Russian Language and Literature

The subject will be treated under the following heads, viz.

I.RUSSIAN LANGUAGE;

II.ANCIENT POPULAR LITERATURE;

III.FIRST MONUMENTS OF RUSSIAN LITERATURE;

IV.LITERATURE FROM THE ELEVENTH TO THE THIRTEENTH

CENTURIES;

V.LITERATURE FROM THE FOURTEENTH TO THE SIXTEENTH

CENTURIES;

VI.LITERATURE OF LITTLE RUSSIA AND GREAT RUSSIA IN THE

SEVENTEENTH CENTURY;

VII.RUSSIAN LITERATURE OF THE TIME OF PETER THE GREAT;

VIII.LITERATURE OF RUSSIA IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY;

IX.LITERATURE OF RUSSIA IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY;

X.CONTEMPORARY RUSSIAN LITERATURE.

I. RUSSIAN LANGUAGE

Russian is a Slav language belonging to the Indo-European family. The

dispersion of the Slav tribes in prehistoric times resulted in the formation of

various Slav dialects, of which Shafarik counted twelve, although other writers

recognize only six or seven. The Slav dialects are divided into the South-Eastern

dialects and the Western dialects. To the former, which culminate in the

Bulgarian, belongs the Russian, or rather the three Russian dialects of Great

Russia, Little Russia, and White Russia. Russian has many affinities with the

Bulgarian and Servian languages, because Russia received her primitive literature

from the Bulgarians and Servians. The absence of documents, however, makes it

impossible to define with precision the character of the primitive language of

Russia, or rather the relations between that language and the Russian of

literature. According to Sreznevski and Lavroff, the similarity between the two

languages was almost complete, and consisted in turns of expression rather

than in grammatical forms. Before the thirteenth century, the literary,

ecclesiastical, and administrative language was one. But in the fourteenth

century the ecclesiastical language began to differ from the literary language and

this difference grew considerably in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The

Palæoslavic or ecclesiastical language, however, varied little in either case from

the language of the people. In time Russian underwent local changes of form that

gave rise to the dialects of Kieff, Novgorod, Vladimir, and Moscow. The Vareghi,

the Greeks, the Tatars, the Lithuanians, and the Poles left traces of their political

domination on the language of Russia, and in the time of Peter the Great many

words were added from German, French, and English. The question of the

primitive language of Russia is connected with the ethnological question, and in

the nineteenth century gave rise to lengthy and spirited polemics which, however,

led to no definite results. A leading work for the study of this controversy is

Buslaeff's "Historical Grammar of the Russian Language" (1858). Political and

nationalist questions also enter into the philological researches concerning the

primitive language of Russia. The Ruthenians, or Little Russians, claim that their

language was the original Russian, and therefore that primitive Russian literature

should rather be called Ruthenian. On the other hand Sobolevski and the

nationalists of Great Russia declare that the present Ruthenian is not the

primitive language of Kieff. This philological controversy between the nationalists

of Little Russia and those of Great Russia has not yet terminated.

II. ANCIENT POPULAR LITERATURE

From its earliest history Russia has possessed a literature that was handed

down by tradition from generation to generation. It was not before the seventeenth

century that this literature took a written form. The collection of Russian proverbs

was begun: in the eighteenth century Daniloff published the first collection of

Russian byline: at the end of the same century and at the beginning of the

nineteenth, Tchulkoff, Popoff, and Macaroff published the first collections of

popular songs. Upon this literature, which conveys so much information on the

religious, civil, and social life of primitive Russia, great light was thrown by the

studies of Kalaidovitch, Snegireff, Sakharoff, Kirieevski, Bielinski, Athanasieff,

Kostomoroff, Maikoff, Buslaeff, Bezsonoff, and Vselovski. The popular Russian

songs are divided into several classes. There are the mystic or ritual songs

(obriadnyia piesni), which were sung in the sacred games, and on other solemn

occasions; they contain many memories of the ancient pagan feasts, celebrating

the glories of Dazh-Bog (the sun-god), of Koliada (traced by Russian writers to

the Latin Calendœ), and of Ovsen. Others, illustrating the promiscuity of pagan

tradition, celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ (sviatotchnyja piesni); others relate to

the spring feasts (vesnianki), or accompany the dance (khorovodnyja). To this

same class belong the nuptial songs (svadebnyja), the kupal'skija (literally,

songs of the baths), the rusal'nyja, in honour of the Rusalke, a term that probably

served to designate the souls of the departed.

The byline are the most beautiful treasures of this popular literature, of which

they form the heroic cycle. The term byline is derived from the verb byl (it was),

and etymologically signifies the recital of that which happened in times gone by.

They tell of the deeds of the legendary heroes of primitive Russia. History,

legend, and mythology together furnish the matter of these epic songs. In them

the Russian heroes are called bogatyr, a name that some believe to be derived

from Bog (God), as if they were demigods; others believe that the term is derived

from Tatar or Mongolian; and yet others from the Sanskrit (bhaga, force,

happiness). The heroes who are immortalized in the byline belong to the epoch of

Vladimir the Great, or to more ancient times, and partake of a mythological

character. These heroes, who act together with those of the time of Vladimir the

Great, but nevertheless are endowed with a mythological character, are

Sviatogor, Mikula Selianinovitch, Volga Sviatoslavitch, Sukhman

Odikhmantévitch, and Don Ivanovitch; the historians of Russian literature

designate them by the epithet of starshie ("ancient heroes"). The "young heroes"

(mladshie) belong historically to the epoch of Vladimir; their names are Elia

Muromec, Dobrynja Nikititch, Alesha Popovitch, Solovei Budimirovitch, etc. Kieff

is so to speak, their geographical centre, and Vladimir their star. In the Russian

chronicles they are mentioned between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries.

Elia of Murom lived at the end of the twelfth century, and his remains rest in the

grotto of the sanctuary of Petcherskaia at Kieff. They combat the monsters that

assail Russia from within or from without, that is, paganism and thieves among

the first, and the Petchenegi, the Polovcy, and the Chozari among the second.

The historical, philological, and poetical importance of these ancient monuments

of literature is very great. Other byline of later date, more commonly called

historical songs, refer to the Tatar invasions, to the period of Ivan the Terrible, and

also to that of Peter the Great. The songs and legends of Little Russia are called

dumy (elegies, ballads), and celebrate the struggles of the Cossacks and Little

Russians against the Turks or Tatars and the Poles, and the union of Little

Russia with Great Russia. The songs that refer to domestic life are called

bytovyja piesni. They sing the popular feasts and games, and the sad as well as

happy events of domestic life, while they preserve many traces of paganism. The

best collections of them are those of Tchulkoff (St. Petersburg, 1770-74); Novikoff

(Moscow, 1780-81); and Sakharoff (St. Petersburg, 1838-39).

To popular literature belong the fanciful novels called skazki, which resemble

somewhat the stories of the Fates. Their protagonists are strange beings created

by the ardent popular fancy, Baba-Iaga, serpents with six or twelve heads, stags,

horses, etc. The forces of nature are personified. At times the mythological

element predominates in them entirely; and again it is blended with Christianity.

The oldest novels are characterized by their simplicity and by the repose of their

recital. Some of them, like the one entitled "The Judgment of Shemjaka", are

satirical compositions. Others are derived from Western novels, especially the

Italian. The proverbs also belong to popular literature. They are called poslovicy,

and are very abundant, the first complete collection of them having been made by

D. Kniazhevitch in 1822. They are the spontaneous product of the wisdom,

caustic spirit, and rudimentary culture of the Russian people, and reflect the

various historical ages of Russia. Some of them date from pagan times, others

emanate from the people's knowledge of Holy Scripture, and others originate in

the events that produced the greatest impressions on the popular imagination. To

popular literature belong also the enigmas or riddles (zagadki), collected by

Khudiakoff (Moscow, 1861) and by Sadovinikoff (St. Petersburg, 1876); the

incantations (zagovory), the conjurations (zakliatia), and the lullabies (platchi),

which are most useful for the study of Russian folk-lore and primitive Russian life.

III. FIRST MONUMENTS OF RUSSIAN LITERATURE

The first written literature of Russia is coincident with the conversion of Russia to

Christianity. Bulgaria was the first Slav educator of Russia, and the first

translations of the Scriptures and the liturgies were Bulgarian. The most ancient

monument of Russian literature, and at the same time of the ecclesiastical

Palæoslavic language common to the primitive Slav Christians, is the Gospel

called "Ostromirovo", written at Novgorod in 1056-57 by the Deacon Gregor, by

order of Ostromir, first magistrate (posadnik) of the city. This valuable document

was published by Vostokoff in 1843. Ancient Russian literature is of an eminently

religious character. The greater portion of its monuments are sermons, homilies,

letters, lives of saints, pilgrimages; even the profane works, as chronicles and

voyages, have a religious tone. On the other hand, owing to the fact that the

Russians received their Christianity from Byzantium, their literature was openly

Byzantine in character, the early Russians either translating the Byzantine

works, or being inspired by the spirit of those works, and writing as if they were

Byzantines. Primitive Russian literature, however, was subject also to other

influences. The Slav influence was due to the Bulgarians and Servians, who, until

the fifteenth century, gave many cultured men to Russia, e. g., the Metropolitan

Cyprian and Gregor Camblak. Greek influence lasted a longer time, and

flourished in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Russian literature in the beginning consisted of translations from the Greek and

of original works. Its development was very slow, because the prices of codices

were very high. The copying of books was considered not only a useful

contribution to culture, but a supernatural work. The Princess of Polotsk, St.

