May 25: Death of Andrei Kaisarov, the first Russian Slavist and voice of the 1812 army
Andrei Kaisarov died on May 25, 1813, in Hanau, Germany, at the age of 30. He was Russia's first Slavic scholar, poet, advocate for the abolition of serfdom, and founder of the first front-line newspaper in the history of the Russian press.
From provincial gentry to European doctors
Andrei Kaisarov was born in 1782 in Moscow to a modest noble family. At age 13, he entered Moscow University, but a year later, by order of Paul I, he was conscripted into military service along with other young men. After his transfer to Moscow, he became close to Zhukovsky and his literary circle. Under their influence, he left the military and became fascinated with political and civic poetry.
At the age of 20, he left for Europe to study. He received his medical degree and his PhD.
Dissertation against serfdom
In 1806, Kaisarov defended his dissertation on the emancipation of serfs in Russia. In it, he argued that serfdom was holding back the economy, population growth, and the intellectual development of the people. He addressed the work personally to Alexander I:
For in your hands, most humane and truly great Alexander, supreme legislator, are both the power and the opportunity with which you will make all the countless multitude of people entrusted to your patronage happier.
Alexander was interested in Kaisarov's ideas, but under pressure from the conservative nobility, he suppressed them. Publication of the dissertation in Russia was banned.
The first Russian Slavic scholar
Traveling through Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, and the Czech Republic, Kaisarov collected Slavic dialects. He was one of the first to study Slavic traditions from a scholarly perspective. Returning to Russia, he lived in Saratov for several years, working on the "Dictionary of the Old Russian Language," compiling the first historical dictionary of the Russian language (manuscript), and writing a book on Slavic mythology.
A Russian in the 19th century doesn’t yet have any Russian history at all!
At the age of 29, he became a professor of Russian language and literature at the Imperial University of Dorpat (now the University of Tartu in Estonia).
"One printed leaflet has more effect than several regiments."
In 1811, six months before the war with Napoleon, Kaisarov delivered a speech entitled "On Love for the Fatherland." On the eve of the war, he proposed to Alexander I to organize a mobile printing press. The idea was supported.
Twenty-nine-year-old Kaisarov published leaflets and the first front-line newspaper in the history of the Russian press, "Rossiyanin," in both Russian and German. His style was persuasive and clear: the author didn't insult the enemy, but rather exhorted. In the preface to the first issue (July 1812), he wrote:
We hope to earn your trust and assure you that we will not conceal even the most tragic incidents, should they occur. War cannot be without losses. Citizens must be aware of the situation so they can take the necessary actions.
Death
After Kutuzov's death in April 1813, Kaisarov, with whom he had been close, did not wish to remain in staff service. With the rank of major, he volunteered for his brother's partisan detachment. He died in a powder box explosion. According to one version, he blew himself up along with his artillery convoy to prevent it from falling into enemy hands.
Major Kaisarov attacked the enemy's detachment, captured two guns, blew up ammunition and powder boxes, and captured 80 men. Unfortunately, he was killed in the process (from Barclay de Tolly's report to Alexander I).
Andrey Kaisarov was 30 years old.
Cursed be the hateful thought that the homeland is where it's good! Outside the homeland there is no life!
