Fedotov philosopher biography. Pavel Fedotov. Other biographical materials

FEDOTOV Georgy Petrovich
(1886-1951), Russian historian, philosopher, publicist. Born October 1, 1886 in Saratov. In the biography and spiritual evolution of Fedotov there is a lot that is characteristic of the destinies of many Russian intellectuals at the beginning of the century. The provincial life of a poor noble family (Saratov, then Voronezh), the passion for Marxism experienced already in the gymnasium years, participation in the Social Democratic movement in 1904-1910, arrests, exile, life in exile. Later, however, Fedotov moved away from revolutionary activities. The range of his scientific interests is finally determined - medieval history (he graduated in 1912 from the Faculty of History and Philology of St. Petersburg University, where he was a student of the famous medievalist I.M. Grevs). In 1917-1924, Fedotov taught the history of the Middle Ages at Saratov University, worked as a translator in private publishing houses in Petrograd, and participated in the activities of a religious and philosophical circle. Since 1925 in exile (Berlin, then Paris). In 1926-1940 - professor at the Orthodox Theological Institute in Paris. In 1931-1939 he edited the magazine "Novy Grad". Soon after the occupation of France by the Nazis, he emigrated to the United States. From 1943 he was a professor at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Seminary in New York, and devoted a lot of energy to journalism (primarily in the New Journal). While still in Russia, Fedotov published a number of studies on the European Middle Ages: “Letters” of St. Augustine (1911), Gods of the Underground (1923), Abelard (1924), Feudal life in the chronicle of Lambert of Ardes (1925). The focus of Fedotov’s historical and cultural research in emigration is predominantly the spiritual culture of medieval Rus': St. Philip Metropolitan of Moscow (1928), Saints of Ancient Rus' (1931), Spiritual Poems (1935), Russian religious consciousness: Christianity in Kievan Rus, 1946). Philosophical essays (more than 300 articles) occupy a significant place in Fedotov’s creative heritage. Fedotov’s philosophy of history and culture had religious and metaphysical foundations: he sought to follow the principles of Christian historiosophy. Without accepting the extremes of anthropocentric humanism, he at the same time critically assessed radical theocentrism (in particular, he criticized the “theocentric theology” of C. Barth). Defending in his works the enduring, absolute significance of cultural values, he believed that this significance persists even in an eschatological perspective. In his metaphysics of history, Fedotov was a fundamental critic of the ideology of historical determinism in its various variants: rationalistic-pantheistic (“Hegelianism”), historical materialism (“absolutization of inert, material forces”) and religious-providential (“pressure of the Divine will”). Christian historiosophy, according to Fedotov, recognizes history as a tragic mystery, the only main character of which is a person, every action and every choice of which is historical. With this view of history, it cannot be reduced to a series of even the most epochal historical events and explained by a certain “logic” of historical development. For Fedotov, the idea of ​​deterministic progress - by universal laws or, in its religious version, by the will of Providence - as well as for many of his predecessors in Russian thought (from the Slavophiles to F.M. Dostoevsky and Vl.S. Solovyov), was unacceptable primarily because moral grounds, as ignoring or even excluding the importance of freedom of moral choice of the individual. Tradition, which preserves the unity of history, is constantly threatened by social catastrophes, primarily wars and revolutions. Fedotov did not share the view of J. de Maistre and N.A. Berdyaev on the revolution as “God’s judgment on the peoples.” He was not inclined to see revolutionary upheavals as a necessary condition for social progress. For him, a revolution is always a break in tradition, which results in innumerable human casualties and the danger of social and cultural degradation. “There are not so many great revolutions in modern history. In essence, the Russian revolution stands third in a row - after England and France... Every “great” revolution, that is, distinguished by the cruelty of class struggle, ends in personal tyranny.” Revolutionary “greatness” also has to be paid for through the hard work of subsequent generations, forced to continue the work of cultural construction on the revolutionary ashes. Fedotov saw the idealization of the revolution and the creation of a revolutionary myth as a most dangerous ideological temptation. Without denying the moral content of the slogans of the French Revolution, in which, according to him, both “the forces of good and satanic forces” were at work, he was convinced that the latter prevailed in it, which resulted in incredible terror, “a century of unrest,” “a broken spirit "of the people, the decline of moral and cultural life. In his criticism of revolutionary myth-making, Fedotov did not make an exception for the more peaceful experience of the English revolution. Throughout his life, his conviction remained unchanged that the tragedy of October 1917 was not the result of random factors and had deep roots in Russian history. At the same time, Fedotov did not share the point of view that the Bolshevik revolution was the inevitable, fatal outcome of this story (in particular, he did not agree with N.A. Berdyaev on this issue). “Without sharing the doctrine of historical determinism, we admit the possibility of choosing between different options for the historical path of peoples.” In history, according to Fedotov, “freedom reigns,” this is a living, continuous process of historical creativity, in which there is no place for mechanical automatism, the fatal predetermination of events. Answering the question whether the revolution of October 1917 was inevitable, Fedotov argued: “Not everything in Russian political life was rotten and doomed. The forces of revival fought all the time with a pathogenic poison. The fate of Russia hung on the tip until the very end - like the fate of any living person.” . Fedotov reacted sharply to crisis trends in the development of European society in the 20th century; already in the 1920s he wrote about the danger of fascism and the inevitability of a military catastrophe. At the same time, in his assessments of the prospects for human development, he equally rejected both various forms of utopian projectism and historical pessimism, the idea of ​​​​the “decline” of Western civilization. In one of his last works (Christian Tragedy, 1950), he wrote about the creative role of Christianity in the history of European and Russian culture. Among truly Christian artists, he named Dostoevsky first of all. Fedotov died in Bacon (New Jersey, USA) on September 1, 1951.
LITERATURE
Fedotov G.P. And it is, and it will be. Reflections on Russia and the revolution. Paris, 1932 Karpovich M.M. G.P.Fedotov. - New Journal, 1951, No. 27 Fedotov G.P. Christianity in the Revolution. Paris, 1957 Stepun F.A. G.P.Fedotov. - New Journal, 1957, No. 49 Fedotov G.P. The face of Russia. Paris, 1967 Fedotov G.P. Russia and freedom. New York, 1981 Fedotov G.P. Litigation about Russia. Paris, 1982 Fedotov G.P. Defense of Russia. Paris, 1988 Serbinenko V.V. Justification of culture. Creative choice of G.P. Fedotov. - Questions of Philosophy, 1991, No. 8 Fedotov G.P. The fate and sins of Russia. St. Petersburg, 1991-1992