Euphrosyne (twelfth century), copied books, a work to which monks, and even

bishops, devoted themselves. Russian monks were wont to go to Constantinople,

or to Mount Athos, and there to become amanuenses and enrich the first

Russian libraries by their work. The first books that were translated were those of

the Holy Scriptures that were most used by the people (Psalms, the Gospels,

Proverbs, Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiastes, Wisdom of Jesus the son of

Sirach). There were also collections of extracts from the Holy Scriptures, called

Paremii. The translation of all the books of the Holy Scriptures in a single codex

was made in 1499, by order of Gennadius Gonzoff, Archbishop of Novgorod

(1484-1504).

Simultaneously with the Holy Scriptures, the writings of the Fathers of the

Church were greatly in vogue, especially those of St. John Chrysostom. Highly

esteemed also were the doctrinal explanations of St. Cyril of Jerusalem, the

canons of St. Basil, the homilies of St. Theodore the Studite, the discourses of

St. Athanasius against Arianism, the discourses of St. Gregory of Nazianzus,

the "Klimax" of St. John Climacus, and the works of St. Isaac the Syrian, St.

Ephraem the Syrian, and St. John Damascene. Until the seventeenth century,

the theological writings of St. John Damascene were the sources of Russian

Orthodox theology. The great popularity of the works of the Fathers gave rise to

the formation of collections of extracts from their discourses, and to annotated

copies, with explanations, for the study of their writings, called sborniki, of which

there are several: "Zlatoust", a collection of moral sermons and homilies (112),

mostly from St. John Chrysostom; "Margarit", another collection from St. John

Chrysostom, included in the monologue of the Metropolitan Macarius, and

published for the first time at Ostrog in 1596; "Izmaragd", a collection of sermons

and homilies from St. Basil, St. John Chrysostom, St. Ephraem, St. Gregory the

Great, and St. Cyril of Alexandria; "Andriatis", a collection of the homilies recited

by St. John Chrysostom at Antioch; "Zlataia ciep" (golden chain), a collection of

discourses on the moral virtues, taken from the Fathers of the Church and from

Russian writers; the "Ptchely" (bees), a collection of the literary flowers of St.

Maximus the Confessor. The famous "Sbornik" of Sviatoslaff Yaroslaffitch, Prince

of Tchernigoff, which was translated in Bulgaria from the Greek, for the Tsar

Simeon, in 1073, also has texts from the Fathers and from profane writers.

The Greek synaxaria, the Patereka of Sinai and Jerusalem, translated in the

twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and the "Patericon" of the Petcherskaia Shrine of

Kieff, which is very valuable for the study of primitive Russian hagiology, are of a

sacro-historical character. The Greek synaxaria took in Russian the name of

Prologos. Collections of discourses in honour of the feasts of Our Lord, of the

Blessed Virgin, and of the saints received the name of "Torzhestvenniki". An

historical compendium of the Old Testament, called "Palei", from palaia

diatheke, dates from the earliest times of Russian Christianity. The oldest

codices of the "Palei" are of the fourteenth century, but their origin is much older.

To sacred and profane literature belong the so-called chronographoi, collections

and transformations of writings of Byzantine chroniclers, especially of Malala,

Amartolos, Manasses, and Zonaras, as also the Slav version of the "Christian

Topography" of Cosmas Indicopleustes.

Partly to sacro-profane and partly to profane literature belong many novels and

stories translated from Byzantine, Servian, and Bulgarian writings, in the

sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. One of the most famous novels, taken from

the literature of Constantinople, is the history of Barlaam and Josaphat. At the

end of the sixteenth century, the influence of Polish literature helped to spread in

Russia two works that were much in vogue in the West, the "Gesta

Romanorum", and the "Speculum Magnum." The apocryphal books of the Old

Testament (story of Adam and Eve; story of the Tree of the Cross; story of the

Just Enoch, etc.), and those of the New Testament (story of Aphroditian on the

miracles in Persia; dispute of Christ with the Devil; conversation of Adam and

Lazarus in Limbo, etc.) were also widely disseminated in the literature of that

time. There were also translated into Palæorussian the "Elucidarium sive

dialogus de summa totius religionis christianæ", attributed to Honorius of Autun

by Migne; books of magic and books of astrology ("Gromnik", "Molnianik",

"Koliadnik", etc). Under the influence of this literature, religious songs were

created that became very popular with the people (Dukhovnye stikhi). These little

poems or songs treat of the most varied subjects, and it is very difficult to divide

them into different classes. They are of a moral and religious character, referring

to the Creation, to St. Michael the Archangel, to the sufferings of the damned, to

the birth or passion of Jesus Christ, to the Russian saints, etc. And beside these

poetical productions sprang up the hagiological legends, of which the best known

refer to St. Nicholas of Myra, St. Parasceve, and St. Cassian. The deep

researches of Arkhangelski and Sobolevski throw a great deal of light on the

Russian versions of the Fathers and of the Byzantine writings.

IV. LITERATURE FROM THE ELEVENTH TO THE THIRTEENTH CENTURIES

Russian literature, properly so called, from the period of the advent of Christianity

in Russia to the time of Peter the Great, comprises discourses, instructions, and

letters that are intended to infuse Christian sentiments, and to draw the people

from pagan practices; polemical works, directed at first against the Latins, and

later against the first Russian heresies; lives of saints, chronicles, and historical

Works, pilgrimages and voyages, and juridical monuments. There is almost a

total absence of poetry. The first centres of culture were Kieff and Novgorod; in

the sixteenth century, Moscow. Among the writers who left a name for sacred

eloquence in the period from the eleventh to the thirteenth centuries, mention is

made of Luke Zhidiata, Archbishop of Novgorod (1035-59), whose discourse is a

brief recapitulation of the truths of the Faith; St. Hilarion, Metropolitan of Kieff in

1051, whose discourses contain very valuable data for the early history of

Russian Christianity; the Blessed Theodosius Petcherski, who wrote discourses

for the people and the monks; Nicephorus, Metropolitan of Kieff (1104-20), whose

discourses and letters, written in Greek were translated later into Russian; Cyril

of Turoff (1171-82), a brilliant writer who, on account of his natural and vigorous

eloquence, resembling that of St. John Chrysostom, is called the Chrysostom of

Russia. His discourses, homilies, writings on monastic life, and prayers are

among the most important monuments of the ancient ecclesiastical literature of

Russia.

The polemics against the Latins found almost their only exponents among the

Greeks who in the beginning governed the Russian dioceses. Leontius,

metropolitan (992-1008), wrote against the Arians; George, metropolitan

(1065-73), wrote a "Dispute with a Latin", in which the various pretended

innovations of the Roman Church are attacked; Ivan II (1186-89) is the author of a

letter to Clement III, in which the Latins are reproved only on account of the

insertion of the Filioque in the Creed. The letter on the Faith of the Vareghi (or

Variazhskoi vierie), which by some is attributed, although without strong

arguments, to St. Theodosius Petcherski, is believed by some to be of Russian

origin. Among the first Russian hagiologists mention should be made of Jacob, a

monk of the Petcherskaia hermitage, who wrote an account of the martyrdom of

Sts. Boris and Glieba, and the panegyric of St. Vladimir; of Nestor, the most

famous of the ancient Russian writers, a monk of the hermitage of Kieff, who died

in 1114. He is the author of the lives of Boris and Glieba of the Blessed

Theodosius, and of a chronicle ("Lietopis") The original of the chronicle of Nestor

has not come down to us; the most ancient copy of it is that of the monk

Lawrence, made in 1377 for Demetrius Constantinovitch, Prince of Suzdal.

Nestor was not the first Russian chronicler. Other chroniclers, whose names and

works have not been handed down to our times, wrote before him at Novgorod.

The national and literary importance of the chronicle of Nestor is very great. The

Russians rightly consider it as an epic history, warm with the love of country. It

finishes with the year 1110, but was continued by other writers, under various

names, as "Chronicle of Kieff", "Chronicle of Volhynia", "Chronicle of Suzdal",

etc. They are of an eminently religious character, and abound in texts from the

Scriptures and in ascetic considerations.

Another important work in which the Russian national sentiment predominates is

the journey of the higumeno Daniel (thirteenth century) to the Holy Places: before

the Holy Sepulchre he prays "for all the land of Russia". Anthony, Archbishop of

Novgorod, visited Constantinople four years after the taking of that city by the

Latins (1204), and left a short but very important description of its churches and

monasteries.

To profane literature belong the "Testament" Vladimir Monomachus, written in

1099, in which its author gives a recital of his enterprises; and the celebrated

account of the battle of Igor ("Slovo" or "Polku Igorevie"), which was found in 1795

in the library of Count Musin Pushkin. It is the only poetical work of the Russia of

the princes, and relates the military expedition of Igor Sviatoslavitch, Prince of

Novgorod-Sieverski, against the Polovcy (1185). It is characterized by the

grandeur of its poetical sentiment, the beauty of its descriptions, and love of

country. In the twelfth century was written the discourse of Daniel Zatotchnik

(Captivus), who, imprisoned in the Government of Olonetz, writes to a prince to

ask for his liberty, making a great display of his learning. Among the juridical

monuments of that age we may cite the "Russkaia Pravda" (Russian code) of

Prince Yaroslaff I, and the Greek Nomocanon, translated in the earliest times of

Russian Christianity, and qualified with the epithet of Kormtchaia kniga,

corresponding to the Greek pedalion. To the nomocanon were added the

"Ecclesiastical Regulations" ("Cerkovnye ustavy") of Vladimir and Yaroslaff,

which however are not of those princes, at least in the form in which they have

been transmitted to us in codices of the thirteenth century. The monasteries

were centres of the literary culture of Russia in the eleventh and twelfth centuries;

and the Greco-Russian clergy laboured for the diffusion of it. From the Greek

clergy came the polemical works, and the hatred of the Latins that became fixed

in the hearts of the Russian people. The first Greek polemics who lived in Russia

spread the most absurd calumnies against the Latins, and anathematized as

heretical the most simple liturgical customs: the Metropolitan George

enumerated twenty-seven points of divergence between the Greeks and Latins.

