Pecherin, Vladimir Sergeevich

Born into a noble family ^[3] on June 15 ( 27 ), 1807 in the village of Dymerka (now the Great Dymerka ), Kiev province (there is also a report that he came from Ryazan province ^[4] ). He received a family education under the guidance of governor V. Kessman, saturated with the ideas of J. Zh. Russo . He studied at the Kiev gymnasium (1822-1823), but left it, dreaming of gaining deep knowledge at the university. Having moved to call his uncle in St. Petersburg (1825), he served as a clerk for some time. In 1829 he was able to enter the historical and philological faculty of St. Petersburg University . Engaged in classical philology under the guidance of academician F. B. Grefe , he was considered so prepared that the trustee of the St. Petersburg educational district, K. M. Borozdin, instructed him to disassemble the 12th-century Greek manuscript. In 1831 he graduated from the university with a candidate ’s degree. Got a place as a senior teacher in the 1st St. Petersburg gymnasium, as well as a lecturer in the Latin language and an assistant librarian at St. Petersburg University, which allowed him not to leave scientific studies. The area of ​​specialization chosen by Pecherin - Greek anthology - coincided with the scientific interests of Academician Grefe, as well as an amateur philologist, President of the Academy of Sciences S. S. Uvarov . Translations of Pecherin from the ancient Greek and an article about the tragedy of Sophocles published in St. Petersburg magazines became known to Uvarov, who in 1833, already as Minister of Education , decided to classify Pecherin among the students of the Professorial Institute , with whom he was sent to Berlin University .

Pecherin deeply realized the importance of the University of Berlin as the center of European science of that time, in which teaching was "based on ideas and thoroughly imbued with ideas." European impressions (in particular, a sharply negative attitude towards Russians as “new Huns”) finally confirmed his opinion of Russia as a “focus of despotism”, the main brake on the path of universal progress ^[5] .

Returning to Russia (in June 1835), despite the further patronage of Minister S. S. Uvarov and Moscow University trustee S. G. Stroganov , he was eager to “run away at the first opportunity”.

After reading a trial lecture (7.8.1835), he was enrolled in the staff of Moscow University , as well as . D. extraordinary professor of Greek literature and antiquities ^[4] (the assertion in the position was to follow after the defense of the doctoral dissertation). In preparation for passing the exams for a doctor’s degree, Pecherin had to get in touch with a university atmosphere full of hostility and intrigue: his main examiner was an elderly professor S. M. Ivashkovsky , forced to leave the university by a trustee S. G. Stroganov, who relied on the rejuvenation of the professor composition. And it was Pecherin who was supposed to replace Ivashkovsky at the department. At the end of 1835, Pecherin successfully passed the exams and began preparing his dissertation “A Critical Review of the General Greek Anthology” (in Latin). In February 1836, he submitted a petition to the University Council for a trip during the summer holidays to Berlin, on the pretext of printing a dissertation and organizing personal files. Stroganov supported the request, and Pecherin was granted leave. At the end of May 1836, Pecherin left Moscow and left Russia forever. Pecherin’s flight was undoubtedly a major loss for Moscow University, and the university could not acquire an equal in training and Hellenistic talent for the next several decades ^[6] .

In the years 1836-1840 Pecherin wandered around Switzerland, France, Belgium, revolved in circles of European revolutionaries. In 1837, Stroganov turned to Pecherin with a personal letter, asking him to return to Russia and promising to petition for complete forgiveness and the continuation of his academic career. In a response letter, Pecherin indicated that he was afraid of becoming “a well-intentioned old professor, full of money, crosses and all kinds of abominations” ^[6] .

In 1840, he accepted Catholicism in Liege , and a year later became a monk of the Order of the Redemptorists . He was ordained priest (1843), taught church rhetoric. In 1845 he moved as a missionary to Great Britain.

The lawsuit instituted against Pecherin in Russia in 1847 ended with a Senate decision that deprived him of all the rights and conditions of the Russian citizen (of which, however, he had already voluntarily renounced himself). In 1853, Pecherin met with Herzen in London, who was very attracted to his personality and destiny ^[7] .

Since 1854 he lived in Ireland, where he became one of the organizers of the Irish branch of the Redemptorists and was known as a fighter for the rights of Irish Catholics and a zealous fighter with Protestantism. The monastic authorities sent him to Dublin , where since 1862 he served as chaplain of one of the local hospitals.

In the 1860s, his contacts with Russia resumed, the main result of which was the creation of an autobiography "Grave Notes".

Vladimir Sergeyevich Pecherin died on April 29 (April 17 according to the old style) in 1885 in Dublin ( Ireland ).

Teaching Pecherin at Moscow University lasted only one semester (from January to May 1836), but left a vivid memory. According to M.P. Pogodin , Pecherin "was so able to arouse students' heat that everyone accepted the Greek language he taught, and in one year made incredible successes, with almost no prior knowledge" ^[8] .

