Biography Odoevsky: a summary. A short biography of the writer Odoevsky Vladimir Fedorovich

Vladimir Fedorovich Odoevsky (a short biography is presented in this article) - journalist, writer, prince, musicologist, publisher and public figure. One of the most outstanding representatives of Russian Romanticism.

Learning

Odoevsky Vladimir Fedorovich, whose biography is well known to fans of his work, was born in Moscow in 1803. He became the last descendant of the ancient princely family. The mother of the future writer was a serf peasant, and his father a nobleman. He worked as a director in the Moscow branch of the State Bank. In 1822, Vladimir graduated with honors from the Moscow Noble Board, where he was studied by N. Turgenev, N. Muraviev, P. Chaadayev and P. Vyazemsky. In his student years, the young man was significantly influenced by Professor II Davydov and MG Pavlov, who professed the views of Schelling philosophers.

First publications

Vladimir Odoevsky, whose biography is full of interesting events, began to be published since 1821. These were not author's works, but translations from German, but the editor of the "Herald of Europe" was not against and gladly approved them for publication. In 1822-1823 the same published "Letters to Luzhnitsky old man." One of the letters called "Days of Distress" attracted the attention of A. S. Griboedov. He met Odoyevsky and became his good friend for the rest of his life. Also Vladimir was friends with his cousin AI Odoevsky, who in the future will become a poet and a Decembrist. Here is what Vladimir wrote about his brother in his student diary: "Alexander was in my life a whole era." The brother tried to convince him to abandon the "profound speculations of some incomprehensible Schelling," but the cousin was firm and independent in his own judgments.

"Society of Wisdom" and "Mnemosyne"

In the early 1820s, Vladimir attended meetings of the Society of Lovers of Russian Literature, which was headed by F. Glinka, and also joined the circle of the poet and translator S. E. Raich. He approached I. Kireevsky, D. Venevitinov and V. Kiukhelbeker. With the first two in 1823, the writer Odoevsky, whose biography is an example for imitation, organized the "Society of Wisdom" and became its chairman. According to the recollections of one of the members, in the circle "German philosophy" reigned: her most thoughtful and active expounder writer was more than 20 years old.

In 1824-1825 Kiichelbecker and Odoevsky released the almanac "Mnemosyne", where, in addition to the publishers themselves, they print NM Yazykov, EA Baratynsky, AS Griboyedov, AS Pushkin and N. Polevoy. The latter later wrote: "The almanac had unusual, fresh views on literature and philosophy ... Someone laughed at Mnemosyne, and someone thought about it." It was "think" and taught Odoevsky Vladimir Fedorovich, whose biography was well known to his contemporaries. Even the famous critic VG Belinsky described his sketch "Helladiy" as a "thoughtful story."

Relationship to the Decembrists

In 1825, Odoevsky's biography was overshadowed by such a famous event as the Decembrist uprising. He reacted to him with unconditional condemnation and a sad understanding, for with many conspirators the writer was friendly or familiar. Vladimir harshly condemned Nikolayev's massacre of his comrades and was prepared to share their fate. But the investigation commission did not bring him any charges.

"Russian Nights"

In the late 1820's biography Odoevsky commemorated the beginning of work on the main philosophical novel of his life called "Russian Nights." Vladimir will complete it in 1843. And in 1844 the novel will be published as part of three volumes of works by VF Odoevsky. "Russian nights", in fact, are the verdict of German philosophy on behalf of Russian thought. This verdict was expressed in an extremely consistent and outwardly whimsical alternation of parables and dialogues: European thought was declared incapable of solving the main issues of world life and Russian life in particular.

At the same time, "Russian Nights" contains an exceptionally high appreciation of Schelling's work: "We can say that Schelling in the early 19th century was like Columbus in the 15th: he discovered to the man his hitherto unknown part ... soul." As early as the 1820s, under the influence of Schelling's philosophy, Vladimir wrote several articles devoted to the problems of aesthetics. But German philosophy is by no means the only hobby that includes the spiritual biography of Odoevsky. In 1830, the writer got acquainted with the ideas of the New European mystics: Baader, Portridge, Arndt, Saint-Martin, and others. Later Vladimir studied patristics, especially interested in the traditions of hesychasm. The prince's longstanding reflections on the meaning of history, the fate of culture, the past and future of Russia and the West were embodied in his philosophical novel.

