The life path of the philosopher Vasily Vasilyevich Rozanov covers the period from 1856 to 1919. He became a well-known literary critic, publicist. He left behind a kind of artistic heritage that allows you to immerse yourself in the era of the Silver Age. From a brief biography of Vasily Rozanov, you can find out that he managed to create his own literary genre over the years of his life, they began to imitate him en masse. In addition, his personality remains largely shrouded in mystery, and after a whole century. Even despite the fact that the biography of Vasily Rozanov was repeatedly described, and whole volumes are devoted to his teachings.
Biography
His native city is Vetluga in the Kostroma province. He was born into a bureaucratic family, he had many brothers and sisters. The future writer Vasily Rozanov early lost both parents. In fact, his older brother Nikolai took up his education. Since 1870, they moved to Simbirsk, where his young trustee became a teacher at the gymnasium. Describing his life (years 1856-1919), the Russian philosopher V. Rozanov notes that if not for his brother, he would simply not have survived. Nikolay managed to graduate from the university in Kazan by the time his parents died, he provided Vasily with all the conditions for receiving an education, and in fact replaced his father.
In Simbirsk, a potential writer was a regular visitor to the Karamzin library. In 1872, he changed his place of residence to Nizhny Novgorod, where he entered a gymnasium and in 1878 had already completed his studies.
After graduation, he entered Moscow University. There he attended lectures by Solovyov, Klyuchevsky, Korsh and many others. By the fourth year, the future philosopher Vasily Rozanov received a Khomyakov scholarship. In 1880, he married A.P. Suslova, who was 41 years old. Until that moment, she was the mistress of the family F. Dostoevsky.
After university
At the end of a higher educational institution in 1882, he decided not to get a master's degree, but went into free creativity. In the next 11 years, the Russian philosopher Rozanov worked as a teacher in the gymnasiums of several cities: Simbirsk, Vyazma, Yelets, Bryansk, Bely. He published the first book in 1886. In it, he attempted to explain science by Hegelian methods, but it was not successful. Soon after the publication and failure of the work of Vasily Rozanov, Suslov left. She refused to formalize a divorce
He became famous after the publication of the sketch “The Legend of the Grand Inquisitor F. M. Dostoevsky”. This work appeared in 1891, it laid the foundation for a new interpretation of the works of the Russian thinker as works of a religious nature. Later, as a writer and philosopher, Rozanov became close to Berdyaev and Bulgakov, other philosopher-theologians.
In 1900, he, together with his comrades, founded the Religious and Philosophical Society. He becomes the most famous Slavophile journalist in Russia. His articles are published in the newspaper "New time", as well as in a number of magazines.
Second marriage
In 1891, he made a secret wedding with VD Butyagina, she was the widow of a gymnasium teacher in Yelets. At this stage of his biography, the philosopher Rozanov himself taught there. Together with Pervovy, he makes the first Russian translation from Greek of Metaphysics by Aristotle.
In addition, he fiercely opposes the education system in the Russian Empire, indicating his position very clearly in articles on this topic. He described with sympathy the Russian revolution of 1905-1907. Then came the book of Vasily Rozanov “When the bosses left.”
In individual works, he was engaged in the search for ways to solve problems that arose in religiosity and society. The books of Vasily Rozanov “Religion and Culture” (1899) and “Nature and History” (1900) are devoted to this.
He was very controversial about the Orthodox Church. He carefully considered the problems of family and sex in the country. This is the subject of the book by Vasily Rozanov, “The Family Question in Russia,” published in 1903. In the course of his writings, he finally disagrees with Christianity on the issue of gender. He contrasted the Old Testament with the New. The first he proclaimed as a statement of the life of the flesh.
Break with society
After the publication of some articles on the subject of the Beilis in 1911, he began to conflict with the Religious and Philosophical Society, of which he himself was a member. The rest considered the Beilis case an insult to the Russians, and the philosopher Vasily Rozanov was urged to leave their ranks. He did so.
His later books were collections of essays on various topics. The philosophy of Vasily Vasilievich Rozanov slipped briefly in them. They were united by mood and contained many internal dialogues. Researchers note that at that time the writer was in a spiritual crisis. He became pessimistic, this is fully reflected in the "Apocalypse of our time" 1917-1918. At the same time, he was aware of the inevitability of a catastrophe in the country, of revolutionary events. This period of Vasily Rozanov’s biography was marked for him by collapse, since he associated the revolution of Russia with such a concept. In 1917, he wrote that there was no Tsar — and for him, there was no Russia.
His writings were actively criticized by the Marxist revolutionaries. Also, liberals and representatives of the Russian intelligentsia did not accept it.
