Nikolay Karamzin- Russian historian, writer, poet and prose writer. He is the author of “History of the Russian State” - one of the first generalizing works on the history of Russia, written in 12 volumes.

Karamzin is the largest Russian writer of the era of sentimentalism, nicknamed the “Russian Stern.”

In addition, he managed to carry out many important reforms in the Russian language, as well as introduce dozens of new words into use.

Feeling confident in his abilities and inspired by his first success, Nikolai Karamzin begins to actively engage in writing. From his pen come many interesting and instructive stories.

Soon Karamzin becomes the head of the Moscow Journal, which publishes the works of various writers and poets. Until that time, there was no such publication in the Russian Empire.

Works by Karamzin

It was in the Moscow Journal that Nikolai Karamzin published “Poor Liza,” which is considered one of the best works in his biography. After this, “Aonids”, “My trifles” and “Aglaya” came out from his pen.

Karamzin was an incredibly efficient and talented person. He managed to compose poetry, write reviews and articles, participate in theatrical life, and also study many historical documents.

Despite the fact that he liked creativity and creativity, he looked at poetry from a different perspective.

Nikolai Karamzin wrote poetry in the style of European sentimentalism, thanks to which he became the best Russian poet working in this direction.

In his poems, he primarily paid attention to the spiritual state of a person, and not to his physical shell.

In 1803, a significant event occurred in Karamzin’s biography: by personal decree, the emperor granted Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin the title of historiographer; 2 thousand rubles of annual salary were then added to the rank.

From that time on, Karamzin began to move away from fiction, and began to study historical documents even more diligently, including the most ancient chronicles.

During this biographical period, he was constantly offered various government positions, but apart from Karamzin, he was not interested in anything.

At the same time, he wrote several historical books, which were only a prelude to the main work of his life.

"History of Russian Goverment"

His work was appreciated by all segments of society. Representatives of the elite tried to acquire the “History of the Russian State” in order to become familiar with a detailed history for the first time in their lives.

Many prominent people sought meetings with the writer, and the emperor openly admired him. It is worth noting here that as a historian, Nikolai Karamzin was a supporter of absolute monarchy.

Having received wide recognition and fame, Karamzin needed silence in order to continue to work fruitfully. For this purpose, he was allocated separate housing in Tsarskoye Selo, where the historian could carry out his activities in comfortable conditions.

Karamzin's books attracted the reader with the clarity and simplicity of the presentation of historical events. While describing certain facts, he did not forget about beauty.

Works of Karamzin

During his biography, Nikolai Karamzin completed many translations, among which was the work “Julius Caesar”. However, he did not work in this direction for long.

It is worth noting that Karamzin managed to radically change the Russian literary language. First of all, the writer sought to get rid of outdated Church Slavonic words, as well as modify the grammar.

Karamzin took the syntax and grammar of the French language as the basis for his transformations.

The result of Karamzin's reforms was the emergence of new words that are still used in everyday life. Here is a short list of words introduced into the Russian language by Karamzin:

Today it is difficult to imagine the modern Russian language without these and other words.

An interesting fact is that it was thanks to the efforts of Nikolai Karamzin that the letter “e” appeared in our alphabet. It should be admitted that not everyone liked his reforms.

Many criticized him and tried to do everything possible to preserve the “old” language.

However, Karamzin was soon elected a member of the Russian and Imperial Academy of Sciences, thus recognizing his services to the Fatherland.

Personal life

In Karamzin’s biography there were two women to whom he was married. His first wife was Elizaveta Protasova.

She was a very literate and flexible girl, but she was often sick. In 1802, a year after the wedding, their daughter Sophia was born.

After giving birth, Elizabeth began to develop a fever, from which she later died. A number of biographers believe that the story “Poor Liza” was written in honor of Protasova.

An interesting fact is that Karamzin’s daughter Sofia was friends with and.

Karamzin’s second wife was Ekaterina Kolyvanova, who was the illegitimate daughter of Prince Vyazemsky.

In this marriage they had 9 children, three of whom died in childhood.

Some of the children have reached certain heights in life.

For example, son Vladimir was a very witty and promising careerist. He later became a senator in the Justice Department.

Karamzin's youngest daughter, Elizaveta, never married, although she had a great mind and was an extremely kind girl.

