The history of Russian autocracy is inextricably linked with serfdom. It is commonly believed that the oppressed peasants worked from morning to night, and the cruel landowners did nothing but torment the unfortunate. There is the lion's share of truth in this, but there are also many stereotypes about the slave living conditions of peasants that do not entirely correspond to reality. What misconceptions about serfs do modern people take at face value - later in the review.

1. Unlike progressive Europe, serfdom has always existed in Russia

It is generally accepted that serfdom in Russia existed almost from the moment the state was created, while Europeans were building a radically different model of social relations in their countries. In reality, everything was somewhat different: Europe also had serfdom. But its heyday occurred in the period of the 7th-15th centuries. In Russia at that time, the overwhelming majority of people were free.

The rapid enslavement of the peasants began in the 16th century, when the question of the noble army fighting for the Father Tsar and Mother Rus' became paramount. Maintaining an active army in peacetime was a troublesome task, so they began to assign peasants to plots of land so that they would work for the benefit of the nobles.

As you know, the liberation of peasants from slavery occurred in 1861. Thus, it becomes clear that serfdom existed in Russia for a little more than 250 years, but not since the formation of the state.

2. All peasants were serfs until the reform of 1861

Contrary to popular belief, not all peasants were serfs. “Trading peasants” were recognized as a separate official class. They, like merchants, had their own categories. But if a merchant of the 3rd guild had to give 220 rubles to the state treasury for the right to trade, then a peasant of the 3rd guild had to pay 4000 rubles.

In Siberia and Pomerania, serfdom did not even exist as a concept. The harsh climate and distance from the capital had an effect.

3. Russian serfs were considered the poorest in Europe

History books say a lot about the fact that Russian serfs were the poorest in Europe. But if we turn to the testimonies of foreign contemporaries who lived in Russia at that time, it turns out that not everything is as simple as it might seem at first glance.

For example, in the 17th century, the Croatian Yuri Krizanich, who spent about 15 years in our country, wrote in his observations that the standard of living in Muscovite Rus' was much higher than in Poland, Lithuania, and Sweden. In countries such as Italy, Spain and England, the upper classes were much wealthier than the Russian aristocracy, but the peasants “lived much more comfortably and better in Rus' than in the richest countries of Europe.”

4. Serfs worked tirelessly all year round

The statement that the peasants worked without straightening their backs is quite exaggerated. A year before the abolition of serfdom, the number of non-working days among peasants reached 230, i.e. they worked only 135 days. This abundance of days off was explained by the huge number of holidays. The vast majority were Orthodox, so church holidays were strictly observed.
The scientist and publicist A. N. Engelhardt in “Letters from the Village” described his observations regarding peasant life: “Weddings, nikolshchinas, zakoski, threshing, seeding, dumping, dumping, linking artels, etc.” It was then that the saying came into use: “Sleep came before seven villages, laziness came before seven villages.”

5. Serfs had no rights and could not complain against the landowner

In the Council Code of 1649, the murder of a serf was considered a serious crime and was criminally punishable. For unintentional murder, the landowner was sent to prison, where he awaited the official consideration of his case. Some were sent to hard labor.

In 1767, Catherine II, by her decree, made it impossible for serfs to submit complaints to her personally. This was done by “governments established for this purpose.” Many peasants complained about the arbitrariness of their landowners, but in fact the matter very rarely came to trial.

Justice, although not immediately, nevertheless overtook the bloodthirsty landowner, is considered a clear example of the willfulness of the landowners.

These people could be united, explaining their commonality by their enormous talent and irresistible desire to create. However, this is not what binds them at all - the fact is that they were all born into serf families. You didn't know? Meet the seven great Russian serfs!

1. Andrey Voronikhin

Andrey Nikiforovich Voronikhin

Yes Yes. The Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg was built by a serf. Not even that - a hereditary serf.

All members of the Voronikhin family were serfs of Count Alexander Stroganov, president of the capital's Academy of Arts. If the count had been a timber merchant or an idle provincial gentleman, it is unlikely that the world would have recognized the brilliant architect Andrei Voronikhin.

