Petrashevsky Circle
Encyclopedia
The Petrashevsky Circle was a Russia
n literary discussion group of progressive-minded commoner-intellectuals in St. Petersburg organized by Mikhail Petrashevsky
, a follower of the French utopian socialist Charles Fourier
. Among the members were writers, teachers, students, minor government officials, army officers. While differing in political views, most of them were opponents of the tsarist autocracy
and the Russian serfdom
. Among those connected to the circle were writers Dostoyevsky and Saltykov-Shchedrin, poets Pleshcheyev, Apollon Maikov, and Taras Shevchenko
.
Like that of the Lyubomudry
group founded earlier in the century, the purpose of the circle was to discuss Western philosophy
(specifically Hegel
) and literature which was officially banned by the Imperial government of Nicholas I
.
Nicholas I, terrified by the prospect of revolutions of 1848
spreading to Russia, saw great danger in secret organisations like this. Members of the Circle in 1849 were arrested and imprisoned. Later a large group of prisoners (such as Fyodor Dostoyevsky) had to go through a symbolic 'execution ritual', which was an example of mock execution
, on the St. Petersburg Semionov-Plaz. Death sentences then were reprieved; some of the sentenced went to serve their time to Siberia, some to prisons (Dostoyevsky's eight-year sentence was later reduced to four years by Nicholas I).
occupies a prominent place, because no one has participated in the Russian political process as much as writers and scientists. But the circle Petrashevsky through its individual members (Durova, mostly) was in close contact with many others, which argued in exactly the same spirit against oppression of censorship, the ugliness of serfdom, and the corruption of officialdom. With a passionate interest they read and commented on the theory of Kaba, Fourier series, Proudhon, and finally, listened with delight to Belinsky's letter to Gogol.
A certain group of the Circle held its meetings at Irinarkh Vvedenskiy; among its members were young writers and students of G. E. Blagosvetlov, A.P. Milyukov and N.A. Chernyshevsky
. A well-known memoirs' author F. F. Vigel, who knew of these meetings and the way they were linked to those held at Petrashevsky's, reported on the Vvedensky group. The lack of precise data in his report, not to mention the help of Rostovtsev, Vvedensky's friend, saved the latter and his friends.
Some members escaped persecution, among them V.A. Èngel, later an active participant in Herzen's Polar Star, a famous theorist of Slavophilism Nikolai Danilevsky, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin
and poet Apollon Maykov who often visited Petrashevsky's Friday meetings.
Valerian Maikov and Belinsky, two well-known writers, associated with the Petrashevsky Circle, died actually before it was broken. Valerian Maykov
was very close to Petrashevsky and took a large part in the compilation of Kirillov's work, "Dictionary of Foreign Words", one of the prosess' corpus delicti.
Vissarion Belinsky
, the author of 'Letter to Gogol' would have been classified as the most dangerous criminal, since many of the Petrashevsky Circle members' only fault had been participation in spreading this letter's text around. Among such was the poet Aleksey Pleshcheev who, according to the verdict, "for distributing letters Belinsky, was deprived of all rights of the state and sent to hard labor in factories for 4 years." One of the reasons for Golovinski, Dostoyevsky and Palm's convictions was actually the 'failure to report' on those who took part in publishing the Belinsky's letter.
In total, about forty Petrashevists were arrested, including 21 sentenced to death, with one gone mad in the process of investigation and having the sentence deferred.
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n literary discussion group of progressive-minded commoner-intellectuals in St. Petersburg organized by Mikhail Petrashevsky
Mikhail Petrashevsky
Mikhail Vasilyevich Butashevich-Petrashevsky, commonly known as Mikhail Petrashevsky was a Russian thinker and public figure.Mikhail Petrashevsky graduated from the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum and Saint Petersburg State University with a degree in law . He was then employed as a translator and...
, a follower of the French utopian socialist Charles Fourier
Charles Fourier
François Marie Charles Fourier was a French philosopher. An influential thinker, some of Fourier's social and moral views, held to be radical in his lifetime, have become main currents in modern society...
. Among the members were writers, teachers, students, minor government officials, army officers. While differing in political views, most of them were opponents of the tsarist autocracy
Tsarist autocracy
The Tsarist autocracy |transcr.]] tsarskoye samoderzhaviye) refers to a form of autocracy specific to the Grand Duchy of Muscovy . In a tsarist autocracy, all power and wealth is controlled by the tsar...
and the Russian serfdom
Russian serfdom
The origins of serfdom in Russia are traced to Kievan Rus in the 11th century. Legal documents of the epoch, such as Russkaya Pravda, distinguished several degrees of feudal dependency of peasants, the term for an unfree peasant in the Russian Empire, krepostnoi krestyanin , is translated as serf.-...
. Among those connected to the circle were writers Dostoyevsky and Saltykov-Shchedrin, poets Pleshcheyev, Apollon Maikov, and Taras Shevchenko
Taras Shevchenko
Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko -Life:Born into a serf family of Hryhoriy Ivanovych Shevchenko and Kateryna Yakymivna Shevchenko in the village of Moryntsi, of Kiev Governorate of the Russian Empire Shevchenko was orphaned at the age of eleven...
.
Like that of the Lyubomudry
Lyubomudry
Lyubomudry were the members of the secret circle "Society of Lyubomudriye" which existed in Russia in 1823-1825. Lyubomudriye was the Slavophile replacement term for "philosophy", i.e., the formal translations would be "Philosophers" and "The Society of Philosophy", respectively. The circle was...
group founded earlier in the century, the purpose of the circle was to discuss Western philosophy
Western philosophy
Western philosophy is the philosophical thought and work of the Western or Occidental world, as distinct from Eastern or Oriental philosophies and the varieties of indigenous philosophies....
(specifically Hegel
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel was a German philosopher, one of the creators of German Idealism. His historicist and idealist account of reality as a whole revolutionized European philosophy and was an important precursor to Continental philosophy and Marxism.Hegel developed a comprehensive...
) and literature which was officially banned by the Imperial government of Nicholas I
Nicholas I of Russia
Nicholas I , was the Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855, known as one of the most reactionary of the Russian monarchs. On the eve of his death, the Russian Empire reached its historical zenith spanning over 20 million square kilometers...
.
Nicholas I, terrified by the prospect of revolutions of 1848
Revolutions of 1848
The European Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Spring of Nations, Springtime of the Peoples or the Year of Revolution, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe in 1848. It was the first Europe-wide collapse of traditional authority, but within a year reactionary...
spreading to Russia, saw great danger in secret organisations like this. Members of the Circle in 1849 were arrested and imprisoned. Later a large group of prisoners (such as Fyodor Dostoyevsky) had to go through a symbolic 'execution ritual', which was an example of mock execution
Mock execution
A mock execution is a stratagem in which a victim is deliberately but falsely made to feel that his execution or that of another person is imminent or is taking place. It may be staged for an audience or a subject who is made to believe that he is being led to his own execution...
, on the St. Petersburg Semionov-Plaz. Death sentences then were reprieved; some of the sentenced went to serve their time to Siberia, some to prisons (Dostoyevsky's eight-year sentence was later reduced to four years by Nicholas I).
Members of Assembly, Circles close to Petrashevists
In the history of literature of the 19th century, the so-called Mikhail PetrashevskyMikhail Petrashevsky
Mikhail Vasilyevich Butashevich-Petrashevsky, commonly known as Mikhail Petrashevsky was a Russian thinker and public figure.Mikhail Petrashevsky graduated from the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum and Saint Petersburg State University with a degree in law . He was then employed as a translator and...
occupies a prominent place, because no one has participated in the Russian political process as much as writers and scientists. But the circle Petrashevsky through its individual members (Durova, mostly) was in close contact with many others, which argued in exactly the same spirit against oppression of censorship, the ugliness of serfdom, and the corruption of officialdom. With a passionate interest they read and commented on the theory of Kaba, Fourier series, Proudhon, and finally, listened with delight to Belinsky's letter to Gogol.
A certain group of the Circle held its meetings at Irinarkh Vvedenskiy; among its members were young writers and students of G. E. Blagosvetlov, A.P. Milyukov and N.A. Chernyshevsky
Nikolai Chernyshevsky
Nikolay Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky was a Russian revolutionary democrat, materialist philosopher, critic, and socialist...