The thirteenth century is very poor from the standpoint of literature. The Tatar

invasions stopped the progress of culture, and prevented intellectual work.

Among the literary monuments of that century are cited a letter of Simon, Bishop

of Vladimir (1215-26), to Polycarp, a monk of the Petcherskaia hermitage; the life

of Abraham of Smolensk, a most important historical document; the sermons of

Serapion, Bishop of Vladimir (1274-75), and a synodal and canonical decision of

Cyril II, Metropolitan of Kieff (1243-80), which is inserted in the Kormtchaia kniga.

V. LITERATURE FROM THE FOURTEENTH TO THE SIXTEENTH CENTURIES

In the period from the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries, literary culture,

paralyzed by Tatar oppression in the region of Kieff, continued to flourish at

Novgorod and Pskof, and from there was carried to other centres, viz., Vladimir,

Rostoff, Murom, Yaroslaff, Tver, Ryazan, and finally Moscow, which received the

name of the Third Rome. In the fourteenth century sacred sermons were written

by various authors, among whom were Peter, Metropolitan of Moscow; Alexei,

another metropolitan of Moscow (1293-1377) who, in a codex of the Gospel

which he transcribed, corrected the ancient Slav version in many points, by the

Greek original; Matvei, Bishop of Sarai; the metropolitan Cyprian (1376-1406), a

Servian by birth, who also left various letters and translated the Psalter, the

Missal (Sluzhebnik), the Nomocanon, etc.; the Blessed Cyril, founder of the

monastery of Bielozero, the author of several letters to the sons of Prince

Demetrius Donskoi; Basil, Archbishop of Novgorod (1331-1352), who wrote a

letter to Feodor, Bishop of Tver, to convince him of the existence of a terrestrial

paradise. Brief descriptions of Constantinople and its churches in the fourteenth

century were left by Stephen, a monk of Novgorod, by Ignatius, a deacon of

Smolensk, and by Alexandr D'jak ("judge", "magistrate"). Among the novels

special mention should be made of the "Zadonshina", written by Sofronio or

Sofonio of Ryazan, an epic story that relates the military acts of Prince

Demetrius Donskoi, who vanquished the Tatars at Kulikovo (1380).

In the fifteenth century the beginning of heresies in Russian Christianity, which

originated in the decadence of monastic asceticism as well as in the gross

ignorance of the clergy and laity, opened up new fields to Russian religious

polemics. Photius, Metropolitan of Moscow (1410-31) and Gregor Camblak,

Metropolitan of Kieff (1416) composed letters and moral sermons; Gennadius,

Archbishop of Novgorod (1485-1504), wrote against the sect of the Judaizers,

which originated in that city about 1471; the higumeno Josef Sanin of Polotsk

assailed the same sect in his tedious work "Prosvietitel" ("the illuminator"). Nil

Sorski (1433-1508), founder of a hermitage on the banks of the Sora River, is the

author of writings that were directed towards the reformation of the ideals and the

life of Russian monasticism. Among the travellers of this period Zosimus,

hiero-deacon of the hermitage of St. Sergius, and a merchant, Basil, left

accounts of their pilgrimages to the Holy Land. Simeon, hiero-monk of Suzdal,

accompanied Isidore, Metropolitan of Moscow, to the Council of Florence, and

left an interesting recital of his voyage to Italy, and a short but important account

of the council, which is one of the monuments of the Russian polemics against

the Latins. Anthony Nikitin, a merchant of Tver, went to India through Persia in

1466, returned to his country in 1472, and in the account of his travels gave

important information on the religious beliefs of the people of India. In historical

literature, besides the valuable sketch of the Council of Florence, there should be

mentioned the account of the foundation and the taking of Constantinople, which

was very popular among the Russians.

The sixteenth century, as Porfiréff rightly states, was one of criticism and

restoration. Its literature, always eminently religious, proposed to revive the

ancient customs, and the ancient traditions, and to restore religion and the

family. The most famous and most learned champion of these reforms was

Maximus the Greek, born at Arta, in Albania, and educated in Italy. He entered

monastic life on Mount Athos, and in 1518 repaired to Russia, where he took an

active part in the religious life of the country, and in the correction of the liturgical

books; he suffered a painful imprisonment in various monasteries, from 1525 to

1553, and died at the hermitage of St. Sergius in 1556. A most learned

theologian, he wrote polemical works against the Gentiles, the Jews, the

Judaizers, the Mohammedans, and the Latins, especially in opposition to the

supremacy of the pope and to the Filioque; he combatted astrology, and wrote

short works and discourses on moral subjects. Among the Russian prelates of

the sixteenth century, Daniel, elected Metropolitan of Moscow in 1522, acquired

fame. He was the author of sixteen discourses that prove him to have read

assiduously, and to have had a profound knowledge of patristic literature. The

most important monument of the literature of the sixteenth century is the

"Domostroi", attributed to Sylvester, a priest who was the contemporary of Ivan

the Terrible; Sylvester was, however, the compiler rather than the author of the

work. It is a book of a moral character, in which are propounded the rules for

living according to the precepts of the Faith and Christian piety, the duties of man

as a member of the family, and the way to govern the home well and to care for

domestic economy. The "Domostroi", therefore, is a compendium of the duties of

a Christian man, and at the same time a true picture of the social and domestic

organization of Russia in the sixteenth century. Another great work, which had

remained unpublished until now but which the Archæographical Commission of

St. Petersburg is now bringing to light, is the "Tchet'y Minei" of the Metropolitan

Macarius of Moscow (1542-64). From the beginnings of its literature, Russia

possessed lives of saints, the number which increased from century to century.

The Metropolitan Macarius collected into a vast work the lives of all the saints of

the Greco-Russian Church, adding panegyrics and discourses in their honour,

and also whole books of Scripture, with commentaries, writings of the Fathers,

and synaxaria, so that his menologies are almost a complete répertoire of the

ancient literature of Russia, rather than a simple hagiological collection. To the

same century belong the hagiological legends, which are lives of the saints, or

episodes in them, embellished by popular fancy, examples of which are the

legends of the Tsarevitch Peter (thirteenth century), of St. Mercurius, of Martha

and Mary, of Prince Peter of Murom, and of his consort, Febronia.

Prince Andrew Kurbski, a warm defender of the Orthodox Church, translated the

dialectics and the Pege gnoseos of St. John Damascene, and wrote a brief

history of the Council of Florence and a history of Ivan the Terrible, with whom he

was in correspondence; these letters are preserved to our day. An important

work of religious polemics was written by the monk Zinovii of Otna, who refuted

the heretical and Judaistic doctrines of Kosoi. The title of the work is "Istiny

pokazanie" (demonstration of the truth), and it consists of fifty-six chapters. Of

the sixteenth century there are also two small works, written in refutation of

Protestantism, which at that time was beginning to spread in Russia. Among the

Russian pilgrims who visited the Holy Places and who wrote an account of their

travels the most distinguished are Trifon Korobeinikoff and George Grekoff, who

went to Jerusalem in 1583.

VI. LITERATURE OF LITTLE RUSSIA AND GREAT RUSSIA IN THE

SEVENTEENTH CENTURY

The seventeenth century witnessed the Renaissance of Little Russia, which

became the instructor of Great Russia. Under Catholic and Polish influence Little

Russia drew near to the West, assimilated Western science, and modelled its

schools upon those of the Latins. The "Union" of Brest in 1596 gave an efficient

impulse to Orthodox culture. Confraternities were established to open schools

and printing-offices for the publication and dissemination of polemical works;

among them those of Lemberg, Vilna, and Kieff were famous. Scholastic

theology and philosophy entered into and dominated the Russian academies and

seminaries. Latin became the official language in the teaching of theology. Peter

Mogilas, Metropolitan of Kieff, transformed into a superior school of theology the

school established by the Confraternity of the Church of the Apparition of the

Lord. The works of St. Thomas Aquinas exercised a great influence on Orthodox

theology, and in the academy of Kieff the Immaculate Conception was upheld.

The literature of the religious polemics against the Latins, to which the Union of

Brest gave rise, is very rich. In 1597 was published the "Ekthesis", or Orthodox

history of the Union of Brest; Kristofor Bronski, under the pseudonym of Filalete,

wrote the "Apokrisis" against Peter Skarga, and later the "Perestroga"

(admonishment). Meletius Smotricki, Archbishop of Polotsk (died 1633), wrote

the "Threnos" and other works of religious polemic, and finally embraced

Catholicism; in 1622 Zacharias Kopystenski wrote the "Palinodia", the most

important work in this polemical literature. The writings of Meletius Smotricki in

defence of Catholicism, which he had on other occasions so strenuously

opposed, were confuted by Andrew Muzkilovski, by Job Borecki, Metropolitan of

Kieff, and by Gelasius Diplic. Joannikius Galiatovski, rector of the academy of

Kieff (died 1688), wrote several works against the Catholics, one of them against

the Filioque, confuted the Hebrews in his work "The True Messias", and also

wrote several works in refutation of the Koran. Another polemic against the Latins

was Lazarus Baranovitch, Archbishop of Tchernigoff (died 1694); in a work that

was directed against the Jesuit Boyme, he opposed the supremacy of the pope

and the Procession of the Holy Ghost from the Son.