Vladimir Sergeyevich Pecherin reflected his philosophical views in his memoirs and letters, which were published by a collection called "Grave Notes". In his writings, Pecherin represented Russia as the “Necropolis” - the city of the dead, which has no prospects for its development ^[9] .

With his views, creativity, philosophical teachings and the adoption of Catholicism, Vladimir Sergeyevich Pecherin in the history of Russian literature is presented as a symbol of a radical break with national tradition.

He corresponded with A.I. Herzen and N.P. Ogaryov . His early dramatic poem “Pot-pourri, or Whatever you want, what you ask for” is included by them in the collection “Russian Secret Literature of the 19th Century” (London, 1861). Herzen spoke about his meeting with Pecherin in his memoir book, The Past and Thoughts . Herzen made him the prototype of the hero of his unfinished novel "Duty First". Some literary scholars even considered Pecherin to some extent the prototype of Lermontov's Pechorin from the novel “ Hero of Our Time ” ^{[2] [10]} .

Having experienced the influence of Christian socialism , Vladimir Sergeyevich Pecherin was confronted by the opposition of his monastic authorities, which did not support his philosophical views, which forced him to leave the monastic order in 1862.

• Pecherin V. S. Grave notes / ed., With introduction and note. L. B. Kameneva . Prepared by M.O. Gershenzon . - M.: Cooperative publishing house "Mir", 1932.
• Pecherin V. S. Grave notes // Russian society of the 30s of the XIX century. People and ideas: Memoirs of contemporaries. - M., ed. Moscow State University, 1989.
• Pecherin V. S. The Justification of My Faith. Memorials // Our Heritage. - 1989. - No. 1-3.
• Pecherin V.S. From notes of V.S. Pecherin. An episode from Petersburg life (1830-1833) // Russian Archive, 1870. - Ed. 2nd. - M., 1871. - St. 1333-1342.
• Pecherin V.S. Letter from V.S. Pecherin to the trustee of Moscow University Count S.G. Stroganov dated May 23, 1837 // Russian Archive, 1870. - Ed. 2nd. - M., 1871. - St. 2129-2138.
• From the correspondence of V. S. Pecherin with Herzen and Ogaryov // Literary heritage. T. 62 .-- M., 1955.

In 1886 , according to the will of V. S. Pecherin, his library was transferred to Moscow University, in total about 190 volumes, including publications of Greek and Roman classics, Russian publications of the 1860-1880s; European poetry and literature, books on philosophy, a valuable collection of books on oriental studies in Sanskrit, Hebrew, Arabic, Syriac and other languages. ^[11] Numerous litters and notes of the owner were preserved on the margins of the books. Currently, the library of V. S. Pecherin is kept in the Department of Rare Books and Manuscripts of the Scientific Library of Moscow State University named after MV Lomonosov ^[12] .

• Pecherin, Vladimir Sergeevich // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• Imperial Moscow University: 1755-1917: Encyclopedic Dictionary / A. Yu. Andreev, D. A. Tsygankov. - M .: Russian Political Encyclopedia (ROSSPEN), 2010. - S. 555–557. - 894 p. - 2,000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-8243-1429-8 .
• Herzen A.I. The Past and Thoughts . T. 2. - M.: Fiction , 1969. - S. 314-325, 515-516.
• Gershenzon M.O. Life of V. S. Pecherin. - M., 1910.
• Lyubzhin A. I. Antique authors in the library of V. S. Pecherin // Indo-European linguistics and classical philology-XVII (readings in memory of I. M. Tronsky) Materials of the International Conference held on June 24-26, 2013 / Otv. Editor N. N. Kazansky. - St. Petersburg: Nauka, 2013. - S. 559-570 .
• Mestergazy E. G. V. S. Pecherin as a character of Russian culture. M.: Coincidence, 2013 .-- 304 p. ISBN 978-5-903060-69-6
• Pervukhina-Kamyshnikova N. M. V. S. Pecherin: Emigrant for all time. - M.: Languages ​​of Slavic culture, 2006. - 360 p., Ill. ISBN 5-9551-0118-7 .
• Streich S. Ya. V. S. Pecherin abroad in 1833-1835 // Russian past: A historical collection. - PG., 1923.
• Vladimir Pecherin, 1807–1885: The First Chaplain of the Mater Hospital, Dublin, and the First Russian Political Emigré // Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review. - Vol. 60. - No. 239/240 (Autumn - Winter, 1971). - P. 295-310. (eng.)
• M. Gershenzon. The life of V. S. Pecherin. - Moscow: The Way, 1910 .-- 226 p.

• Russian-Irish philosopher Vladimir Petcherine
• Pecherin Vladimir Sergeevich (neopr.) . Chronicle of Moscow University . Date of treatment October 3, 2017.