Symbolism of "Russian Nights"

"One-sidedness is the poison of the present society and the cause of all bewilderment, confusion and grievances," wrote the prince in Russian Nights. In his opinion, this universal one-sidedness appeared due to rationalistic schematism, which is simply incapable of offering a holistic and complete understanding of man, history and nature. According to Odoevsky, only symbolic knowledge brings people closer to comprehending the "mysterious forces that connect the material life and the spiritual life." For this, writes the prince, "the naturalist perceives works as signs of the material world, the poet - living signs of his own soul, and the historian - living signs introduced in the annals of peoples." The writer's thoughts about the symbolic nature of cognition are consistent with the general tradition of European romanticism. In particular, with the theory of Schelling in the field of philosophy of art and the teachings of F. Schleiermacher and F. Schlegel, which emphasized the special role of cognition in hermeneutics - the art of interpretation and understanding. Vladimir believed that a person literally lives in a world of symbols, and this applies to both natural and cultural and historical life.

Attitude towards progress

Odoevsky's biography, which is briefly known to all high school students, does not contain any events that testify to his rejection of technical and scientific progress. That is, the writer was not his opponent. In the declining years, the prince wrote: "What is called the fate of the world, at this moment may depend on the lever invented by some ragamuffin in the attic in America or Europe, through which issues related to the management of balloons are solved." Also Vladimir considered it an indisputable fact that "with every scientific discovery one human suffering is less." However, in general, despite the strength of technological progress and the rapid growth of various public goods, Western civilization, according to the writer, because of "one-sided immersion in the material environment" can give man only the illusion of a full productive life. For the departure from being into the world of dreams of modern civilization, a person will sooner or later pay. And along with awakening, "unbearable longing" will come to him. It is quite logical, if on this phrase ended a short biography of Odoevsky. But there are a number of interesting events in the life of the writer.

Controversy

Biography Odoevsky, a brief content of which is in many literary encyclopedias, has many polemics with both Slavophiles and Westerners. This is not surprising, because Vladimir always defended his philosophical and public views. In 1845, in a letter to AS Khomyakov (leader of the Slavophils), the prince wrote: "My fate is very strange: you consider me a Western progressist, and Petersburgers - a notorious mystic old believer. These facts please me, because they serve as a sign that I am on the road to truth. "

Events before "Russian Nights"

Before the publication of the novel "Russian Nights" biography of Odoevsky, the brief content of which you are now reading, was marked by a number of creative achievements. In 1833, "The Fairy Tales", compiled by Irenaeus Gomozeyka (this verbal mask was used by Vladimir for the rest of his life), was impressed by N. V. Gogol and anticipated the tonality and imagery of his "Portrait", "Nevsky Prospekt" and "Nose". In 1834 a fairy tale "The Town in a Snuffbox" was published, which became the best work in all world literature. She competed on an equal footing with the Andersen stories and quickly became fond of Russian children. There were romantic stories, the brightest of which is "The Last Quartet of Beethoven." She went to the almanac "Northern Flowers" in 1831.

Reviews of colleagues

A short biography of Odoevsky contains many reviews of colleagues about his works. For example, what Gogol wrote about the above-mentioned story "The Last Quartet of Beethoven", as well as about such works of the prince as "Sebastian Bach" and Opere del Cavaliere: "How much does the author of the mind and imagination have! There are so many psychological phenomena listed that it would be difficult for an ordinary person to comprehend! "Subsequently, several other novels were published, which the poet K. Pavlov dubbed the" Russian Gofmanian ":" Salamander "," Sylphide "," Cosmorama "," Segeliel ". The success of the prince was noticed by AS Pushkin himself and invited the writer to cooperate with the journal Sovremennik (as his short biography reads). VF Odoevsky took all the trouble associated with the release of the 2 nd book "Contemporary", and after the death of the poet, he alone released the 7th. Prior to the intervention of Belinsky, "Contemporary" lasted only thanks to Vladimir.

Folk pieces

In 1838, the writer continued the trend, outlined in "Gorodok in the snuffbox" and "The Fairy Tales." We can say that for this reason his creative biography revived. VF Odoevsky published a series of "Stories from Grandfather Irenei." They immediately fall into the category of textbook reading for children. Success inspires the prince, and he develops it, releasing in 1843 a collection of "Rural reading", which becomes a folk magazine. In the next 5 years there were published 4 books, which were reprinted as many as 11 times. Belinsky wrote: "Odoyevsky gave birth to a whole mountain of books for the common people." In the editions of the publication, Vladimir explained the most complicated issues with a simple "folk" language. Therefore, the collection and enjoyed such success.

Last years

This concludes the biography of Odoevsky, a brief summary of which you could read above. In the last years of his life, the writer was engaged in history, as well as with the theory of "original Great Russian music." Two works have been published on this subject: "On the Old Russian Chants" (1861) and "Shared Music" (1867). Everyone believed that Vladimir was a champion of the semi-official people. The prince himself wrote: "The nationality is a hereditary disease, from which all the people die, unless they refresh their blood with physical and spiritual rapprochement with other nations." Something like that the writer tried to do with Russian and European culture. His whole biography tells us this. VF Odoevsky died in Moscow in early March 1869.