The first Orthodox catechisms appeared in the seventeenth century, written by

Laurence Zizanii and by Peter Mogilas; the latter, in the work Lithos (attributed to

him), defends the Orthodox Church against the charge of Protestantism; he is

considered to be the author of the famous Orthodox Confession of the Eastern

Church, approved by the special Council of Jassy in 1643. Among the preachers

whom the sacred orators of the East sought to imitate, mention may again be

made of Joannikius Galiatovski, who wrote a treatise on the art of oratory,

entitled "Kliutch razumienia"; Anthony Radivilovski, higumeno of the hermitage of

Kieff; and Lazarus Baranovitch. In 1591 there was published at Lemberg the first

Slavo-Greek grammar; Lawrence Zizanii wrote a Slav grammar in 1596, and the

grammar of Meletius Smotricki was published in 1619. Zizanii added a small Slav

dictionary to his grammar, but the first Slavo-Russian lexicon was published by

Berynda, hiero-monk of Kieff, in 1627. Western influence is revealed also in the

poetry of the academy of Kieff. Besides the sacred cantata, the "Mysteries" were

introduced to the schools and colleges; these "Mysteries" were sacred plays,

modelled upon those of the Jesuit colleges. Among the historical works of Little

Russia, mention should be made of the "Synopsis" of the history of Russia by

Innocent Gizel, Archimandrite of Kieff, the "Enegesis" or history of the school of

Kieff, and the"Paterikon" of the Petcherskaia hermitage by Sylvester Kossoff,

Metropolitan of Kieff (died 1657).

From Kieff Western culture was carried to Moscow, to which city masters and

learned men of Little Russia were called to organize schools, compose works,

and print books; but they did not receive a friendly welcome. Their orthodoxy was

suspected; the more so since several of the most illustrious theologians of Kieff

admitted with the Latins the dogmatic truth of the Immaculate Conception, and

the efficacy of the words of consecration alone to effect Transubstantiation. The

suspicion against the purity of their theological teachings became so strong that

the Russians turned to the Greeks for masters. In 1685 the Greek school was

established at Moscow, and in time took the name of Greco-Slav-Latin Academy.

Its first masters were the Greek hieromonks Joannikius and Sophronius

Likhudes, who had studied in Italy, and who taught Greek literature at Moscow

from 1685 to 1694. They wrote many polemical works against the Latins, against

Protestants, and against the theologians of Little Russia who leaned towards the

Latins, especially against Sylvester Medviedeff. In ecclesiastical literature the

most distinguished authors were Epiphanius Slavinecki, the first of Russian

bibliographers; Arsenius Sukhanoff, author of "A Voyage to the Holy Land"

("Proskynitarion"); Simon Polocki (of Polotsk), author of one of the first

systematic treatises on Orthodox theology ("Vienec viery"), and also of sermons

that are highly prized, of sacred poems, and of sacred plays; St. Demetrius of

Rostoff (1651-1709), one of the most illustrious bishops of the Russian Church, a

theologian, historian, poet, polemic, and hagiologist. He was the author of two

Orthodox catechisms, of a very strong work against the Raskolniki ("Rozysk"), of

a diary of his life, the "Tcheti minei" (menologies), a work upon which he spent

twenty years; many sacred discourses that are appreciated for the simplicity of

their style and for their depth of religious sentiment, and, finally, of several sacred

plays, one of the most interesting of which is the "Birthday".

Epiphanius Slavinecki and an unnamed priest of Orel were also distinguished as

sacred orators. The former rendered a great service to Patristic literature by

translating into Russian a great many of the writings of the Fathers (St. Justin,

St. Gregory of Nazianzus, St. Basil, and St. John Damascene). One of his

scholars, Eutimius, wrote a polemical work, called "Osten", against the theories

of Sylvester Medviedeff, who sided with the Latins in the question of the

Epiklesis. Against the Raskolniki, besides St. Demetrius of Rostoff, there wrote

Simeon of Polotsk in 1666 ("Zhely pravlenija"); in 1682 the Patriarch of Moscow,

Jacob ("Uviet dukhovnii"); likewise, the Metropolitan of Siberia, Ignatius, and

George Krizhanitch. The latter, who was a student of the Greek College of St.

Athanasius at Rome (1640), became famous on account of his theories of the

cause of the schism between East and West, which he attributed to politics and

the antagonism between Greeks and Latins, due to Panslavist ideas and political

doctrines. The Learned Sergius Bielokuroff devoted four volumes to the life and

works of Krizhanitch. In the seventeenth century there began to be published the

first Greco-Latin lexicons, and also the first scientific books, arithmetics and

geographies. Historical literature is represented by the chronicle of the Patriarch

Nicomachus, which is brought down to 1631; by the chronicle called

"Voskresenski", after the monastery where it was written, of which the relation

finishes with the year 1560; and by several special chronicles, as the account of

the siege of the Shrine of St. Sergius by the Poles in 1610, by Abraham Polycin,

and by others of the diak Feodor Griboiedoff, of the deacon Timothy Kamevevitch

Rvovski, of Andrew Lyzloff, a priest of Smolensk, and of Sergius Kubasoff.

VII. RUSSIAN LITERATURE OF THE TIME OF PETER THE GREAT

Under Peter the Great there began a new period in Russian literature. The

foundation of St. Petersburg put Russia in more direct contact with the West.

Peter the Great, by violence and absolutism, dragged Russia out of her isolation,

and directed her upon a new way. A new and more simple alphabet took the

place of the old Slav alphabet, the new characters being adapted from the Latin.

The first book that was printed with the new characters is a treatise on geometry

(1708). In arithmetical books, Arabic figures were substituted for the Slav letters

that represented numerals (1703). Schools of navigation, of military science, and

of medicine were established. Peter the Great determined to establish an

academy of sciences at St. Petersburg, and Catherine I carried out his project in

1726. Many foreign books were translated into Russian, and the most intelligent

students were sent to foreign countries to complete their studies. Russian

literature lost its ecclesiastical character and assumed a lay form; and in

ecclesiastical literature itself there was effected a transformation towards the

modern, due to the reforms of Peter the Great.

The first period of this new literature begins with Peter the Great, and closes with

Lomonosoff and Sumarokoff. In the realm of sacred literature there became

famous Stephen Javorski (1658-1723), patriarchal vicar and Metropolitan of

Ryazan, and Theophanus Procopovitch, Archbishop of Novgorod. (1681-1736).

The former, in his "Kamen viery" (Rock of Faith), wrote a most learned refutation

of Protestantism, taking much from Bellarmine; the second, who was the author

of the "Ecclesiastical Regulations" of Peter the Great, wrote a voluminous course

of Orthodox theology in Latin, and acquired fame as a man of letters and orator.

In profane literature the influence of the French entirely predominated. There

began the period of the new Russian poetry, the rules of which were propounded

by Tredianovski (1703-69), who translated into Russian the "Ars Poetica" of

Horace, and the work bearing the same title by Boileau. Prince Antiochus

Dmitrievitch (1708-44), a Rumanian in the service of Russia, inaugurated the era

of classicism in Russian poetry with his satires, which are often servile imitations

of Horace, Juvenal, and Boileau. Michael Vasilevitch Lomonosoff (1711-65)

deserves to be called the Peter the Great of Russian literature on account of his

versatility, of the multiplicity of his works, and of his great literary influence: he

wrote a treatise on Russian poetry (1739), on rhetoric (1748), on grammar (1755);

he composed an epic poem on Peter the Great, two tragedies (Tamira and

Salim, and Damofonte); he translated the Psalms into verse and wrote lyric

poems, among which the ode to the Empress Elizabeth has remained famous.

Alexander Petrovitch Sumarokoff composed many tragedies, some of them with

Russian subjects (Yaropolk and Dimisa, Vysheslaff, Demetrius, Mstislav); he

founded the national Russian drama, wrote the comedies "Opekun" (The Tutor),

and "Likhoimec" (The Concussionist), composed satires, and in 1759

established the first Russian literary periodical, the "Trudoliubivaia Ptchela" (The

Working Bee).

Among the prose writers, Ivan Pososhkoff (1670-1725), in his "Zavieshanie

otetcheskoe" (testament of the Fatherland), shows the necessity of well-ordered

reforms in Russia, and in his book on poverty and wealth ("Kniga o skudosti i

bogatstvie") he develops in an original way his theories on political and social

economy. Basil Nikititch Tatishsheff (1685-1750) gathered the chronicles, the

synaxaria, and the historical documents, and subjecting them to critical analysis,

wrote the "History of Russia". The academician Schlötzer spent forty years

elucidating the origin and the historical problems of the primitive national

chronicles of Russia. In 1728 the Academy of Sciences began the publication of

the "S. Petersburgskija Viedomosti", under the direction of the academician

Müller, who in 1755 also founded the first scientific-literary periodical, called the

"Ezhemiesatchnyja sotchinenia".

VIII. LITERATURE OF RUSSIA IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

During the reign of Catherine II French influence upon Russian literature became

greater instead of decreasing. The writings of the French Encyclopedists and

materialist philosophy became popular; Voltaire and Rousseau were much

esteemed, and Catherine II became entirely imbued with a Voltairean spirit. She

did not limit herself to favouring scientific institutions, and to creating new ones,

but aspired to literary laurels. She wrote spelling-books,, stories for children,

letters on education, comedies, newspaper articles, and several volumes of

memoirs in French, in which, with a cynical simplicity of style, she relates some

of the ugliest episodes of her unchaste life. During her reign many literary

publications were established. The empress herself did not disdain to contribute

to the "Vsiakaja vsiatchina" (General Miscellany). Dionysius Ivanovitch Fonvizin

(1744-92) wrote comedies which, like the "Brigadier", and the "Nedorosl" (Pupil),

became popular in Russia. Gabriel Romanovitch Derzhavin (1743-1816), of Tatar

origin, assimilated the classical and modern Literatures, and as a lyric poet

sought to rise to the height of Horace and Pindar. His encomiastic odes are an

apotheosis of the reign of Catherine II. In his religious songs, with his "Ode to

God" (1784), which the Russians regard as the most beautiful monument of their

national poetry, he perhaps attains sublimity of inspiration. His moral and

philosophical odes and his Anacreontic verses reveal in him a great poetical

genius. His tragedies "Pozharski", "Tiemnji" and "Euprassia" do not join dramatic

quality to their elegance of form. Mikhail Matveievitch Kheraskoff, of Wallachian

origin, by his poems "Rossiada" and "Vladimir", which have been forgotten,

deserves the title of the Virgil or the Homer of Russia. Ippolit Feodorovitch

Bogdanovitch (1743-1803), in his poem "Dushenka", imitated La Fontaine's

"Amours de Psyché et de Cupidon". Basil Ivanovitch Maikoff (1728-78)

distinguished himself as a writer of comic poetry; Kniazhnin (1742-91) wrote

tragedies and comedies; "Iabeda" (The Calumny), a comedy by Kapnist

(1757-1828), was also among the plays that became popular.

