Vladimir Fedorovich Odoevsky (a brief biography is presented in this article) - journalist, writer, prince, musicologist, publisher and public figure. One of the most prominent representatives of Russian romanticism.
Study
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 an ancient princely family. The mother of the future writer was a serf, and her father was 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 Guesthouse, where N. Turgenev, N. Muravyov, P. Chaadaev and P. Vyazemsky studied before him . In his student years, the young man was significantly influenced by professors I. I. Davydov and M. G. Pavlov, who professed the views of the Schelling philosophers.
First publications
Vladimir Odoevsky, whose biography is full of interesting events, began to be published in 1821. These were not copyright works, but translations from German, but the editor of Vestnik Evropy was not against and gladly approved them for publication. In 1822-1823, "Letters to the Luzhnitsky Old Man" were published there. One of the letters entitled "Days of Annoyance" attracted the attention of A. S. Griboedov. He met Odoevsky and became his good friend until the end of his life. Also, Vladimir was friends with his cousin A.I. Odoevsky, who in the future will become a poet and Decembrist. Here is what Vladimir wrote about his brother in his student diary: “Alexander was a whole era in my life.” The brother tried to convince him to abandon the "thoughtful speculations of some obscure 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 chaired by F. Glinka, and also joined the circle of the poet and translator S. E. Raich. He got close to I. Kireevsky, D. Venevitinov and V. Kühelhelber. With the first two in 1823, the writer Odoevsky, whose biography is an example to follow, organized the Society of Wisdom, and became its chairman. According to the memoirs of one of the members, the circle “reigned German philosophy”: the writer remained its most thoughtful and active explanator for more than 20 years.
In the years 1824-1825, Kuchelbecker and Odoevsky released the Mnemozin almanac, where, in addition to the publishers themselves, N. M. Yazykov, E. A. Baratynsky, A. S. Griboedov, A. S. Pushkin and N. Polevoy are printed. The latter then wrote: "The almanac had unusual, fresh views on literature and philosophy ... Someone laughed at Mnemosyna, and someone thought about it." It was precisely “thinking” that Vladimir Fedorovich Odoevsky taught, whose biography was well known to his contemporaries. Even the famous critic V. G. Belinsky described his sketch “Hellas” as “a thoughtful story”.
Attitude towards the Decembrists
In 1825, Odoevsky’s biography was overshadowed by such a famous event as the Decembrist uprising. He treated him with unconditional condemnation and sad understanding, because the writer was friends with or was familiar with many conspirators. Vladimir firmly condemned the Nikolaev massacre of his comrades and prepared to share their fate. But the commission of inquiry did not bring him any charges.
Russian Nights
In the late 1820s, Odoevsky’s biography was marked by 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 released as part of three volumes of the works of V.F. Odoevsky. "Russian Nights", in fact, are a sentence 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 resolving the main issues of world life and Russian life in particular.
At the same time, “Russian Nights” contains an exceptionally high appraisal of Schelling's work: “We can say that Schelling at the beginning of the 19th century was like Columbus in the 15th: he revealed to man a hitherto unknown part ... his soul.” Back in the 1820s, under the influence of Schelling's philosophy, Vladimir wrote several articles on the problems of aesthetics. But German philosophy is far from the only hobby that includes Odoevsky’s spiritual biography. In 1830, the writer got acquainted with the ideas of new European mystics: Baader, Portridge, Arndt, Saint-Martin and others. Later, Vladimir studied patristics, especially interested in the traditions of hesychasm. The prince's many years of thought about 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 modern society and the cause of all perplexities, troubles and complaints,” the prince wrote in Russian Nights. In his opinion, this universal one-sidedness appeared due to rationalistic schematism, which is simply unable to offer 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 bind material life and spiritual life." For this, the prince writes, "the natural scientist perceives the works as signs of the material world, the poet as living signs of his own soul, and the historian as living signs entered in the annals of peoples." The writer's thoughts on the symbolic nature of knowledge are consistent with the general tradition of European romanticism. In particular, with Schelling's theory in the field of philosophy of art and the teachings of F. Schleiermacher and F. Schlegel, who 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-historical life.