In Sergiev Posad
In the summer months of 1917, Vasily Rozanov moved from Petrograd to Sergiev Posad. There he settles in the house of the teacher of the local theological seminary. On the last pages of the biography of Vasily Rozanov, there remains an openly impoverished person who lived in hunger. In 1918, he wrote an appeal in the Apocalypse, where he asked for cash assistance. Glorified thanks to his philosophy, Vasily Vasilyevich Rozanov was already on the edge of the abyss, admitted that he could not have survived that last year without help. In February 1919, he dies.
Vasily Rozanov had 5 children - 4 girls and one boy. His daughter, born in 1900, Nadezhda Vasilyevna, becomes an artist and illustrator.
Philosophy
In short, the philosophy of Vasily Rozanov was evaluated very controversially. The thing is that he gravitated to extremes. It was deliberate. That was his striking feature. He believed that "it is necessary to have exactly a thousand points of view on the subject."
This idea expressed a peculiar specificity of the philosophy of Vasily Vasilyevich Rozanov. He looked at the world with an unusual look. So, he believed that the events of the revolution of 1905-1907 should be considered from different angles. He simultaneously published articles from completely different positions - under his last name he acted as a monarchist, while under the pseudonym V. Varvarin he defended a populist point of view.
For the philosopher Rozanov, the spiritual homeland was in Simbirsk. He wrote in great detail about his youth in this area. His whole life was built on 3 foundations - Kostroma, Simbirsk and Yelets, which were, respectively, its physical, spiritual and moral centers. In literary art, the philosopher Rozanov manifested himself as an already established person. His long journey in this form of creativity was not interrupted, in it there was a gradual development of talent and the discovery of genius. The philosopher Rozanov regularly changed the theme of his own works, a look at the problems, but the personality of the Creator always remained elevated in them.
His living conditions were in many ways no easier than that of Maxim Gorky. He was brought up in the spirit of nihilism and passionately wanted to serve society. He was guided by this, choosing the path of a public figure of a democratic nature. He could express social protest, but in his youth there was a rather strong coup. After that, he sought his historical homeland in other regions, becoming a commentator. Almost all of his works are a look at the events surrounding him.
Egocentrism
Researchers of his works notice the self-centered orientation of the philosopher. Many of his critics met his initial editions with bewilderment. Positive reviews of the first works of Rozanov simply did not work. Everyone gave him a frantic, furious rebuff. Rozanov declared in the pages of his works: "I am not yet such a scoundrel to think about morality."
He was a Russian writer who managed to know the honor and love of his readers. This was manifested in the reviews of his fans, who were written intimately, in separate letters.
Philosophy
The philosophy of Vasily Rozanov differs in atypical features, despite the fact that it is included in the general Russian philosophical circle. The thinker himself was at the epicenter of the events raging at the beginning of the 20th century in the Russian Empire. He actively communicated with many writers, artists. Many of his works expressed an ideological, substantial reaction to the phenomena he noticed. He criticized the opinion of Berdyaev, Solovyov, Blok and many others.
Most of all, Vasily Rozanov was worried about the problems of morality and ethics, religiosity and the opposition. He often talked about the apology of the family. In his works, he tried to get rid of contradictions.
Interpreting Rozanov's philosophy, someone proclaimed that this was the reasoning of the "little religious man." Indeed, he very actively investigated the internal dialogues of such a person with theology, he emphasized the complexity of these issues.
The scope of the tasks considered by Rozanov is only partly related to the church. It does not lend itself to critical evaluation. A man is alone, bypassing external institutions that unite people, creating for them some common tasks.
He regards religion as a meeting, a public association. While clarifying personal spiritual issues leads to controversy. A man tries to find his methods, to connect and unite with others, expecting that then everything will fall into place.
Journalism
Researchers at Vasily Rozanov’s activities note that his articles are written in an unusual genre. They could hardly be identified to any particular style. At the same time, it was a stable part of his work. He constantly reacted to the spite of the day. The philosopher produces desktop books. In his writings, he tries to reproduce "understanding" in all the diverse complexities of the living facial expressions of oral speech. It was this genre that was entrenched in him, his works always gravitated to experiences. He finally took shape to the last work.
Religion in creativity
Vasily Rozanov himself said about himself that he "forever poses himself." He noted that everything he writes about ultimately dates back to God one way or another. He believed that while the whole religion of the world is individual, Christianity has become personal. The philosopher gives everyone the right to decide, but not what confession to profess, this has already been decided once, but the question of rooting the individual in the common faith.
He believed that the churching could not be done only through the rites of the sacrament. A sincere conviction is needed, a belief that everything in his life is now marked by a touch of religiosity.
He considers the relation to God and to the church through the prism of the concept of conscience. It is to this feeling that he assigns the role of the separator to the personality on the subjective and objective component. He distinguishes two aspects in the matter of conscience - her attitude towards God and her attitude towards the church.