The scientific movement was greatly promoted by the Academy of Sciences of

St. Petersburg, by the University of Moscow, and by the Russian Academy,

which was opened in 1783. Among those who distinguished themselves in

historical work or in the study of the social and political conditions of Russia

were Shsherbatoff (1733-90), who wrote six volumes of a "History of Russia";

Boltin (1735-92), whose learned volumes of "Observations on the History of

Russia", edited by Leclerc, were much praised by Soloveff; Radishsheff

(1749-1802), whose "Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow", describing the

miseries of the peasants and the abuses of the Russian bureaucracy cost its

author an exile of ten years in Siberia. The archpriest of Moscow, Alekseieff,

wrote the first ecclesiastical encyclopedia, while the Bishop Damascenus

Rudneeff, who died in 1795, published his "Russian Library", which contains an

account of Russian literature, from its origin to the eighteenth century. Tchulkoff

and Mikhail Popoff collected the monuments of the popular literature of their

country.

IX. LITERATURE OF RUSSIA IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

In the nineteenth century, Russian literature freed itself little by little from the

yoke of foreign imitation, perfected the language, making it a most adequate

means for the expression of the highest conceptions of the mind and the most

delicate affections of the heart, and through a number of men of genius, won a

place of honour in the history of universal literature. The merit of this

transformation, of this new direction of Russian thought, is in great measure due

to Nikolai Mikhailovitch Karamzin (1766-1826), who acquired a great fame in his

country through his letters on travels that he made in Europe, his novels, and the

part that he took in the establishment of the periodicals "Moskovski Zhurnal" and

the "Viestnik Europy" (Courier of Europe). But his greatest claim to glory is the

"Istorija gosudarstva rossiiskago" (History of the Russian Empire), a masterpiece

of style, exposition, and eloquence, which contributed more than anything else to

the formation of Russian prose. Historical criticism may find more to say of this

work, but the literary merit of it will never be eclipsed. The work formed a literary

school, to which belong Ivan Ivanovitch Dmitrieff (1760-1837), an exponent of

elegance in poetry, author of poetical stories, satires, and fables; and Izmailoff,

who became famous through his "Journey in Southern Russia" etc. In the realm

of dramatic poetry, there became famous Ozeroff, by his tragedy "Œdipus in

Athens" (1804); "Fingal" (1805); "Dmitri Donskoi" (1807), and "Polissena" (1809);

the most noted satirists were Gortchakoff and Nakhimoff. But the greatest

poetical glory of this period was Vassili Andreievitch Zhukovski (1783-1852), the

master of romanticism in Russia, author of the Russian national hymn "Bozhe,

carja Khrani", and an indefatigable translator of Homer, Schiller, Goethe, Bürger,

Uhland, Rükkert, Byron, and Scott. His elegies are full of passion and sentiment;

his ballads, imitations of the German, became popular; they reveal in him a vivid

poetical imagination.

Ivan Andreievitch Kryloff (1768-1844) owes his celebrity rather to his comedies

than to his fables, which, it is true, are imitations of La Fontaine, but are written

with so much simplicity, elegance, and richness of style, with such variety of

rhythm and expression, that they form a veritable literary jewel, the value of which

can be appreciated only by those who have a thorough knowledge of Russian.

His comedies, "Modnaja lavka" (The Custom Shop) and "Urok dotchkam" (A

Lesson to Girls), are of less literary merit. As a writer of comedy, Alexander

Sergeievitch Griboiedoff (1790-1829) rose to the pinnacle of the art in a play that

is the masterpiece of Russian theatrical composition, "Gore ot uma" (The

Misfortune of Having Talent), a work which is full of pessimism on the social

conditions of Russia and civilization generally; many of its verses have become

proverbs.

The epoch of Nicholas I, which was one of fierce absolutism, was nevertheless

one of glory in the development of Russian literature. Russian genius being

oppressed, withdrew within itself, and revealed to the world the treasures of the

æsthetic sentiments of the Russian soul. Among the greatest poets of this

period there stands pre-eminent Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837), whose career

was brought to an end in a duel, when his genius was at its height. Melchior

Vogüé rightly considers him one of the greatest poets that ever lived. He began

his literary career at the age of fifteen, when he was a student in the lyceum of

Tsarskoye Selo. His first lyric poems bear the date of 1814, and are a revelation

of his genius. He adopted Byron and Zhukovski for his models. Among those

lyric poems his invective against the calumniators of Russia ("K klevetnikam

Rossii"), written in 1831, is famous. Of his epic works we may cite the famous

"Rusalka, the Prisoner of the Caucasus" ("Kavkazski pliennik") in 1821; the

"Fountain of Bakhtchiserai" (1822-23); the "Tzigani" (1824); "Poltava" (1828), one

of Pushkin's most perfect poems, written in glorification of Peter the Great;

"Eugene Oniegin" (1823-31), an original imitation of Byron's "Childe Harold",

admirable on account of the freshness of its inspiration and of its exquisite

versification; and finally "The Hussar" (1833). Among his romances, three

became popular at once, the "Dubrovski (1832-33), "The Daughter of the Captain"

(1833-36), and "Pikovaja dama" (The Queen of Spades), a work that is admirable

on account of the subtility of its psychological analysis. In the realm of dramatic

poetry Pushkin gave to his country a great masterpiece, the tragedy "Boris

Godunoff" (1825-31), and in that of drama, "Skupoi rycar" (The Avaricious

Knight), "Mozart and Saléry", and "Rusalka". Among his works in prose, mention

should be made of the "Outlines of the History of Peter the Great", and of the

"History of the Sedition of Pugatcheff". Pushkin was the first great original poet of

Russia, and the one who excelled in classic style. At the same time he was the

author of a school that has among its members Ivan Ivanovitch Kozloff, author of

two most touching poems, "Tchernec" (The Monk) and "Natalia Dolgorukaja";

Delvin (1798-1831); Jazykoff (1803-46), and Eugene Baratynski (1800-44).

Nikolai Vassilievitch Gogol (1808-52), a native of Little Russia, was another

genius of the Russian literature of the nineteenth century. His comedy, "The

Reviser", published in 1836, is one of the masterpieces of the Russian theatre, a

true portrait of the malversations of the bureaucracy. Among his romances and

novels, he acquired merited fame through "Taras Bul'ba", an historical romance of

Southern Russia, "The Dispute between Ivan Ivanovitch and Ivan Nikiforovitch",

"The Portrait", "The Arabesques", "Koliaska" (The Calash), "Zapiski

sumasshedshago" (Memoirs of a Madman), and lastly "Mertvyja dushi" (The

Dead Souls), in two parts, a masterpiece in the romantic literature of Russia,

which makes its author the rival of Cervantes and Lesage. It is a suggestive and

faithful picture of Russian society: a vast theatre in which the most varied types

of the Russian people are in action. Mikhail Yurievitch Lermontoff (1814-41) is

also of the school of Pushkin and Byron. He was one of the most delicate lyric

poets of modern Russia, whose lyric poetry, tinged with sadness, touches the

deepest chords of the heart, and exhibits the soft melody of the literary language

of Russia in its fullness. The most famous of his epic poems are "The Demon",

which is based upon a Georgian legend, and in which the beauties of the

Caucasus are described in admirable verses "Ismail Bey"; "Khadzhi-Abrek, the

Boyard Orsha", an episode of the times of Ivan the Terrible; "Mcyr", a legend of

the Caucasus. Lermontoff is the author of the very popular romance "Geroi

nashego vremeni" (A Hero of our Times), which reveals him as one of the

masters of Russian prose, and as having a profound knowledge of the human

heart. He died at the age of twenty-seven years, and like Pushkin, in the

plenitude of his intellectual activity. Alexei Vasilievitch Kolcoff (1809-42) also

distinguished himself as a lyric poet of the school of Pushkin and Lermontoff. He

was the poet of the peasants and of nature, and the inventor of a special kind of

poems (Dumy), in which a question to be resolved is proposed and is answered.

Other poets who also were ornaments of Russian literature, although they did not

attain the height of those already mentioned, were Odoevski, Count Sollogub,

Marlinski, Weltmann, Polevoi, and Kukolnik, a prolific writer of historic dramas.

History, philology, and critical studies had a period of growing prosperity during

the reign of Nicholas I. Pogodin, Butkoff, Ivanoff, Venelin, Grigor'eff, and Muravieff

worked to defend the Russian chronicles against the charge of lack of

authenticity, to throw light on the origin of the Russian nation, and to investigate

the historical past of Russia and the various European nations. In the study of

the ancient Slav language, and of the primitive literature of Russia, and in the

collection of ancient texts, fundamental works that are yet esteemed were written

by Kalaidovitch, Vostokoff, Undolski, Kliutchareff, Maximovitch, Certeleff,

Snegireff, Sakharoff, and Bodianski. This class of studies were greatly promoted

by the Society of Russian History and Antiquities, established at Moscow in

1814 and still flourishing. Eugene Bolkhovitinoff, Metropolitan of Kieff, prepared

two historical lexicons of the clerical and lay writers of Russia; Polevoi, Shevyreff,

and Nikitenko wrote histories of Russian literature; while Prince A. Viazemski,

Nadezhdin, and especially Bessarion Grigorievitch Bielinski (1810-48) were the

chief literary critics. Literary and scientific progress was assisted by the

periodicals "Viestnik Evropy", "Russki Viestnik", "Syn Otetchestva" (The Son of

the Fatherland), "Sievernaja Ptchela" (The Bee of the North), "Russki Invalid",

and "Otetchestvennyja zapiski" (Memoirs of the Fatherland).

