316 



Till- STANDARD DICTIONARY OF FACTS 



as well as his remodeling of the sacred books 

 which led to the great religious schsim of Russia. 

 a mat tor of history. The whole of the Seven- 

 teenth Century shows influence of Poland, and 

 with these men the old Russian literature seems 

 to have ended. Knowledge of the literature of 

 the West made a new or modern literature for 

 Russia. 



Simeon Polotzki (1628-1680) was a sort of 

 connecting link between the old and the modern 

 period. He was tutor to Feeder, son of the 

 C/ar Alexis, had been educated at Kieff, then a 

 Polish district, but seems to have known some- 

 thing of French literature. He wrote religious 

 works, dramas, and doggerels. During his time 

 made additions to the "Code of Laws" 

 and burned the "Books of Pedigrees," which 

 held histories of the different branches of past 

 royal families. Peter the Great, beginning his 

 reign in the year 1689, met the Polish element 

 that had been so great in its influence and made 

 native Russian the language of communication 

 in all business. He found help toward intro- 

 duction of new literary forms in Propocovich, a 

 scientific scholar, who endeavored to put aside 

 the numberless superstitions of the time by 

 teaching material facts of science. Yavorski, 

 who wrote the "Rock of Faith," opposing Luth- 

 erans and Calvinists, and Pososhkoff with his 

 valuable treatise on political economy, under 

 the title "Poverty and Riches," were also of 

 note. The indefatigable writer, Michael Lom- 

 onosoff, did much to aid education in Russia 

 by his personal influence as well as by his odes, 

 tragedies, essays, and slight histories. 



The plan of Peter the Great to civilize Russia 

 on the model of the nations of. the West reached 

 its climax under the ten years' rule of Anna 

 (died, 1740). The influence of her German ad- 

 visers headed by Biren, was strong in all de- 

 partments, but the annals of the time show little 

 literary progress. 



From the beginning of the reign of her suc- 

 cessor, Elizabeth, Russians date a notable ad- 

 vance in letters, the work mainly following | 

 French models. Through the influence of Ivan 

 Shuvaloff the University of Moscow, the oldest 

 in the country, was founded in the year 1755, 

 and in the following year the first theater at 

 St. Petersburg was opened with SumarokoiT as 

 director. He was noted for his rhymed come- 

 dies and tragedies written in French style. Up 

 to this time only religious plays had been al- 

 lowed in the country. 



Catherine II. (reigned 1762-1796) gathered 

 about her a generation of court poets, most of 

 them poor writers but urged to emulate Horace, 

 Virgil, and Homer. Few of them are now re- 

 membered even by name. Kherasoff was author 

 of two lengthy epic poems which are no longer 

 read, and Denis von Visin, evidently of German 

 blood, wrote national comedy. The greatest 

 poet was Gabriel Derzhavin (1743-1816), who 

 has been called Catherine's poet laureate. Of 

 his poems the "Ode to God," "The Nobleman," 

 and "The Taking of Warsaw" are best known. 

 Alexander Radistcheff appeared as writer of "A 

 Journey to Moscow," in which he noted the sad 

 condition of the serfs and for which he was sent 

 to Siberia. The censorship of the press became 



severe, many foreign books were excluded and 

 for readers, as well as authors, times grew 

 troublous. 



The form of allegorical writing, so common in 

 countries under absolute rule, was popular in 

 Russia and a long list of fabulists was headed by 

 Ivan Khemnit/er (1744-1784), who began with 

 translating and afterward wrote original tales. 

 A later author, Ivan Kriloff (1768-1844), proved 

 to be the most popular fable-writer of the nation. 

 He resembled the French La Fontaine in char- 

 acter and in work. Among the earliest of real 

 romances or novel writers in Russia were Zago- 

 skin and Lazhechnikoff, whose books are still 

 read, long narratives of life in their own times. 

 Among them is "Yari Miloslaviski," a tale of 

 the days when the Poles were driven from Rus- 

 sia. Nicholas Gogol (1809-1852), a native of 

 Little Russia, was the first novelist of talent and 

 he described the people and the scenery of his 

 own district in his "Old Fashioned Home" and 

 "Taras Bulba," a story of war between Cossacks 

 and Poles. In a curious tale, "The Demon," he 

 pictured Kieff in the old days. Novels grew 

 popular, and we find the names of Hersen, the 

 exile, Goncharoff, Bulgarin, and Dostoievski. 

 Count Tolstoi, noted for many other works, was 

 also a novelist and the English translation of his 

 "Anna Karenina" has been said to be the long- 

 est novel in our language. Most eminent was 

 Ivan Turgenieff, in his own time the author best 

 known outside his own country. 



Turgenieff first attracted notice by his interest 

 in the Russian peasant and his best poems and 

 tales find subjects among the serfs. These have 

 been translated and made for the author his 

 reputation in Europe. "DvorianskoeGnezedo," 

 or "A Nest of Gentle People," has been noted as 

 one of the most pathetic tales found in any litera- 

 ture. "Nov" (Virgin Soil), and "Mumu," with 

 other minor stories, have been often translated 

 and greatly praised. 



While Count Tolstoi has written much and on 

 many subjects, including religion and morals, 

 and become known throughout the reading 

 world, critics have named as the best of his work, 

 the three plays, "The Death of Ivan," "The 

 Czar Feodor," and "The Czar Boris." The 

 first Russian play made on the model of Sihake- 

 spere's dramas was "Boris Godunoff," written 

 by Pushkin, but many have appeared since his 

 time. The impulse that came from abroad, 

 especially through acquaintance with the poetry 

 of Goethe, Schiller, Shakespere, and later, that 

 of Byron, pushed aside the French models thai 

 were so often copied. Besides writing after the 

 models found in other languages, Russian poets 

 have translated much, and the literature of their 

 country is rich in these reproductions. 



Both in number and genius of novelists, Russia 

 compares well with other countries. Gogol, the 

 first real novelist, has been followed by a series 

 that continues to the present day. Dostoevski! 

 is quoted in connection with Tolstoi and Turga- 

 nieff, and near them is Goncharov and Pisemskii, 

 Garshin, called a disciple of Tolstoi, and Koro- 

 lenko, a Little Russian. 



Russia has, also, historians worthy to be known 

 as successors of Karamzin, and who have given 

 more accurate record of fact if not in his brilliant 



