13 June 1855
He was born in Moscow into a noble family. Lev Lopatin — an idealist philosopher, psychologist, and founder of Russian theoretical philosophy.
The eternal one is revealed in the eternal many
He began reading Hegel as a child. His father, who had a reputation as an incorruptible judge and approved of Alexander II's reforms, invited famous scholars and writers to visit, including Klyuchevsky, Fet, Tyutchev, and Tolstoy.
He graduated from the Faculty of History and Philology at Moscow University and remained there to teach. He had a reputation as a kind professor who gave all his students A's.
The fundamental characteristic of his spiritual makeup was a benevolence toward all living things. Lopatin's philosophy is unthinkable without vibrant, loving, and compassionate communication with people. (memories of one of the students)
He anticipated much of what later became famous among German philosophers. He developed an original theory of causality and preached the ideas of God's existence, free will, and the immortality of the soul.
He called his teaching “concrete spiritualism.”
In friendly circles he was famous as a teller of scary stories: they possessed the power of “kind and gentle hypnosis.”
By the age of 45, he was already considered Moscow's leading philosopher. He was called an "outstanding national thinker."
He took the 1917 Revolution hard. He called on Christians to unite to fight religious unbelief and the crude worship of material culture.
Everything that is happening is necessary. It represents a painful and agonizing process of humanity's rebirth from the various injustices that have crushed it, and it will lead to something good, bright, and completely new.
Lopatin was unmarried. He worked at night, using a kerosene lamp. He slept late during the day, making him late for meetings and classes.
He was a convinced ascetic: he looked at his body as a burden and a liability.
He spent his entire life in his parents' mansion. When the house was sold after their death, he begged the new owners for his "nursery" in the mezzanine: it had such a low ceiling that he had to bend over to avoid hitting his head.
He died there quietly in 1920 from pneumonia. He was 64.
