Mikhail Alexeyevich Protopopov (russian: Михаил Алексеевич Протопопов; 1848, Kostroma, Imperial Russia – 16 December 1915) was a Russian Empire

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

publicist A publicist is a person whose job is to generate and manage publicity for a company, a brand, or public figure – especially a celebrity – or for a work such as a book, film, or album. Publicists are public relations specialists w ...

and

literary critic Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...

. An ardent

narodnik The Narodniks (russian: народники, ) were a politically conscious movement of the Russian intelligentsia in the 1860s and 1870s, some of whom became involved in revolutionary agitation against tsarism. Their ideology, known as Narodism, ...

, influenced by the ideas of

Nikolai Mikhaylovsky Nikolay Konstantinovich Mikhaylovsky () (, Meshchovsk–, Saint Petersburg) was a Russian literary critic, sociologist, writer on public affairs, and one of the theoreticians of the Narodniki movement. Biography The school of thinkers he bel ...

and

Pyotr Lavrov Pyotr Lavrovich Lavrov (russian: Пётр Ла́врович Лавро́в; alias Mirtov (); (June 14 Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="une 2 Old Style and New Style dates">O.S. 1823 – February 6 anuary 6 O.S. 1900) was a promi ...

, Protopopov started late but instantly gained notoriety for his sharp, emotional and opinionated reviews, writing mostly for ''

Otechestvennye Zapiski ''Otechestvennye Zapiski'' ( rus, Отечественные записки, p=ɐˈtʲetɕɪstvʲɪnːɨjɪ zɐˈpʲiskʲɪ, variously translated as "Annals of the Fatherland", "Patriotic Notes", "Notes of the Fatherland", etc.) was a Russian lite ...

'', but also ''

Russkaya Pravda The ''Russkaya Pravda'' (Rus' Justice, Rus' Truth, or Russian Justice; orv, Правда роусьскаꙗ, ''Pravda Rusĭskaya'' (13th century, 1280), Правда Руськая, ''Pravda Rus'kaya'' (second half of the 15th century); russian: ...

'', ''Slovo'', ''

Russkoye Bogatstvo ''Russkoye Bogatstvo'' (russian: Русское богатство, Russian Wealth) was a monthly literary and political magazine published in St. Petersburg, Russia, from 1876 to mid-1918. In the early 1890s it served as an organ of the liberal ...

'' and ''

Delo ''Delo'' (russian: Дело) is a business oriented online media in Ukraine, belonging to ekonomika+ media holding. ''Delo'' was the first daily in Ukraine, publishing its real print circulation (13.000 - 15.000) and trying to introduce Western e ...

''. After the closure of several radical journals in 1884, Protopopov was arrested and after six months' detention deported to

Chukhloma Chukhloma (russian: Чу́хлома) is a town and the administrative center of Chukhlomsky District in Kostroma Oblast, Russia, located on Lake Chukhloma, from the railway node Galich and northeast of Kostroma, the administrative center of ...

where he lived under close police supervision. After receiving permission to settle in Saint Petersburg, he became one of the leading authors of liberal, narodnik-oriented '' Russkaya Mysl''. Protopopov, who considered himself a follower of

Chernyshevsky Nikolay Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky ( – ) was a Russian literary and social critic, journalist, novelist, democrat, and socialist philosopher, often identified as a utopian socialist and leading theoretician of Russian nihilism. He was ...

Dobrolyubov Dobrolyubov (russian: Добролюбов) is a Russian masculine surname, its feminine counterpart is Dobrolyubova. It may refer to * Aleksandr Dobrolyubov (writer) (1876–1945), Russian Symbolist poet * Aleksandr Dobrolyubov (footballer) (born ...

and Pisarev, thought little about objectivity, ignored the aesthetic side of literary criticism, and used his position as a vehicle for propagating the narodnik views, slagging with equal passion

Marxism Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialec ...

symbolism Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: Arts * Symbolism (arts), a 19th-century movement rejecting Realism ** Symbolist movement in Romania, symbolist literature and visual arts in Romania during the late 19th and early 20th centuries ** Russian sym ...

, '

decadence The word decadence, which at first meant simply "decline" in an abstract sense, is now most often used to refer to a perceived decay in standards, morals, dignity, religious faith, honor, discipline, or skill at governing among the members ...

' and especially,

Tolstoyism The Tolstoyan movement is a social movement based on the philosophical and religious views of Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910). Tolstoy's views were formed by rigorous study of the ministry of Jesus, particularly the Sermon on the M ...

, all of which he saw as being links to one vile chain. Protopopov gave succinct (and, in the most cases, highly contentious) characteristics to his subjects in the very titles of his essays, like "Talented Failure" (on

Fyodor Dostoyevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (, ; rus, Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский, Fyódor Mikháylovich Dostoyévskiy, p=ˈfʲɵdər mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ dəstɐˈjefskʲɪj, a=ru-Dostoevsky.ogg, links=yes; 11 November 18219 ...

), "Ladies' Vanity Fare" (

Maria Bashkirtseva Marie Bashkirtseff (born Mariya Konstantinovna Bashkirtseva, russian: Мария Константиновна Башки́рцева; 1858–1884) was a Ukrainian artist from the Russian Empire who worked in Paris, France. She died aged 25. Li ...

), "Victim of Timelessness" (

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career a ...

), "The Optimist Author" (

Pavel Zasodimsky Pavel Vladimirovich Zasodimsky (russian: Павел Владимирович Засодимский, born 13 November 1834, Veliky Ustyug, Vologda Governorate. Russian Empire, — died 17 May 1912, Opechensky Posad, Novgorod Governorate, Rus ...

), "Decadent Critic" (

Akim Volynsky Akim Lvovich Volynsky (Аким Львович Волынский, real name Khaim Leybovich Flekser, Хаим Лейбович Флексер; 3 May 1861 – 6 July 1926) was a Russian literary (later theatre and ballet) critic and historian, one ...

), "Cheerful Talent" (

Ignaty Potapenko Ignaty Nikolayevich Potapenko (russian: Игна́тий Никола́евич Пота́пенко, December 30, 1856 – May 17, 1929), was a Russian writer and playwright. Biography Potapenko was born in the village of Fyodorovka, Kherson ...

) and "The Bungler of a Writer", on

Vasily Rozanov Vasily Vasilievich Rozanov (russian: Васи́лий Васи́льевич Рóзанов; – 5 February 1919) was one of the most controversial Russian writers and important philosophers in the symbolists' of the pre- revolutionary epoc ...

. Mikhail Protopopov
at the

Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary The ''Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopaedic Dictionary'' ( Russian: Энциклопедический словарь Брокгауза и Ефрона, abbr. ЭСБЕ, tr. ; 35 volumes, small; 86 volumes, large) is a comprehensive multi-volume ...

.Russian Writers. 4th Edition. Leningrad, 1924 // Владиславлев И. В. Русские писатели. — 4-е изд. — Л., 1924.

References

External links

The Works by Mikhail Protopopov
at

Lib.ru Lib.ru, also known as Maksim Moshkow's Library (russian: link=no, библиотека Максима Мошкова, started to operate in November 1994) is the oldest electronic library in the Russian Internet segment. Founded and supported b ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Protopopov, Mikhail Literary critics from the Russian Empire Narodniks Journalists from the Russian Empire People from Kostroma 1848 births 1915 deaths