God, from his point of view, is a Personal infinite spirit.
Gender theme
Nevertheless, the theme of gender became a central issue in all his work. In 1898, he formulated his own definition of this aspect. He pointed out that this is not an organ, not a function, but a determinant person. Sex is real and remains a mystery just as the mind does not comprehend the meaning of being. The man in his metaphysics, who is one in soul and body, is associated with the Logos. However, communication is exposed precisely in the intimate realm of being: in the sphere of sexual love.
Jewish theme
Vasily Rozanov very actively raised the Jewish question in his work. The thing is his special view of the world, filled with mystical and religious features. He claimed the sanctity of marriage, procreation. Basil opposed the denial of the flesh, asceticism and celibacy. He cited how the floor, family, and conception were sanctified in the Old Testament, contrasting it with the New Testament, like the life of death.
It was an anti-Christian riot. Soon, he switched to organic conservatism, filled with love for everyday confession, the family. From here came anti-Semitism, which was traced in his work and outraged a wide part of the audience. Some of his statements were overtly anti-Semitic. But it is important to consider that it was typical for the philosopher to go to extremes - this was a striking feature of his thinking, which made him interesting and remarkable. He did many things deliberately. He was both anti-Semite and anti-Semite at the same moment.
However, Rozanov himself denied anti-Semitism in his own works. When the sensational case of Beilis was considered, Vasily began publishing numerous articles. And according to the Jewish encyclopedia, in them he justified the accusation of Jews in ritual murder, proving that the basis of their cult consists in bloodshed.
Because of the duality of completely opposite views, Rozanov was actively accused of unprincipledness. It was for these articles, which contained an enthusiastic hymn to the Jews and the preaching of anti-Semitism, that he left the Religious and Philosophical Society in 1913.
Only closer to the end of his earthly journey, Rozanov stopped expressing open hostility towards the Jews, sometimes speaking with enthusiasm about them. In the last book, he praised the works of Moses, and also wrote the lines: “Live, Jews. I bless you in everything ... ”
In the memories
The philosopher himself about his youth said that: "came out of the abomination of desolation." He was in distress at the very beginning of his life. At the time of the wedding with Suslova he was 24 years old, and she was 41. He noted that she was: "the most wonderful of the women met ...".
The church did not recognize the second marriage after the secret wedding of Vasily Rozanov with Butyagina. However, the couple spent 30 years together, raised 6 children.
Fellow students noted Basil’s pessimism, for which he received the nickname “Vasya Cemetery”. Through a similar prism, he looked at the many phenomena surrounding his life. He believed that Christians misinterpreted issues of gender, family, and conception. Criticizing the church, he wanted to achieve its improvement, but in the end he was worried that, on the contrary, it had been destroyed.
The stylistics of writing, new philosophical methods, a separate literary genre - all this was Rozanov’s personal experiences. The “Stream of Consciousness” once tried to add Leo Tolstoy to his works. And Vasily, using this form, wrote a philosophical trilogy. There, he reflected his own thoughts and feelings without editing or tying them to specific goals. Vasily’s opinions were contradictory in many issues.
After the October Revolution boomed, sales of his books were over. The family was in distress for a long time, right up to the death of Vasily Rozanov.
Publishing The Legend of the Grand Inquisitor, the writer started a lawsuit with virtually the entire Russian literary world, as the critic noted. He published with her articles on the works of Gogol. While it was generally believed that Russian literature came from Gogol’s “Overcoat”. Vasily noted that there were simply no living folk characters in this work. He spoke of Gogol’s work as an ominous round dance of some booth creatures.
Vasily Rozanov in the article posed the question: “who ever met a living beauty on the pages of books by Gogol?”. He suffered from pathological hatred of this writer.
The philosopher expressed the view that, starting with the works of Gogol, Russian literature was not able to come to anything good.
Entered into an active polemic Rozanov and living writers, sometimes going beyond the bounds of decency. For example, in 1894 he started a dispute with Solovyov. They were connected with each other by a rather strange kind of relationship. Their battle took place in the articles. Solovyov called Vasily “Judas”, and he answered with the same epithets. After a long showdown, they ended up confessing to each other in sympathy. Soloviev wrote to Rozanov: "I believe that we are brothers in spirit."
It is noteworthy that once Vasily was in the service of the Moscow State Audit Office. He held a high post, receiving a salary of 100 rubles per month. However, life in the capital was expensive for him - he gave 40% of this amount for housing. And then Rozanov was forced to write a lot. He did it easily without editing the text. It was written by him without subsequent corrections. Moreover, his articles were regularly published in several editions at once, and this aroused the indignation of everyone - they said that he: "writes with both hands."
