Löb Nevakhovich, or Lev Nikolayevich (Leib ben Noach) Nevakhovich (, born between 1776 and 1778, Letychiv,

Podolia Podolia or Podillia is a historic region in Eastern Europe located in the west-central and southwestern parts of Ukraine and northeastern Moldova (i.e. northern Transnistria). Podolia is bordered by the Dniester River and Boh River. It features ...

– ,

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

), was a Russian writer and one of the first maskilim in Russia. Nevakhovich was friend and protégé of Abram Peretz. He went to St. Petersburg toward the end of

Catherine II Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter III ...

's reign, and engaged in commercial pursuits, then turned to literature. He was among the first Russian Jews to gain a mastery of the Russian language, starting with translations from

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

and Swedish. Nevakhovich was a linguist, a student of philosophy, and an ardent admirer of

Moses Mendelssohn Moses Mendelssohn (6 September 1729 – 4 January 1786) was a German-Jewish philosopher and theologian. His writings and ideas on Jews and the Jewish religion and identity were a central element in the development of the ''Haskalah'', or 'J ...

. Nevakhovich held patriotic views regarding both his Jewish heritage and the Russian Empire, expressing his gratitude for opportunities of growth. He also was optimistic in regard to the future of the Jews and assumed that they would be granted greater liberty. In 1806 Nevakhovich was baptized into the

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

Church (

Russian Orthodox The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

according to other sources). In 1817 he moved to

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

where he started working for the Ministry of Finance. In 1831 he returned to St. Petersburg in order to produce one of his plays on the stage, but he died before he could accomplish his purpose. Nevakhovich is interred in

Volkovo Cemetery The Volkovo Cemetery (also Volkovskoe) ( or Во́лково кла́дбище) is one of the largest and oldest non- Orthodox cemeteries in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Until the early 20th century it was one of the main burial grounds for Lutheran ...

in St. Petersburg.

Works

Nevakhovich, with his friends Abram Peretz and Noah Notkin, made a determined effort to secure recognition for the Jews of Russia. Under the title ''Vopl' Dshcheri Iudeiskoi'' (Russian for ''Lament of the Daughter of Israel'') he wrote an urgent appeal to the people of Russia, calling upon them to show a spirit of tolerance and justice toward Jews. In this appeal he shows how the Jewish people have been maligned, and insists that the Jewish religion tends to produce good men and good citizens: "For centuries, the Jews have been accused by the peoples of the earth. They have been accused of witchcraft, of irreligion, of superstition ... All their actions were interpreted to their disadvantage, and whenever they were discovered to be innocent their accusers raised against them new accusations ... I swear that the Jew who preserves his religion undefiled can be neither a bad man nor a bad citizen." In 1804, Nevakhovich published ''Perepiska Dvukh Prosvyeschonnykh Druzei'' (Russian for ''Correspondence of Two Enlightened Friends''); other writings followed in 1805 and 1806. He became close to Prince Alexander Shakhovskoy, a dramatist. Nevakhovich's play ''Sulioty ili Spartantzy XVIII Vyeka'' (Russian for ''Sulliots, or Spartans of the 18th century'') was successfully produced at the Imperial Theater in St. Petersburg in 1809, and was performed before the emperor in October of the same year. His ''Mech Pravosudiya'' (Russian for ''The Sword of Justice'') was put on the stage after his death in 1831.

Descendants

*Son Michael Nevakhovich (1817–1850) after pursuing a military career left it with the rank of Rittmeister and started publishing drawings and comical illustrations later becoming an editor of the first Russian comic paper ''Yeralash''. *Son Alexander Nevakhovich (1819–1880) became manager of theatrical department and was associated with theatrical director Gedeonov; Alexander's son Nicholas became an officer in the

Russian Navy The Russian Navy is the Navy, naval arm of the Russian Armed Forces. It has existed in various forms since 1696. Its present iteration was formed in January 1992 when it succeeded the Navy of the Commonwealth of Independent States (which had i ...

. *Daughter Emilia was the mother of Nobel laureate scientist

Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov Ilya, Iliya, Ilia, Ilja, Ilija, or Illia ( , or ; ; ) is the East Slavic form of the male Hebrew name Eliyahu (Eliahu), meaning "My God is Yahu/ Jah." It comes from the Byzantine Greek pronunciation of the vocative (Ilía) of the Greek Eli ...

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nevakhovich, Loeb 19th-century writers from the Russian Empire Jewish writers Russian dramatists and playwrights Russian male dramatists and playwrights Jewish dramatists and playwrights People from Letychiv 1770s births 1831 deaths Russian Jews Converts to Lutheranism from Judaism Burials at Volkovo Cemetery