Collier's Encyclopedia. - Open Society. 2000 .

See what “Georgy Petrovich FEDOTOV” is in other dictionaries:

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    Philosopher, historian, publicist. Genus. in Saratov, in the family of the manager of the office of the Saratov governor. After graduating from the Saratov gymnasium, he entered St. Petersburg. technol. int, continued his education in history. Philol. f those Petersburg... Large biographical encyclopedia

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Books

  • Saints of Ancient Rus', Georgy Petrovich Fedotov, The book offered to the reader by the Moscow Worker publishing house has never been published in the Soviet Union. This is a very serious scientific study dedicated to ancient Russian lives... Category: Art history and theory Publisher: Moskovsky Rabochiy, Manufacturer:

DOB: 1943-01-18

Soviet football player, Russian football coach

Version 1. What does the name Fedotov mean?

The etymology of the surname Fedotov, which belongs to a common type of Russian surnames, goes back to the proper name.

The Fedotov surname was based on the worldly name Fedot. The fact is that church names were initially perceived by the ancient Slavs as alien, since their sound was unusual for Russian people. In addition, there were relatively few baptismal names, and they were often repeated, thereby creating difficulties in communication between people. Therefore, the ancient Slavs solved the problem of identification by adding a secular name to a church name. This allowed them not only to easily distinguish a person in society, but also to indicate his belonging to a certain clan.

According to the ancient Slavic tradition of two names, a worldly name served as a kind of amulet that protected a person from evil spirits.

The surname Fedotov goes back to the Christian male name Theodot (translated from Greek - “given by the gods”), or rather to its colloquial form - Fedot. The patron saint of this name is St. Theodotus of Caesarea. He came from a boyar family; in his youth, Fedot entered the Moscow Simonov Monastery. But his soul longed for desert life. When the monk heard in a dream the voice of the Mother of God from the icon, commanding him to go to Beloozero, he stopped hesitating. There Fedot settled in a secluded place where wild animals lived and robbers appeared. But the elder pacified both of them with prayer. At this place the monk subsequently founded a monastery, of which he was appointed archimandrite.

Intensive introduction of surnames in Rus' in the 15th-17th centuries. was associated with the strengthening of a new social stratum that became the ruling one - the landowners. Initially, these were possessive adjectives with the suffixes –ov/-ev, -in, indicating the name of the head of the family. As a result, a descendant of a person with the name Fedot eventually received the surname Fedotov.

The tradition of giving a child, in addition to the official baptismal name, another, secular name, was maintained until the 17th century. and led to the fact that surnames formed from worldly names made up a significant part of the total number of Russian surnames.

