Alexander Nikitenko

He was born in 1804 or 1805, his father, a serf, a senior writing in one of the offices of Count Sheremetev, stood on education, above his environment and subjected to all sorts of persecution, the conditions under which his childhood years Nikitenko, were heavy. First education Nikitenko received in the Voronezh district school, access to school him as a serf, has been closed. In 1822, Mr.. in Ostrogozhsk where Nikitenko interrupted private lessons, opened branch "of the Bible Society, whose secretary was elected Nikitenko. He moved a speech at a solemn meeting in 1824, which was reported to the President of the society, Prince AN. Golitsyn. Soon, with the help of Zhukovsky et al, Nikitenko got freestyle. In 1825, Mr.. He entered Petersburg University, was almost killed, caught in a "dating" with the Decembrists, he graduated in History and Philosophy Faculty. In 1826, Mr.. published his first article: "On overcoming the misery" (humility and obedience to superiors) in the "Son of the Fatherland". School district trustee, KM. Borozdin, took him to the secretaries. On behalf Borozdina, Nikitenko wrote the notes to the new censorship statute of 1828, Mr.. After unsuccessful attempts to occupy the chair of natural law and political economy Nikitenko became an associate and then professor in the Department of Russian Literature. In 1833, Mr.. Nikitenko was appointed censor, spent 8 days in the guardhouse for having missed a poem by Victor Hugo ( "Enfant, si j'etais roi"), in translation Delaram. Lectures on Russian Literature in the Roman Catholic Theological Academy, edited (1839 - 41) "Son of the Fatherland". He received his Ph.D. for a thesis: "On the creative power of poetry or poetic genius". In 1853, Mr.. appointed member of the Academy of Sciences. Wrote draft censorship regulations, instructions or notes thereto, in "martinistskom," according to Bulgarin, t. e. relatively liberal spirit. In 1842, Mr.. Nikitenko was arrested overnight in the guardhouse for a pass in the "Son of the Fatherland" story Efibovskogo: "Governess," a mocking comments about courier. With enthusiasm, welcomed Nikitenko era of Russian reforms, describing themselves as "moderate progressives". In 1859, Mr.. He joined in an unofficial member of the committee on censorship and fussed about turning it into a "General Directorate of Censorship at the Ministry of Education. Unexpected blow to Nikitenko was listing the main department of censorship in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Short time in 1847 - 48 years Nikitenko, nominally more than was actually the editor of Contemporary. In the late 50-ies Nikitenko edited the Journal of the Ministry of National Education ": he was a member, then (1857) Chairman of the Theatrical Committee. Died July 21, 1877, Mr.. As a critic, professor and historian of literature, Nikitenko importance had. More known for his "Speech on criticism" (St. Petersburg, 1842) and "Experience the history of Russian literature. Introduction "(St. Petersburg, 1845), characterized by ambiguity and vagueness of the basic definitions, for the same reason Nikitenko could have a significant impact on its listeners. As censor, he was sometimes invisible, but essential services literature (for example, in 1861,. he "defended" separate edition of the poems of Nekrasov). His remarkable diary, his conduct of the age of 14, published after his death under the title: "My story about himself and what life was witness" (St. Petersburg, 1893; 2-e dopoln. ed., ed. MK. Lemke (St. Petersburg, 1904 - 1905). Diary Nikitenko is set to a rich cultural and historical material, especially for the history of Russian censorship, and yet is also an interesting "human document". On the one hand, . diary, . written (especially in the first part of it) often with surprising energy and bitterness, . Tagged with aphorisms in the style of classic moralists, . Nikitenko drawn thinker, . creating a rule of life ( "wisdom - patience", . "the purpose of life - not happiness, . a debt "), . patriot, . indignant at the "literary Benkendorfskuyu city council" and crying repeatedly: "Yes Lord will save Russia"; philosopher, . which finds a grim consolation in the thought of death,
. On the other hand, in the same diary Nikitenko develops the philosophy of adaptability and passivity, evinces patience, having nothing to do with wisdom (Pushkin in 1835, in a letter to P.A. Pletnev, scolding Nikitenko "kicking colt"), is not "moderate progressives" and "progressive moderates" are not stoic, but simply a stubborn Ukrainians, and expressly advocates opportunism. The result - a deep inner dissatisfaction, which permeates the last two parts of the diary, an old man grumbling at everyone and everything. Biography Nikitenko fully explain these contradictions: serfdom, from which he had so painstakingly been freed, has left such a strong imprint on its rich nature, that he could not develop quite normally. - See. CH. Vetrinsky Two Russian social type "(Nikitenko and IS. Aksakov "New Word"? 7 - 8, 1894); MA. Protopopov, "From the history of our society" ( "Russian Thought", "6 - 7, 1893); KN. Medvedskij "Tale of honest citizen"