A.P. Elagina and Czech Slavists

The paper first examines an event from the history of Czech-Russian relations: the meeting and acquaintance of A.P. Elagina, connected with the literary and academic world of the Russian intelligentsia of the first half of the 19th century, with Czech Slavists in 1835. A.P. Elagina described her impressions of the meeting with V. Hanka, F. Palacky and P. Safarik in detail in a letter to V.A. Zhukovsky on October 7. 1835. Niece of V.A. Zhukovsky, mother of the outstanding figures of Russian culture, a philosopher and a folklorist (Ivan and Pyotr Kireevsky), historians (Nikolay and Vasiliy Elagin), owner of the famous Moscow salon that hosted Slavophiles and Westerners (including Granovsky, Herzen) in the 1840s, Elagina (1789-1877) was well acquainted with Czech Slavists' historiosophical concepts of the development of Russia. Elagina's own position consisted in a dialectical approach to solving the Slavic question. Elagina did not share the Slavophile opposition of Russia and the West, yet she supported much in the position of the Slavophiles. This applied primarily to the issue of an independent and meaningful content of Russian history and culture as part of the Slavic world in the single context of European life. Increased attention to the problems of Slavic history and high appreciation of the works of Czech scholars were largely due to the personal circumstances of Elagina: her active involvement in the affairs of the Slavophile-minded children caught in the midst of the social, artistic and aesthetic movement. In her letters in 1835, she tells Zhukovsky about the fate of Ivan Kireevsky and Moskovsky zhurnal, on preparations for the publication of the Russian songs collected by Pyotr Kireevsky. An important factor in the acquaintance and history of relations with the Czech Slavists was the long-standing friendship of Elagina with M.P. Pogodin, a scholar on Slavic history, translator and organizer of the Czech-Russian academic ties, and with Zhukovsky, who corresponded with F. Palacky in 1829. The portraits of Czech Slavists Elagina creates in her letter to Zhukovsky lack scientism, they are interesting due to the "human" approach: scholars are characterized by their moral qualities, by their way of life, activities. The letter is full of respect and enthusiasm of Elagina, which is a result of the author's humanity, democracy and understanding of the importance of the activities of the Czech Slavists for the development of national culture, education and science.

Keywords

Authors

References