Version 2. History of the origin of the Fedotov surname

Patronymic from the colloquial form Fedot from the church male name Theodot (ancient Greek - 'given by the gods'). (N). Fedotikhin from Fedotikha, Fedot's wife. Fedotovsky. Suffkssky was sometimes added to a simple folk surname in order to give it weight, to bring it closer to the noble, noble ones. Fedotovsky could also come from the village of Fedotovo. Fedotovsky's surname from visitors' requests. The sources I have do not explain this surname. Probably has the same basis, but has gone through several transformations Fedotov - Fedotovsky - Fedotovsky. And you can read about surnames in -skiy and -i/s here.

Version 3

The origin of this and related surnames is obvious: the name Fedot, which translated from Greek means ‘given by God’. These are the names: Fedotikhin, Fedotchev, Fedotiev, Fedutinov, Fedynsky. Fedot, Theodore (and in the reverse order of the constituent parts - Dorotheus) in their common meaning is the same as Bogdan - ‘given by God’. Therefore, the surnames Bogdanov, Dorofeev, Fedorov, Fedotov can be considered related.

Version 5

From the baptismal name Fedot- given by the Gods (Greek)- more surnames appeared: Fedotikhin, Fedotchev, Fedotev, Fedutinov.
Fedotov Pavel Andreevich (1815-52) - painter and artist, founder of critical realism in Russian fine art. He introduced a dramatic plot collision into the everyday genre (“Fresh Cavalier”, etc.). Fedotov combined the depiction of social and moral vices of his time with a poetic perception of everyday life (“Major’s Matchmaking”, etc.), in later works - with a keen sense of loneliness and doom of man

Georgy Petrovich Fedotov (1886–1951) is primarily a historian, cultural historian. A medieval scholar (graduated from the Faculty of History and Philology of St. Petersburg University, where he, like L.P. Karsavin, was a student of the outstanding Russian medievalist I.M. Grevs), Fedotov is the author of numerous works on the culture of the Russian and European Middle Ages. Among them: “Abelard” (1924), “Saints of Ancient Rus'” (1931), “Spiritual Poems” (1935), “The Russian Religious Mind” (1946–1948) and others. At the same time, Fedotov is a unique Christian thinker, not only a researcher, but also a philosopher of culture. Most of his creative biography occurred during the period of emigration: he left Russia in 1925; in 1926–1940 - professor at the Orthodox Theological Institute in Paris; in 1940 he emigrated to the United States and taught at the Orthodox Theological Seminary in New York.

The apology of culture is the leading theme of the work of Fedotov the thinker. Defending the unconditional value of cultural creativity, Fedotov rejected both the extremes of anthropocentric humanism and radical theocentrism, which denies the connection between the cultural world of man and the divine world, between “earth” and “heaven” (criticized, for example, the “theocentric theology” of K. Barth, reproached N.A. Berdyaev is that he “neglects” in the name of the creative act its fruits: “works of art or thought” (“Berdyaev the Thinker”) Fedotov refused to see in the images of Christian eschatology only an indication of the inevitability of the end, which denies the tradition of the earthly. "common cause" of many generations in the construction of the world of culture. “It is now clear which two concepts of eschatology and culture are rejected by the Christian experience of Revelation and history. The first concept is the endless, never completed progress that secularized Europe lived in the last two centuries. violent, extra-human and extra-cultural eschatology” (“Eschatology and Culture”).

Fedotov’s historiosophical position included criticism of various variants of historical determinism: “rationalistic-pantheistic” (Hegelianism), materialist absolutization of the “significance of inert, material forces” in history, religious fatalism (“pressure of the Divine will”). “Without sharing the doctrine of historical determinism,” the thinker wrote, “we allow the possibility of choosing between different options for the historical path of peoples” (“Russia and Freedom”). In history, according to Fedotov, “freedom reigns” - this is a living, continuous process of cultural and historical creativity, in which there is no place for mechanical automatism, the fatal predetermination of events. The cultural tradition, which preserves the unity of history, is constantly threatened by social catastrophes, and above all wars and revolutions. The view of the revolution as “God’s judgment on the peoples” (J. de Maistre, partly N.A. Berdyaev) was completely alien to Fedotov. He was even less inclined to see revolutionary upheavals as a necessary condition for social progress. For him, a revolution is always a break in tradition, which results in innumerable human casualties and the danger of social and cultural degradation. Revolutionary “greatness” has to be paid for through the hard work of subsequent generations, forced to continue cultural construction on the revolutionary ashes. The thinker saw one of the most dangerous ideological temptations in the idealization of the revolution, in the creation of a revolutionary myth.