Karamzin was buried at the Tikhvin cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

Photos of Karamzin

At the end you can see some of Karamzin’s most famous portraits. All are made from paintings, not from life.

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Created by Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin for the benefit of the fatherland, “History of the Russian State” is the main achievement in his biography.

Karamzin biography for children, the most important thing

Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin was born into a noble family of a retired military man and landowner, in 1766, in the village of Znamenskoye.

Karamzins are nobles descended from the Crimean Tatars. Hence the name of the surname - Kara Murza - the black prince. Mother did not have the chance to raise Kolya. Ekaterina Petrovna died, leaving the child to the care of her father. Mikhail Yegorovich hired nannies and governesses to raise and educate his son. The future writer was educated at home, reading books from his mother’s library.

A separate milestone in Karamzin’s biography is his studies at the Schaden professorial boarding school. There the young man continued his education, studying German and French. His father encouraged the future historian to enroll in the regiment, which allowed him to study in Moscow at a boarding school at Moscow University.

Mikhail Yegorovich insisted that his son become a military man. As soon as his father died, his son changed his military career to work as a journalist and writer.
Young Nikolai loved to attend social events, where he met creative people. Later, in collaboration with them, he published magazines and almanacs.
He traveled and described his impressions of Europe in books. Under Alexander I, he received the position of historiographer and wrote the most important collection - “History of the Russian State.” Married twice, raised 10 children of his own.

He died of untreated pneumonia in 1826, in St. Petersburg.

Youth and military service

The young graduate of boarding houses served in the Preobrazhensky Regiment, he did not like the service, he went on leave for a year, and after the death of his father, he resigned from service with the rank of second lieutenant. This marked the end of Karamzin’s military career.

Karamzin visited secular society, met philosophers and writers, made useful contacts, became interested in the Freemasons, and tried his hand at literary creativity. With friends I developed the first Russian children's magazine.

Traveled through Germany, Switzerland, France. Material from the trips formed the basis of “Letters from a Russian Traveler,” which became famous and was approved by critics.

Literary creativity

Karamzin read reformers, progressive-minded European writers.

He organized the publication of the Moscow Magazine, where he subsequently published his literary novel “”.

He wrote articles for the magazine “Bulletin of Europe”, where he showed his ability to present interesting stories.

Alexander I noted the publicist’s progressive mind and desire for knowledge, and appointed him as a historiographer, instructing him to write the history of the country. It took twenty-two years to describe the events that took place in the state from the beginning of time. In 1816-1824, books began to be printed in the multi-volume edition “History of the Russian State”.

Volumes of the collection from the first to the eighth, published in a circulation of 3,000 books, were sold in a month. The following volumes, from the ninth to the eleventh, have been translated into foreign languages. The last, unfinished twelfth volume was published after the historian’s death.

In his descriptions of the Russian way of life, he spoke out for an absolute monarchy. During his lifetime, he was awarded the title of state councilor and awarded the Order of Saints Anna and Vladimir

Nikolai Mikhailovich introduced the letter “e” and new words into literary descriptions and colloquial speech.

I ate boiled rice for lunch and 2 baked apples for dinner.

When asked what was going on in Russia, he invariably answered: “They are stealing.”

The story “Poor Liza” by Karamzin is based on the story of the unhappy love of a peasant woman for a nobleman. The work, written and published in 1792, influenced the further development of Russian literature - here for the first time “people acted, the life of the heart and passions was depicted in the midst of ordinary everyday life.” The story has become an example of sentimentalism: the images of the characters in the story and the author's position are ambiguous, feeling is the highest value, and the inner world of a common man is revealed first of all.

The story “Poor Lisa” is studied in the 9th grade literature course. In order to familiarize yourself with the plot and characters of the work, we suggest reading a summary of “Poor Lisa.”

Main characters

Lisa- a peasant girl who selflessly loves Erast. Mentally rich, open, sensitive nature.

Erast- nobleman. He is kind, but weak in character, unable to think about the consequences of his actions.

Other characters

Narrator– a sentimental person, empathizes with his heroes. He loves “those objects that touch the heart and make you shed tears of tender sorrow.”

Lisa's mother- a simple peasant woman, dreams of a happy marriage for her daughter.

The narrator, on whose behalf the story is told, knows the surroundings of Moscow very well. His favorite place is the mountain where the Simonov Monastery is located. From here you can enjoy an amazingly beautiful view of Moscow.

