1771 he returned to St. Petersburg and soon entered the service in the Senate as a protocol clerk, with the rank of titular councilor, where he did not serve for long. the poor knowledge of the Russian language interfered, the comradeship of clerks, the rude treatment of the authorities weighed down. Radishchev entered the headquarters of General-in-Chief Bruce, who was in command in St. Petersburg, as chief auditor. In 1775 Radishchev retired with the rank of Major Seconds. One of Radishchev's comrades in Leipzig, Rubanovsky, introduced him to the family of his older brother, whose daughter, Anna Vasilievna, Alexander married. In 1778 he was again determined to serve in the state chamber collegium for an assessor's vacancy. In 1788 he was transferred to the service in the St. Petersburg customs, assistant manager, and then manager. Both in the chamber collegium and in customs, Radishchev stood out for his disinterestedness, devotion to duty, and a serious attitude to business. Studying the Russian language and reading led Radishchev to his own literary experiments. In 1773 he published a translation of Mably's work, then began to compose the history of the Russian Senate, but he destroyed what he had written. In 1783, after the death of his beloved wife, he began to seek solace in literary work. In 1789 he published "The Life of Fyodor Vasilyevich Ushakov with the introduction of some of his works." Taking advantage of the decree of Catherine II on free printing houses, Radishchev opened his own printing house at his home and in 1790 published his main work: "A Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow". The book began to sell out quickly. Her bold reflections on serfdom and other sad phenomena of the then social and state life attracted the attention of the empress herself, to whom someone had brought the "Journey". Although the book was published "with the permission of the Deanery Council," that is, with the permission of the established censorship, persecution was nevertheless raised against the author. At first, they did not know who the author was, since his name was not displayed on the book; but, having arrested the merchant Zotov, in whose shop "Travel" was on sale, they soon learned that the book had been written and published by Radishchev. He was also arrested, his case was "entrusted" to the well-known Sheshkovsky. Catherine forgot that Radishchev, both in the corps of pages and abroad, studied "natural law" at the highest command, and that she herself preached and allowed to preach principles similar to those conducted by "Journey". She reacted to the book of Radishchev with strong personal irritation, she herself drew up question points for Radishchev, and through Bezborodko she directed the whole matter. Imprisoned in the fortress and interrogated by the terrible Sheshkovsky, Radishchev declared his repentance, rejected his book, but at the same time, in his testimony, he often expressed the same views that were cited in Travel. By an expression of remorse, Radishchev hoped to mitigate the punishment that threatened him, but at the same time he was unable to hide his convictions. The fate of Radishchev was decided in advance: he was found guilty of the decree itself on bringing him to trial. The Criminal Chamber carried out a very brief investigation, the content of which was determined in a letter from Bezborodko to the Commander-in-Chief in St. Petersburg, Count Bruce. The Criminal Chamber applied to Radishchev the articles of the Code on attempted assassination of the sovereign's health, on conspiracies, treason, and sentenced him to death. The verdict, transmitted to the Senate and then to the Council, was approved in both instances and presented to Catherine. On September 4, according to the old style, in 1790, a personal decree was passed, which found Radishchev guilty of the crime of oath and the office of a subject, by publishing a book; Radishchev's guilt is such that he fully deserves the death penalty, to which he was sentenced by the court, but "out of mercy and for everyone's joy", on the occasion of the conclusion of peace with Sweden, the death penalty was replaced by him by exile to Siberia, to the Ilimsky prison, "to a ten-year hopeless stay ". The decree was carried out at the same time. The sad fate of Radishchev attracted everyone's attention: the sentence seemed incredible, rumors arose more than once in society that Radishchev was forgiven, returned from exile, but these rumors were not justified, and Radishchev stayed in Ilimsk until the end of Catherine's reign. His wife's sister, E.V. Rubanovskaya, and brought the younger children (the older ones stayed with their relatives to get an education). In Ilimsk, Radishchev married E.V. Rubanovskaya. Emperor Pavel, shortly after his accession, returned Radishchev from Siberia (the Highest command on November 23, 1796), and Radishchev was ordered to live in his estate of the Kaluga province, the village of Nemtsov, and the governor was ordered to observe his behavior and correspondence. After the accession of Alexander I, Radishchev received complete freedom; he was summoned to Petersburg and appointed a member of the commission for drawing up laws. Radishchev's contemporaries, Ilyinsky and Born, attest to the fidelity of the legend about Radishchev's death. This legend says that when Radishchev submitted his liberal draft on the necessary legislative reforms - a draft where the liberation of the peasants was again put forward, the chairman of the commission, Count Zavadovsky, made him a strict suggestion for his way of thinking, sternly reminding him of his previous hobbies and even mentioning Siberia. Radishchev, a man with severe health problems, with broken nerves, was so shocked by Zavadovsky's reprimand and threats that he decided to commit suicide, drank poison and died in terrible agony. Radischev died on the night of September 12, according to the old style, 1802, and was buried at the Volkov cemetery. For a long time there was a ban on Radishchev's name; it almost never appeared in print. Soon after his death, several articles about him appeared, but then his name almost disappears in the literature and is very rare; only fragmentary and incomplete data are given about him. Batyushkov introduced Radishchev to his compiled program of essays on Russian literature. Only in the second half of the fifties was the ban lifted from the name of Radishchev, and many articles about him appeared in the press. __________ Sources of information: "Russian Biographical Dictionary"
(Source: "Aphorisms from all over the world. Encyclopedia of wisdom." Www.foxdesign.ru)
Consolidated encyclopedia of aphorisms... Academician. 2011.