Fedotov believed that culture, being a fully universal human affair, has a metaphysical (one might say, ontological) meaning and its “failure” (in the version of N. A. Berdyaev or, with all the differences, L. Shestov) would be tantamount to not only historical, but also the final, metaphysical defeat of man. The experience of the historian and the intuition of the thinker determined his belief in the impossibility of such a result and in the fact that the future, and from an eschatological perspective, will not be a denial of the significance of cultural creativity. By creating culture, man gains victory even in the face of eternity.

Georgy Petrovich Fedotov (October 1 (13), 1886, Saratov, Russian Empire - September 1, 1951, Bacon, USA) - Russian historian, philosopher, religious thinker and publicist.

Born into the family of the ruler of the governor's office. He graduated with honors from a men's gymnasium in Voronezh, where his parents moved. In 1904 he entered the St. Petersburg Technological Institute. After the outbreak of the 1905 revolution in Russia, he returned to his hometown, where he became involved in the activities of the Saratov Social Democratic organization as a propagandist.

In August 1905, he was first arrested for participating in a gathering of agitators, but was released due to lack of evidence and continued his propaganda activities. In the spring of 1906, he hid under the name of Vladimir Aleksandrovich Mikhailov in the city of Volsk. On June 11, 1906, he was elected to the Saratov City Committee of the RSDLP, and on August 17 he was again arrested and deported to Germany. He attended history lectures at the University of Berlin until his expulsion from Prussia in early 1907, and then studied medieval history at the University of Jena.

After returning to Russia in the fall of 1908, he was reinstated at the Faculty of History and Philology of St. Petersburg University, where he was enrolled at the request even before his arrest and deportation to Germany. At St. Petersburg University, he concentrated his studies in the seminar of the famous medievalist I. M. Grevs. In the summer of 1910, he was forced to leave the university without passing exams due to the threat of arrest. In 1911, using someone else’s passport, he went to Italy, where he visited Rome, Assisi, Perugia, Venice, and studied in the libraries of Florence. Returning to Russia, G.P. Fedotov confessed to the gendarmerie department in April 1912 and received permission to take exams at St. Petersburg University. After serving a short term of exile in Carlsbad near Riga, he was left at the Department of General History of St. Petersburg University to prepare his master's thesis. In 1916 he became a private lecturer at the university and an employee of the Public Library.

In 1925, Fedotov received permission to travel to Germany to study the Middle Ages. He did not return to his homeland. He moved to France, where from 1926 to 1940 he was a professor at the St. Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute in Paris. He was close to N.A. Berdyaev and E. Yu. Skobtsova (Mary’s mother).

Soon after the German occupation of France in 1940, Fedotov left for the USA, where from 1941 to 1943. lived in New Haven, being a visiting scholar at Yale University Theological Seminary. With the support of the Humanitarian Fund created by B. A. Bakhmetyev, Fedotov wrote the first volume of the book “Russian Religious Mind,” published by Harvard University Press with funds from the same fund in 1946.

Since 1944, he has been a professor at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Seminary in New York State. In the USA, Fedotov continued to devote a lot of energy to journalism. His articles on topical historical and political issues were published in the New Journal. Among them are the large articles “The Birth of Freedom” (1944), “Russia and Freedom” (1945), “The Fate of Empires” (1947).

Books (9)

Saint Philip, Metropolitan of Moscow

Collected works in 12 volumes. Volume 3.

The third volume of G.P. Fedotov’s collected works includes his 1928 monograph “St. Philip, Metropolitan of Moscow.”

To this day, this work remains an example of modern hagiography - it organically combines a careful attitude to primary sources, a conscientious study of accompanying historical evidence and a deep religious feeling of the researcher. The publication is equipped with an appendix, which includes the Church Slavonic text of the Life of Metropolitan Philip of the 17th century, published for the first time, as well as its translation.

G.P. Fedotov’s research has not lost its relevance today, when the issue of the relationship between the Church and the authorities is again in the center of attention of Russian society.

Russian religiosity. Part I. Christianity of Kievan Rus X-XIII centuries.

Collected works in 12 volumes. Volume 10.

The 1st volume of “Russian Religiosity”, dedicated to the Christianity of Kievan Rus of the 10th-13th centuries, already by the mid-60s. became a “generally recognized classic” (naturally, for Western scientists). The influence of the second was no less.

According to the author, “Kievan Rus, like the golden days of childhood, has not faded in the memory of the Russian people. In the pure source of her writing, anyone who wants can quench their spiritual thirst; among its ancient authors can find guides who can help amid the difficulties of the modern world.

Kievan Christianity has the same meaning for Russian religiosity as Pushkin does for Russian artistic consciousness: the meaning of a model, a golden measure, the royal path.”

