Vissarion Belinsky

Vissarion Belinsky
V. Belinsky, lithograph by Kirill Gorbunov
V. Belinsky, lithograph by Kirill Gorbunov
BornVissarion Grigoryevich Belinsky
(1811-06-11)11 June 1811
Sveaborg, Grand Duchy of Finland, Russian Empire
Died7 June 1848(1848-06-07) (aged 36)
Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire
OccupationEditor of Sovremennik, and Otechestvennye Zapiski
NationalityRussian
Period1830s–1840s
GenreCriticism
SubjectLiterature
Literary movementWesternizers
Russian Schellingianism[1]
A bust of Belinsky
A 1957 Vissarion Belinsky Soviet postage stamp

Vissarion Grigoryevich Belinsky (Russian: Виссарион Григорьевич Белинский[note 1], romanized: Vissarión Grigórʹjevič Belínskij, IPA: [vʲɪsərʲɪˈon ɡrʲɪˈɡorʲjɪvʲɪdʑ bʲɪˈlʲinskʲɪj]; June 11 [O.S. May 30] 1811 – June 7 [O.S. May 26] 1848) was a Russian literary critic of Westernizing tendency.[2] Belinsky played one of the key roles in the career of poet and publisher Nikolay Nekrasov and his popular magazine Sovremennik. He was the most influential of the Westernizers, especially among the younger generation. He worked primarily as a literary critic, because that area was less heavily censored than political pamphlets. He agreed with Slavophiles that society had precedence over individualism, but he insisted the society had to allow the expression of individual ideas and rights. He strongly opposed Slavophiles on the role of Orthodoxy, which he considered a retrograde force. He emphasized reason and knowledge, and attacked autocracy and theocracy.[3]

  1. ^ Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy (1998): "Schellingianism, Russian".
  2. ^ Leier, Mark (2006). Bakunin: The Creative Passion. Seven Stories Press. p. 68. ISBN 978-1-58322-894-4.
  3. ^ Neil Cornwell, "Belinsky and V.F. Odoyevsky." Slavonic and East European Review 62.1 (1984): 6–24. online


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