Kazan Cathedral. Photo: visit-petersburg.ru

But fate turned out this way and not otherwise. A reverent attitude towards art reigned at the Stroganov estate. Serfs were also introduced to the fine sciences. A capable boy, who ended up in one of the icon-painting workshops, showed extraordinary diligence, and the count sent the apprentice to Moscow to study with the famous architects V.I. Bazhenov and M.F. Kazakov. Returning to St. Petersburg, the 26-year-old young man received his freedom and, together with the count’s son, went to study abroad.

For several years, Voronikhin mastered painting and architecture in Switzerland, Germany, and France. Days and nights in libraries. Great art of the Renaissance! Everything was going just fine. But then the French Revolution of 1789 happened! Curator of Voronikhin and Stroganov Jr., Romm became one of the ideologists of the revolution and entered the Convention. The count had to urgently recall the young men to Russia. And just in time - the beloved mentor soon lost his head... on the guillotine.

In Russia, Voronikhin’s talent was helped to unfold by a regrettable event - a fire in Stroganov’s mansion. The count instructed his young protégé to rebuild the building, erected according to the design of the great Rastrelli. Voronikhin was just over 30 years old. The architect had no experience, but he had talent, hard work and honesty. These qualities were quite enough - Voronikhin began to be involved in the construction of mansions and park ensembles.

In 1799, by decree of Paul I, a competition was announced for the design of a new temple “in the Roman style” on Nevsky Prospekt. Star architects took part in the competition: Cameron, Thomas de Thomon, Gonzago. But Voronikhin’s project, similar to St. Peter’s Cathedral, won.

Step by step, without ceasing to learn and improve, the serf boy became a professor of architecture at the Academy of Arts and the author of one of the most significant architectural structures in Europe.

2. Pyotr Eliseevich Kasatkin, his descendants and the Eliseevs’ store

(Eliseevsky Store) - a building on the corner of Nevsky Prospekt (building 56) and Malaya Sadovaya Street (building 8) in St. Petersburg, an early modern architectural monument. Store facade.

Eliseevsky Store, synonymous with paradise throughout its history, is named so not in honor of one person, but in honor of a dynasty. After the revolution, there were no Eliseevs left in the family, but the store remained Eliseevsky.

Meanwhile, all this food luxury began small - with a saucer of strawberries. Serf gardener Pyotr Eliseevich Kasatkin managed, in the midst of a harsh winter, to grow a summer berry in a greenhouse and bring it to Count Sheremetyev’s Christmas table. Miracle? Without a doubt! Another miracle was freestyle and 100 rubles - a lot of money.

Arriving in St. Petersburg, Kasatkin invested every single penny in the business - he bought a wonderful product - oranges. With a tray on his head, Pyotr Eliseevich went out onto Nevsky and began to invite the noble public:

“Who wouldn’t spare a penny to please a lady with an orange?”

By evening the oranges were sold out. The profit was 1 ruble. The Eliseevs' business has gone well! A year later, Peter was able to ransom three children and a brother. Soon the “Association of the Eliseev Brothers” - the sons of Elisha - was opened.

House of the Eliseev Brothers trading partnership (Eliseevsky store).

Smart business quickly produced results. The brothers hired merchant sailing ships to deliver exotic fruits to St. Petersburg. From warm countries - mainly Spain and Portugal - traders brought sherry, Madeira and Malvasia to the city. The wines made a splash! The Eliseevs' store became famous, and the merchants themselves and their grown-up children received merchant rank.

At the end of the 19th century, after the death of Peter Eliseev, his brother Grigory Eliseev, a former serf, was an active state councilor and a member of the Duma.

The store, owned by the same family for many years, got better every day. The sellers here were paid well, but they were also asked strictly. Regardless of whether the client came in poor or rich, he was treated to the highest class in the Eliseevsky store.

House of the Eliseev Brothers trading partnership

House of the Eliseev Brothers trading partnership

Alas, in 1917 the gastronomic empire came to an end. In place of the Eliseevsky store, Gastronom No. 1 warmly opened the doors to the empty shelves. For almost a century, citizens forgot why the store was called Eliseevsky, although they did not stop calling it that.

And in the most hungry times, there was still a joke: “The merchant Eliseev returns to Leningrad from the other world - to look at his store: “Everything seemed to be in place, only, I remember, at the entrance there were barrels of red and black caviar, who are they for?” interrupted?"

Today the Eliseevsky store is a landmark of Nevsky Prospekt. Tourists do not leave the temple of trade without an edible souvenir. But few people know that the founder of the empire - serf gardener .

