''Sovremennik'' ( rus, «Современник», p=səvrʲɪˈmʲenʲːɪk, a=Ru-современник.ogg, "The Contemporary") was a Russian literary, social and political magazine, published in
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 ...
in 1836–1866. It came out four times a year in 1836–1843 and once a month after that. The magazine published poetry, prose, critical, historical, ethnographic and other material.
''Sovremennik'' originated as a private enterprise of
Alexander Pushkin
Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin () was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era.Basker, Michael. Pushkin and Romanticism. In Ferber, Michael, ed., ''A Companion to European Romanticism''. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005. He is consid ...
who was running out of money to support his growing family. To assist him with the magazine, the poet asked
Nikolai Gogol
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; ; (; () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, and playwright of Ukrainian origin.
Gogol used the Grotesque#In literature, grotesque in his writings, for example, in his works "The Nose (Gogol short story), ...
,
Pyotr Vyazemsky and
Vladimir Odoyevsky to contribute their works to the journal. It was there that the first substantial assortment of
Fyodor Tyutchev
Fyodor Ivanovich Tyutchev (, ; – ) was a Russian poet and diplomat.
Ancestry
Tyutchev was born into an old Russian noble family in the Ovstug family estate near Bryansk (modern-day Zhukovsky District, Bryansk Oblast of Russia). His f ...
's poems was published. Soon it became clear that Pushkin's establishment could not compete with
Faddey Bulgarin's journal, which published more popular and less demanding literature. ''Sovremennik'' was out of date and could not command a paying audience.
When Pushkin died, his friend
Pyotr Pletnyov took over the editorship in 1838. A few years later the magazine fell into decline, and Pletnyov handed it over to
Nikolay Nekrasov and
Ivan Panaev
Ivan Ivanovich Panaev (; March 27, 1812 – March 2, 1862) was a Russian writer, literary critic, journalist and magazine publisher.
Early life
Panaev was born into a gentry family in St Petersburg.Handbook of Russian Literature, Victor Terra ...
in 1847. It was Nekrasov who really made the magazine profitable. He enlisted the services of
Ivan Turgenev
Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev ( ; rus, links=no, Иван Сергеевич ТургеневIn Turgenev's day, his name was written ., p=ɪˈvan sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ tʊrˈɡʲenʲɪf; – ) was a Russian novelist, short story writer, poe ...
,
Ivan Goncharov
Ivan Aleksandrovich Goncharov ( , ; rus, Ива́н Алекса́ндрович Гончаро́в, r=Iván Aleksándrovich Goncharóv, p=ɪˈvan ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪdʑ ɡənʲtɕɪˈrof; – ) was a Russian novelist best known for his n ...
,
Alexander Herzen
Alexander Ivanovich Herzen (; ) was a Russian writer and thinker known as the precursor of Russian socialism and one of the main precursors of agrarian populism (being an ideological ancestor of the Narodniki, Socialist-Revolutionaries, Trudo ...
and
Nikolai Ogaryov. ''Sovremennik'' was the first to publish translated works by
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...
,
George Sand
Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin de Francueil (; 1 July 1804 – 8 June 1876), best known by her pen name George Sand (), was a French novelist, memoirist and journalist. Being more renowned than either Victor Hugo or Honoré de Balz ...
and other best-selling foreign writers.
Although the magazine was owned and run by Nekrasov, its official
editor-in-chief
An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...
was
Alexander Nikitenko. The virulent realist critic
Vissarion Belinsky was responsible for its ideology. His criticism of present-day reality and propaganda of democratic ideas made the journal very popular among the Russian
intelligentsia
The intelligentsia is a status class composed of the university-educated people of a society who engage in the complex mental labours by which they critique, shape, and lead in the politics, policies, and culture of their society; as such, the i ...
. ''Sovremenniks circulation was 3,100 copies in 1848.
During the reactionary reign of
Nicholas I, the journal had to struggle against censorship and complaints of disgruntled aristocracy. Its position grew more complicated after Herzen's emigration (1847) and Belinsky's death (1848). Despite these hardships, ''Sovremennik'' published works by the best Russian authors of the day:
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 ...
, Turgenev and Nekrasov.
Timofey Granovsky,
Sergey Solovyov and other leading historians were published as well.
The period between 1852 and 1862 is considered to be the most brilliant in the history of the journal. Nekrasov managed to strike a deal with its leading contributors, whereby their new works were to be published exclusively by him. As regards ideology, ''Sovremennik'' grew more radical together with its audience. Belinsky was succeeded by
Nikolai 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 and the N ...
in 1853 and by
Nikolai Dobrolyubov. All their principal articles were published in ''Sovremennik''.

In late 1858, the magazine entered into polemics with the liberal and conservative press and became a platform for and ideological center of the revolutionary democracy, turning into a political magazine. In 1861, it published materials, dedicated to the
emancipation of the serfs and advocated the interests of serfs in the strongest terms possible. In 1859-1861, ''Sovremennik'' argued with Herzen's ''
Kolokol'' about the aims of the Russian democracy.
Such a radical stance alienated those writers who were indifferent to politics or personally disliked revolutionary intelligentsia. Although Tolstoy, Turgenev, and
Dmitry Grigorovich eventually left the magazine, ''Sovremenniks circulation reached 7,126 copies in 1861. The death of Dobrolyubov in 1861, an 8-month suspension of publishing activities (in June 1862), and Chernyshevsky's arrest caused irreparable damage to the magazine. Its ideological stance became less clear and consistent.
