April 26, 1856
Pyotr Chaadayev has died. Russian philosopher, the prototype for Chatsky and Onegin, and author of "Philosophical Letters"—for which he was declared insane. He was the first victim of punitive psychiatry in Russia.
Sometimes it seems that Russia is destined only to show the whole world how not to live and what not to do.
He studied at Moscow University. During the Patriotic War of 1812, he fought in the Battle of Borodino and elsewhere: "A brave, seasoned officer," his biographer wrote of him, "tested in three gigantic campaigns, impeccably noble and honest..."
Love of one's country is a wonderful thing, but there is something even more wonderful - love of truth.
In 1816, at the home of the historian Karamzin, Chaadayev met Pushkin, on whom he had a profound influence. In 1819, Alexander I wanted to make him his aide-de-camp. But a mutiny broke out in the Semyonovsky Regiment. After the punishment of his former comrades, he found it impossible to continue serving. He resigned.
Established authority is always sacred to us. As is well known, the foundation of our social system is the family, and therefore the Russian people are never capable of seeing anything in power other than parental authority. <…> Every sovereign, no matter who he is, is a father to them. We don't say, for example, "I have the right to do this or that," we say: "This is permitted," and "This is not permitted."
In 1836, Telescope magazine published Chaadaev's first Philosophical Letter, in which he wrote about Russia's historical backwardness and spiritual stagnation. Nicholas I declared the author "insane."
Look through our chronicles from beginning to end - you will find in them on every page the profound influence of power, the incessant influence of the soil, and you will almost never encounter manifestations of the public will.
Chaadaev's letter gave impetus to the development of Russian philosophy. Its supporters became known as the Westernizers, while its opponents became the Slavophiles. He died in 1856 of pneumonia.
I prefer to scourge my homeland, I prefer to upset it, I prefer to humiliate it, just so as not to deceive it.