3. Taras Shevchenko

Young Taras Shevchenko in the workshop of K.P. Bryullov. 1947. A version of the painting is in the National Museum of Taras Shevchenko (Kyiv)

The university, metro station, theater and embankment are named after this serf. It's hard to believe, but the poet, artist and national hero - Taras Shevchenko really came from serfs. The landowner Engelhardt, who owned the family, noticed the young man’s artistic talent and sent him to study in St. Petersburg. Fortunately, the serf boy’s talent also impressed quite influential cultural figures of that time - Venetsianov, Bryullov and Zhukovsky. Patrons tried to persuade Engelhardt to let Shevchenko go, but the landowner did not agree to sign a manumission document for his serf artist. Bryullov described the owner of the young serf this way: “this is the largest pig in Torzhkov’s shoes.”

In the end, Karl Bryullov painted a portrait of Zhukovsky and played it in the lottery. Taras Shevchenko's freedom was bought with the proceeds of 2,500 rubles.

Portrait of the poet V.A. Zhukovsky. 1837. National Museum of Taras Shevchenko, Kyiv, Ukraine

Freedom has done its job. In 1840, the first collection of Shevchenko’s poems “Kobzar” was published in St. Petersburg, and after that the poem “Haydamaky” was published. Shevchenko wrote paintings and poetry equally well. However, not everyone liked his ideology. “Outrageous content”, “imaginary troubles of the hetman’s rule”, “impudent slander”, “harmful and dangerous poems” - no matter how the zealots swayed the poet’s work.

He got the most credit for his poem “Dream,” which showed undisguised satire of the empress. 33-year-old Shevchenko instantly fell under recruitment and was sent to the outskirts of the empire. Only after the death of Nicholas I, the disgraced poet was granted an amnesty. Today, the former serf is considered one of the most significant figures in Russian literary history.

4. Semyon Badaev

Votkinsk State Metallurgical Plant, Vyatka Province. Artist: Valentin Belykh

Are you unfamiliar with this name? Quite possible. The personality of Semyon Badaev is known to a narrow circle of specialists, and only his technological exploits have reached us. We are talking about the legendary Badaev steel, which in the 19th century was the best in the world for its combination of toughness and strength.

At the beginning of the century before last, steel mills annually produced up to two thousand pounds of Badaev steel. Thanks to this strongest alloy, Russia got rid of imported steel dependence for a long time. Machine tools, agricultural machines, weapons and tools, medical instruments - all this began to be produced from the Badaev alloy from the mid-19th century.

Semyon Badaev is an example of a unique talent, an absolute self-taught person, whom the government bought from serfdom from the landowner Rogozin. 3,000 rubles were paid for the freedom of the brilliant metallurgist, a huge sum at that time. But the empire's freedom from importing steel was much more expensive!

For outstanding achievements, the former serf was awarded a gold medal on the Vladimir ribbon and was awarded the rank of officer. However, the regalia did not stop the Russian genius - for the rest of his life he worked at the Kama-Votkinsk plant, where he searched for an even more perfect steel formula. By the way, it was at this plant, 10 years after the death of the inventor, that one of the Russian metallurgical miracles was manufactured - the spire of the bell tower of the Peter and Paul Cathedral in the Peter and Paul Fortress.

The spire of the bell tower of the Peter and Paul Cathedral in the Peter and Paul Fortress. Photo: Timur Agirov

5. Mikhail Shchepkin

You were not mistaken - the Shchepkinsky School was named after a serf. Former serf. The founder of Russian realistic theater, the predecessor of the Stanislavsky system.

Count Gavrila Wolkenstein, who owned little Misha's family, was partial to all kinds of activities, so he organized a home theater for fun. In one of the productions, the comedy “Nonsense,” played entirely by schoolchildren, Misha Shchepkin distinguished himself so much that, together with the “troupe,” he was invited by the mayor to entertain the public at his daughter’s wedding. This was in 1800.

Mikhail Semenovich Shchepkin. Portrait of the artist N. V. Nevrev

However, almost random experience was not enough for talent to develop to its full potential. What helped Shchepkin open up was... drunkenness. The fact is that Mikhail dreamed of the stage and spent all his free time in the Kursk theater of the Barsov brothers - he did everything he could - he prompted, and rewrote roles, and brought equipment. One day one of the actors started drinking, and the role went to Mikhail Shchepkin, who knew the text very well. Soberly assessing the chance, the young man played as if the honor of Russia depended on his role. In a sense, this is what happened...

