November 2, 1790: Alexander Radishchev was exiled in chains from St. Petersburg to Siberia.
Alexander Radishchev, author of the famous "Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow," printed the book in his own home printing press. He was sentenced to death for it, but his sentence was commuted to exile.
Know that you (the king), the first in society, can be a murderer, the first robber, the first traitor, the first violator of public peace... You will be to blame if a mother weeps for her son, killed on the battlefield... You will be to blame if the field becomes desolate
"A rebel is worse than Pugachev" (in the opinion of Catherine II) was 41 at the time. And his career was developing quite successfully: by 1790 he had risen to the rank of head of the capital's customs office.
November 13, 1790. We were traveling through the forest. There was little pine forest, only spruce, oak, birch, and aspen… The Tatars, Cheremis, and Chuvash settled in the hills and valleys, while the Russians lived on the mountain. The Chuvash and Cheremis had black huts, but the air was healthier than in the Russian huts… They loved the cold. There were no cockroaches, but there were plenty of fleas.
Childhood and service of Alexander Radishchev
He was born in 1749 in Moscow, into a noble family. He spent his childhood in Kaluga province, on his father's estate.
After the coronation of Catherine II, the 13-year-old boy was sent to the Page Corps in PetersburgFrom the age of 17 he studied law in Leipzig university. I became imbued with the ideas of the European enlighteners.
What is right when force is at work? Can it exist when the decision is sealed with the blood of nations?
In 1771, at 22, he returned to St. Petersburg. He served as a protocol clerk. At 28, he joined the Commerce Collegium, where he became friends with the Count. Alexander Vorontsov (it will be very helpful during the link).
The disease that has been wreaking havoc here for over a month is measles. Hundreds of children have died from it, yet local doctors still consider it harmless. If smallpox vaccination saves from the grave… then why not apply the same treatment to measles, which is also a widespread and highly dangerous disease? Ah, does it always take centuries to teach a man wisdom?
(To Vorontsov, Tobolsk, 1791)
Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow
He began publishing in the 1770s. He began collecting material for "The Journey" in the 1780s. Foreign policy events—the victory of the American Revolution and the beginning of the French Revolution—provided a special impetus.
The story consisted of fragments linked by the names of towns and villages through which the author passed. It was a kind of "sentimental journey." The censor assumed he was holding a travel guide and gave permission for publication without reading it. This was especially true because the author's style, which Pushkin would later call "barbaric," was highly complex. Meanwhile, Radishchev painted a picture of the Russia of his time: autocracy, censorship, serfdom, and landowner lawlessness.
Who doesn't know with what impudence the audacious hand of the nobility creeps into obscene and chastity-defying jokes with village girls? In the eyes of noblemen, old and young, they are creatures created for their pleasure.
In 1789, Radishchev set up a printing press in his home. In May 1790, he published "The Journey."
Now everyone is free to have printing tools, but what can be printed is under guardianship. The censorship has become the nanny of reason, wit, imagination, everything great and elegant.
Arrest and exile of Alexander Radishchev
The book sold out. The author's name wasn't on the publication, but he was quickly identified and arrested. The copy that reached Catherine II was covered in her caustic remarks. Radishchev was sentenced to death. But "out of mercy and for everyone's joy," the sentence was commuted to 10 years of exile in the Ilimsk prison. Irkutsk provinces.
There is not a single spring in the entire vicinity of Tobolsk <> For me, a spoiled and weak creature, it is difficult to drink, but I will try to get out of the situation by filtering ordinary water
(To Vorontsov)
Return from exile and the last years
He spent 6 years in exile: after the death of Catherine, Paul I personally pardoned Radishchev. In 1801 Alexander I He was summoned to St. Petersburg and appointed a member of the Law-drafting Commission. Together with Vorontsov, he worked on the constitutional draft, the "Most Gracious Charter." However, he was criticized for advancing ideas of equality before the law and freedom of the press.
He died in 1802. According to one version, he committed suicide. According to another, it was an accident. He was 53.
Blessed is the writer who, with his creation, could enlighten even one person, blessed is he who, in the heart of one, could sow virtue.
