Nikolai Ivanovich Novikov

Dmitri Grigoryevich Levitsky : Portrait of N. I. Novikows

Nikolay Novikov ( Russian Николай Иванович Новиков * April 27 ^jul. / 8. May 1744 ^greg. In Tichwinskoje-Awdotino near Bronnitsy in Moscow Gubernia ; † August 1 ^jul. / 13 August 1818 ^greg. ) Was a Russian Journalist , editor and a public figure. He is considered one of the most important figures of the Russian Enlightenment .

Life

youth

Nowikov's family belonged to the wealthy landed gentry . His father was Ivan Vasilyevich Novikov (1699–1763). In his childhood he was tutored by the village acolyte. Between the ages of 11 and 16, he attended Moscow University High School, from which he was expelled "for being lazy and not attending classes."

At the beginning of 1762, he joined the Izmailov bodyguard regiment and was promoted to sergeant at the drawbridge of the Ismailov barracks on the day Catherine II ascended the throne . Even during his military service, he showed “an inclination towards literary studies” and a penchant for book production: in 1768 he published two translations of French novels and a sonnet .

In 1767 he was among the young people who were responsible for keeping the minutes in the commission for the creation of the project “New Legislation” (Russian Новое Уложение). The Tsarina attached great importance to this order and stipulated that "only nobles with special qualifications should be called in to keep the minutes". He worked in both the small commission dealing with ordinary people and the large commission. His participation in the commission introduced him to many important questions of Russian life and the conditions of Russian reality. It was an important step in the development of his educational views. During his lectures on the work of the commission, he met Katharina personally.

Start of journalistic activity

Truten Трутень ( The Drone ) magazine

Schriftивописец ( The Painter ) magazine

In 1769 he said goodbye and began to publish the satirical weekly Truten Трутень ( The Drone ). She dealt with the injustices of serfdom , protested against the abuse of landlord power , castigated wrong jurisprudence, corruption etc. and used the means of denunciation against influential circles such as the court aristocracy. With regard to the subject of the satire, the drone entered into a polemic with Всякая Всячина (such as 'This and that', ' Something about everything', 'Tutti Frutti'), the organ of the Tsarina herself split into two camps. Всякая Всячина advocated moderation, forbearance towards weaknesses, a “smiling satire”, and condemned all attacks on individuals. In contrast, the drone stood for resolute, open denunciation. However, it was an unequal fight: the drone had to moderate its tone from the start and refrain from dealing with the peasant question, so that Novikov finally gave up in April 1770 after a hint that the magazine might be closed.

In 1772 he started a new satirical magazine - the painter (Russian: Живописeц ). The painter shared the same ideas as before the drone : in a series of articles, some of which were written by I. P. Turgenev , others by A.N. Radishchev , he spoke out emphatically and in fiery terms against serfdom .

Publication of historical writings

As one of the most important tasks he saw the fight against the exaggerated devotion of the nobility to everything foreign. He advocated the national foundations of Russian culture. Simultaneously with the satirical magazines, he published a number of historical publications. Among them were in 1772 the book Trial of a Historical Dictionary of Russian Writers (Russian .: Опыт исторического словаря о российских писателях ), as well as the Old Russian Library , in which from 1773 to 1776 the Russian monuments of the Russian ancient history were published monthly , whose first volume, published in 1773, was a description of the under Fyodor III. established Moscow State, and other editions of historical materials. He was the first to publish the Scythian History of A. I. Leslow.

He was aware of the need for palaeographic accuracy, the comparison of text variants, the addition of alphabetical registers, etc. when editing historical documents. Sometimes, as in hydrography , he added several registers. He found the material for his editions of historical documents in private, ecclesiastical and state archives, to which the tsarina granted him access in 1773. He himself built up a collection of historical manuscripts. He was provided with extensive material by Gerhard Friedrich Müller , Prince M. M. Shtscherbatow, N. N. Bantysch-Kamjensky and Katharina II herself, who also sponsored the library with generous grants.

Freemasonry

In his insights into the Russian past, he was not always characterized by consistency. According to him, the old Russian rulers suspected "that the introduction of science and art in Russia would irretrievably destroy the greatest Russian treasure - its customs and traditions"; but at the same time he was an ardent advocate of the Enlightenment and admirer of Peter the Great, as well as those people whose efforts in favor of the Russian Enlightenment he gladly included in his attempt at a historical dictionary of Russian writers . He found a way out of these concerns and contradictions in Freemasonry .

The first connections to Freemasonry took place in St. Petersburg . Friends asked him to join as early as 1775, but he hesitated for a long time because he did not want to be bound by an oath the subject of which was unknown to him. The Freemasons apparently valued his entry so highly that, contrary to their rules, they informed him of the content of the first three stages up to entry into the lodge . However, he was not satisfied with the Jelaginsky system, which he joined, and only later found “true” Freemasonry in Reichel's system, in which “everything was geared towards morality and self-knowledge” [1].