The young actor was noticed. Soon he was already playing in the Kharkov, and then in the Poltava theater. Moreover, plays are written and characters are created especially for the innovative artist who plays the role on stage. At the same time, the actor remains a serf. Only in 1822 did fans collect an impressive amount to buy a free man for Mikhail Shchepkin.

Already a free man, Shchepkin joined the troupe of the Moscow Maly Theater, where he brilliantly played roles in performances based on plays by Shakespeare, Gogol, and Griboyedov. People called the theater where Shchepkin played “Shchepkinsky House.”

6. Orest Kiprensky

Orest Kiprensky. Self-portrait. 1828. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

If you've ever been to school, you know Kiprensky very well. Kiprensky is the author of the most famous portrait of Pushkin. And also portraits of Zhukovsky, Batyushkov, Davydov, Olenin and other influential persons of the early 19th century. In general, Orest Kiprensky is considered the earliest Russian portrait painter.

Portrait of the poet Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. 1827. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

As often happened in those powerless times, the landowner Dyakonov, without particularly worrying about the consequences, helped one of his serf peasant women become a mother. Little Orestes was enrolled in the family of the serf Adam Schwalbe, and he received his patronymic Adamovich. The surname was invented in honor of the place of residence of the goddess of love - Cypris. According to another version, Orest Adamovich was baptized in Koporye, and Kiprensky is a transformation of this toponym. When the boy turned six years old, he nevertheless received the most valuable gift from his biological father - freedom!

The second gift from my father was a place in the educational department of the Academy of Arts. Kiprensky graduated from this school with a gold medal and even remained to work at the Academy. On the one hand, a brilliant, successful artist with an incredible sense of color, light, and mood, on the other, a dissolute and passionate reveler, intemperate in libations - Kiprensky was far from academic and was not perceived by his contemporaries as a significant figure in art. For a long time the artist was completely forgotten. It was only at the beginning of the twentieth century that art connoisseurs began to show interest in his works.

On the painter’s Roman tombstone it is written “In memory of Orest Kiprensky, the most famous among Russian artists.”

7. Praskovya Zhemchugova

N.I. Argunov. Portrait of actress P.I. Kovaleva-Zhemchugova (Sheremeteva). Central Theater Museum named after. A. Bakhrushina, Moscow

The Sheremetyevs' 8-year-old serf girl, Parasha Kovaleva, sang so bewitchingly that the shocked gentlemen took her to their estate in Kuskovo. There the “nightingale” studied dance, music, languages, stagecraft, and mastered the harp and harpsichord. The girl’s “pearly” voice suggested the count and surname. However, Sheremetyev also gave precious surnames to all other peasant artists, from Granatov to Biryuzov.

Zhemchugova played her first role at the age of 11, and by the age of 17 she was already an accomplished actress. Arriving in St. Petersburg, the count introduced his “lark” to Paul I. Having received the greatest patronage, the actress became very popular in high society, and in 1801 Praskovya Zhemchugova became the wife of Nikolai Sheremetyev. To create a pedigree for his serf wife, the ambitious Sheremetyev recorded her in the metric as the Polish princess Kovalevskaya. And of course he gave his freedom to his wife and all her relatives.

Zhemchugova’s most famous song, which has survived to this day, is considered to be the autobiographical poetic story of the meeting of a serf peasant woman with her future husband - the song “Late in the evening I drove the cows home from the forest...”. For two centuries the song was one of the most beloved among the people and today it can often be heard at folklore festivals.

• P.S.: The portrait of actress P.I. Kovaleva-Zhemchugova was painted by the Russian painter Nikolai Ivanovich Argunov, whose entire serf dynasty (including him) was also at the disposal of the Sheremetyev counts.

Russian literature has repeatedly touched upon problems associated with serfdom. A number of writers directed their efforts, some to a greater extent, others to a lesser extent, to ensure that the long-awaited event happened: the shackles of serfdom fell. Sometimes these were only indirect indications of the terrible situation of the peasantry at the mercy of the landowners. In other cases, it was serfdom that served as the main theme of a literary work.

