Top 10 most interesting facts about Nikolai Karamzin

Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin is known to most as a talented historian and writer. His “History of the Russian State” still occupies a place of honor in libraries around the world.

But he was still a brilliant translator, an intelligent politician, a successful journalist, an unsurpassed innovator and a good friend and husband.

We bring to your attention a list of the 10 most interesting facts about Nikolai Karamzin: the biography of a Russian figure and the incredible stories from the life of the writer that influenced his work.

10 Father of 10 children

Nikolai Mikhailovich for his life was married twice. First wife – Elizaveta Protasova – died shortly after she gave birth to her husband’s daughter. Some experts claim that the writer called his heroine “Poor Lisa” exactly out of respect for the memory of his wife.

The second time Karamzin married after 2 years. Ekaterina Kolyvanova gave birth to a wife of 9 children, three of whom died when they were young.

The youngest daughter of Karamzin, Liza, deserves special mention. She did not have a fortune and was not married, she lived only on a pension, which she was assigned as the daughter of a writer. Contemporaries in their memoirs remember her as a very smart and kind woman. And the writer Leo Tolstoy considered her “an example of selflessness».

9. Conservative

Karamzin was an outstanding representative of Russian conservatism. Moreover, he did not come to this philosophy immediately. In his youth, the future writer was seriously carried away by the ideas of romantic liberalism, which were so characteristic of the Enlightenment.

Nikolai Mikhailovich was to be disappointed in his convictions after the revolutionary terror that unfolded in France in the 1790s. And already he wrote his famous “History of the Russian State” from the point of view of consistent conservatism. Nevertheless, the writer always appreciated the inner freedom of the spirit, noting the need to serve his country.

8. I worked as a translator

Despite the fact that Karamzin had an honorary noble origin, the money of an outstanding figure was always tight. Having written “Letters of a Russian Traveler” at the dawn of his career, he did not become richer, and therefore he had to look for opportunities for part-time work.

Most often, he earned money by doing various translations, which allowed him and his family not to be completely without funds. It’s curious that it was he who owned several of the first translations of Shakespeare’s works into Russian.

7. Restricted food and drink

According to the memoirs of Karamzin’s wife’s brother, the historian and writer is quite he was calm about food and drinks – he did not chase after delicacies and preferred modest food, not being carried away by luxurious meals.

The only exception was coffee, which Nikolai Mikhailovich could drink several cups a day. It is believed that the tonic helped the writer to work more energetically.

6. Traveled extensively in Europe

Karamzin wrote Letters from a Russian Traveler under the impression of his trip to Europe. The journey has been longin total, Nikolai Mikhailovich spent 14 months abroad. The journey of the young writer began in Germany, where he met Kant, after which he arrived in France through Switzerland. In Paris, he became one of the witnesses of the revolutionary events unfolding on the streets of the city.

What he saw shocked the young man, who advocated the ideas of liberalism, so much that he later became a conservative. Karamzin’s great European journey ended in England, which impressed him less than France. By the way, according to some information, Nikolai Mikhailovich was forcibly sent to European exile after his conflict with a certain influential nobleman.

5. Was a victim of denunciations and slander

Nobility, intelligence, talent, activity – these are the qualities of Karamzin that were highly appreciated by Emperor Alexander I, who made him his close associate. At court, the historian’s life was not easy: he did not know how to be hypocritical, like most nobles, and therefore he was envied and avenged. Officials directly offered the monarch to lock up the truth-seeking historiographer, and to burn his works immediately.

In 1811 some of the writer’s enemies went into action, and the emperor received a denunciation of Karamzin: he was allegedly accused of spying for France. Over the next 5 years, Alexander almost did not communicate with Nikolai Mikhailovich, leaving him in a kind of disgrace. But then they restored their relationship.

4. Created several magazines

Little is known about Karamzin’s journalistic past. But Nikolai Mikhailovich has several successful magazines on his account. So, at the very end of the 80s under his leadership, the Moscow Journal is published. In it, he focused on literary works that he accepted from readers and friends – the publication published works by Derzhavin and Dmitriev.

It was in this magazine that the premiere of the text “Poor Liza”, as well as “Letters of a Russian Traveler. Experts noted that Karamzin’s work of the criticism department was set up at a particularly high level.

After the closure of the journal, the historian was going to publish the almanac “Aglaya”, but could not agree on joint work with other writers. The publications nevertheless came out – 2 volumes – but almost entirely they consisted of the works of Karamzin himself. But his almanac “Aonides” has already been published with poems by various Russian authors.

3. Published excerpts from “Journey Beyond Three Seas”

“Journey beyond three seas” is considered to be an incorruptible monument of Russian literature. The merchant Afanasy Nikitin compiled his travel notes during his travels in India in the 15th century. For the literature of that time, this was a breakthrough: for the first time, such a large-scale expedition was undertaken not for the purposes of religion, but for trade. Thanks to detailed descriptions, it was possible to collect a picture of the life of both the Russian people and the population of India in those days.

It was Karamzin who discovered this work for Russia for the first time – in the early 19th century. he published in one of the volumes of the “History of the Russian State” in the notes excerpts from Nikitin’s book, which attracted increased attention to it.

2. Appointed “Russian historiographer”

In 1803, Nikolai Mikhailovich was entrusted with the most important mission. Emperor Alexander I appointed him court historiographer and even “put” a generous salary of 2 rubles a year. Karamzin had to create a great chronicle of the formation of Russia, to keep the history of the entire Russian people.

Now experts say that there are many complaints about the “History of the Russian State”, which came out from under the hand of the writer, in 12 volumes: allegedly, the writer sometimes neglected real history in favor of politics. But then the publication became a sensation, on which the historian worked until his death. By the way, after Karamzin died, no one else in the history of Russia had the status of a historiographer.

1. Discovered new words in Russian

Nikolai Mikhailovich significantly enriched the Russian language. Only a few people know that the words that we now use every day – such as “love”, “attraction”, “industry”, “sidewalk” and many others – are Karamzin’s author’s neologisms, which he himself introduced into the language.

In his writings, the writer specifically abandoned Church Slavonic vocabulary and tried to make the language more secular.. In addition, he was one of the first to use the letter Y.