Attitude towards progress
Odoevsky’s biography, a summary of which is known to all high school students, does not contain any events testifying to their rejection of technical and scientific progress. That is, the writer was not his opponent. In his declining years, the prince wrote: “What is called the fate of the world at this moment may depend on the lever invented by some ragman in the attic in America or Europe, through which issues related to the management of balloons are resolved.” Vladimir also considered an indisputable fact that "with every scientific discovery, one human suffering becomes less." However, in general, despite the strength of technological progress and the rapid growth of various public goods, Western civilization, according to the writer, due to "one-sided immersion in the material environment" can give a person only the illusion of a complete productive life. For the departure from being into the world of dreams of modern civilization, sooner or later a person will pay. And with awakening, “unbearable longing” will come to him. It would be logical if this phrase ended with a brief biography of Odoevsky. But there are a number of interesting events in the life of the writer.
Controversy
Odoevsky’s biography, a summary of which is found in many literary encyclopedias, has many controversies with both the Slavophiles and the Westerners. This is not surprising, because Vladimir has always upheld his philosophical and social views. In 1845, in a letter to A. S. Khomyakov (leader of the Slavophiles), the prince wrote: “My fate is very strange: you consider me a Western progressive, and Petersburgers - a notorious old-believer-mystic. These facts make me happy because they are a sign that I am on the path to the truth. "
Events before the Russian Nights
Before the publication of the novel “Russian Nights,” Odoevsky’s biography, a brief summary of which you are reading now, was marked by a number of creative achievements. In 1833, “Colorful Tales” were published, collected by Irenei Gomozeikoy (Vladimir used this verbal mask until the end of his life), which impressed N.V. Gogol and anticipated the tonality and imagery of his “Portrait”, “Nevsky Prospect” and “Nose”. In 1834, the fairy tale "The Town in the Snuff Box" was published, which became the best work in all world literature. She competed on equal terms with Andersen’s stories and quickly fell in love with Russian children. Romantic novels appeared, the most striking of which was Beethoven’s Last Quartet. She appeared in the almanac "Northern Flowers" in 1831.
Colleagues reviews
A short biography of Odoevsky contains many reviews of colleagues about his works. Here, for example, is what Gogol wrote about the story “The Beethoven's Last Quartet” mentioned above, as well as about such works by the prince as “Sebastian Bach” and Opere del Cavaliere: “How much the author and his imagination have! There are so many psychological phenomena that it will be difficult for an ordinary person to comprehend them! ” Subsequently, several more short stories came out, which the poetess K. Pavlova christened “the Russian Hoffmanian”: “Salamander”, “Sylphide”, “Cosmorama”, “Segeliel”. The success of the prince was noted by A.S. Pushkin himself and invited the writer to collaborate with the Sovremennik magazine (as his brief biography states). V.F. Odoevsky took upon himself all the troubles associated with the release of the 2nd book of Sovremennik, and after the death of the poet he single-handedly released the 7th. Before Belinsky’s intervention, “Sovremennik” held out only thanks to Vladimir.
Folk art
In 1838, the writer continued the trend outlined in “The Town in the Snuffbox” and “Colorful Tales”. We can say that for this reason his creative biography has revived. V.F. Odoevsky published a series of "Tales from the Grandfather of Irenaeus." They immediately fall into the category of textbook reading for children. Success inspires the prince, and he develops it, releasing in 1843 the collection "Rural Reading", which becomes a national magazine. Over the next 5 years, 4 books were published there, which were reprinted as many as 11 times. Belinsky wrote: "Odoevsky gave birth to a mountain of books for the common people." In the editions of the publication, Vladimir explained the most complicated questions in a simple "folk" language. Therefore, the collection and enjoyed such success.
Last years
This ends the biography of Odoevsky, a summary of which you could read above. In the last years of his life, the writer was engaged in history, as well as the theory of "primordially Great Russian music." Two works have been published on this subject: “On Old Russian Chants” (1861) and “General Music” (1867). Everyone believed that Vladimir was an advocate of an official nation. The prince himself wrote: "A nation is a hereditary disease from which the whole nation will die if it does not refresh its blood by physical and spiritual rapprochement with other nations." The writer tried to do something similar with Russian and European culture. This is what his whole biography tells us. V.F. Odoevsky died in Moscow in early March 1869.