Alexander Radishchev lived a relatively short life - he was born in 1749 (August 31), and died in 1802 (September 12). He was the first child in a wealthy noble family - his grandfather Afanasy Prokopyevich was a large landowner.
Happy childhood
Childhood years passed in the estate of his father in Nemtsovo, a village belonging to the Borovsky district of Kaluga province. The family was friendly, the parents - well-educated people. The father, who speaks several languages, including Latin, studied with his son himself.
The boy was a favorite of his mother. As it was the case with noble families, he was taught at home - the children learned the Russian language from liturgical books - the psalter and the hour book, tutors were invited to study foreign languages, mainly French. Little Alexander was not lucky - under the guise of a teacher of French, a fugitive soldier was hired to them.
The basics of excellent education
In 1755, Moscow University was opened, and Alexander Radishchev went to Moscow, to his mother’s uncle, Mr. Argamakov, whose brother was then the director (in 1755-1757). And this gave the children of the Argomakovs and Sasha Radishchev the right to receive knowledge at home under the guidance of professors and teachers of the gymnasium at the university. At the age of 13, Alexander Radishchev was granted a page when Catherine II ascended the throne in 1762, and was sent for further studies in the Page Corps - at that time the most prestigious educational institution of the Russian Empire, in which he studied from 1762 to 1766.
University years
He was rich, came from an old noble family, and most importantly, studied well and was very diligent. Therefore, when Catherine decided to send abroad a group of young nobles of 12 people, including 6 pages, Alexander Radishchev was one of the first on this list. In Leipzig, he went to study law.
However, in addition to the compulsory sciences and deep study of languages, students were allowed to additionally get acquainted with other sciences. A.N. Radishchev chose medicine and chemistry in additional studies, in which, like in languages, he was very successful. The five years spent in Leipzig were filled with studies, and thanks to this, A. N. Radishchev became one of the most educated people of his time, and not only in Russia. There, he begins to write abroad. An indelible impression during these years was made by his friendship with Ushakov, who was somewhat older, wiser and more educated than Alexander, and the death of this friend. In memory of him, Radishchev Alexander Nikolaevich wrote a work that was called The Life of Fyodor Vasilyevich Ushakov.
Years of life in Russia after returning
Upon returning to their homeland in 1771, A.N. Radishchev, together with his friend M. Kutuzov, enters the service in the St. Petersburg Senate, where they did not work for a long time for several reasons. From abroad Radishchev returns as a freethinker. In 1773 he entered as legal adviser to the headquarters of the Finnish division, located in St. Petersburg, from where he retired in 1775. It was the time of the Pugachev riot and its suppression. During these years, Radishchev Alexander Nikolaevich made several translations, including “Reflections on Greek History” by Bonno de Mably. Gradually Radishchev became one of the most convinced and consistent people who considered autocracy and serfdom the main evil of Russia. After his retirement, A. N. Radishchev married the sister of a friend with whom he studied in Leipzig. In 1777 he entered the St. Petersburg Customs, where he worked until 1790 and was promoted to the post of its director. Here he made friends with Count A. R. Vorontsov, who would support the Russian philosopher and thinker even in Siberian exile.
The main work of life
As early as 1771, the first passages from the main work, written by Alexander Radishchev, were released. The Journey from Petersburg to Moscow was published in separate chapters in the St. Petersburg magazine Painter. In the 80-90s of the XVIII century, an unusually large social upsurge was observed in Europe, revolutions first in the USA, then in France followed one after another.
Taking advantage of the favorable climate to advance the ideas of freedom, Radishchev starts a printing house at his present street in Marat, and in May 1790 he prints 650 copies of the book. Earlier in the same way was published "Letter to a friend." Who doesn’t know the phrase “Yes, this is a rebel, worse than Pugachev!”, Uttered by Catherine II after reading this work. As a consequence of it, A.N. Radishchev was imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress and sentenced to death. Then the “gracious” empress replaced her with a 10-year exile to Siberia with the deprivation of the noble title, all orders, regalia and fortune.
The Book of Accuser
The books of the disgraced author were to be destroyed. But the copies issued by Radishchev quickly sold out, a lot of copies were made from them, which allowed A.S. Pushkin to state the fact: "Radishchev - the enemy - avoided slavery!" Or maybe the great Russian poet had in mind the fact that the censor, leafing through the book, decided that it was a guide to the cities, as it lists the settlements located along the highway. Even to this day 70 such lists have reached.
Then , in 1888, A.S. Suvorin received permission to issue 100 copies of this book, supposedly exclusively for connoisseurs and lovers of Russian literature. Why was the enlightened empress so indignant? The novel describes the horrors of serfdom, the incredibly difficult life of peasants, in addition, the book contains direct accusations of tsarism. Written in good language, it is full of witty caustic remarks, and leaves no one indifferent. It included "Liberty" and "Word of Lomonosov." And before that there were no such denunciations of the autocracy.
Incorrigible swinger
Radishchev, whose works, poems, philosophical treatises, odes, including Liberty, have since been burned and grinded at paper mills, he was sitting in the Ilim prison. But here, on behalf of Count Vorontsov, he studied the life of the indigenous inhabitants of Siberia, trade routes to the northern regions of the vast country and the possibility of trade with China. He was even happy in his own way. He wrote many wonderful works in the prison, and his sister-in-law came to him (and he was already a widower) to brighten his loneliness in exile. Having ascended the throne, Paul I, who hated his mother, returned the disgraced philosopher, but without the right to leave the family nest in Nemtsov. Alexander I not only gave A. N. Radishchev complete freedom, but also attracted him to work in the Law Drafting Commission.
Suicide or Deadly Inattention
The link did not change the views of the writer and, taking part in the drafting of laws, Alexander Radishchev, whose biography is full of clashes with those in power, wrote "The draft liberal code." It expressed thoughts about the equality of all before the law, about the need for freedom of speech and the press, and other “free thoughts” that so outraged the chairman of the commission, Count P.V. Zavadsky, that he threatened the author with another exile to Siberia.
Either the rebuke was derogatory, or the thinker’s nerves finally passed away, and his health was badly damaged, or he lived through something very terrible in exile, but A.N. Radishchev, when he got home, was poisoned by taking poison. A very sad story. True, there is another version that testifies to the strength of the spirit of the greatest man of his time - he was not going to commit suicide, but by mistake drank a glass of vodka in front of himself to calm down. And it was “royal vodka”, murderous for man, prepared and left by the eldest son of the writer for the restoration of old epaulettes. A very sad story.
Good and great man
In his activity, A. N. Radishchev was also concerned about upbringing. He is considered the founder of Russian revolutionary ethics and aesthetics, as well as pedagogy. Along with serious research, philosophical treatises, formidable denunciations of tsarism and serfdom, Radishchev, whose poems are full of love for people and nature, wrote children's songs, composed funny rhymes, riddles, and invented various games and contests.
That is, a man loved life very much, but wanted it to be fair to all people, so that in Russia there would be no degrading person of serfdom. An excellent article about A. N. Radishchev was written by A. S. Pushkin.