Next to the monastery, there is an empty shack, crumbling. About thirty years ago, Lisa and her mother lived there. After the death of his father, a wealthy peasant, his wife and daughter lived in poverty. The widow grieved over the death of her husband, became weaker every day and could not work. Lisa, who was only fifteen in the year of her father’s death, “not sparing her rare beauty, worked day and night.” She wove canvas, knitted, picked berries, flowers and sold it all in Moscow.

One day the heroine, as usual, came to the city to sell lilies of the valley. On one of the streets she met a young man of pleasant appearance and offered to buy him flowers. Instead of the five kopecks that Lisa asked for, the young man wanted to give a ruble for “lilies of the valley plucked by the hands of a beautiful girl,” but Lisa did not take the extra money. Then he told the girl that he would always like to be her only buyer. The stranger asked Lisa where she lived, and the girl answered.

Arriving home, Lisa told her mother about the meeting.

The next day, having collected the best lilies of the valley, Lisa went to Moscow, but never met yesterday’s stranger.

In the evening, sitting sadly at the yarn, the girl unexpectedly saw a recent acquaintance under the window (his name was Erast) and was very happy. The old mother told him about her grief and “the sweet qualities” of her daughter. The mother really liked Erast, and she dreamed that Lisa’s groom would be just like that. However, Lisa objected that this was impossible - after all, he was a “master”, and they were peasants.

Erast, a nobleman by birth, “with a fair mind and a kind heart, kind by nature, but weak and flighty,” thirsted only for entertainment. Lisa's beauty and naturalness amazed him so much that the young man decided: he had found his happiness.

Lise slept restlessly at night - the image of Erast disturbed and excited the imagination. Even before sunrise, the girl went to the bank of the Moscow River and, sitting down on the grass, watched the awakening nature. Suddenly the silence of the morning was broken by the sound of oars, and Lisa saw Erast sailing in a boat.

A moment later, the young man jumped out of the boat, ran up to Lisa, took her hands, kissed her and confessed his love. This confession echoed in the girl’s soul with delightful music - and Erast heard from her that she was loved too. The young man swore eternal love to Lisa.

Since then, Lisa and Erast met every evening, talked about their love, kissed, “their embrace was pure and immaculate.” The girl aroused Erast’s admiration, and all past social fun seemed insignificant. He was sure that he could never harm his beloved “shepherdess.”

At Lisa’s request, Erast often visited her mother, who was always happy about the young man’s arrival.

The young people continued dating. One day Lisa came to her beloved in tears. It turned out that the son of a rich peasant wants to marry her, and Lisa’s mother is happy about this, because she does not know that her daughter has a “dear friend.”

Erast said that he values ​​​​the happiness of his beloved, and after the death of his mother they will live together, “like in paradise.” After such words, Lisa threw herself into the arms of Erast - “and at this hour integrity had to perish,” the heroes became close.

They still met, says the author, but “how everything has changed!” Platonic love gave way to feelings that were not new to Erast. Lisa, for her beloved, “only lived and breathed.” Erast began to come less often, and one day he did not appear for several days, and when he finally came for a date, he said that he had to say goodbye for a while - there was a war going on, he was in the service, and his regiment was setting out on a campaign. On the day of parting, saying goodbye to Erast, Lisa “said goodbye to her soul.” They both cried.

The days of separation were filled with bitterness and melancholy for Lisa. Almost two months passed, the girl went to Moscow to get rose water for her mother. Walking down the street, she noticed a rich carriage and saw Erast in it. At the gate of the house where the carriage entered, Lisa approached Erast and hugged him. He was cold, explained to Lisa that he was engaged - life circumstances forced him to get married. He asked to forget about him, said that he loved Lisa and loves her, wishes her well. Having put one hundred rubles in the girl’s pocket, he ordered the servant to “escort her from the yard.”

Erast really was at war, but did not fight, but lost his fortune at cards. To improve matters, the young man decided to marry a rich widow who had long been in love with him.