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Alexander Nikolaevich Radishchev was born on August 20, 1749 in Moscow. His literary interests were varied: prose, poetry, philosophy. But, for the majority of enlightened people, this name is associated with the book "Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow", which played a fatal role in his fate.
He spent his childhood in the Kaluga province in the village of Nemtsovo. He received home education first at his father's house, then at the house of his uncle A.M. Argamakov, former rector of Moscow University. 1762 was marked by the coronation of Catherine II. Young Alexander was granted a page and sent to the St. Petersburg Corps of Pages. Four years later, together with twelve other young nobles, he was sent to Germany to study law at the University of Leipzig. Here he received an excellent education and became infected with the advanced ideas of the French enlighteners.
Upon his return to St. Petersburg in 1771, Radishchev briefly served in the Senate with the rank of titular adviser, then was appointed chief auditor to the headquarters of General-in-Chief Bruce, who commanded in St. Petersburg. In 1775 he submitted his resignation letter and got married. Two years later, having entered the service of the Komerz Collegium, he made a close friendship with Count Vorontsov, who later helped him during his exile. For ten years, from 1780 to 1790, he served in the St. Petersburg customs, where he rose to the position of chief.
Creative activity
The foundations of his worldview, his civic position were formed during the years of study at the University of Leipzig. On his return to St. Petersburg in 1771, two months later he sent to the editorial office of the Zhivopisets magazine a small part of his future book Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow, where it was published anonymously. Two years later, his works were published such as "The Diary of a Week", "Officer Exercises", a translation of Mably's book "Reflections on Greek History". Throughout the 80s, he wrote his "Journey", prose, poetry. By 1789, he already had his own printing house at home, and in May 1790 he printed the main book of his life, A Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow.
Arrest and exile
The book was sold out instantly. Bold denunciations of serfdom and other phenomena of the life of that time received a wide public response. After reading the book, Catherine II was furious: "A rebel, worse than Pugachev." The publication of the book was followed by the arrest of the author. Radishchev himself led his defense. Didn't name any of his assistants. By the decision of the court, which incriminated him with articles about "an attempt on the sovereign's health", "conspiracies and treason", he was sentenced to death, which was replaced by ten years of exile in Siberia, in the Ilimsk prison.
During these years of exile, Radishchev created a treatise "On Man, His Mortality and Immortality", which was published only after the death of the author. The treatise is so interesting in its essence that we will devote a few words to it. Consists of 4 volumes and is devoted to the question of the immortality of the soul. Moreover, the first two volumes prove the complete inconsistency of the assertion of the immortality of the soul, that this is all nothing more than a play of the imagination and an empty dream. In the third and fourth volumes, the opposite is proved, what was denied in the previous two volumes. The reader, as it were, was asked to make his own choice. However, the argument in favor of the immortality of the soul is given here rather trivially, but the opposite, denying immortality, is original and unacceptable from the point of view of the church. Therefore, this treatise, which has the appearance of a contradictory, in content can be perceived unambiguously as anti-religious.
While in exile, fulfilling the instructions of Count A. Vorontsov, Radishchev studied Siberian crafts, the economy of the region, and the life of the peasants. In letters to Vorontsov, he expounded his thoughts on organizing an expedition along the Northern Sea Route. In Ilimsk were written: "Letter about the Chinese bargaining" (1792), "Abridged story about the acquisition of Siberia" (1791), "Description of the Tobolsk governorship", etc.
With the coming to power of Paul I in 1786, Radishchev was returned from exile with the order to live on his estate Nemtsovo in the Kaluga province. The coming to power of Alexander I gave Radishchev complete freedom. He returned to St. Petersburg, where he was appointed a member of the Commission for the drafting of laws. Together with his friend and patron Vorontsov, he developed a constitutional project "The Most Merciful Letter of Appreciation."
Alexander Petrovich passed away suddenly. There are two versions of his death. In the first case, the following allegedly happened. The project, which he was preparing together with his friend Count Vorontsov, demanded the abolition of serfdom in Russia, the elimination of estate privileges and the arbitrariness of those in power. The head of the commission, Count P. Zavadsky, threatened with new exile for this. This was the last straw for the broken-down Radishchev and he committed suicide by taking poison.
