Semyon Frank
Semyon Lyudvigovich Frank was born in Russia on the 28th of January 1877. He entered the world within a Jewish family in Moscow. His father worked as a doctor but died when Semyon was still young. The boy grew up under the care of his maternal grandfather named M. Rossiansky. This man identified as an Orthodox Jew and taught his grandson Hebrew. He also took the child to the synagogue for services. Through his stepfather V.I. Zak, Semyon encountered the works of N.K. Mikhailovsky. These writings introduced him to revolutionary thinkers who challenged the existing order.
On the 29th of September 1922 authorities expelled some 160 prominent intellectuals from Soviet Russia. They traveled at their own expense aboard what became known as the philosophers ship. The vessel arrived in Stettin on the 2nd of October that same year. Frank spent the rest of his life supported by the World Council of Churches. Ludwig Binswanger served as one of his closest friends during this period. Binswanger stood among the most famous psychiatrists in the entire world. In December 1931 Frank held the position of head at the Russian Scientific Institute in Berlin. Nazi laws required Aryan certificates for all public sector employees starting in April 1933. His Jewish ancestry made him unemployable within Germany despite his academic standing. Fleeing persecution he moved to Paris in 1937. During the war years he and his wife hid near Grenoble while their four children escaped to Britain.
Frank developed an ontological theory regarding knowledge itself. He argued that knowledge remained intuitive in its entirety yet also possessed logical abstraction. Logic applied only to a portion of being rather than the whole. Logical abstraction existed because of intuition embracing all unity. A logically determined object subordinated itself to laws of identity and contradiction. Such determinateness formed part of a complex unit containing both A and non-A elements. This correlation found its ground in a metalogical unity transcending specific determinations. The law of contradiction became simply inapplicable to this realm instead of violated. Frank taught that existence functioned as both being and becoming simultaneously. As becoming one possessed dynamic potential where future remained indeterminate. Reality included the unity of rationality alongside irrationality necessity and freedom.
In 1908 Frank contributed to the influential symposium titled Vekhi or signposts. He married Tatyana Sergeevna Bartseva on a date unspecified within the records but they had four children together. Their sons were Alexei born in 1910 and Vasiliy born in 1920. Their daughters were Natalia born in 1912 and Victor who arrived later. In 1912 he converted to Orthodox Christianity after years of study. Frank wrote that his Christianity completed his Old Testament upbringing organically. He began lecturing on philosophy at St Petersburg University following this conversion. Later works like Krushenie kumirov or The Downfall of idols appeared in 1924. These texts explored religious foundations while challenging established ideological structures. His wife survived World War II by hiding near Grenoble with him. J.R.R. Tolkien intervened through intercession to secure a scholarship from the World Council of Churches for their survival during conflict.
Frank died of lung cancer in London on the 10th of December 1950. He and his wife lie buried in Hendon Cemetery in London today. Several of his works received translation into English decades after publication. God With Us became the first work translated into English published in 1946. Man's Soul received an English translation in 1993. The Meaning of Life appeared in English translation in 2010. Light shineth in darkness reached English readers in 1989. P. Boobbyer documented the life and work of Semyon Frank between 1877 and 1950 in a book published in 1995. The Oxford handbook of Russian religious thought edited by Caryl Emerson included discussions of his ideas. Nikolay Lossky wrote about Frank within History of Russian Philosophy published in 1952. These sources preserve his influence on Russian religious thought throughout the twentieth century.
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Common questions
When and where was Semyon Frank born?
Semyon Lyudvigovich Frank was born in Russia on the 28th of January 1877. He entered the world within a Jewish family in Moscow.
Why did Semyon Frank leave Germany in 1933?
Nazi laws required Aryan certificates for all public sector employees starting in April 1933. His Jewish ancestry made him unemployable within Germany despite his academic standing.
What philosophical theory did Semyon Frank develop regarding knowledge?
Frank developed an ontological theory regarding knowledge itself which argued that knowledge remained intuitive in its entirety yet also possessed logical abstraction. Logic applied only to a portion of being rather than the whole.
How many children did Semyon Frank have with Tatyana Sergeevna Bartseva?
Semyon Frank and his wife Tatyana Sergeevna Bartseva had four children together. Their sons were Alexei born in 1910 and Vasiliy born in 1920 while their daughters were Natalia born in 1912 and Victor who arrived later.
When and where did Semyon Frank die?
Frank died of lung cancer in London on the 10th of December 1950. He and his wife lie buried in Hendon Cemetery in London today.