The first work of this kind in Russian literature is A.N. Radishchev’s book “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow.” This work is devoted by the author exclusively to the question of the situation of the peasants and is directed entirely against serfdom. The picture painted by Radishchev is truly terrible. But his book turned out to be written at the wrong time, and the author personally paid for it. The ground had not yet been prepared for this kind of work, the time had not yet come for the implementation of Radishchev’s ideal - the fall of serfdom. Radishchev was captured by order of Empress Catherine II and interrogated, but even here he did not renounce his convictions. To give legal form to his conviction, he was accused of treason and exiled to Siberia.

Radishchev's fate must have served as a stern warning to more than one writer, and after him no literary works directly directed against serfdom appeared for a long time. Nevertheless, all the prominent writers of the subsequent era spoke out against this phenomenon of Russian life, in a more hidden form. This issue was touched upon by Pushkin and Griboyedov, Lermontov and Gogol.

In Griboedov’s “Woe from Wit,” his attitude towards serfdom is revealed in several places through the mouths of the characters. Individual expressions touching on the situation of the servants slip through Lisa’s work, but in the foreground here we need to put Chatsky’s story about the landowner’s exchange of peasants who saved his life for greyhound dogs and about the “sale of one by one” “zephyrs” and “cupids.”

Pushkin also touched upon this issue and spoke out much more clearly than Griboyedov, becoming, of course, in the ranks of opponents of serfdom. Everyone knows the final words of his poem “Village”:
“I will see, friends, a people liberated
And slavery, which fell due to the king’s mania..."

At this time, society, as a result of events in the West, as well as thanks to advanced minds and literary influence, already had a different attitude towards serfdom and was increasingly imbued with a humane attitude towards the peasants and the idea of ​​the need to liberate them. This was reflected in Pushkin’s later works: Onegin, as a person belonging to the enlightened strata of Russian society, “replaced corvée with easy rent.”

Lermontov also paid attention to the issue of serfdom. In his “Strange Man,” notes sympathetic to the peasantry emerge.

There are also a few references to serfdom in Gogol. Only in a few places in “Dead Souls” does he touch upon the peasantry, but here he shows sympathy for them more than once, as, for example, when describing poverty in the village of Plyushkin, in the story of how Korobochka sold her peasant women, and especially in Chichikov’s reflections on the list of the dead shower. Here Gogol himself speaks through the mouth of Chichikov, and shows deep sympathy for the men, deep lyricism when describing their fate.

Grigorovich, a contemporary of Turgenev, who only shortly before the appearance of “Notes of a Hunter”, who wrote the famous story “The Village” and then, the following year, “Anton the Miserable,” comes directly to the question of the situation of the peasants. Here, serfdom alone serves as the theme and content; the depiction of the situation of the peasants is not a sidebar, and the author’s intention is not hidden by it. He openly attacks serfdom and directly declares himself its enemy. But now he has nothing to fear from Radishchev’s fate; half a century has passed since then, and Russian life has moved far forward. The soil is already shaking under the feet of the serf owners. And so, Turgenev becomes in the first ranks of their enemies, perhaps even at the head of those attacking serfdom.

Social significance of Turgenev’s “Notes of a Hunter”

Turgenev was deeply imbued with the awareness of the harmfulness of serfdom, its injustice, cruelty and shamefulness. He could not come to terms with its existence; he was clearly, definitely aware of the need to abolish it and, prompted by this consciousness, dealt him sensitive blows. A direct consequence of this way of thinking was the famous “Annibal’s oath,” Turgenev’s vow to himself to use all his strength to overthrow the then shaky serfdom, which for him was, in his own words, his personal enemy.

In order to better implement his plan of attack, Turgenev settled abroad: from a distance he could better, having gathered his strength, attack his enemy. And indeed, he carried out this attack, and it resulted in the form of “Notes of a Hunter” - stories, first published separately in different magazines, and then published by Turgenev himself as a collection in two parts.

“Notes of a Hunter” - this was the fulfillment of Turgenev’s “Annibal’s oath”, and in a loud protest against the prevailing shameful injustice - their social significance.

Turgenev’s “Notes of a Hunter” influenced not only those layers of society that were already inclined to condemn serfdom. It is especially important to note that Emperor Alexander II himself, who had previously spoken out against some laws that alleviated the situation of the peasants, subsequently said that after he read “Notes of a Hunter,” the thought of the need to free the peasants did not leave him for a minute.

