A Herzen Reader

The account by Astolphe, Marquis de Custine (1790-1857), remains one of the most powerful books written about Russia by a foreigner. Banned in Russia, it was read widely, including in the Winter Palace.

Count Pavel D. Kiselev (1788-1872), minister of government property, carried out a reform in the management of state peasants.

Herzen comments: "It is not without a degree of fear that I embark on this section of my survey. The reader will understand that I cannot say everything, or name all the people in many cases; to speak of a Russian one must be certain that he is buried or in Siberia. Only after serious reflection did I decide on this publication; silence sustains despotism, things one dare not express only half-exist."

Nikolay A. Polevoy (1796-1846), historian, writer, and editor of the progressive Moscow Telegraph, later became much more conservative in his views.

Nikolay I. Grech (1787-1867) and Faddey V. Bulgarin (1789-1859) were conserva­tive journalists; the latter was, in addition, an agent of the Third Department.

Gavrila R. Derzhavin (1743-1816) was a renowned pre-romantic poet and a gov­ernment official. Nikolay M. Karamzin (1766-1826) wrote poetry, stories, and travel memoirs, all of which strongly influenced the evolution of Russian prose style, but is best known as the author of the officially praised History of the Russian State. Ivan I. Dmitriev (1760-1837) was a poet in the sentimentalist style who held a number of high government posts.

Herzen: "After the revolution of 1848, censorship became an obsession of Nicho­las. Not content with the regular censorship and the two offices set up outside the coun­try in Jassy and Bucharest, where Russian is not being written, he created a second censorship office in Petersburg; we are inclined to hope that this double censorship will be more useful than simple censorship. One will wind up printing books outside of Rus­sia, which is already being done, and one will find out who is more the ingenious, free expression or the emperor Nicholas."

Herzen: "This episode is discussed at greater length in Past and Thoughts."

Osip I. Senkovsky (1800-1858) was a founding editor of The Library for Reading and also published under the name "Baron Brambeus." Vissarion G. Belinsky (1819-1848) was the most influential Russian critic of his age, intensely engaged with the political and social issues of the day.

Herzen: "A sort of Latin Quarter, mostly inhabited by literary and artistic people who are unknown in other parts of the city."

Nestor V. Kukolnik (1809-1868) was a dramatist and novelist on patriotic themes. Vladimir G. Benediktov (1807-1873) and Alexey V. Timofeev (1812-1883) were poets, the former popular for his highly ornamented verse, which was disparaged by Belinsky.

Petr Ya. Chaadaev (1794-1856) was an officer in the 1812 war, a friend and cor­respondent of Pushkin, and author of The Philosophical Letters and Apology of a Madman. Herzen speaks eloquently of Chaadaev in Past and Thoughts.

Count Alexander Khr. Benkendorf (1783-1844), from a Baltic German family, a hero of the 1812 war, warned Alexander I in 1821 about the growing danger from the secret societies; under Nicholas I he founded the political police and directed them from 1826 to 1844. Count Petr A. Kleinmikhel (1793-1869), another high tsarist official of German descent, was dismissed as minister of communications (which included the inadequate road system) by Alexander II at the beginning of the reform era.

Dmitry V. Venevitinov (1805-1827) was a romantic poet and philosopher and founder of the group "Lovers of Wisdom" (liubomudry).

Alexander S. Griboedov (1795-1829), diplomat and writer, is best known for his satiric play Woe from Wit, phrases from which became a staple of the language of the intelligentsia.

Mikhail Yu. Lermontov (1814-1841) wrote romantic poetry, sometimes with politi­cal implications, and a novel (A Hero of Our Time) as well as serving as a career officer in the Russian army; he is considered one of Russia's greatest nineteenth-century poetic talents. Alexey V. Koltsov (1809-1842) was a poet whose work received critical support from Pushkin, Belinsky, and others, as well as popular acclaim.

Pavel I. Pestel (1793-1826) and Kondraty F. Ryleev (1795-1826) were two of five executed Decembrists; Ryleev was a romantic poet who preferred historical themes and heroes. His almanac The Polestar inspired Herzen's publication of the same name.

Herzen: "Verses that Lermontov addressed to the memory ofPrince Odoevsky, who died as a soldier in the Caucasus, one of those sentenced after the 14 th of December."