Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin
Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin (1766-1826) was a prominent Russian writer and historian, known for his significant influence on the Russian literary scene despite being regarded as a minor literary talent. Born into the provincial gentry in Mikhailovka, he received his education in Moscow and later became involved with the literary circle of Nikolai Ivanovich Novikov. Karamzin gained fame for his travelogue, "Pis'ma russkogo puteshestvennika" (Letters of a Russian Traveler), which provided valuable insights into Western Europe during a time of heavy censorship in Russia. This work became a key resource for Russians seeking knowledge about the outside world and influenced later literary figures, including Fyodor Dostoevsky.
While Karamzin's poetry and prose fiction, such as the short story "Bednaia Liza," drew heavily from German literary traditions, they often lacked originality and did not fully resonate with Russian cultural contexts. His most notable contribution was his extensive history of Imperial Russia, "Istoriia Gosudarstva Rossiiskogo," which earned him recognition and favor at the court of Tsar Alexander I. Karamzin's later years were marked by personal tragedy, particularly following the unexpected death of the tsar and the political upheaval of the December Revolution. He passed away in 1826, leaving behind a complex legacy intertwined with Russia's literary and historical narrative.
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Subject Terms
Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin
Author
- Born: December 12, 1766
- Birthplace: Mikhailovka, Orenburg, Russia
- Died: June 3, 1826
- Place of death: St. Petersburg, Russia
Biography
Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin was a minor literary talent, but he had an extraordinary influence on the Russian literary scene. A son of the provincial gentry, he was born on December 12, 1766, in Mikhailovka in Russia’s Orenburg district. He was educated at J. M. Schaden’s boarding school in Moscow from 1779 to 1783. After a stint in the military, he became involved in the circle of writer Nikolai Ivanovich Novikov.
Karamzin translated a considerable amount of German and English poetry before he began writing his own verse. However, his few early poems were heavily derivative and of interest primarily to specialists. His work clearly belonged to the German Sturm und Drang (Storm and Stress) school. During 1789 and 1790, Karamzin traveled in Western Europe, an experience which led him to write Pis’ma russkogo puteshestvennika, (1797; Letters of a Russian Traveler, 1789-1790, 1957) a travelogue which was serialized in the Moscow Journal and made his fame. At this time, the Russian government heavily censored materials about other nations, severely restricting Russian intellectuals’ ability to learn about the West. Karamzin’s letters about Western Europe became a primary source of information about the world outside of Russia for many years after its publication. The influence of his travelogue was evident in Fyodor Dostoevksi’s novel, The Brothers Karamazov, which was published in 1879.
However, Karamzin’s works of prose fiction were far weaker and less successful. His short story “Bednaia Liza,” published in a Moscow newspaper in 1796, directly transferred the German Sturm and Drang themes to a Russian setting without accounting for differences between German and Russian culture, including the presence of serfdom in Russia. Other fragmentary works show little original thought. Karamzin also sought to make his mark in literary criticism, but his greatest work was his massive history of Imperial Russia, Istoriia Gosudarstva Rossiiskogo. The conservative and patriotic tone of this multivolume history won Karamzin a place in the court of Tsar Alexander I after 1816. However, the shock of the tsar’s death under mysterious circumstances, followed by the events of the December Revolution, in which a group of young officers attempted to force Tsar Nicholas I to issue reforms, broke Karamzin’s health. He died on June 3, 1826.