Dobrolyubov, Nikolai Alexandrovich

Born in the family of the priest of the Nizhny Novgorod Nikolskaya Upper Posad Church, Alexander Ivanovich Dobrolyubov (1812–6.08.1854), known for secretly married P.I. Melnikov-Pechersky . Mother - Zinaida Vasilievna, nee Pokrovskaya (1816–8.03.1854).

From the age of eight, a philosopher class seminar M. A. Kostrov was engaged with him, who later married his sister's sister. Since childhood, he read and wrote poetry a lot, so that at the age of thirteen Horace translated.

Having received good home training, in 1847 he was accepted immediately to the last year of the fourth grade of the theological school. Then he studied at the Nizhny Novgorod Theological Seminary (1848-1853). Among the characteristics given to him by the then mentors: “He is distinguished by quietness, modesty and obedience”, “he is diligent in worship and behaved approximately well”, “he is distinguished by tirelessness in his studies” ^[5] .

A. L. Katansky , who studied at the same seminary, recalled: “Dobrolyubov impressed us with his appearance of a very well-mannered young man, modest, graceful, always well-dressed, with a gentle, pretty face. He looked like a red girl ... ”in 1853“ he came to St. Petersburg without completing a full seminary course, although his biographers claim that he graduated from it <...> N.A. aspired to the university itself, but this did not want him father, and therefore he chose St. Petersburg. Academy. Arriving in St. Petersburg, <...> I learned that at the same time (since August 17) entrance examinations are being made to the Pedagogical Institute , <...> that the institute is a higher educational institution, no worse than a university, with full state content. He decided to try to hold exams there. He was admitted to them without documents. <...> After passing the exams at the institute, he began to bother about getting documents from the academy ” ^[6] . At this time, several prominent professors taught at the institute - Lorenz , Blagoveshchensky , Sreznevsky .

In March 1854, the mother of Dobrolyubov died, in August - the father. And Dobrolyubov had a spiritual turning point, which he called the “feat of remaking” himself. In December 1854, his first political poem was written - “On the 50th Anniversary of N. I. Grech”; the first clashes with the administration of the institute in the person of director I. I. Davydov began . Since that time, Dobrolyubov began to share radical anti-monarchist, anti-religious and anti-serfdom views, which was reflected in his many “seditious” works of that time in poetry and prose, including in manuscript student magazines: in 1855 he began to publish the illegal newspaper “Rumors” , in which he placed his poems and notes of revolutionary content.

At the beginning of the summer of 1856, Dobrolyubov became acquainted with N. G. Chernyshevsky ; On July 24, 1856, his first article was published in the St. Petersburg Gazette , signed by Nikolai Alexandrovich ; then his article “Interlocutor of Russian Word Lovers” appeared in Sovremennik . From 1857 he headed the criticism-bibliographic department of Sovremennik , and from 1859 he led the satirical department of Whistle.

In 1857, N. A. Dobrolyubov brilliantly graduated from the institute, but he was deprived of the gold medal for freethinking. For some time he was a home mentor with Prince Kurakin; in 1858 he became a tutor in Russian literature in the 2nd Cadet Corps .

In May 1860 he went abroad to treat exacerbated tuberculosis; He lived in Switzerland, Germany, France, Italy. In July 1861 he returned home hopelessly ill.

He died of tuberculosis at 25, a year before his death he was treated abroad and traveled extensively throughout Europe. Shortly before his death, he asked me to rent a new apartment, so as not to leave an unpleasant residue in the homes of my friends after my own death. Until the very last minute I was awake. In the next room, N. G. Chernyshevsky sat hopelessly.

According to the memoirs of A. Ya. Panaeva , a few days before her death, N. A. Dobrolyubov said: “To die with the consciousness that he did not have time to do anything ... nothing! How evil has laughed at me fate! Let death send me earlier! .. If my life would last another two years, I would manage to do at least something useful ... now nothing, nothing! ” ^[7]

N. A. Dobrolyubov was buried at the Volkovsky cemetery ^[8] near the grave of Vissarion Belinsky . Later, part of the cemetery around their graves became a popular resting place for other Russian writers and literary critics, known as the Literary Bridges and has now become one of the most prestigious burial sites of prominent figures in science and culture in St. Petersburg.

The short life of Dobrolyubov was accompanied by great literary activity. He wrote a lot and easily (according to the memoirs of his contemporaries, according to a pre-prepared logical summary in the form of a long tape wound around the finger of his left hand), was published in the journal of N. A. Nekrasov " Contemporary " with a number of historical and especially literary and critical works; his closest associate and associate was N. G. Chernyshevsky . In 1858 alone, he published 75 articles and reviews.