In 1863, Nekrasov managed to resume publishing ''Sovremennik''. He invited
Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin
Mikhail Yevgrafovich Saltykov-Shchedrin ( rus, Михаи́л Евгра́фович Салтыко́в-Щедри́н, p=mʲɪxɐˈil jɪvˈɡrafəvʲɪtɕ səltɨˈkof ɕːɪˈdrʲin; – ), born Mikhail Yevgrafovich Saltykov and known during ...
(stayed until 1864),
Maxim Antonovich,
Grigory Yeliseyev and
Alexander Pypin to join its editorial staff. Controversy among the members of the editorial staff soon resulted in adoption of a more temperate policy.
In 1863-1866, ''Sovremennik'' published Chernyshevsky's ''
What Is to Be Done?'' (written in the
Peter and Paul Fortress
The Peter and Paul Fortress () is the original citadel of Saint Petersburg, Russia, founded by Peter the Great in 1703 and built to Domenico Trezzini's designs from 1706 to 1740 as a star fortress. Between the first half of the 1700s and early ...
), satires by Saltykov-Shchedrin, and works by the so-called plebeian authors (
Vasily Sleptsov,
Fyodor Reshetnikov,
Gleb Uspensky). The magazine was closed down in June 1866, owing to the official panic that followed the
first attempt on Alexander II's life. After that, Nekrasov and Saltykov-Schedrin acquired the rights to publish the ''
Otechestvennye Zapiski'', a literary journal widely viewed as ''Sovremennik''s successor.
''Sovremennik'' inspired ''
Al Nafais Al Asriyyah'', an Arabic literary and political magazine which was published in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
between 1908 and 1923.
Featured titles
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Nikolai 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 and the N ...
** ''
What Is to Be Done?'' (1863)
*
Nikolai Gogol
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; ; (; () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, and playwright of Ukrainian origin.
Gogol used the Grotesque#In literature, grotesque in his writings, for example, in his works "The Nose (Gogol short story), ...
**"
The Nose" (1836)
*
Ivan Goncharov
Ivan Aleksandrovich Goncharov ( , ; rus, Ива́н Алекса́ндрович Гончаро́в, r=Iván Aleksándrovich Goncharóv, p=ɪˈvan ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪdʑ ɡənʲtɕɪˈrof; – ) was a Russian novelist best known for his n ...
**''
The Same Old Story'' (1847)
*
Mikhail Lermontov
Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov ( , ; rus, Михаи́л Ю́рьевич Ле́рмонтов, , mʲɪxɐˈil ˈjʉrʲjɪvʲɪtɕ ˈlʲerməntəf, links=yes; – ) was a Russian Romanticism, Romantic writer, poet and painter, sometimes called ...
**''
Borodino
The Battle of Borodino ( ) or Battle of Moscow (), in popular literature also known as the Battle of the Generals, took place on the outskirts of Moscow near the village of Borodino on 7 September 1812 during Napoleon's invasion of Russia. T ...
'' (1837)
*
Nikolai Nekrasov
**
''Korobeiniki'' (1861)
**''
Who Is Happy in Russia?'' (1863-1876)
*
Alexander Pushkin
Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin () was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era.Basker, Michael. Pushkin and Romanticism. In Ferber, Michael, ed., ''A Companion to European Romanticism''. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005. He is consid ...
**''
The Captain's Daughter'' (1836)
** ''
The Bronze Horseman
The ''Bronze Horseman'' (, literally "copper horseman") is an equestrian statue of Peter the Great in the Senate Square in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It was opened to the public on 7 (18) August 1782. Commissioned by Catherine the Great, it was ...
'' (1837)
*
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 ...
**''
Childhood
A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...
'' (1852)
**''
Boyhood'' (1854)
** ''
Sevastopol Sketches
The ''Sevastopol Sketches'' (Reforms of Russian orthography, pre-reform ; post-reform ), translated into English as ''Sebastopol Sketches'' or ''Sebastopol Stories'' or ''Sevastopol Sketches or Stories'', are three short stories by Leo Tolstoy pu ...
'' (1855)
** "
The Snowstorm" (1856)
**''
Youth
Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood (Maturity (psychological), maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as bei ...
'' (1857)
*
Ivan Turgenev
Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev ( ; rus, links=no, Иван Сергеевич ТургеневIn Turgenev's day, his name was written ., p=ɪˈvan sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ tʊrˈɡʲenʲɪf; – ) was a Russian novelist, short story writer, poe ...
**''
A Sportsman's Sketches'' (1852)
**"
Mumu" (1854)
** ''
Rudin'' (1856)
**''
Home of the Gentry'' (1859)
*
Alexander Sukhovo-Kobylin
** ''
Krechinsky's Wedding'' (1855)
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sovremennik
1830s establishments in the Russian Empire
1866 disestablishments
Defunct literary magazines published in Europe
Defunct magazines published in Russia
Magazines established in 1836
Magazines disestablished in 1866
Magazines published in Saint Petersburg
Russian-language magazines
Literary magazines published in Russia
Political magazines published in Russia
Defunct political magazines