Simeon Polotsky
Simeon Polotsky was a notable figure in 17th-century Russia, born in Polotsk around 1628 or 1629. Initially baptized as Samuil, he adopted the name Simeon after entering the Epiphany Monastery in 1656. His educational background includes studies at the Mohyla College in Kiev and potentially at a Jesuit academy in Vilna, reflecting a blend of Eastern Orthodox and Catholic influences. In 1664, Polotsky moved to Moscow, where he taught Latin at the Zaikonospassky Monastery, gaining royal patronage from Czar Alexei Mikhailovich despite suspicions from Orthodox authorities due to his Catholic connections.
Polotsky is primarily recognized for his poetry, which encompasses religious themes and is characterized by a syllabic structure. He authored a volume of poetry and several plays influenced by Jesuit drama, all written in the Slavonic language. In an attempt to bypass the Orthodox Church's control over publishing, he established a press at the Kremlin in 1679, producing significant works before it was shut down in 1683. His death in 1680 left a legacy, as his extensive library of Latin and Polish texts was preserved by his assistant, providing valuable insights into Russian literature preceding the reforms of Czar Peter the Great.
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Simeon Polotsky
Writer
- Born: 1628 or 1629
- Birthplace: Polotsk, Russia
- Died: August 25, 1680
Biography
Simeon Polotsky was born in Polotsk, Russia, in either 1628 or 1629, and very little is known of his early circumstances. Determining his birth date is also difficult due to problems converting the calendar then in use in the Russian Orthodox Church. He was apparently baptized Samuil, but received the name Simeon when he entered the Epiphany (Bogoyavlensky) Monastery in Polotsk in 1656, and subsequently received the surname Polotsky, meaning “man of Polotsk,” when he went to Moscow. He received his education at the Mohyla Colege in Kiev, but he also was acquainted with the Jesuits and may have taken classes at their academy in Vilna. In 1664 he moved to the Zaikonospassky Monastery in Moscow, where he taught Latin to the clerks of the Bureau of Secret Affairs. Because of his connections with the Catholic Church, Russian Orthodox authorities considered him suspect, but Czar Alexei Mikhailovich valued him for the breadth of his learning and extended him royal patronage throughout the sixteen years he lived in Moscow.
During this period he began to write his poetry, which was subsequently gathered into a single bound volume of handwritten pages. Most of his poems are declamatory and religious in nature. The volume also contains several plays that are notable because they show influences of Jesuit ideas about drama even though they are written in the Slavonic language of the Russian Orthodox Church. Polotsky also wrote a collection of verse to be read rather than publicly recited. All of his poetry is written in a syllabic rather than syllabotonic form, in which the number of syllables in each line determines the line’s structure, instead of the structure being determined by rhythm or meter. In 1679, trying to circumvent the Russian Orthodox patriarch’s control of the printing press, which recently had been introduced to Russia from the West, Polotsky established his own press at the Kremlin and produced seven printed books. These included an alphabet book, a psalter, and two books of sermons. However, in 1683 the patriarch ordered Polotsky’s press shut down and all its publications were declared heretical. However, after Polotsky’s death on August 25, 1680, his substantial library of Latin and Polish books passed into the hands of his assistant, Silvestr Medvedev, who preserved them even after his own arrest for political reasons in 1691. The collection has survived intact to modern times and gives considerable insight into an otherwise obscure figure of Russian literature before the reforms of Czar Peter the Great.