Alexander Ivanovich Herzen (1812–1870) was a Russian writer, political essayist, and thinker, born out of wedlock to a rich Russian landowner, Ivan Yakovlev. Herzen lived in his father’s home and received good education. He was familiar with the works of the French enlighteners and read forbidden works, i.e. Pushkin’s ‘Ode to Liberty’ and ‘Khanjali’, Ryleev’s “Thoughts” and others.
While students of the Physics and Mathematics Department at Moscow University, Alexander Herzen and his lifelong friend Nikolay Ogarev gathered around them a revolutionary circle. In 1834, all members of the circle were arrested, including Herzen himself, and he spent six years in exile.
In 1842–1847, Herzen published in the “Domestic Notes” series of articles titled “Dilettantism in Science” which he had started on while in Novgorod. Herzen’s second series of philosophical articles, ‘Letters on the Study of Nature’, was rated a second by importance work on the global arena of philosophic thought. In 1845, Herzen completed his novel, ‘Who is to Blame? ’, another of his works he had started while in Novgorod. In 1846, he wrote ‘Travelling Magpie’ and ‘Doctor Krupov’. In January 1847, Alexander Herzen emigrated with his family, and he did not know then that he was leaving Russia forever.
In the autumn of 1847 in Rome, Herzen participated in street marches, manifests, visited revolutionary clubs, met prominent leaders of the Italian national liberation movement. In May 1848, he visited revolutionary Paris. Later, he would write a book on the events he saw in Italy and Paris, ‘Letters from France and Italy’. In June 1848, he chanced to witness the defeat of the French revolution and the rampage of reaction, which drove him into an ideological crisis he later expressed in his book ‘From the Other Shore’.
In 1850, by its verdict, St. Petersburg Criminal Court Council stripped Herzen of ‘all his rights and title’ and was declared in permanent exile ‘outside the borderlines of the Russian State’. In 1852, he moved to London where he embarked on a book of his memoirs ‘My Past and Thoughts’. In 1853, he launched the Russian Free Press, a printing company and a publishing house in London.
‘Voices from Russia’ is a common title for a series of socio-political periodicals published by Alexander Herzen and Nikolay Ogarev in London in 1856–1860. There are nine books altogether. The very emersion of ‘Voices from Russia’ was triggered by the up-rise of the social movement in Russia after the Crimean War of 1853–1856. The periodicals touched upon the abolition of serfdom, human freedom, weakening of censorship, they disrobed corruption, and the abuse of power by government and military officials.
The appearance of this periodical in the collection of the ‘Worthy Son of the Motherland’ is not accidental. Despite the distance between them, Herzen and Chernyshevsky were long-distance acquaintances at first, and then met in person in London in 1859.
While students of the Physics and Mathematics Department at Moscow University, Alexander Herzen and his lifelong friend Nikolay Ogarev gathered around them a revolutionary circle. In 1834, all members of the circle were arrested, including Herzen himself, and he spent six years in exile.
In 1842–1847, Herzen published in the “Domestic Notes” series of articles titled “Dilettantism in Science” which he had started on while in Novgorod. Herzen’s second series of philosophical articles, ‘Letters on the Study of Nature’, was rated a second by importance work on the global arena of philosophic thought. In 1845, Herzen completed his novel, ‘Who is to Blame? ’, another of his works he had started while in Novgorod. In 1846, he wrote ‘Travelling Magpie’ and ‘Doctor Krupov’. In January 1847, Alexander Herzen emigrated with his family, and he did not know then that he was leaving Russia forever.
In the autumn of 1847 in Rome, Herzen participated in street marches, manifests, visited revolutionary clubs, met prominent leaders of the Italian national liberation movement. In May 1848, he visited revolutionary Paris. Later, he would write a book on the events he saw in Italy and Paris, ‘Letters from France and Italy’. In June 1848, he chanced to witness the defeat of the French revolution and the rampage of reaction, which drove him into an ideological crisis he later expressed in his book ‘From the Other Shore’.
In 1850, by its verdict, St. Petersburg Criminal Court Council stripped Herzen of ‘all his rights and title’ and was declared in permanent exile ‘outside the borderlines of the Russian State’. In 1852, he moved to London where he embarked on a book of his memoirs ‘My Past and Thoughts’. In 1853, he launched the Russian Free Press, a printing company and a publishing house in London.
‘Voices from Russia’ is a common title for a series of socio-political periodicals published by Alexander Herzen and Nikolay Ogarev in London in 1856–1860. There are nine books altogether. The very emersion of ‘Voices from Russia’ was triggered by the up-rise of the social movement in Russia after the Crimean War of 1853–1856. The periodicals touched upon the abolition of serfdom, human freedom, weakening of censorship, they disrobed corruption, and the abuse of power by government and military officials.
The appearance of this periodical in the collection of the ‘Worthy Son of the Motherland’ is not accidental. Despite the distance between them, Herzen and Chernyshevsky were long-distance acquaintances at first, and then met in person in London in 1859.