During the reign of Alexander II the literary genius of Russia continued to shine

brightly, and to assume always a more national character, although the influence

of foreign writers, especially of Dickens, George Sand, and Balzac, was felt.

There appeared the school of Slavophils, the most illustrious representatives of

which are the two Kireievski (Ivan and Peter), Khomiakoff, Valueff, Konstantin and

Ivan Aksakoff, Kosheleff, Elagin, Tiuttcheff, Grigorieff, Strakhoff, and Danilevski.

This school was dominated by a spirit of stingy patriotism; it invaded the domain

of theology, preached the superiority of Orthodoxy over Catholicism, and in the

person of their theological legislator, Alexei Khomiakoff, a genial poet, historian,

and philosopher, it proclaimed that Orthodoxy is the expression of the religious

ideal of Christianity. The religious and political paradoxes of the Slavophils found

their opponents in the school of the Occidentalists (Zapadniki). The philosopher

Tchaadaeff, in his philosophical letters published in 1836, wrote of Russian

barbarity, and proclaimed Catholicism to be the only means of bringing Russia

into the civilization of the nations of the West.

The most illustrious representatives of this school, which had not many followers,

were Hercen (1812-70), who became one of the leaders of Nihilism; the poet

Ogareff, Granovski, Soloveff, Kavelin, Kalatchoff, and Pavloff, illustrious names in

the realms of Russian history and Russian philosophy.

The most famous writer of the time of Alexander II was Ivan Sergeievitch

Turgenieff (1818-83), the magician of Russian prose. As a poet his title to fame

rests on the poems "Parasha", "Yakoff Pasynkoff", "Rudin", "Faust", "Asja", "A

Nest of Nobles". In 1862 he published one of the most famous of Russian novels,

"Otcy i dieti" (Fathers and Sons). Among the other novels of Turgenieff, the most

successful were "Zapiski Okhotnika" (Memoirs of a Huntsman), rich in admirable

descriptions of nature; "Dym" (Smoke); "Nov" (Virgin Soil); and among his

stories: "Lear of the Steppe", "Waters of Spring", "The Brigadier", "The Dream",

"The Story of Father Alexis", "The Song of Triumphant Love", "The Desperado"

etc. He enriched Russian literature with several plays, among which the most

beautiful is called "Zavtraku predvoditelja" (The Collation with the Marshal of the

Nobility). Ivan Alexandrovitch Gontcharoff (1812-91) acquired no less fame as a

novelist through his novels "Obyknovennaja istorija" (A Simple Story), "Oblomoff",

which personifies the want of initiative and semi-fatalism of the Russian

character, and "Obryff" (The Precipice), which was considered a decadent

production. Greater fame was acquired by Feodor Mikhailovitch Dostoievski

(1822-81), whose first novel, "Biednye liudi" (Poor People), published in 1846,

made its author famous, at once, by the depth of its psychological analysis.

After four years of a most painful imprisonment and exile to Siberia, he wrote the

"Zapiski iz Mertvago Doma" (Memoirs of the House of the Dead), in which he

describes the tortures of the exiles with a most effective vigour of style; the

famous novel "Prestuplenie Nakazanie" (Crime and Punishment), a psychological

masterpiece, "The Idiot", "Biezy" (The Possessed), and "The Brothers

Karamazoff".

To romantic literature also belong Dimitri Vassilievitch Grigorovitch, an imitator of

George Sand, and a faithful portrayer of the sufferings of the lower classes, in his

romances and novels, among which we will mention "Derevnia" (The Village),

"Anthony Goremyka", "The Valley of Smiedoff", "The Fishermen", and "The

Colonists". In other novels he described the life and condition of the middle and

higher classes, as in "Neudavshaajasja zhizn" (An Uneventful Life), "Suslikoff the

Kapelmeister", "The School of Hospitality", etc. The naturalist school was

represented by Alexei Teofilaktovitch Pisemski (1820-81). In the novel

"Bojarshshina" (The Time of the Boyars), he preached free love: the censorship

prohibited the circulation of the book. In another novel, "Tiufiak" (The Plaster), his

realism goes beyond that of Zola. His best novel is "Tysjatcha dush" (A

Thousand Souls), a gloomy but faithful picture of the corruption of Russian

society, which is portrayed also in his novel "Vzgalamutchennoe More"

(Tempestuous Sea); his novel "Liudi sokorovykh godoff" (Men of Forty Years)

deals with the agrarian question. His play "Gorkaja sudhina" (Bitter Destiny)

places him in a high position among Russian dramatists. Other writers proposed

to scourge the corrupters of society, to pierce them with the arrows of their

satire. They form a literary school known in Russia as oblitchitel naja (accusing,

refuting). The master of this school was Mikhail Evgrafovitch Saltykoff (1826-88),

better known by the pseudonym of Shshedrin. The characters in his novels recall

those of Gogol, but his pessimism is much more bitter and exaggerated. Among

the best-known of his novels and other writings are "Protivorietckia"

(Contradictions), "Gubernskie otcherki" (Sketches of Government Personages),

"Tashkency" (The Lords of Tashkend), and "The Brothers Golovieff", a novel that

is considered the best work of Saltykoff, but is displeasing on account of the

cynicism of its characters. Other writers worked with the same end of laying bare

the moral and social defects of the Russian people; the most famous among

them are Pomialovski (1835-63), whose novel "Otcherki bursy" is famous; it

describes in dark colours the methods of education that obtain in the

ecclesiastical seminaries of Russia; A. Sliepcoff, author of the novel "Trudnoe

Vremja" (Difficult Times); A. Mikhailoff, the pseudonym of Scheller, who wrote the

novels "Gnilyja bolota" (Putrid Swamps), and "The Life of Shupoff"; Zasodimski;

Bazhin; Thedoroff; Staniukovitch; and Girs. More moderate in their criticism of

Russian society were the novelists Boborykin, Markoff, Nemirovitch-Dantchenko,

and Terpigoreff (better known by his pseudonym of Atava), Saloff, Akhsharumoff,

Leikin, Kliushnikoff, Lieskoff, Krestovski, Prince Meshsherki, Markevitch,

Avsieensko, Golovin, and Avenarius.

The most noted authors of lyric and satirical poetry were: Nikolai Alexeievitch

Nekrasoff (1821-76), whose muse, as he himself wrote, was one of sobs and

pains, the muse of the hungry and the mendicant; of his songs, there became

famous "Moroz Krasnyi Noz" (Red-nosed Frost), a personification of the Russian

winter, "Troika", and "The Sons of the Peasants"; in his poems he has a

predilection for popular types; A. Pleshsheeff, who to his lyric poems added

beautiful translations of the principal German and English lyric poets; Kurotchkin,

who translated Béranger, and Minaeff. The most noted of the dramatists was

Alexander Nicolaevitch Ostrovski (1823-86), whose theatrical compositions,

admirable for the richness of their language, are partly original, and partly

imitations of Shakespeare and Goldoni. The best known one is "Groza" (The

Tempest), which describes the dissolution of the Russian family; it was written in

1860. Two of his comedies that obtained great success are "We will agree

among ourselves", and "Each one in his place". The number of his theatrical

works is very great. Another among the best of Russian dramatists was A. Palm

(1822-85), author of the drama "Alexis Slobodin", and of the comedies "Staryi

barin" (The Old Lord), and "Our Friend Nekliuzheff". Mention should be made also

of A. Potiekhin, N. Tchernysheff, N. Soloveff, Sukhovo-Kobylin, Sollogub,

Diakonoff, Ustrialoff, Mann, Diatchenko, Shpazhinski, and Kryloff. Women also

distinguished themselves in the literary life of the nineteenth century. The best

known among those who wrote poetry and novels were Elizabeth Kulmann,

Countess Rostoptchina, N. Khboshshinska (1825-89), who under the pseudonym

of Krestovski wrote many novels to describe provincial life; Sokhanska (1825-84),

who under the pseudonym of Kokhanovska acquired celebrity through her novels

"After Dinner Among the Guests" and "Provincial Portrait Gallery".

Among the writers who became distinguished in the realm of historical fiction

were N. Kostomaroff, whose story "The Son" (1865) presents a vigorous picture

of the agrarian revolt of Stenko Razin; Count Alexi Tolstoi (1817-75) achieved

fame with his novel "Prince Serebrany", and his trilogy "Ivan the Terrible" (1858),

"Tsar Feodor Ivanovitch" (1868), and "Tsar Boris" (1869); G. Danilevski, author of

the novels "Mirovitch" (1879), "The Fire of Moscow" (1885-86), and "Tchernyi

god" (The Black Year); Mordovceff, whose novels "Demetrius the Tsarevitch" and

"Fall of Poland" deal with the history of Little Russia; Karnovitch,

Salias-de-Tournemir, Mei (1822-62), author of several historical dramas based

upon the primitive history of Russia; and finally Averkieff. Among the lyric poets

who did not treat of the social conditions of their country, who loved their art for

its own sake, the most famous are A. Tolstoi, an imitator of Dante, Heine, and

Goethe; Maikoff, a passionate admirer of ancient Rome, the struggle of which

with Christianity he essayed to depict in his tragedy "Dva mira" (Two Worlds); A.

Feth, author of light poems and madrigals; Polonski, whose poem

"Kuznievitch-Muzykant" (The Musical Cricket) became popular, and whose

poetry is distinguished by the beauty of its style and the harmony of its verse;

Zhadovski, Shsherbin, Herbel, Weinberg, and Nadsohn.