"I'm dead!" – this was the only thing Lisa could think, walking wherever she looked after meeting her beloved. She woke up, finding herself on the shore of a pond, where she and Erast often saw each other. Memories of a happy time “shook her soul.” Seeing the neighbor’s daughter Anyuta, the girl gave her money and her apologies for her mother. She herself threw herself into the waters of the pond and drowned. The mother, unable to bear the death of her beloved daughter, died. Erast, who learned about Lisa’s death, blamed himself for her death; he never found happiness in life. Shortly before Erast's death, the narrator met him, and he told him his story.

Conclusion

In his work, Karamzin proclaimed a timeless idea - any person, regardless of origin and position in society, is worthy of love, respect and compassion. This humanistic position of the author deserves attention in modern life.

A brief retelling of “Poor Lisa” is only the first step towards getting to know the story. The full text will allow you to comprehend the depth of the author’s intentions and appreciate the beauty and brevity of the language of the work.

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Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin

Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin was born on December 1, 1766. in the family of a Simbirsk landowner, who came from an old noble family. He was brought up in a private Moscow boarding school. In his adolescence, the future writer read historical novels, in which he was especially fascinated by “dangers and heroic friendship.” According to the noble custom of that time, enlisted in military service as a boy, he, “coming of age,” entered the regiment in which he had long been enrolled. But army service weighed heavily on him. The young lieutenant dreamed of doing literary work. The death of his father gave Karamzin a reason to ask for resignation, and the small inheritance he received made it possible to fulfill his long-standing dream - a trip abroad. The 23-year-old traveler visited Switzerland, Germany, France and England. This trip enriched him with a variety of impressions. Returning to Moscow, Karamzin published “Letters of a Russian Traveler,” where he described everything that struck him and was remembered in foreign lands: landscapes and the appearance of foreigners, folk morals and customs, city life and political system, architecture and painting, his meetings with writers and scientists , as well as various social events that he witnessed, including the beginning of the French Revolution (1789-1794).

For several years Karamzin published the Moscow Journal, and then the Vestnik Evropy magazine. He created a new type of magazine, in which literature, politics, and science coexisted. The various materials in these publications were written in an easy, elegant language, presented in a lively and entertaining manner, so they were not only accessible to the general public, but also contributed to the development of literary taste among readers.

Karamzin became the head of a new direction in Russian literature - sentimentalism. The main theme of sentimental literature is touching feelings, emotional experiences of a person, “the life of the heart.” Karamzin was one of the first to write about the joys and sufferings of modern, ordinary people, and not ancient heroes and mythological demigods. In addition, he was the first to introduce into Russian literature a simple, understandable language, close to colloquial.

The story “Poor Liza” brought Karamzin great success. Sensitive readers and especially female readers shed streams of tears over her. The pond at the Simonov Monastery in Moscow, where the heroine of the work Liza drowned herself because of unrequited love, began to be called “Lizin’s Pond”; real pilgrimages were made to him. Karamzin had long been planning to take the history of Russia seriously; he wrote several historical stories, including such brilliant works as “Marfa the Posadnitsa” and “Natalia, the Boyar’s Daughter.”

In 1803 The writer received from Emperor Alexander the official title of historiographer and permission to work in archives and libraries. For several years, Karamzin studied ancient chronicles, working around the clock, damaging his eyesight and damaging his health. Karamzin considered history a science that should educate people and instruct them in everyday life.

Nikolai Mikhailovich was a sincere supporter and defender of autocracy. He believed that “the autocracy founded and resurrected Russia.” Therefore, the historian’s focus was on the formation of supreme power in Russia, the reign of tsars and monarchs. But not every ruler of a state deserves approval. Karamzin was indignant towards any violence. For example, the historian condemned the tyrannical rule of Ivan the Terrible, the despotism of Peter and the harshness with which he carried out reforms, eradicating ancient Russian customs.

The enormous work created by the historian in a relatively short time was a stunning success with the public. “The History of the Russian State” was read by all enlightened Russia, it was read aloud in salons, discussed, and heated debates took place around it. When creating “The History of the Russian State,” Karamzin used a huge number of ancient chronicles and other historical documents. To give readers a true understanding, the historian has included notes in each volume. These notes are the result of colossal work.

In 1818 Karamzin was elected an honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences.

The narrator tells about the surroundings of the Sinov Monastery, beautiful at any time of the year. He observes and represents the monks living in their cells, historical events associated with the monastery.