Some works of Dobrolyubov (both fundamentally illegal, especially directed against Nicholas I , and intended for publication, but not missed by censorship in general or in the author’s edition) remained unprinted during his lifetime.

Dobrolyubov’s works, published under the guise of purely literary “critics”, reviews of natural-science works or political reviews from foreign life ( Aesopian language ), contained sharp sociopolitical statements. According to Dmitry Svyatopolk-Mirsky

Although everything he wrote was devoted to fiction, it would be extremely unfair to consider this a literary criticism . True, Dobrolyubov had the beginnings of an understanding of literature, and the choice of things that he agreed to use as texts for his sermons was generally successful, but he never tried to discuss their literary side: he used them only as cards or photographs modern Russian life as an excuse for social preaching. ^[9]

For example, a review of Turgenev ’s novel “The Eve ”, entitled “ When will the real day come?” "Contained minimally veiled calls for a social revolution. His article “ What is Oblomovism? ”About Goncharov ’s novel“ Oblomov ”and“ Ray of light in the dark kingdom ”about Ostrovsky ’s play“ Thunderstorm ”became a model of democratically realistic interpretation of literature (the term realism was first used by Dobrolyubov as the designation of art style - article“ On the degree of nationality participation in the development of Russian literature ” »), And in the USSR and Russia were included in the school curriculum. Treating the works primarily on the social side and repeatedly declaring the denial of “art for art” and exposing the pure lyricists to annihilating criticism, Dobrolyubov often nevertheless highly appreciated from an aesthetic point of view the poems of authors not politically close to him ( Julia Zhadovskaya , Yakov Polonsky ). A dying trip to Europe somewhat softened the political radicalism of Dobrolyubov, led to the rejection of the idea of ​​an immediate revolution and the need to find new ways.

In a number of articles, the philosophical views of Dobrolyubov also appeared. At the center of his system is a man who is the last step in the evolution of the material world and is harmoniously connected with nature. He considered the equality of people a “natural state” of human nature (the influence of Russoism ), and oppression was the result of an abnormal structure that must be destroyed. He asserted the absence of a priori truths and the material origin of all ideas that are born in the human mind from external experience ( materialism , empiricism ), advocated comprehension of the material principles of the world and the dissemination of scientific knowledge. Like Chernyshevsky, he advocated rational egoism .

Dobrolyubov was also a satirical poet, a witty parodist, the soul of the literary appendix “ Whistle ” that appeared under “Sovremennik”. In it, the poet-poet Dobrolyubov performed under three mock masks - the “convict” Conrad Lilienshvager, the Austrian “patriot” Jacob Ham and the “enthusiastic lyricist” Apollon Kapelkin (the masks were marked primarily in Rosenheim , Khomyakov and Maykov, respectively, but were of a more general character) . Dobrolyubov also wrote serious poems (the most famous is “Dear friend, I am dying ...”), translated by Heine .

The pedagogical views of Dobrolyubov are largely similar to the views of N. G. Chernyshevsky .

Criticism of the existing educational system. He was against the education of humility, blind obedience, suppression of personality, servility. He criticized the current system of upbringing, which kills the “inner man” in children, from which the child grows up unprepared for life. ^[ten]

Dobrolyubov considered impossible a genuine reform of the educational system without a radical restructuring of all public life in Russia, believing that a new teacher would appear in the new society, carefully protecting the dignity of human nature, possessing high moral convictions, and comprehensively developed. ^[eleven]

He criticized the theory of “free education” by L. N. Tolstoy .

The tasks of education. The upbringing of a patriot and a highly ideological person, a citizen with strong convictions, a comprehensively developed person. Develop integrity, correctly and possibly more fully develop "the personal independence of the child and all the spiritual forces of his nature"; - cultivate the unity of thoughts, words, actions.

The content and methods of education. He opposed early specialization and for general education as a prerequisite for special education. The principle of visual training is important, the formulation of conclusions after the analysis of judgments. Education through labor, since labor is the basis of morality. Religion must be expelled from school. A woman should receive equal education with men.