X. CONTEMPORARY RUSSIAN LITERATURE

The literature from the death of Alexander II to the present day is essentially one

of novels. The novel, in view of the severity of Russian censorship, seems to be

the most adequate literary channel for the diffusion of political, social, and moral

theories. The most salient character of all the writers of the reign of Alexander II,

and of more recent times by the force of his genius and the sharpness of his

psychological analysis, was Count Lyeff (Leo) Tolstoi, born at Yasnaja Poliana,

28 Aug., 1828; died at Astapovo, 20 Nov., 1910. He inaugurated his literary

career by the publication of his autobiographical memoirs, which appeared in the

"Sovremennik" of St. Petersburg in 1852; they are a masterpiece of

psychological analysis of the mind of a child. This work was followed by

"Adolescence", "Youth"," The Cossacks", and "Recollections of Sebastopol", all

of which are filled with horror of the sights he beheld at Sebastopol. But the

masterpieces among his novels are "War and Peace", a powerful romance that

for all its apparent confusion and disorder is an epic and imposing picture of the

Napoleonic war in Russia; "Anna Karenina", a profound analysis of the feminine

soul that, led astray by passion, forgets dignity and family for adultery, and finds

its punishment in its sin; "Resurrection", a novel that is a study of the

rehabilitation of the culprit. There is also the play "The Power of Darkness",

strong in its vigour and dramatization. And yet this genius, who made Russian

literature popular all over the world, attained religious, ethical, and political

nihilism: in the "Kreutzer Sonata" he preaches the abjection of woman; "The

Gospels" is a criticism of dogmatic theology, while "My Religion", "The Church

and the State", and "The Theories of the Apostles" strip Christian revelation from

its base, and forswear the Divinity of Jesus Christ, His Church, and His

sacraments; in the book "What is Art?", he disparages the most illustrious

intellects of the human race; his work "The Kingdom of God Is within you"

preaches non-resistance to evil. Political and religious conceptions took Tolstoi

out of his orbit, and transformed him into a visionary, an incendiary, so to speak,

of all institutions, Divine and human.

Among the other modern novelists, mention should be made of: A. Novodvorski,

author of "Ni pavy, Ni Vorony" (Neither Peacock nor Crow), and of other stories;

B. Garshin, who in his principal novels is sometimes a follower of Tolstoi and

sometimes of Turgenieff. Those works are "Tchetyre dnja" (The Four Days),

"Trus" (The Coward), "Krasnyj cvietok" (The Red Flower), "Attalea princeps",

"Vstrietcha" (The Encounter), and "Nadezhda Nikolaevna"; I. Yasinski was

famous under the pseudonym of Maxim Bielinski; his most important works are

"The City of the Dead", and "The Guiding Star"; M. Alboff; K. Barantchevitch; A.

Ertel; Matchtet; Korolenko, a beautiful story-teller, who reminds his readers of

Dostoievski and Tolstoi in his novels "The Dream of Macarius" (a fantastic story),

"The Sketches of a Tourist in Siberia", "Easter Night," "The Old Music Player",

and "S dvukh storon" (Two Points of View); Ignatius Potapenko, who views life in

the light of optimism, and not with the pessimism so much in vogue among

Russian writers; one of his novels, "Sviatoe iskusstvo", describes the Bohemia of

the students of St. Petersburg; Demetrius Mamin, under the pseudonym of

Siberian, describes the customs of Western Siberia; and finally Prince Galitzin.

Among novelists of the new school are Anton Pavlovitch Tchehoff (1860-1904),

whose novel "Skutchnaja istorija" had a great success. He is without a superior

in the narrative of his novels; the heroes of his stories are always morally corrupt,

and of distracted minds. Alexei Maksimovitch Pieshkoff, better known by the

pseudonym of Maxim Gorky (born 1869); he is the novelist of the beggars and

the populace, whose works contain pages of nauseating naturalism, and

shameful immorality. Vincent Smidlvski, born at Tula, 1867; under the

pseudonym of Veresaeff he came to celebrity through his work "Zapiski vratcha"

(Memoirs of a Doctor), which elicited violent recriminations in the medical

profession. One of the most famous of the Russian writers of the present day is

Leonid Andreeff, born at Orel in 1881. He is the novelist of the degenerate. His

novels "The Red Laughter", "The Thought", "The Cloud", "Silence", etc. are to be

condemned from every point of view, religious and moral, and the Russian

religious press has blamed him for them in vehement language.

Among writers of the present day mention should be made of Sofija Ivanovna

Smirnova, who wrote the novels "Salt of the Earth" and "Force of Character";

Valentine Dmitrieva, writer of stories; Olga Andreevna Shapir, who wrote "Without

Love", and "Tinsel"; Lydja Veselitskaja, Alexandra Shabelskaja, Anastasia

Verbickaja, who wrote "The History of a Life". Among those who achieved fame

as lyric poets are Simon Frug (of Jewish origin), Nikolai Maksimovitch Vilenkin,

famous under the pseudonym of Minski, Dimitri Merezhkovski, whose poems

have the defect of too much rhetorical effort; Alexei Apukhtin, Konstantin

Rozanoff, Arsenius Golenishsheff-Kutuzoff, Sergei Andreevski, etc. These poets,

however, are not original; their works recall too much the great poets who

preceded them. The fiction of Russia generally uses, as a channel of publication,

the literary periodicals, among which some that were famous in the nineteenth

century have now disappeared, as the "Sovremennik" (The Contemporary), the

"Otetchestvennyja Zapiski", and the "Moskvitjanin". The best-known of those that

are yet published are the "Viestnik Evropy", and the "Pycck mysl".

The historical literature of Russia in the second half of the nineteenth century

furnishes illustrious names. Sergei Soloveff is the author of a "History of Russia",

in thirty volumes, which begins with the most ancient times, and terminates with

the reign of Alexander I; it is a work of greater historical than literary merit;

Zabielin devoted his studies by preference to the Russia of the sixteenth and

seventeenth centuries; A. Nikitski wrote on the historical past of Novgorod and

Pskof; Kostomaroff wrote on Little Russia; the historical monographs of this

author are held in high esteem, as also his "History of Russia", composed of

biographical narratives. Pypin devoted his researches to the reign of Alexander I;

Shsapoff studied the social and educational development of Russia; Brückner

dealt with the life of Peter the Great; Bestuzheff-Riumin wrote a classic history of

Russia, and Biblasoff a life of Catharine II. We cannot name the great number of

historians who, like Ilovaiski, Lambin, Kliutchevski, Golubinski, etc. have thrown

light on the history of Russia, but we cannot omit to mention the Imperial

Historical Society of St. Petersburg, the Archeographic Commission, and the

Society of Russian History and Antiquity of Moscow, which, with hundreds of

learned publications, and especially of the Russian chronicles, have greatly

facilitated the task of the student. Yushkevitch, Yakushkin, Metlinski, Ribnikoff,

Khudiakoff, and Barsoff distinguished themselves in the collection of ancient

Russian literary documents, upon which light was thrown by Buslaeff, Miller,

Stasoff, Maikoff, Kolosoff, Rozoff, Dashkevitch, Vselovski, and above all

Sreznevski, who for several years edited the "Izviestija", and the "Utchenyja

Zapiski" of St. Petersburg (Academy of Sciences). Buslaeff, with his "Historical

Chrestomathy", wove together the literary annals of Russia. Pekarski related the

scientific and literary transactions of Peter the Great, Pypin and Porfireff wrote

full and classic histories of the literature of Russia. Special works on the greatest

Russian writers are so numerous that the "Bibliography of the Russian Literature

of the Nineteenth Century", ed. Mezier, St. Petersburg, 1902, devotes 650 octavo

pages to the titles of those works alone.

In philosophy Russian works until now have not been original. They have been

produced under the supreme influence of German philosophy, inspired by Kant,

Hegel, and Schelling. Positivism, Materialism, and Spiritualism have succeeded

each other without developing originality. Galitch, professor of philosophy at St.

Petersburg (died 1848), was an atheist; Davidoff (died 1862) reduced philosophy

to psychology alone. The philosophy of Schelling influenced even ecclesiastical

writers, as Skvorcoff and the archimandrite Theophanus Avseneff. Orest. Novicki

is a convinced partisan of the system of Fichte; he was a professor of the

University of Kieff. Hegelianism, however, was the most popular of all, and was at

once accepted by the Occidentalists Stankevitch, Granovski, Bielinski, and

Ogareff, and by the Slavophiles Kirieevski, Khomjakoff, Samarin, and Aksakoff.

Between 1859 and 1873 Professor Gogocki of the ecclesiastical academy of

Kieff published his philosophical dictionary. The materialist theories of

Moleschott and Büchner were defended by M. Antonovitch and D. Pisareff, and

refuted by Yurkevitch, Strakhoff, Kudriavceff, Samarin, and Viadislaveff.

Darwinism found defenders in Timiriazeff. and Famincyn, and opponents in

Troicki, Dokutchaeff, Guseff, Popoff, and Strakhoff. The Positivism of Comte was

upheld by de Roberti and Mikhailovski. The most original philosophers of Russia

were: Kavelin (1818-85), who dealt more especially with psychological problems,

an historian and profound psychologist, to whom Russia owes the establishment

of the "Voprosy filosofii i psikhologii", a periodical devoted to philosophy, which is

held in very high esteem; Kudriavceff-Platonoff, who excels in religious

philosophy, and whose studies in apologetics are admirable for their vigour and

power of argument; Vladimir Soloveff, an ardent defender of Catholic principles in

Russia, and a spiritual philosopher, the most eminent that Russia has produced.

