Vissarion Grigorievich Belinsky - Russian literary critic and publicist. Belinsky worked primarily as a literary critic, because this area was least censored.
He agreed with the Slavophils that society takes precedence over individualism, but at the same time argued that society should be loyal to the expression of individual ideas and rights.
In the biography of Vissarion Belinsky there were many different tests, but there were also many interesting facts in his personal and literary life.
So, before you is a short biography of Belinsky.
Biography of Vissarion Belinsky
Vissarion Belinsky was born in Sveaborg (Finland) on May 30 (June 11) 1811. He grew up and was brought up in the family of a doctor.
It is curious that the head of the family was a free-thinker and did not believe in God, which was a very unusual phenomenon for that time. For this reason, people avoided contact with Belinsky Sr. and were treated by him in case of emergency.
Childhood and youth
When Vissarion was barely 5 years old, the Belinsky family moved to the Penza province. The boy received his primary education from a local teacher. An interesting fact is that the father taught his son the Latin language.
At the age of 14, Belinsky began to study at the gymnasium. During this period of his biography, he was seriously interested in the Russian language and literature. Since the education in the gymnasium left much to be desired, over time, he began to skip classes more and more often.
In 1825 Vissarion Belinsky successfully passed the exams at Moscow University. During these years, he often lived from hand to mouth, since the family could not afford to fully pay for his maintenance and training.
However, the student continued his studies despite many trials. Over time, Vissarion was awarded a scholarship, thanks to which he began to study at public expense.
Later, a small circle gathered around Belinsky, who was distinguished by his great intelligence. It included such personalities as Alexander Herzen, Nikolai Stankevich, Nikolai Ogarev and other admirers of literature.
Young people discussed various works, and also talked about politics. Each of them expressed their own vision of the development of Russia.
While in his second year, Vissarion Belinsky wrote his first work "Dmitry Kalinin". In it, the author criticized serfdom, established traditions and the rights of landowners.
When the book fell into the hands of censors at Moscow University, it was banned from publication. Moreover, Belinsky was threatened with exile for his ideas. The first failure was followed by illness and student expulsion from the university.
To make ends meet, Vissarion began to engage in literary translations. At the same time, he made money by giving private lessons.
Literary criticism
Over time, Belinsky met Boris Nadezhdin, the owner of the Teleskop publication. A new acquaintance took him to work as a translator.
In 1834 Vissarion Belinsky published his first critical note, which became the starting point in his career. At this time of the biography, he often attended the literary circles of Konstantin Aksakov and Semyon Selivansky.
The critic was still experiencing financial difficulties, often moving from one place to another. Later he began working as a secretary for the writer Sergei Poltoratsky.
When in 1836 "Telescope" ceased to exist, Belinsky became even more mired in poverty. Only thanks to the help of old acquaintances, he could somehow survive.
Once Aksakov invited Vissarion to teach at the Constantine Survey Institute. Thus, Belinsky had a stable job for some time and the opportunity to engage in writing.
Later, the critic decides to leave Moscow for St. Petersburg. He was interested with renewed vigor in philosophy, especially carried away by the views of Hegel and Schelling.
Since 1840, Belinsky in a rude form criticized deterministic progress, placing the fate of a particular individual above world destinies and interests.
The writer was a supporter of idealism. He was a convinced atheist and in his letters to Gogol he condemned church rites and foundations.
The biography of Vissarion Belinsky is entirely connected with professional literary criticism. Supporting Westernizing sentiments, he opposed populism and Slavophil ideas that propagated patriarchy and outdated traditions.
Vissarion Grigorievich was the founder of the scientific approach in this direction, being a supporter of the "natural school". He called her founder Nikolai Gogol.
Belinsky divided human nature into spiritual and physical. He argued that art represents the ability to think figuratively, and this is as easy as thinking with logic.
Thanks to Belinsky's ideas, a literary-centric perception of Russian spiritual culture appeared. His creative legacy consists in a large number of critical articles and descriptions of the state of Russian literature in the middle of the 19th century.
Personal life
Although Vissarion Belinsky had many friends and acquaintances, he often did not leave a feeling of loneliness. For this reason, he wanted to start a family, but constant problems with money and health prevented him from achieving this goal.
Over time, Belinsky began to look after Maria Orlova. The girl was fascinated by the work of the writer and was happy to correspond with him when he was in other cities.
In 1843 the young people decided to get married. At that time they were 32 years old.
Soon the couple had a daughter, Olga. Then, in the Belinsky family, a son, Vladimir, was born, who died after 4 months.
During this period of his biography, Vissarion Belinsky took up any job to provide for his wife and child. However, the family often experienced financial difficulties. In addition, criticism often failed health.
Death
In the last years of his life, Vissarion Belinsky's health deteriorated even more. He constantly felt weak and suffered from progressive bouts of consumption.
3 years before his death, Belinsky went to the south of Russia for treatment. After that, he tried to recover in a sanatorium in France, but this did not give any results. The writer only ran even deeper into debt.
Vissarion Grigorievich Belinsky died on May 26 (June 7) 1848 in St. Petersburg, at the age of 36. So one of the most talented literary critics in the history of Russia died.