However, this version does not fit with the records from the list of the Volkovsky cemetery in St. Petersburg. It says that on September 13, 1802, “the collegiate councilor Alexander Radishchev was buried; fifty-three years old, died of consumption ", priest Vasily Nalimov was present at the removal. It is well known that according to the church laws of that time, any deceased was buried as a priest. For suicides, there was and still is a strict ban on burial on the territory of the cemetery, including on their funeral service. Considering that Radishchev was buried in accordance with the church rules of that time, in the presence of a priest, in the presence of an entry in the burial documents stating the natural cause of death, this version of death from suicide is untenable.
Another version of his death is more reliable. According to the testimony of the sons of Alexander Nikolaevich, the cause of his death was an absurd accident, an accident. Radishchev accidentally drank a glass of strong vodka (royal vodka), which was intended to burn out the old officer's epaulettes of his eldest son.
The grave of Radishchev has not survived to this day. There is an assumption that his grave is located near the Resurrection Church. In 1987, a corresponding memorial plaque was installed on its wall.
RADISHCHEV, ALEXANDER NIKOLAEVICH(1749-1802) writer, philosopher. Born in Moscow into a noble family on August 20 (31), 1749. He studied in Germany, at the University of Leipzig (1766-1770). During these years, Radishchev's fascination with philosophy began. He studied the works of representatives of the European Enlightenment, rationalistic and empirical philosophy. After returning to Russia, he entered the service in the Senate, and later - in the Commerce Collegium. Radishchev took an active part in literary life: he published a translation of the book by G. Mable Reflections on Greek History(1773), own literary works A word about Lomonosov (1780), Letters to a friend living in Tobolsk(1782), ode Liberty(1783), etc. Everything changed after publication in 1790 Travel from St. Petersburg to Moscow... Radishchev was arrested and declared a state criminal for his "godless writings." The court sentenced him to death, which was commuted to exile "to Siberia, to the Ilimsky prison for ten years of hopeless stay." In exile, Radishchev was engaged in scientific research, wrote An abridged account of the acquisition of Siberia, Chinese Bargaining Letter, philosophical treatise (1790-1792). In 1796, Emperor Paul I allowed Radishchev to return from Siberia and settle in his Kaluga estate. In 1801, Emperor Alexander I allowed him to move to the capital. In the last year of his life, Radishchev prepared a number of projects ( About the statute, Civil Code Project and others), in which he substantiated the need to eliminate serfdom and civil reforms. Radishchev died in St. Petersburg on September 12 (24), 1802.
Radishchev's philosophical views bear traces of the influence of various directions of European thought of his time. He was guided by the principle of reality and materiality (corporeality) of the world, arguing that "the existence of things, regardless of the power of knowledge about them, exists by itself." According to his epistemological views, "the basis of all natural knowledge is experience." At the same time, sensory experience, being the main source of knowledge, is in unity with "reasonable experience." In a world in which there is nothing to "cut corporeality", a person also takes his place, a being as corporeal as all nature. Man has a special role, he, according to Radishchev, represents the highest manifestation of corporeality, but at the same time is inextricably linked with the animal and plant world. “We do not humiliate a person,” said Radishchev, “finding similarities in his constitution with other creatures, showing that he essentially follows the same laws with him. And how could it be otherwise? Isn't he real? "
The fundamental difference between man and other living beings is that he has reason, thanks to which he "has the power of things that are known." But an even more important difference lies in a person's ability for moral actions and evaluations. "Man is the only creature on earth who knows the bad, the evil", "a special human property is the limitless opportunity both to improve and to be corrupted." As a moralist, Radishchev did not accept the moral concept of "reasonable egoism", believing that it is not "selfishness" that is the source of moral feelings: "a person is a compassionate being." Being a supporter of the idea of "natural law" and always defending ideas about the natural nature of man ("the rights of nature never run out in man"), Radishchev at the same time did not share the opposition of society and nature, the cultural and natural principles in man, outlined by Rousseau. For him, the social being of a person is as natural as natural. In fact, there is no fundamental boundary between them: “Nature, people and things are human educators; climate, local situation, government, circumstances are the educators of peoples. " Criticizing the social vices of Russian reality, Radishchev defended the ideal of a normal "natural" life order, seeing in the injustice reigning in society in the literal sense of a social disease. He found this kind of "illness" not only in Russia. So, assessing the state of affairs in the slave-owning United States, he wrote that "a hundred proud citizens are drowning in luxury, and thousands have no reliable food, not their own from the heat and darkness of the shelter."
In the treatise About man, about his mortality and immortality Radishchev, considering metaphysical problems, remained faithful to his naturalistic humanism, recognizing the indissolubility of the connection between the natural and spiritual principles in a person, the unity of body and soul: “Doesn't the soul grow with the body, doesn’t it grow up with it, doesn’t it grow up with it, doesn’t it wither and grow dull with it ? ". At the same time, not without sympathy, he quoted thinkers who recognized the immortality of the soul (I. Gerdera, M. Mendelssohn, etc.). Radishchev's position is not an atheist, but rather an agnostic, which fully corresponded to the general principles of his worldview, which was already sufficiently secularized, oriented toward the "naturalness" of the world order, but alien to the fight against God and nihilism.
