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Nikolai Berdyaev: the story on HearLore | HearLore
— Ch. 1 · Aristocratic Origins And Early Radicalism —
Nikolai Berdyaev.
~5 min read · Ch. 1 of 6
Nikolai Alexandrovich Berdyaev was born near Kiev in 1874 to an aristocratic military family. His father, Alexander Mikhailovich Berdyaev, came from a long line of Russian nobility. Almost all of Alexander Mikhailovich's ancestors served as high-ranking military officers. Nikolai's mother, Alina Sergeevna Berdyaeva, was half-French and came from the top levels of both French and Russian nobility. She also had Polish, Georgian and Tatar origins. Young, George M. (2012) The Russian Cosmists: The Esoteric Futurism of Nikolai Fedorov and His Followers, Oxford University Press, p. 134.
Berdyaev decided on an intellectual career and entered the Kiev University in 1894. It was a time of revolutionary fervor among the students and the intelligentsia. He became a Marxist for a period and was arrested in a student demonstration and expelled from the university. His involvement in illegal activities led in 1897 to three years of internal exile to Vologda in northern Russia. Marko Marković, La Philosophie de l'inégalité et les idées politiques de Nicolas Berdiaev (Paris: Nouvelles Editions Latines, 1978).
In 1899, his first article "F. A. Lange and Critical Philosophy in their relation to Socialism" was published in the magazine "Die Neue Zeit". This early publication marked the beginning of a prolific literary output that would span decades.
Confronting The Bolshevik State
Berdyaev's disaffection culminated, in 1919, with the foundation of his own private academy, the "Free Academy of Spiritual Culture". It was primarily a forum for him to lecture on the hot topics of the day and to present them from a Christian point of view. He also presented his opinions in public lectures, and every Tuesday, the academy hosted a meeting at his home because official Soviet anti-religious activity was intense at the time.
In 1920, Berdiaev became professor of philosophy at the University of Moscow. In the same year, he was accused of participating in a conspiracy against the government; he was arrested and jailed. Felix Dzerzhinsky, the feared head of the Cheka, personally interrogated him, and he gave his interrogator a solid dressing down on the problems with Bolshevism. Novelist Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in his book The Gulag Archipelago recounts the incident as follows: [Berdyaev] was arrested twice; he was taken in 1922 for a midnight interrogation with Dzerjinsky; Kamenev was also there.... But Berdyaev did not humiliate himself, he did not beg, he firmly professed the moral and religious principles by virtue of which he did not adhere to the party in power.
After his expulsion from the USSR on the 29th of September 1922, on the so-called "Philosophers' ships", Berdyaev and other émigrés went to Berlin, where he founded an academy of philosophy and religion.
Nikolai Alexandrovich Berdyaev was born near Kiev in 1874 to an aristocratic military family.
Why did Nikolai Berdyaev leave the Soviet Union?
Berdyaev left the USSR on the 29th of September 1922 after being expelled on the so-called Philosophers ships following his arrest and interrogation by Felix Dzerzhinsky.
What philosophical school is associated with Nikolai Berdyaev?
David Bonner Richardson described Nikolai Berdyaev's philosophy as Christian existentialism and personalism, while other authors interpret him as a communitarian personalist and Slavophile.
Where does the Berdiaev-museum exist today?
The house in Clamart in which Nikolai Berdyaev lived now comprises a small Berdiaev-museum and attached Chapel in name of the Holy Spirit under the omophorion of the Moscow Patriarchate.
How many books did Nikolai Berdyaev write during his career?
Nikolai Berdyaev wrote over twenty books and dozens of articles starting from his work on Subjectivism and Individualism in Social Philosophy in 1901.
Economic and political conditions in the Weimar Republic caused him and his wife to move to Paris in 1923. He transferred his academy there, and taught, lectured and wrote, working for an exchange of ideas with the French and European intellectual community, and participated in a number of international conferences. The house in Clamart in which Berdyaev lived now comprises a small "Berdiaev-museum" and attached Chapel in name of the Holy Spirit, under the omophorion of the Moscow Patriarchate.
On the 24th of March 2018, the 70th anniversary of Berdyaev's death, the priest of the Chapel served panikhida-memorial prayer at the Diocesan cathedral for eternal memory of Berdyaev, and later that day the Diocesan bishop Nestor (Sirotenko) presided over prayer at the grave of Berdyaev. In recent years, efforts to archive and document Berdyaev's work have expanded. A group of scholars has digitized original, unpublished manuscripts from the Berdiaev-museum in Clamart, France, offering researchers and the public deeper insight into his unpublished writings and correspondence.
Christian Existentialist Philosophy
According to Marko Marković, Berdyaev "was an ardent man, rebellious to all authority, an independent and "negative" spirit." He could assert himself only in negation and could not hear any assertion without immediately negating it, to such an extent that he would even be able to contradict himself and to attack people who shared his own prior opinions. According to Marina Makienko, Anna Panamaryova, and Andrey Gurban, Berdyaev's works are "emotional, controversial, bombastic, affective and dogmatic".
David Bonner Richardson described Berdyaev's philosophy as Christian existentialism and personalism. Other authors, such as political theologian Tsoncho Tsonchev, interpret Berdyaev as "communitarian personalist" and Slavophile. According to Tsonchev, Berdyaev's philosophical thought rests on four "pillars": freedom, creativity, person, and communion. One of the central themes of Berdyaev's work was philosophy of love. At first he systematically developed his theory of love in a special article published in the journal Pereval () in 1907.
Orthodox Relations And Universal Salvation
Berdyaev was a member of the Russian Orthodox Church, and believed Orthodoxy was the religious tradition closest to early Christianity. Nicholas Berdyaev was an Orthodox Christian, however, it must be said that he was an independent and somewhat a "liberal" kind. Berdyaev also criticized the Russian Orthodox Church and described his views as anticlerical. Yet he considered himself closer to Orthodoxy than either Catholicism or Protestantism. According to him, "I can not call myself a typical Orthodox of any kind; but Orthodoxy was near to me (and I hope I am nearer to Orthodoxy) than either Catholicism or Protestantism."
Berdyaev affirmed universal salvation, as did several other important Orthodox theologians of the 20th century. Along with Sergei Bulgakov, he was instrumental in bringing renewed attention to the Orthodox doctrine of apokatastasis, which had largely been neglected since it was expounded by Maximus the Confessor in the seventh century, although he rejected Origen's articulation of this doctrine. The aftermath of the Russian Revolution and Civil War, along with Soviet efforts towards the separation of church and state, caused the Russian Orthodox émigré diaspora to splinter into three Russian Church jurisdictions.
Prolific Literary Output And Legacy
In 1901 Berdyaev opened his literary career so to speak by work on Subjectivism and Individualism in Social Philosophy. He wrote "over twenty books and dozens of articles". Steeves, P.D. (2001) "Berdyaev, Nikolai Aleksandrovich (1874, 1948)" in Walter A. Elwell, Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, Baker Academic, p. 149.
His major works include The Meaning of Creativity and The Meaning of History, which he later truly appreciated only two among all his writings. Other significant titles span from Vekhi , Landmarks (1909; 1994) to The Beginning and the End (1947; 1952). His work is also featured in the dedication of Aldous Huxley's 1932 novel "Brave New World". A group of scholars has digitized original, unpublished manuscripts from the Berdiaev-museum in Clamart, France, offering researchers and the public deeper insight into his unpublished writings and correspondence.