Published magazines

Satirical magazines:
"The Drone" (Трутень) (1769–1770) - dealt with abuses in serfdom, misjudgment and corruption
"The babbler" or "The whisker" (Пустомеля) (June / July 1770)
"The painter" (Живописец) (1772–1773) - denouncing opponents of the Enlightenment, criticizing administration and justice, mocking the customs of the nobility
“The Purse” (Кошелёк) (1774) - Respect for the Russian past and condemnation of Francophilia
“Sankt Petersburg Scholar Papers” (“Санкт-Петербургские учёные ведомости”) (1777) - the first Russian journal with critical bibliographic content. In 1777 Nowikow published 22 issues of the "Sankt Petersburg Scholar Papers", which appeared weekly and were closely related to his first creative period. It was a journal devoted to science and literary criticism with the aim of bringing Russian literature and science closer to the scholarly world of the West on the one hand, and highlighting the merits of domestic writers, especially historians, on the other.
“Morning Light” (“Утренний свет”) (1777–1780) - the first philosophical journal of Russia. The didactic element was still weakly pronounced in the “scholarly sheets”, but in the “morning light” it was dominant. Novikov began to publish this monthly magazine after the "Scholarly Papers" were discontinued in September 1777, first in St. Petersburg, and from April 1779 in Moscow . It published the “Klagen oder Nachtgedanken” Young and Pascal's “Thoughts”, but essentially translations from the works of German writers, moralists, pietists and mystics . “The Morning Light” was published with the participation of a whole group of like-minded people, including M. N. Muravyov and I. P. Turgenev. In addition, charitable purposes were pursued with the publication: The entire income was used to build and maintain the first elementary schools in Petersburg. This expresses two further fundamental aspects of Novikov's later activity: the organization of social initiative and the effort to continue working in the interests of Enlightenment. The call to subscribers to help build the schools resulted in a substantial amount of donations.
"Fashionable monthly magazine, or library for women's fashion" ("Модное ежемесячное издание, или Библиотека для дамского туалета") (1779) - the first Russian women's magazine. The first issue appeared in January in St. Petersburg, from the fifth the magazine appeared as a result of Novikov's move to Moscow. The magazine was only published for a year before it was closed due to overwork of the editor and lack of readers (according to the list of subscribers published in one issue, it was referring to 58 families). The magazine was literary and contained both prose and poetry. In the opinion of press history researchers, the designation “fashionable” in its title was made with the aim of attracting the attention of the female public and updating the printed graphic concept of the magazine. In any case, it was the first attempt to publish a magazine for women.

Schools opened by Novikov in St. Petersburg

In November 1777 he opened the (later called Katharinenschule) school at the Church of Our Lady of Vladimir for 30 to 40 people, including boarding school students and external students, payers and scholarship holders. In the following year the second school was opened (the Alexander School at the Church of the Annunciation on the Vasilievsky Island ). Both schools existed in 1782. Nothing is known about the further fate of the schools he founded.

Moscow

In 1779, Cheraskov , the curator of Moscow University and also a Freemason, proposed to him to rent the university printing press and publish the "Moscow Papers" ("Московские Ведомости"). He then moved to Moscow. After quickly getting the Moscow University Printing House in order and considerably expanding it, he published more books there in less than three years than had appeared in the past 24 years.

In addition to the publication of books, he also increased the importance of the "Moscow papers", in the supplements of which he began to deal with a wide variety of topics; the number of subscribers multiplied from 600 to 4,000. In 1781 he published a continuation of the “Morning Light” under the name “Moscow Monthly Gazette” (“Московское ежемесячное издание”). This was followed by the magazines “Städtische unddörfliche Bibliothek” (“Городская и деревенская библиотека”) (1782–1786), in 1782 the “Abendröte” (“Вечерняя Заря”), 1784–1785 being called “Lesestoffige”, 1784–1785 for the leisure of the able "-" Покоящийся Трудолюбец "), with which he continued his fight against serfdom, and the first Russian children's magazine" Kindlicher Lesestoff "(" Детское чтение ") (1785–1789). With his publishing activities, he wanted to create a rich and easily accessible collection of specialist and entertainment literature for wide circles, without restricting himself to the dissemination of his mystical views.

With the aim of making books cheaper, he got in touch with all the bookstores that existed at that time, created a tribe of commission agents, sent booksellers goods on preferential terms on credit, sometimes in tens of thousands of copies, and operated bookshops not only in provincial towns but also in villages. In Moscow, where there were only two bookstores at the time, his influence increased their number to twenty. They achieved sales of 200,000 books a year. He also set up the first public library in Moscow.