About school books and children's books. Textbooks, said Dobrolyubov, are so imperfect that they deprive everyone of the opportunity to seriously study. In some textbooks, material is given in a deliberately false, perverted form; in others, if falsehood is not maliciously reported, then there are many particular, minor facts, names and titles that do not have any significant significance in the study of this subject and obscure the main and main. Textbooks should create in students the correct ideas about the phenomena of nature and society, said Dobrolyubov. Simplification and especially vulgarization in the presentation of facts, description of objects and phenomena should not be allowed, it should be accurate and truthful, and the textbook material should be presented in simple, clear, understandable language for children. Definitions, rules, laws in the textbook should be given on the basis of scientifically reliable material.

According to his conclusion, the situation was not better with children's books for reading. Fantasy, devoid of a real foundation, cloying moralization, poverty of language - these are the characteristic features of books intended for children's reading. Dobrolyubov believed that truly useful children's books can only be those that simultaneously cover the entire being of a person. The children's book, in his opinion, should captivate the imagination of the child in the proper direction. At the same time, the book should provide food for thinking, arouse the curiosity of the child, introduce him to the real world and, finally, strengthen his moral feeling without distorting it with the rules of artificial morality. ^[12]

Discipline. He opposed the use of means degrading human dignity. A means of maintaining discipline was considered a caring attitude of the teacher to the student, an example of a teacher. Strongly condemned physical punishment. He opposed the inconsistency of N. I. Pirogov in the application of physical punishment.

Views on the activities of the teacher. He opposed the humiliating material position of the teacher. He stood for the teacher to be a supporter of the advanced ideas of his time. He attached great importance to the beliefs and moral character of the teacher. The teacher should be a model for children, have clear "concepts about the art of teaching and upbringing." The teacher should be distinguished by clarity, firmness, infallibility of beliefs, extremely high comprehensive development.

Pedagogical works.

• "On the importance of authority in education" (1853-1858)
• “The Basic Laws of Education" (1859)
• "A sketch of the direction of the Jesuit order, especially as applied to the upbringing and education of youth" (1857)
• "All-Russian illusions destroyed by rods" (1860-1861)
• “A teacher should serve as an ideal ...”

Contribution to the development of pedagogy. Dobrolyubov and Chernyshevsky developed the doctrine of the content and methodology of educational and educational work, the essence of pedagogical conscious discipline, the education of students' independent thoughts. Dobrolyubov formulated the main directions of a new type of upbringing, which was intended to oppose official pedagogy, leveling the originality of the individual. ^[13]

Dobrolyubov was buried at the Volkovsky cemetery near Vissarion Belinsky ; it was from the appearance of his grave that Literary bridges began to take shape. The personality of Dobrolyubov (along with Belinsky and another early-dead critic of the sixties, Pisarev ) became the banner of the revolutionary movement of the 1860s and subsequent years (starting with the first biography of Dobrolyubov, written by Chernyshevsky), and later was surrounded by official veneration in the USSR.

On the other hand, some eminent contemporaries criticized his philosophical approach. So, A.I. Herzen saw in him a revolutionary fanatic. F. M. Dostoevsky accused Dobrolyubov of neglecting the universal significance of art in favor of the social. On the contrary, Pisarev criticized Dobrolyubov from an extremely left-wing point of view for his excessive aesthetics interest. However, all of them recognized his talent as a publicist.

Nekrasov devoted the following lines to the “blessed memory of Nikolai Dobrolyubov” (the mythologization of the hero’s image is obvious in them, for example, the characteristic idea of ​​austerity and rejection of worldly love in the name of love for the Motherland is introduced, while the real Dobrolyubov did not “keep clean” for three years, in 1856-1859, lived with the "fallen woman" Teresa Karlovna Grunwald, to whom he dedicated poetry):

You were harsh; you are in young years

He knew how to subdue the reason of passion,

You taught to live for glory, for freedom,

But you taught more to die.

Consciously worldly pleasures

You rejected, you kept purity

You thirsty heart did not give a quenching;

As a woman, you loved your homeland

Their labors, hopes, trades

You gave it to her; you are honest hearts

Conquered her. Calling for a new life

And a bright paradise, and pearls for the crown

You cooked a harsh mistress,

But your time struck too early

And the prophetic pen fell from my hands.

What a lamp of reason has faded!

What a heart stopped beating!

Years passed, passions abated,

And you have risen high above us ...

Cry, Russian land! but also be proud -

Since you stand under the sky

You didn’t give birth to such a son,

And in the bowels did not take her back:

Treasures of Mental Beauty

Combined in it were graciously ...

Mother nature! when would such people

You sometimes didn’t send to the world

The field of life has died out ...

In Nizhny Novgorod is the only museum of the famous critic ( ^[14] ); includes a historical and literary exposition in the former apartment building of the Dobrolyubov family, as well as a house museum in the outbuilding of the Dobrolyubov estate, where criticism was held for children and youth.

