Vasilii Vasil'evich Rozanov
Vasilii Vasil'evich Rozanov was a Russian writer and journalist born in 1856 in Vetluga, Russia. He graduated from Moscow University in 1880 with a degree in humanities and began his career teaching in secondary schools before transitioning to freelance journalism in 1893. Rozanov contributed to various prominent publications, including The Russian Word and New Times, and was known for his literary criticism, particularly his perceptive essays related to notable figures in Russian literature. His analysis of Dostoevsky's "The Brothers Karamazov" and his assertion that Nikolai Gogol was the true founder of Russian realism, rather than Alexander Pushkin, are among his significant contributions to literary discourse. Rozanov's writing style, often compared to that of Friedrich Nietzsche, intertwined profound insights with everyday observations. He lived through the tumultuous period of the Russian revolutions in 1917 and offered a poignant, prophetic perspective on the implications of these events in his final book, "The Apocalypse of Our Times." Rozanov passed away in 1919, leaving behind a complex legacy marked by both critical acclaim and controversy.
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Vasilii Vasil'evich Rozanov
Writer
- Born: April 20, 1856
- Birthplace: Vetluga, Russia
- Died: February 5, 1919
Biography
Vasilii Vasil’evich Rozanov was born in Vetluga, Russia, in 1856 and graduated from Moscow University in 1880 with a degree in the humanities. He subsequently taught secondary school in the provinces until 1893, after which he became a freelance journalist. He published articles in such newspapers as The Russian Word and New Times, as well as the “thick” journals in which substantive literary criticism could be found.
His first wife was Apollinariya Suslova, who had once been attached to author Fyodor Dostoevski. However, their marriage did not last, largely because Rozanov could be a very difficult man to live with. He tended to make enemies and could claim few friends, although even his opponents generally recognized the keenness of his perceptions.
Rozanov was best known for his perceptive essay on the legend of the Grand Inquisitor in Dostoevski’s The Brothers Karamazov, although he made a major critical error in conflating Ivan Karamazov’s position on several philosophical points with that of the author. Rozanov also wrote an essay on writers Alexander Pushkin and Nikolai Gogol in which he reversed the position generally held among Russian critics and argued that Gogol rather than Pushkin was the founder of Russian realism. Rozanov’s best work can be found in his stream-of- consciousness work, similar to that of German author Friedrich Nietzsche. He would mix the profound with the banal as he discussed a wide variety of topics of interest to him.
Rozanov lived long enough to see the Russian revolutions of 1917 and the beginning of the Russian Civil War. His last book, Apokalipsis nashego vremeni (1917-1918; The Apocalypse of Our Times, 1977), proved a tragically prophetic view of the disastrous import of those events for Russian history. He died in 1919.