FAMOUS SERFS

PRASKOVYA ZHEMCHUGOVA

On March 7 (February 23, old style), 1803, Praskovya Ivanovna Zhemchugova-Kovaleva, the famous actress, serf of the Sheremetyev counts, died. Bright dramatic talent, extraordinary voice and beauty quickly made Praskovya, the daughter of the serf blacksmith Kovalev, who was inherited by the wife of Sheremetyev Sr., the prima of the serf theater, and later Countess Sheremetyeva. Empress Catherine II herself, admiring Zhemchugova's performance, awarded her a diamond ring in recognition of her talent.

The fate of Praskovya Kovaleva could have turned out differently if it had not been for the fashion of that time for serf theaters and a rare gift - an extraordinary bewitching voice. 8-year-old Praskovya was taken to the count's estate in Kuskovo and began to be taught stagecraft, dancing, music, playing the harp and harpsichord, and foreign languages. At the same time, she received the pseudonym Zhemchugova: Sheremetyev wanted to change the peasant surnames of his actresses to pseudonyms derived from the names of precious stones - Zhemchugova, Biryuzov, Granatov. It is believed that the actress received the pseudonym Zhemchugova for her gentle “pearly” voice.

Praskovya played her first role at the age of 11, she appeared as a maid in Grétry's opera The Experience of Friendship. At the grand opening of the Sheremetyev Theater, timed to coincide with the victory in the war with Turkey on June 22, 1795, Praskovya shone in the leading role of the Turkish woman Zelmira, who fell in love with a Russian officer, in the musical drama by I. Kozlovsky based on the text by P. Potemkin “Zelmira and Smelon, or the Capture of Izmail” . At the age of seventeen, Zhemchugova played her best role, according to contemporaries, of Eliana in “Marriages of the Samnites.” It was for this role that Emperor Paul I granted Praskovya a pearl necklace, and awarded the owner of the theater, by that time the son of Count Sheremetyev, the title of chief marshal.

In 1798, Count Nikolai Sheremetyev gave freedom to Praskovya and the entire Kovalev family, and in 1801, having received the tsar's permission for an unequal marriage, he married the actress. At the request of his wife, according to the design of the architect Giacomo Quarenghi, the Count built the Hospice House - one of the first institutions in Russia to provide medical care to the poor and orphans. The Sklifosovsky Research Institute of Emergency Medicine traces its history back to him.

Praskovya Zhemchugova died in 1803 from consumption at the age of 34, three weeks after the birth of her son Dmitry. She was buried in St. Petersburg in the family tomb of Counts Sheremetev in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

MIKHAIL SCHEPKIN

The founder of the Russian realistic theater, Mikhail Shchepkin, was born in the Kursk province into the family of serfs, Count G. S. Volkenstein, who organized a home theater for the amusement of children, then young Mikhail became interested in acting. In 1805, he made his debut on the professional stage: quite by accident, it was necessary to replace an actor in a play based on the play by L.-S. Mercier. From that time on, with the permission of Count Wolkenstein, the actor began acting at the Barsov Brothers Theater in Kursk.

Prince V. Meshchersky had a great influence on the young actor, whose acting style amazed Shchepkin. He himself believed that his transformation into a real actor occurred under the influence of Meshchersky’s play. He “didn’t play on stage, but lived.” Since then, Shchepkin began to implement a realistic style of acting, using the principle of “internal justification of the role.” Shchepkin advocated getting used to the image of the character being portrayed, so that the audience could feel the sincerity of the game. This new stage style made Mikhail Shchepkin the leading actor in the province. In 1822, fans of his talent collected the necessary amount and bought the actor out of serfdom. In order to raise the required amount, a performance was organized, with a subscription fee. In 1822, already free, Shchepkin was invited to join the troupe of the Moscow Maly Theater, which later acquired the unofficial name “Shchepkin’s House.” In the capital, he brilliantly played the roles of Shylock in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, Famusov in Griboyedov's Woe from Wit, and the mayor in Gogol's The Inspector General.

New principles of acting: deep penetration into the character and understanding of the character, which became widespread thanks to Shchepkin, later formed the basis of the famous “Stanislavsky system”. The Higher Theater School at the State Academic Maly Theater in Moscow, the regional drama theater in Belgorod and streets in Moscow, Kursk, Alma-Ata were named after Shchepkin.

