“One day, Herzen invited Chaadayev and Boborykin for dinner. For this occasion, he bought two silver candelabra for four or five candles each. We were amused by such a luxurious preparation and reception,” recalled Tatyana Astrakova, a friend of Alexander Herzen.

Pyotr Chaadayev was known as the “Basmanny Philosopher” because for many years he lived on Novaya Basmannaya Street in Moscow, in the house of Levashyov which has been preserved to this day. Pyotr Chaadayev was an active service officer and fought in the Battle of Borodino. He wanted to leave the Russian Empire forever and make Switzerland his new home. However, he never emigrated, and Switzerland eventually became a refuge for his friend Alexander Herzen.

Pyotr Chaadayev led a secluded life on Basmannaya Street and worked on his “Philosophical Letters”. The publication of the first letter caused a scandal. According to Alexander Herzen, it was “like a shot fired on a dark night.” The letter angered Nicholas I, who said,

Pyotr Chaadayev was declared insane and placed under medical supervision at home. He was allowed one walk per day and a doctor visited him daily for medical examination. Later, the “patient monitoring” was stopped on condition that he would not write anything else. This is considered one of the first examples of punitive psychiatry.

Until the end of his life, Pyotr Chaadayev was banned from traveling abroad and deprived of the right to publish his works.

Nevertheless, after the publication of his “Letters”, the writer became an active participant in various ideological gatherings in Moscow, attended by prominent intellectuals of the time, including Alexander Herzen. According to Herzen, after returning from exile to Moscow in 1840, he became close with Pyotr Chaadayev and remained “on the very best terms” with him until leaving Russia in 1847. “I have always loved and respected Chaadayev, and he returned my affection,” Alexander Herzen later recalled. In 1847, Herzen presented Chaadayev with a copy of his book “Who is to Blame”, inscribed with the words “To Pyotr Yakovlevich Chaadayev as a token of my profound respect.”