The Thinker used many aliases. But in this position, he remained in the lack of money. In his memoirs, his wife spoke about the hunger and cold that they experienced when they moved to the capital. Vasily himself collected materials about officials of the State Audit Office. His idea was to publish articles with a negative point of view on bureaucracy. He regarded it as the main ulcer of the Russian Empire. Censorship has banned the publication of articles. And Vasily set about searching for a new job.
It was published in publications of various directions. Due to this, in the XX century he became widely known, and also gained material wealth. And the family allowed themselves a small overseas trip. In the same period, clergy and intellectuals interviewed in the Northern capital to find common ground between "faith and reason." They continued until the armed conflicts of the First World War. But because of several articles, Rozanov was estranged from these events. Books Vasily Vasilyevich Rozanov stopped buying because of the boycott announced against him. However, he showed amazing performance. Vasily wrote books and actively acted as a publicist in the newspaper New Time. But here began a feud with regular authors.
In 1910, Varvara Dmitrievna had paralysis - she was terminally ill. Vasily Rozanov was in despair and wrote that: "he spoke of marriage, marriage, marriage ... but death, death, death all came to me." And against the background of these events, he publishes new literature. It contained thoughts "without processing, without purpose." Everything was combined here in a row.
It is known that a long time ago, as an employee somewhere in the wilderness, translating the works of Aristotle, Vasily became interested in Pascal. And, most likely, this fact influenced his new genre.
As critics noted, in the new works of the author, absolute self-fulfillment was noted. He did not need readers.
His work “Solitary” was filled with frankness and was initially arrested for pornography. Basil, however, critics compared with Karamazov. And indeed, such ways of expressing thoughts had some basis under themselves. Rozanov emphasized that he was actually releasing the book as a manuscript. It is striking that the author’s position is paradoxical - he is both conservative and a radical reformer. And such duality was reflected in everything that the philosopher undertook. Their greetings to the 1905 revolution were due to the adoption of the idea of egalitarianism. He grew up in poverty.
It is noteworthy that until 1911 he was not called a writer, it was an essayist. But after the release of "Secluded" everything changed. Critics were thrilled. The author himself also considered the book the pinnacle of his work. Then there was talk that Vasily Rozanov became the founder of a new literary genre.
But the tragic events of World War I were approaching. And Vasily's tea parties were happening less and less. He remained in some kind of isolation, despite the fact that after his break with the Philosophical Society, the circle of his communication did not change. Then Rozanov actively collaborated with Novoye Vremya, publishing anti-German articles for this newspaper. And this broke the ties that were still between him and the public, which did not have a clear position on the issues indicated.
It is known that the philosopher was especially fond of the youth circle. He studied the letters of readers, often publishing them. I tried to answer almost everyone who wrote. Shortly after the revolution, the magazine was closed, as it was "White Guard". The editor emigrated, and later became the inspirer of the Russian fascist party. Rozanov stopped publishing.
But 1917 knocked out the soil from under Vasily’s feet. He was deeply impressed by the events taking place, he shuddered about the story of how a “serious old man” wanted the skin “ribbon by ribbon” to be torn off the king. The habitual way of his life collapsed, everything that he believed in was destroyed. And this led to an extreme degree of despair of an already pessimistic philosopher.
He moved to Sergiev Posad, where it was easier to live for the impoverished man, and his friend Pavel Florensky also lived there, who found rooms for his family. The last years of his life became a series of misfortunes for the writer. His only son, Vasily, died under tragic circumstances.
The last letters of the philosopher were tragic. He worried not only about Russia, but also humanity as a whole. The Thinker claimed that the world was breaking up. Vasily was exhausted, constantly rushing about in search of work in order to get a piece of bread for himself and his family, and this could not be done. He survived thanks to those posts that his acquaintances and readers made to him. Vasily addressed them in his letters. And soon, due to serious nervous diseases, a stroke broke him.
He died a few days, finally broken. From abroad, A. Gorky sent money to him in order to somehow support his life, but they arrived late, the writer was already dying. Rozanov continued to write on his deathbed, describing everything that happens to him. His daughter said that before his death, he had communion, and then asked to give him the image of Jehovah. He was not around, and then he asked for a statue of Osiris. And he bowed to this deity.
In recent days, his 18-year-old daughter took care of him, actually carrying him in her arms, like a child. Basil was quiet, he changed terribly. It seemed as if the writer had already died completely and was reborn. All his last days were Hosanna to Christ. He claimed that miracles were happening to him, asked everyone to hug, and declared that Christ had risen.
After this legend went everywhere, rumors of his death crawled across the country very quickly. The final stage of his life was joyful. He communed four times at will, was unchained, three times before him they read the departure. And then he passed away. His death was not painful. Vasily Rozanov was buried in the Chernigov monastery of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra.