Vissarion Belinsky
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- "Belinsky" redirects here. For other uses, see Belinsky (disambiguation).
Vissarion Grigoryevich Belinsky (Russian: Виссарио́н Григо́рьевич Бели́нский) (May 30, 1811 OS (June 11 NS) — May 26, 1848 OS (June 7 NS)) was a Russian literary critic of Westernizing tendency. Belinsky believed that the only realm of freedom in the repressive reign of Nicholas I was through the written word. When the Westernizers' ideal Gogol commenced to move towards devout Slavophilism, Belinsky wrote the confrontational letter, "Letter to Gogol," in response to Gogol's conservatism. He was an associate of Mikhail Bakunin and at one time courted one of his sisters.
He poured all of his heart and soul into his work. His last great effort was his Literary Review for the Year 1847. He died of consumption on the eve of his arrest by the police on account of his radical views. In 1910, Russia celebrated the centenary of his birth with enthusiasm and appreciation.
His surname has variously been spelled Belinskii or Byelinski. His works, in twelve volumes, were first published in 1859–1862. Following the expiration of the copyright in 1898, several new editions appeared. The best of these is by S. Vengerov; it is supplied with profuse notes.
Belinsky was an early supporter of the work of Ivan Turgenev. The two became close friends and Turgenev fondly recalls Belinsky in his book Literary Reminiscences and Autobiographical Fragments. The British writer Isaiah Berlin has a chapter on Belinsky on his 1978 book Russian Thinkers. Berlin's book introduced Belinsky to playwright Tom Stoppard, who included Belinsky as one of the principal characters (along with Alexander Herzen, Mikhail Bakunin and Turgenev) in his trilogy of plays about Russian writers and activists: The Coast of Utopia (2002)
[edit] Reference
- A. Pypin, Belinsky: His Life and Correspondence, Saint Petersburg, 1876
- Ivan Turgenev, "Literary Reminiscences and Autobiographical Fragments", New York, 1958
- Isaiah Berlin, "Russian Thinkers", London, 1978
[edit] External links
- Longer biography
- Letter to Gogol
- [1] The Coast of Utopia at Lincoln Center]
- Lincoln Center Theatre Review, Fall 2006de:Wissarion Grigorjewitsch Belinski
es:Vissarion Belinsky ja:ヴィッサリオン・ベリンスキー pl:Wissarion Bieliński ru:Белинский, Виссарион Григорьевич sk:Vissarion Grigorievič Belinskij sv:Vissarion Belinskij