. A well-known memoirs' author F. F. Vigel, who knew of these meetings and the way they were linked to those held at Petrashevsky's, reported on the Vvedensky group. The lack of precise data in his report, not to mention the help of Rostovtsev, Vvedensky's friend, saved the latter and his friends.
Some members escaped persecution, among them V.A. Èngel, later an active participant in Herzen's Polar Star, a famous theorist of Slavophilism Nikolai Danilevsky, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin
Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin
Mikhail Yevgrafovich Saltykov-Shchedrin , better known by his pseudonym Shchedrin , was a major Russian satirist of the 19th century. At one time, after the death of the poet Nikolai Nekrasov, he acted as editor of the well-known Russian magazine, the Otechestvenniye Zapiski, until it was banned by...
and poet Apollon Maykov who often visited Petrashevsky's Friday meetings.
Valerian Maikov and Belinsky, two well-known writers, associated with the Petrashevsky Circle, died actually before it was broken. Valerian Maykov
Valerian Maykov
Valerian Nikolayevich Maykov was a Russian author and literary critic, son of painter Nikolay Maykov, brother of poet Apollon and novelist Vladimir Maykovs...
was very close to Petrashevsky and took a large part in the compilation of Kirillov's work, "Dictionary of Foreign Words", one of the prosess' corpus delicti.
Vissarion Belinsky
Vissarion Belinsky
Vissarion Grigoryevich Belinsky was a Russian literary critic of Westernizing tendency. He was an associate of Alexander Herzen, Mikhail Bakunin , and other critical intellectuals...
, the author of 'Letter to Gogol' would have been classified as the most dangerous criminal, since many of the Petrashevsky Circle members' only fault had been participation in spreading this letter's text around. Among such was the poet Aleksey Pleshcheev who, according to the verdict, "for distributing letters Belinsky, was deprived of all rights of the state and sent to hard labor in factories for 4 years." One of the reasons for Golovinski, Dostoyevsky and Palm's convictions was actually the 'failure to report' on those who took part in publishing the Belinsky's letter.
List of Petrashevists
- Mikhail PetrashevskyMikhail PetrashevskyMikhail Vasilyevich Butashevich-Petrashevsky, commonly known as Mikhail Petrashevsky was a Russian thinker and public figure.Mikhail Petrashevsky graduated from the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum and Saint Petersburg State University with a degree in law . He was then employed as a translator and...
, titular councilor, 27 years - Dmitry Akhsharumov, Ph.D. St. Petersburg State University, 26 years
- Vasily Golovinski, titular councilor, 20 years
- Nikolai Petrovich Grigoriev, Lieutenant Guards Horse-Grenadier Regiment
- Hippolyte Deboo, serving in the Asian Department, 25 years
- Konstantin Deboo, serving in the Asian Department, 38 years
- Fyodor Dostoyevsky, a retired engineer lieutenant, writer, 27 years
- Sergei Durov, a retired collegiate assessor, writer, 33 years
- Alexander Evropeus, a retired collegiate secretary, 2? years
- Basil Kamen, the son of honorary citizen, 19 years
- Nikolay Kashkin, serving in the Asian Department, 20 years
- Fedor Lvov, captain of the Life Guards regiment of Chasseurs, 25 years
- Nikolay Mombelli, the lieutenant of the Life Guards regiment of Moscow, 27 years
- Alexander Palm, lieutenant of the Life Guards regiment of Chasseurs, 27 years
- Aleksey Pleshcheyev, non-serviceman, writer, 23 years
- Nikolay Speshnyov, lord of the Kursk province, 28 years
- Konstantin Timkovsky, titular councilor, 35 years
- Felix Toll, master chief engineering school, 26 years
- Pavel Filippov, a student at St. Petersburg University, 24 years
- Alexander Khanykov, a student at St. Petersburg University, 24 years
- Raphael Chernosvitov, a retired lieutenant colonel (former superintendent), 39 years
- Peter Shaposhnikov, a tradesman, 28 years
- Ivan Yastrzhembsky, Assistant Inspector in the Institute of Technology, 34 years
- Alexander Balasoglo, a poet, a retired naval officer, 36 years
In total, about forty Petrashevists were arrested, including 21 sentenced to death, with one gone mad in the process of investigation and having the sentence deferred.