Here she lived with her old mother in a now collapsed hut not far from the monastery. The house stood near a birch grove in a meadow about 30 years ago. Her father was wealthy, sober and hard-working. When he died, Lisa was 15 years old. After his death, the land was given for rent, the mother grew weaker, yearning for her beloved husband. Lisa wove linen, knitted stockings, picked flowers and berries and sold them in Moscow. Her mother dreamed of marrying off her daughter so she could die in peace.

One spring, seventeen-year-old Lisa went to sell lilies of the valley. The young man wanted to pay a whole ruble for them, but Lisa did not take the ruble, because the flowers cost 5 kopecks. The young man said that he would like her to pick flowers just for him. He asked Liza's address.

Lisa told everything to her mother, who praised the girl for not taking extra money.

The next day Lisa picked lilies of the valley. She waited until the evening, and then threw the flowers into the Moscow River, not wanting to sell them to others.

The next day in the evening Lisa was spinning by the window and singing. Suddenly she pulled back from the window, seeing that same young man. A young man who called himself Erast suggested that his mother buy Liza’s products directly from their home so that Liza would not go into the city. Mother was very happy, because she was always worried when Lisa left. She wishes her daughter the same groom. Lisa is confused.

Erast was a rich nobleman, smart and kind, but weak and flighty. He became disillusioned with secular amusements and sought the naturalness described in idylls. Seeing Lisa, he thought that he had found his ideal.

Lisa slept poorly that night and came to the river bank before dawn. Nature gradually came to life, the shepherd drove his flock. Lisa dreamed of what would happen if Erast was a peasant, a shepherd. Suddenly Erast sailed to her on a boat. He took her hand, kissed her and said that he loved her. Lisa also confessed her love. For two hours they sat on the grass, looking into each other's eyes. Erast promised to love Lisa always. He asked not to say anything to his mother so that she would not think anything bad. Lisa reluctantly agreed.

Lisa and Erast saw each other every evening when Lisa's mother went to bed. Their embrace was chaste. Erast decided to retire from secular amusements for a passionate friendship with the shepherdess (as he called Lisa). He would like to love her all his life like a brother. But did he know his heart?

Erast, at Lisa’s request, often visited her mother and loved to listen to the old woman’s stories about her tender relationship with her husband Ivan.

A few weeks later, Lisa showed up on a date looking sad. A rich groom from a neighboring village wooed her. Mother is upset by Lisa’s refusal. She doesn’t know about the love of her daughter and Erast. Erast promises, after his mother’s death, to take Liza with him and live with her in a village in the forest, because Liza’s peasant origins are not important to him, but her soul is important. Lisa rushed into his arms and lost her virginity.

A thunderstorm began, Lisa was afraid of God's punishment. Erast accompanied her home, promising to love her as before.

On subsequent dates, Erast no longer had enough manifestations of platonic love. He could desire nothing more and could not be proud of his feelings. Lisa lived only for Erast, and he was no longer ready to see her every evening.

One day Erast did not come for 5 days, and then announced that he was going to war with his regiment. He asks the girl not to cry and take care of herself.

The young man leaves money to Lisa’s mother so that Lisa does not sell her work to anyone else in his absence. The old woman wishes the good master a quick return and dreams of inviting him to her daughter’s wedding and making him godfather of her grandchildren.

Saying goodbye at dawn, Lisa and Erast cried. When Erast left, Lisa fainted. Only the thought of her mother prompted her to return home. The girl hid her melancholy from her mother.

Two months later, Lisa went to Moscow to get rose water for her mother. She saw Erast getting out of a magnificent carriage. Lisa rushed to him. Erast took her hand, led her to his office and said that circumstances had changed, he was engaged and asked Lisa to leave him alone. Erast said that he loved Lisa and gave her 100 rubles, asking the servant to escort her from the yard.

Erast was actually in the army, lost his fortune at cards, and upon his return planned to marry an elderly rich widow, who had long been in love with him, in order to improve his affairs. The author cannot justify Erast.

Lisa, finding herself on the street, thought that Erast loved someone else. In confusion, she fainted. When the girl approached the pond where she met Erast, she saw the neighbor’s fifteen-year-old daughter Anyuta. Lisa gave her 10 imperials and asked her to take them to her mother and apologize for Lisa to her, because she had hidden her love for the cruel man who cheated on her. Then Lisa threw herself into the lake. Anyuta called people from the village who pulled Lisa out, but she was already dead.