In a society in which even the term “writer” was considered a flaw, it took a high degree of determination to become a printer and bookseller and to see his patriotic calling in these professions. People who were close to him at the time emphasized that he did not deepen the focus on science and the love of reading in Russia, but actually established it in the first place. As a result of the increased activity of translators, writers, and printers that he initiated and the emergence of bookshops, books, magazines and the resulting discussions, in the opinion of W. O. Klyuchevsky , something arose that had not yet existed in the society of the Russian Enlightenment: the public opinion.

persecution

Memorial plaque on Novikov's house in Avdotino (current state)

The church in Avdotino where N. I. Novikov is buried

His work was at its peak when the political persecution began. Initially, in 1784, he only met with requests from the school commission to reprint some of the textbooks he had published. He did this at the instigation of the Moscow city commandant S. G. Chernyshev . He was not interested in making a profit, but wanted to make sure that enough inexpensive textbooks were available for purchase. Chernyshev died at the same time, and Novikov had to surrender his earnings to the commission.

In 1785 the order was issued to confiscate his production and submit it to the Archbishop of Moscow, Plato, who was also to rule on his personal allegiance. In his report, Plato divided the works edited by Novikov into three groups: One he considered extremely useful in view of the scarcity of Russian literature; other, the mystical, he simply did not understand, according to his words; those of the third group, drawn up by the French encyclopedists , he considered bad. Regarding Novikov's faith, Plato wrote: "I pray to the all-good God that there may be Christians like Novikov all over the world."

In 1790, Prince Prosorovsky was appointed Moscow City Commander, an uneducated, suspicious, brutal, and loving person. He covered Novikov with denunciations that resulted in Count Besborodko being sent to Moscow to undertake a secret investigation; However, he found no reason to initiate proceedings against Novikov. In April 1792, Prosorowsky was ordered to investigate whether Novikov was illegally circulating writings on subjects reserved for the Church. He was arrested on Prosorowsky's orders.

Before the investigation was completed, the Tsarina ordered him to be secretly taken to the Shlisselburg Fortress by decree of May 10, 1792 , where Scheschkowski re-interrogated him . On August 1, 1792, the tsarina finally signed the decree that it was fixed at the Schluesselburg fortress for 15 years. He was accused of "infamous decomposition", selfish fraud, Masonic activities (which were neither banned before nor after) and of relations with the Duke of Braunschweig and other foreigners (which exclusively concerned Freemasonry and had no political connection). All of these allegations concerned not only him but all of his fellow Freemasons; However, only Novikov, who was not one of the leading Moscow Freemasons, was prosecuted. Even Prince Prosorowsky was dismayed by the outcome of his case: "I don't understand the outcome of this case," he wrote to Scheschkowsky, "if he is a criminal, as his closest comrades-in-arms you are inevitably just as criminals as he is."

Even Karamzin , who expressed his sympathy with Novikov's fate in his "Ode to" expressed that the reason for his conviction not to officially put forward accusations, but primarily, the fact that he had bread distributed to the hungry, what the powerful looked suspicious, especially since they did not know the source of the funds he had spent on it. Overall, it seems more likely that he failed because of what he believed to be an independent public relations work. He spent four and a half years at the fortress, during which time he suffered from a shortage of essentials, even medicines, although in Bagrjansky he had a selfless, self-sacrificing fellow prisoner at his side.

On the first day he came to power, Paul I ordered Novikov's release. At the start of the imprisonment had still been in full possession of his strength and energy, but he went from "broken, aged, bent" out. He had to abstain from all public activity and lived almost exclusively on his estate Awdotino until his death, only concerned about the needs of his farmers, their education and the like. A grateful memory of him has been preserved in Avdotino.

Commemoration

Korschew, I .: Bust of N. I. Novikows, bronze (2012)

The first Masonic Lodge was named after Nikolai Ivanovich Novikov, which was founded on August 31, 1991 in Moscow under the aegis of the Grand Lodge of France. At the end of August 2011 it celebrated its 20th anniversary.
In Moscow from October 15 to 17, 2012, in the M. I. Rudomino House of the Russian State Library of Foreign Literature, an international scientific conference was held under the title “Russia and Gnosis: the Fate of the Religious and Philosophical Investigations by Nikolai Novikov and of his circle ”.
On October 17, 2012, in the foyer of the State Russian M. I. Rudomino Library of Foreign Literature - Russian: Всероссийской государственной библиотеки иностранной литературы имены И. Рудомино (ВГБИЛ) - unveiled a bust of Novikov, which was donated to the 90th anniversary of the library.

swell

Wikisource: Novikow, Nikolai Iwanowitsch in: Encyclopedic Dictionary Brockhaus and Ephron, 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 supplementary volumes), St. Petersburg 1890-1907 - sources and full texts

Wikisource: Novikow, in: Small Encyclopedic Dictionary Brockhaus and Ephron, in v Bden, St. Petersburg 1907-1909 - Sources and full texts

personal data
SURNAME	Novikov, Nikolai Ivanovich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Новиков, Николай Иванович (Russian)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Russian journalist and editor
DATE OF BIRTH	May 8, 1744
PLACE OF BIRTH	Tichwinskoje-Awdotino in Bronnitsy , Moscow Gubernia
DATE OF DEATH	August 13, 1818
Place of death	Tichwinskoje-Awdotino in Bronnitsy , Moscow Gubernia