Chaadayev, Pyotr Yakovlevich

Chaadayev, Pyotr Yakovlevich

▪ Russian author
Chaadayev also  Chaadaev 
born June 7 [May 27, old style], 1794, Moscow
died April 26 [April 14, O.S.], 1856, Moscow

      intellectual and writer whose ideas of Russian history precipitated the controversy between the opposing intellectual camps of Slavophiles and Westernizers.

      In his early years Chaadayev was an army officer and a liberal. During the 1820s he experienced a conversion to mystical Christianity, with strong leanings toward Rome. In 1823–26 he travelled in Europe, afterward writing in French his Lettres philosophiques (1827–31; “Philosophical Letters”), which posed the problem of Russia's relation to the West; articulated a ruthless criticism of Russian history, culture, and the Orthodox religion; and advocated assimilation of Roman Catholicism and western European culture. The first letter of this work was published in Russian translation in the review Teleskop (“Telescope”) in 1836. The periodical was banned, and Chaadayev was declared insane and placed under medical supervision. He continued to live in Moscow, however, where he was venerated by the young Westernizers (Westernizer). He had affinities with both the Slavophiles (Slavophile) and Westernizers, but his advocacy of a Western path of development for Russia divided him from the former, and his religio-historical conception separated him from the latter.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Chaadayev, Pyotr (Yakovlevich) — born June 7, 1794, Moscow, Russia died April 26, 1856, Moscow Russian writer. In 1827–31 he wrote in French his Philosophical Letters, which explored among other issues Russia s relation to the West; he urged a Western path of development for… …   Universalium

  • Pyotr — (as used in expressions) Chaadayev Pyotr Yakovlevich Pyotr Alekseyevich Stolypin Pyotr Arkadyevich Struve Pyotr Berngardovich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Wrangel Pyotr Nikolayevich Baron Pyotr Fyodorovich * * * …   Universalium

  • Yakovlevich — (as used in expressions) Chaadayev Pyotr Yakovlevich Danilevsky Nikolay Yakovlevich Malinovsky Rodion Yakovlevich Marr Nikolay Yakovlevich * * * …   Universalium

  • Russia — /rush euh/, n. 1. Also called Russian Empire. Russian, Rossiya. a former empire in E Europe and N and W Asia: overthrown by the Russian Revolution 1917. Cap.: St. Petersburg (1703 1917). 2. See Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. 3. See Russian… …   Universalium

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