Nikolai Ivanovich Grech
Nikolai Ivanovich Grech was a prominent figure in Russian literature during the early 19th century, known for his roles as a grammarian, literary critic, and writer. Born on August 3, 1787, in St. Petersburg to a Bohemian German father, Grech's educational journey included studying at the Junkers School and the Pedagogical Institute. He began his career as a teacher of Russian language and literature, which fueled his passion for Russian grammar. Grech's editorial work on notable journals, including his own influential publication, Syn otechestva, showcased the works of many eminent writers, including Alexander Pushkin and Ivan Krylov.
Despite his contributions to literature and education, Grech's reputation was complicated by his collaboration with the secret police, which led to criticism from his contemporaries. He published several important literary and educational texts, including comprehensive grammars that became widely used. Grech's literary output also included travelogues and an autobiography, which offers insights into his life and the cultural milieu of his time. Ultimately, Grech's legacy is marked by both his significant literary contributions and the controversies surrounding his political affiliations, leading to his relative obscurity at the time of his death.
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Nikolai Ivanovich Grech
Writer
- Born: August 3, 1787
- Birthplace: St. Petersburg, Russia
- Died: 1867
Biography
Throughout his lengthy career, Nikolai Ivanovich Grech contributed to the world of Russian letters as a grammarian, a literary critic, and a writer; however, his contemporaries derided him for his willingness to aid the secret police, and he died in relative obscurity. Grech was born in St. Petersburg on August 3, 1787, to Ivan Ivanovich (Johann-Ernst) Grech, a successful Russian civil servant of Bohemian German descent, and Ekaterina Iakovlevna Freigol’d (Freyhold). Initially educated at home, Grech studied at the Junkers School from 1801 to 1813 and attended lectures at the Pedagogical Institute from 1803 to 1805. In 1804 he began teaching Russian language and literature, which informed his interest in Russian grammar.
By 1814 Grech was a senior teacher in St. Petersburg. In 1808 he married Varvara Danilovna Miussar (Mussard), with whom he had five children. Beginning in 1805, Grech engaged in multiple pursuits: he taught; worked as a civil servant for the St. Petersburg Censorship Committee and in the ministries of Internal Affairs, Finance, and Education; and embarked upon literary and journalistic careers. His first appearance in print was as the translator of anti-Napoleonic tracts published in 1806 and 1807. Between 1807 and 1809, Grech and Fedor Andreevich Schroeder edited Genii vremen (the genius of the times), a liberal historical-political journal; Zhurnal noveishikh puteshestvii (journal of newest travels); and, in 1810, Evropeiskie muzhi (European men).
More significant was Grech’s own highly regarded journal, Syn otechestva (son of the fatherland), which published such literary greats as Fedor Nikolaevich Glinka, Alexander Sergeevich Griboedov, Ivan Andreevich Krylov, Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, and Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky between 1812 and 1837. The journal also included Grech’s own annual surveys of new literature. While Syn otechestva endorsed a liberal outlook, Grech had become an archconservative by the time of the Decembrist revolt in 1825, possibly a consequence of his own surveillance by government censors. In 1829 Syn otechestva merged with Faddei Venediktovich Bulgarin’s Severnyi arkhiv (the northern archive). Grech’s concurrent interest in literary criticism and pedagogy are reflected in his four-volume Uchebnaia kniga rossiiskoi slovesnosti in Izbrannye mesta iz russkikh sochinenii i perevodov v stikhakh i proze s prisovokupleniem kratkikh pravil ritoriki i poetiki i istorii russkoi slovestnosti (a textbook of Russian literature: selected passages from Russian compositions and translations in poetry and prose with an appendix of short rules of rhetoric, poetics, and history of Russian literature, 1819-1822) and the more concise Opyt kratkoi istorii russkoi literatury (an attempt at a short history of Russian literature, 1822). Prostrannaia russkaia grammatika (detailed Russian grammar, 1827) went through eleven printings and gained Grech election to the Imperial Academy of Sciences, while Nachal’nyia pravila russkoi grammatiki (the basic rules of Russian grammar, 1828) was renamed Kratkaia russkaia grammatika (a short Russian grammar, 1843) and used as an official textbook until the 1860’s. Although Grech’s novels were unsuccessful, his work also includes impressive travelogues and memoirs. His autobiography was posthumously published as Zapiski o moei zhizni (notes on my life, 1880), and it is a useful account of many early nineteenth century personages.