TARAS SHEVCHENKO

The future National Hero of Ukraine Taras Shevchenko was born in the Kiev province into the family of the serf landowner Engelhardt, who, noticing the boy’s talent for drawing, sent him to study in St. Petersburg with the artist V. Shiryaev, intending to make Taras his serf painter. In St. Petersburg, the talented serf was introduced to the secretary of the Academy of Arts V. I. Grigorovich, the artists A. Venetsianov and K. Bryullov, and the poet V. Zhukovsky, thanks to whose efforts Shevchenko was redeemed from serfdom. For this purpose, the portrait of Zhukovsky, painted by Bryullov, was played in a lottery, and the 2,500 rubles received went toward Shevchenko’s freedom. As a token of gratitude to Zhukovsky, Shevchenko dedicated one of his largest works to him - the poem “Katerina”.

In 1840, Kobzar, the first Ukrainian collection of poems by Shevchenko, was published in St. Petersburg. Soon he published “Haydamaky” - his largest poetic work, “Polars”, “Katerina”, “Naymichka”, “Khustochka”, “Caucasus”. For his poem “The Dream,” which contained a satire on the empress, Shevchenko was sent into exile with a ban on writing and drawing. He was freed by an amnesty after the death of Nicholas I.

Shevchenko, who wrote more than a thousand works of fiction, is considered the founder of modern Ukrainian literature and the norms of the literary Ukrainian language. In addition, Taras Shevchenko is one of the most famous masters of Ukrainian painting. The National University in Kyiv, an embankment in Moscow, Ukrainian theaters and a Kyiv metro station are named after him.

ANDREY VORONIKHN

Russian architect Andrei Voronikhin was lucky to be born into the family of serfs, Count A. S. Stroganov, a famous philanthropist and philanthropist. Stroganov opened several art schools, in one of which Voronikhin studied painting with the famous icon painter Yushkov. Soon the count himself drew attention to the young man’s talent and sent him to study at the Moscow School of Architecture, where V. I. Bazhenov and M. F. Kazakov became his mentors. Count Stroganov granted freedom to Voronikhin in 1785, and a year later the young man went to study architecture, mechanics, mathematics and natural sciences in France and Switzerland with the count's son.

In 1791, the young architect began his first work - finishing the interiors of the Stroganov Palace, built according to the design of Rastrelli, an adherent of the Baroque style. Voronikhin preferred the simplicity of classicism. It is believed that it was the European trip, during which Voronikhin became acquainted with examples of ancient architecture, that predetermined his love for classicism, which turned to the forms of ancient architecture as a standard of harmony, logic and beauty. In the same classicist style, he rebuilt the interiors of the Stroganov dacha and several other houses.

Voronikhin’s most famous work was the Cathedral of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, made in the Empire style. After completion of construction, Voronikhin was awarded the Order of St. Anne of the second degree, and went down in history as one of the founders of the Russian Empire style.

IVAN SVYAZEV

The serf princess Shakhovskaya's architect Ivan Sviyazev was educated at the Imperial Academy of Arts. At the exam in 1817, he received a silver medal of the 2nd degree for his project “Post Yard”, but a year later Sviyazev was expelled from the academy due to his status as a serf. Sviyazev was released in 1821, after which he immediately received the title of artist-architect of the Academy of Arts.

For ten years the architect worked in Perm, where, according to his designs, a school for the children of clerical workers, a house for the civil governor, and a theological seminary were built. Sviyazev is responsible for the final design of the bell tower of the Transfiguration Cathedral, which now houses the Perm Art Gallery. In 1832, Sviyazev moved to St. Petersburg, where he worked as an architect and teacher at the Mining Institute, where he published the first “Guide to Architecture” in Russia, adopted for teaching at the Mining Institute and other educational institutions. For this work, Sviyazev was awarded the title of member of the Academy of Sciences, which gave an honorable review of his work, and the architect himself began to be invited to various educational institutions to give lectures on architecture. In addition to this work, Sviyazev also published a “Textbook of Architecture”, “Foundations of Furnace Art” and a number of articles published in the “Mining Journal”, “Journal of the Ministry of State. Property", "Journal of Fine Arts" and "Proceedings of the Imperial Free Economic Society.