Nikolay Nikolayevich Strakhov, also transliterated as ''Nikolai Strahov'' (; 16 October 1828 – 24 January 1896) was a Russian

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

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 work or a project such as a book, film, or album. Publicists are public relations specialists wh ...

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

and

literary critic A genre of arts criticism, 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 analysis of literature' ...

. He shared the ideals of

Pochvennichestvo ''Pochvennichestvo'' ( ; rus, почвенничество, p=ˈpot͡ɕvʲɪnnʲɪt͡ɕɪstvə, roughly "return to the native soil", from wikt:почва#Russian, почва "soil") was a late 19th-century movement in Russia that tied in close ...

and was a longtime friend and correspondent of

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using Reforms of Russian orthography#The post-revolution re ...

. Strakhov was born in

Belgorod Belgorod (, ) is a city that serves as the administrative center of Belgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Seversky Donets River, approximately north of the border with Ukraine. It has a population of It was founded in 1596 as a defensiv ...

, Kursk Governorate in a priest family. After leaving St Petersburg University (unable to afford the fees), in 1851 Strakhov graduated from Saint Petersburg's

Main Pedagogical Institute Saint Petersburg State University (SPBGU; ) is a public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter the Great, the university from the be ...

, after which he taught for one year in

Odessa ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...

, followed by nine years' teaching at a gymnasium in Saint Petersburg. In 1861, Strakhov became a prominent publicist and literary critic. Strakhov worked on the literary journals ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' and ''

Epoch In chronology and periodization, an epoch or reference epoch is an instant in time chosen as the origin of a particular calendar era. The "epoch" serves as a reference point from which time is measured. The moment of epoch is usually decided b ...

'' together with

Fyodor Dostoyevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian literature, Russian and world literature, and many of his works are consider ...

and

Apollon Grigoryev Apollon Aleksandrovich Grigoryev ( rus, Аполло́н Алекса́ндрович Григо́рьев, p=ɐpɐˈlon ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪdʑ ɡrʲɪˈɡorʲjɪf, a=Apollon Alyeksandrovich Grigor'yev.ru.vorb.oga; 20 July 1822 – 7 Octobe ...

. He became one of the very few close friends of Leo Tolstoy. In the 1870s Nikolay Strakhov wrote his most famous philosophical work ''World as a Whole'' and was among the first (if not the first) to recognize Tolstoy's ''

War and Peace ''War and Peace'' (; pre-reform Russian: ; ) is a literary work by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy. Set during the Napoleonic Wars, the work comprises both a fictional narrative and chapters in which Tolstoy discusses history and philosophy. An ...

'' as one of the world's greatest novels. Nikolay Strakhov was also one of the most prominent opponents of

Liberalism Liberalism is a Political philosophy, political and moral philosophy based on the Individual rights, rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality, the right to private property, and equality before the law. ...

Rationalism In philosophy, rationalism is the Epistemology, epistemological view that "regards reason as the chief source and test of knowledge" or "the position that reason has precedence over other ways of acquiring knowledge", often in contrast to ot ...

and

Utilitarianism In ethical philosophy, utilitarianism is a family of normative ethical theories that prescribe actions that maximize happiness and well-being for the affected individuals. In other words, utilitarian ideas encourage actions that lead to the ...

in Russia, who contributed greatly to the development of traditionalist Slavophile ideology and its more conservative and nationalist variant known as ''Pochvennichestvo''. In 1883 Nikolay Strakhov wrote ''The Struggle Against the West in Russian Literature'' and supported ideas of

Nikolay Danilevsky Nikolay Yakovlevich Danilevsky (; – ) was a Russian naturalist, economist, ethnologist, philosopher, historian and ideologue of pan-Slavism and the Slavophile movement. He expounded a circular view of world history. He is remembered also ...

and claimed that Western European rationalism lacks scientific grounds. Nikolay Strakhov supported and encouraged the young

Vasily Rozanov Vasily Vasilievich Rozanov (; – 5 February 1919) was one of the most controversial Russian writers and important philosophers among the symbolists of the pre-revolutionary epoch. Views Rozanov tried to reconcile Christian teachings with ...

to become a writer and philosopher. Despite his conservatism and support for official government ideology of

Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality (; Transliteration, transliterated: Pravoslávie, samoderzhávie, naródnost'), also known as Official Nationalism,Riasanovsky, p. 132 was the dominant Imperial ideological doctrine of Russian Emperor Nichol ...

he was at times criticized by pro-government publications such as

Mikhail Katkov Mikhail Nikiforovich Katkov (; 13 February 1818 – 1 August 1887) was a conservative Russian journalist influential during the reign of tsar Alexander III. He was a proponent of Russian nationalism, an important figure in the creation of a fee ...

's ''

Moskovskie Vedomosti ''Moskovskiye Vedomosti'' (, ; ) was a Russian newspaper. It was the largest newspaper by circulation in Russia before it was overtaken by Saint Petersburg's dailies in the mid-19th century. Moscow University (founded in 1755) established the ...

''. Russian liberals bitterly resented Strakhov and considered him a

reactionary In politics, a reactionary is a person who favors a return to a previous state of society which they believe possessed positive characteristics absent from contemporary.''The New Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought'' Third Edition, (1999) p. 729. ...

philosopher. Strakhov died in Saint Petersburg in 1896; he never married and had no children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Strakhov, Nikolay 1828 births 1896 deaths People from Belgorod People from Belgorodsky Uyezd Slavophiles Russian nationalists Russian monarchists Literary critics from the Russian Empire 19th-century philosophers from the Russian Empire Conservatism in the Russian Empire Saint Petersburg State University alumni