Russian religiosity. Part II. Middle Ages XIII-XV centuries.

Collected works in 12 volumes. Volume 11.

The eleventh volume of the collected works of G.P. Fedotov includes the second part of his last fundamental work “The Russian religious mind”, written in English during his years in the USA.

In this book, Fedotov dwells not so much on the history of the Russian Church of the 13th-15th centuries, but on the peculiarities of Russian religious consciousness of this period. The author, in his words, describes “the subjective side of religion, and not its objective manifestations: that is, established complexes of dogmas, shrines, rituals, liturgics, canons, etc.”

The author's focus is on the mystical-ascetic life and religious ethics of the Russian people - “religious experience and religious behavior, in relation to which theology, liturgics and canons can be considered as their external expression and form.”

Pavel Fedotov is a Russian artist, academician of painting, a prominent representative of the galaxy of Russian romanticism in Russian painting, who laid the cornerstone in the creation of critical realism in Russian art.

Years of life

On June 22, 1815, another child was born into the family of retired military man Andrei Illarionovich Fedotov and Natalya Alekseevna Kalashnikova, who came from a merchant environment. At baptism he was given the name Paul.

When the boy turned 11 years old, he was assigned to a boarding school in the Moscow Cadet Corps. Good abilities and exemplary behavior distinguished Paul favorably among his superiors and contributed to his advancement on the military path. He graduated from the course with honors and the rank of sergeant major.

Despite his excellent academic performance, Fedotov was not attracted to a military career, and he devoted all his free time to his favorite pastime - drawing. After being sent to serve in St. Petersburg in the Life Guards of the Finnish Regiment, Fedotov had the opportunity to attend drawing classes in the evenings.

In addition to military sciences, he very diligently studied the anatomical structure of the human body and learned to work with plaster models. Pencil and watercolor drawings with scenes of military life, which were written by Fedotov, were recognizable and realistic. Quite often I came across cartoonish drawings.

After 10 years of service, Pavel Andreevich Fedotov decided to retire and devote his life entirely to painting. This decision put his already not at all luxurious life in a difficult situation. His meager pension was clearly not enough and he lived in very cramped conditions. But this did not stop him from continuing to strive for his dream - to become a serious artist.


Krylov’s advice to take up genre painting helped him decide on a genre, and it was right. Already the first serious oil painting, “Fresh Cavalier,” received praise from contemporaries, including artists. Inspired by success, Fedotov devotes himself completely to work. Soon the paintings “The Picky Bride” and “Major’s Matchmaking” appeared, which were also enthusiastically received.

These works brought not only fame, but also the title of academician of painting, which allowed him to receive financial assistance from the state. This was a great help. Our contemporaries can see all three paintings by the artist in. Ups and downs Luck is a capricious lady, as is social recognition. Fedotov did not have time to fully enjoy his triumph when he became indirectly involved in the Petrashevites’ case.


P. Fedotov heartina Major's matchmaking photo

The state machine turned its flywheels and the artist Fedotov became unreliable, and therefore his new works were not in demand. No new orders were expected either. Cheerful, optimistic by nature, sociable, Fedotov turned into a closed, bilious, pessimistic person. The moral change had a hard impact on his physical condition - Pavel Andreevich was increasingly overcome by attacks of madness.

The rather expensive treatment did not help, for which even the sovereign allocated 500 rubles from his personal funds. It was too late and on November 14, 1852, Pavel Andreevich Fedotov died at the age of only 37 years from an acute mental disorder. He was buried at the Smolensk cemetery almost secretly, because the censorship committee issued a ban on publication of his death. Already in 1936, his ashes were reburied in the necropolis of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra and a new monument was erected.

Paintings by artist Fedotov

Fedotov's paintings are genre scenes from everyday life. They are juicy, bright with a very memorable plot and characters. The reality, earthiness, and artlessness of the plot in no way detracts or makes them boring, but, on the contrary, there is a desire to look again. The artist skillfully uses the technique of center and backdrop, main and secondary. In all his paintings the main bright spot is in the center of the picture.


P. Fedotov painting The Picky Bride photo

You catch your eye on it, it attracts attention. Only then does the gaze move to the background, where each character or object is interesting and important. Not a single painting by Fedotov contains unnecessary details for decoration - everything is strictly and clearly in accordance with the plot, and, nevertheless, they are all interesting and each carries a certain semantic load.

Here, for example, is the painting “The Major’s Matchmaking.” The central place is the girl’s snow-white, airy, lace dress. Her shyness evokes sympathy and pity. Or maybe this is an ordinary pretense that a domestic cat feels, which on the sly managed to steal a tidbit of something and is now licking itself contentedly?