Monuments to the writer are installed in the following cities:

• St. Petersburg - at the intersection of Bolshoi Prospekt PS and Rybatskaya Street .
• Nizhny Novgorod - on Bolshaya Pokrovskaya , sculptor P.I. Gusev .

In honor of the writer are named:

• Arkhangelsk Regional Scientific Library ;
• Moscow Library No. 3 named after N. A. Dobrolyubova
• Nizhny Novgorod State Linguistic University bears the name of N. A. Dobrolyubov (the name was assigned by the Decree of the Government of the USSR in 1961 );
• streets in many settlements of the former USSR (see list ), lanes in Nikolaev (Ukraine), Perm , Yekaterinburg, Irkutsk, Poltava (Ukraine), Korosten , Tomsk , Makhachkala , Dobrolyubovsky lane in Taganrog, avenue in St. Petersburg, Kolomna , Dobrolyubova street in Vitebsk (Belarus).
• On the street Dobrolyubova, in Moscow, is the hostel of students of the Literary Institute. A. M. Gorky.

• Dobrolyubov Museum

• Grigoriev A. Works, volume I. (article “After the“ Thunderstorm “Ostrovsky”);
• Shelgunov N. Deaf time, "The Case", 1870 , IV;
• Zaitsev V. Belinsky and Dobrolyubov, The Russian Word, 1864 , Prince one;
• Morozov P. N. A. Dobrolyubov, "Education", 1896 , Prince. XII;
• Protopopov M. Dobrolyubov // "Russian Thought", 1896 , Prince. XII;
• Kotlyarevsky N. Eve of Liberation. - P., 1916.
• Bogucharsky V. From the past of Russian society, St. Petersburg, 1914 ;
• Skabichevsky A. Forty years of Russian criticism, Sobr. Sochi., Volume I (several ed.);
• Volynsky A. Russian critics. - St. Petersburg, 1896.
• Ivanov I. History of Russian criticism, vol. II, part 4;
• Ivanov-Razumnik R.V. History of Russian social thought, vol. II (several ed.);
• Ovsyaniko-Kulikovsky D.N. A. A. Dobrolyubov, “History of Russian Literature of the 19th Century”, vol. III.
• Zasulich V.I. Pisarev and Dobrolyubov, sb. Articles, vol. II, St. Petersburg, 1907 ;
• Kranikhfeld V. P. N. A. Dobrolyubov, “The Modern World”, 1911 , Prince. XI;
• Nevedomsky M. About Dobrolyubov, "Our Dawn", 1911 , Prince. XI;
• Steklov Yu. M. Socio-political views of N. A. Dobrolyubov, "Contemporary", 1911 , Prince. XI;
• Plekhanov G. Dobrolyubov and Ostrovsky, Sochin., T. XXIV;
• Trotsky L. Dobrolyubov and The Whistle , Sochin., Vol. XX;
• Vorovsky V. Literary essays. - M., 1923.
• Polyansky V.N. A. Dobrolyubov. - M., 1926.
• Ladokha G. Historical and Socialist Views of P. L. Lavrov, on Dobrolyubov, Ch. I, II, in the book. "Russian historical literature in the classroom." - M., 1927.
• Pankevich P. Historical and Sociological Views of N. A. Dobrolyubov // “Under the Banner of Marxism”. - 1928. - Prince. 12.
• Kartsev V. Bibliographic index of books and articles about Dobrolyubov and his writings in “Sobr. Sochi. ”Dobrolyubova, St. Petersburg, 1908 .
• Meziere A. Russian literature from the 11th to the 19th century inclusive, part 2, St. Petersburg, 1902 ;
• Vladislavlev I.V. Russian writers. - L., 1925.
• Volodin A.I. Nikolay Dobrolyubov and Ludwig Feuerbach // Philosophical sciences. - 1986. - No. 4. - S. 91-99.
• Kogan L. A. The problem of man in the world view of N. A. Dobrolyubov // Problems of Philosophy. - 1986. - No. 2. - S. 124-135.
• Shulyatikov V.M.N. A. Dobrolyubov // Courier. - 1901 - No. 320.
• N. A. Dobrolyubov in the memoirs of contemporaries. —Entry. article by G. Elizavetina; Comp., Prep. text and comment. S. Reiser .-- M .: Khudozh. lit., 1986.

• Dobrolyubov N. A. Regarding the educational activities of Pirogov. On the importance of authority in education. - SPb., 1918. - 33 p.