His extensive treatise on ethics, "Opravdanie dobra" (Justification of the Good), is

a masterpiece of speculation; Prince Troubetzkoi, a follower of Soloveff; and

finally, Nesmieloff, professor of the ecclesiastical academy of Kazan, whose

work "The Science of Man" gives to him the first place among the Christian

philosophers of Russia at the present time.

OTTO, Lehrbuch der russischen, Litteratur (Leipzig, 1837); POLEVOI, Otcherki russkoi literatury

(Essays on Russian Literature) (2 vols., St. Petersburg, 1839); NEVEROFF, Blick auf die Geschichte

der russischen Literatur (Riga, 1840); JORDAN, Geschichte der russischen Literatur (Leipzig, 1846);

SHEVIREFF, Istorija russkoi literatury (4 vols., Moscow, 1858-60); MINZLOFF, Beiträge zur

Kenntniss der poetischen und wissenschaftlichen Literatur Russlands (Berlin, 1854); PÉTROFF,

Tableau de la littéature russe depuis ses origines jusqu'à nos jours (Paris, 1872); HONEGGER,

Russische Literatur und Kultur (Leipzig, 1880); WISKOWATOFF, Geschichte der russischen

Literatur (Dorpat, 1881); HALLER, Geschichte der russischen Literatur (Riga, 1882); SMITH,

Russisk Literaturhistorie (Copenhagen, 1882); VON REINHOLDT, Geschichte der russischen

Literatur (Leipzig, 1885); MAIKOFF, Otcherki iz istorii russkoi literatury XVII i XVIII stoliettii (Essay on

the History of the Russian Literature of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries) (St. Petersburg,

1889); WALISZEWSKI, Littérature russe (Paris, 1900); tr. (London, 1900); WOLYNSKIJ, Die

russische Literatur der Gegenwart (Berlin, 1902); PETROFF, Russlands Dichter und Schriftsteller

(Halle, 1905); BRÜCKNER, Geschichte der russischen Literatur (Leipzig, 1005); tr. (London, 1908).

The best histories of Russian literature in Russian are those of PYPIN Istorija russkoi literatury (4

vols., St. Petersburg, 1908-1910) PORFIREFF, Istorija russkoi slovesnosti (4 vols., Kazan, 1898,

1904, 1907); POLEVOI (12 vols., St. Petersburg, 1903).

Monographs: — WOELFFING, Stricturœ de statu scientiarum et artium in imperio russico (Tübingen,

1766); KÖNIG, Literarische Bilder aus Russland (Berlin, 1840); VAKCEL, Quadros da litteratura,

das sciencias e artes na Russia (Funchal, 1868); COURRIÈRE, Histoire de la littéature

contemporaine en Russie (Paris, 1875); EVSTRAFIEFF, Novaja russkaja literatura (St. Petersburg,

1877); PALANDER, Uebersicht der neueren russischen Literatur (Tavastehus, 1880); ZABEL,

Literarische Streifzüge durch Russland (Berlin, 1885); STRAKHOFF, Iz istorii literaturnago nihilisma

(St. Petersburg, 1890); BAUER, Naturalismus, Nihilismus, Idealismus in der russischen Dichtung

(Berlin, 1890); SKABITCHEVSKIJ, Istorija noviejshej russkoi literatury (History of Contemporary

Russian Literature) (St. Petersburg, 1891); SOLOVEFF, Otcherki po istorii russkoi literatury XIX

vieka (St. Petersburg, 1902); VENGEROFF, Kritiko-biografitcheskij slovar russkih pisatelej

(Critico-Biographical Dictionary of Russian Writers) (7 vols, St. Petersburg, 1889-1903); DOBRYV,

Biografii russkih pisatelej (Biographies of the Russian Writers) (St. Petersburg, 1900);

OSSIP-LOURIÉ, La psychologie des romanciers russes du XIX siècle (Paris, 1905); SIPOVSKIJ,

Istorija novoi russkoi literatury (History of the New Russian Literature) (St. Petersburg, 1907);

SAVODNIK, Otcherki po istorii russkoi literatury XIX vieka (Essays on the History of the Russian

Literature of the nineteenth century) (Moscow, 1908).

POKROVSKIJ, Nikolaj Vasilevitch Gogol (Moscow, 1908); FLACH, Un grand poète russe: Alexandre

Pouchkine (Paris, 1894); DUCHESNE, Michel Jouriévitch Lermontov; sa vie et ses œuvres (Paris,

1910); POKROVSKIJ, Ivan Alexandrovitch Gontcharoff (Moscow, 1907); BRANDES, Dostojewski:

ein Essay (Berlin, 1889); SAITSCHIK, Die Weltanschauung Dostojewski's und Tolstoi's (Leipzig,

1893); HOFFMANN, Eine biographische Studie (Berlin, 1899); MÜLLER, Dostojewski, Ein

Charakterbild (Munich, 1903); LOYGREE, Un homme de génie; Th.-M. Dostojewski (Lyons, 1904);

POKROVSKIJ, Theodor Mikhailovitch Dostoevskij (Moscow, 1908); ZAVITNEVITCH, Aleksiej

Stepanovitch Khomjakoff (2 vols., Kieff, 1902); LÖWENTHAL, Anton Schehoff (Moscow, 1906);

POKROVSKIJ, Anton Pavlovitch Tchehoff (Moscow, 1907); ERNST, Leo Tolstoi und der slavische

Roman (Berlin, 1889); MEREZHKOVSKIJ, Tolstoi i Dostojevskij (St. Petersburg, 1901-02); Ger. tr.

(Leipzig, 1903); BERNEKER, Graf Leo Tolstoj (Leipzig, 1901); ZABEL, L. N. Tolstoi (Leipzig, 1901);

BITOVT, Graf. L. Totstoj v literaturie i iskusstve (Count L. Tolstoi in literature and in art) (Moscow,

1903); CROSBY, Tolstoi and His Message (New York, 1903); BIRJUKOFF, Leo N. Tolstoi:

Biographie und Memoiren (Vienna, 1906); LÜBBEN, Leo Tolstoi: der Führer von Jung-Russland

(Berlin, 1907); STAUB, Graf L. N. Tolstois Leben und Werke (Kempten, 1908); MAUDE, The Life of

Tolstoi (2 vols., London, 1908-10); PERSKY, Tolstoi intime (Paris, 1909); ISAEFF, Graf N. Tolstoi

kak myslitel (Count N. Tolstoi as a thinker) (St. Petersburg, 1911); GLAGAU, Die russische Literatur

und Ivan Turgueniev (Berlin, 1872); JOUSSOUPOFF, Ivan Tourguéniev et l'esprit de son temps

(Paris, 1883); ZABEL, Ivan Tourguéniev (Leipzig, 1884); KÜHNEMANN, Tourguenev und Tolstoi

(Berlin, 1893); BORKOVSKIJ, Tourgeniev (Berlin, 1903); GUTJAHR, Ivan S. Turgenev (Jurev, 1907);

SPLETTSTÖSSER, Maxim Gorki: eine Studie über die Ursachen seiner Popularität

(Charlottenburg, 1904); OSTWALD, Maxim Gorki (Berlin, 1904); USTHAL, Maxim Gorki (Berlin,

1904); MEINCKE, Maxim Gorki, Seine Persönlichkeit und seine Schriften (Hamburg, 1908);

BARANOFF, Leonid Andreev, kak khudozhnik i myslitel (Leonidas Andreeff, as an artist and as a

thinker) (Kieff, 1907); REJSNER, L. Andreev i ego socialnaja ide ologija (Leonidas Andreeff and his

social ideology) (St. Petersburg, 1909); MARTYNOFF AND SNEGIREFF, Russkaja starina v

pamjatnikakh cerkovnago igrazhdanskago zodtchestva (Russian antiquity in the monuments of civil

and religious architecture) (Moscow, 1851-57); ROVINSKIJ, Istorija russkikh shkolikonopisanija do

konca XVII C (History of the Russian schools of iconography to the end of the seventeenth century)

(St. Petersburg, 1856); PETROFF, Sbornik materialov dija istorii imp. akademii khudozhestv

(Collection of materials for the history of the Imperial Academy of Arts) (St. Petersburg, 1864-66);

VIOLLET LE DUC, L'art russe, ses origines, ses éléments constitutifs, son apogée, son avenir

(Paris, 1877); HASSELBLATT, Historischer Ueberblick der Entwickelung des kaiserlich-russischen

Akademie der Künste (St. Petersburg, 1886); PRAKHOFF, Kiev, skie pamjatniki vizantiisko-russkago

isskistva (The Russo-Byzantine monuments of arts at Kieff) (Moscow, 1887); BULGAKOFF, Nashi

khudozhniki (Our Artists) (St. Petersburg, 1890); PAVLINOFF, Drevnosti jaroslavskija i rostovskija

(The Antiquities of Yaroslaff and Rostoff) (Moscow, 1892); IDEM, Istorija russkoj arkhitektury

(Moscow, 1894).

EVDOKIMOFF, Russkaja zhivopis v XVIII viekie (Russian Painting in the eighteenth century) (St.

Petersburg, 1902); WRANGEL, Podrobnyi illjustrirovannyi Katalog vystavski russkoi portretnoj

zivopisi za 150 liet (Complete and illustrated catalogue of the Expositions of Russian portraits from

1700 to 1850) (St. Petersburg, 1902); ROVINSKIJ, Obozrienie ikonopisanija v Rossii do konca XVII

vieka (Sketch of the painting of icons in Russia to the end of the seventeenth century) (St.

Petersburg, 1903); USPENSKIJ, Carskie ikonopiscy v XVII v. (The Imperial painters of icons in the

seventeenth century) (St. Petersburg, 1906).

A. PALMIERI

Transcribed by Douglas J. Potter

Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XIII

Nihil Obstat, February 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, D.D., Censor

Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York

The Catholic Encyclopedia: NewAdvent.org