- Born:
- Aug. 14 [Aug. 2, Old Style], 1865, St. Petersburg, Russia
- Died:
- Dec. 9, 1941, Paris (aged 76)
- Subjects Of Study:
- Dante
- Fyodor Dostoyevsky
- Jesus
- Leo Tolstoy
- Nikolay Gogol
Dmitry Sergeyevich Merezhkovsky
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Who was Dmitry Sergeyevich Merezhkovsky?
Dmitry Sergeyevich Merezhkovsky (1865–1941) was a Russian poet, novelist, critic, and thinker who helped revive religious-philosophical interests among Russian intellectuals. His 1893 essay, On the Causes of the Decline and on the New Trends in Contemporary Russian Literature, has been called a landmark of Russian modernism.
Merezhkovsky's trilogy Khristos i Antikhrist (1896–1905) helped revive the historical novel in Russia. Applying antithesis in his novels and critical study Tolstoy i Dostoyevsky (1901–02), he also wrote Gogol i chort (1906).
After the Russian Revolution of 1905, he became a popular writer advocating a "new religious consciousness". Merezhkovsky emigrated in 1920 and later lived in Paris. He thought Russia should be freed from Bolshevism at any cost, which is why he welcomed Germany’s attack on the Soviet Union in 1941 during World War II.
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What type of books and writing did Merezhkovsky create?
Dmitry Sergeyevich Merezhkovsky was a Russian author known for his poetry, novels, criticism, and philosophical works. His writings played a significant role in the rise of religious-philosophical interest among Russian intellectuals.
Merezhkovsky's notable works include the trilogy Khristos i Antikhrist (Christ and Antichrist), which helped revive the historical novel in Russia, and the critical study Tolstoy i Dostoyevsky. After the Russian Revolution of 1905, his writings became more radical, advocating for a "new religious consciousness". Later in life, after emigrating in 1920, he wrote novels such as Rozhdenie bogov (The Birth of the Gods) and biographical studies.
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Why is Merezhkovsky important in Russian literature?
Dmitry Sergeyevich Merezhkovsky was a Russian poet, novelist, critic, and thinker who played an important role in reviving religious and philosophical interests among the Russian intelligentsia. His essay, On the Causes of the Decline and on the New Trends in Contemporary Russian Literature, has been described as a significant landmark of Russian modernism. With his trilogy Christ and Antichrist, Merezhkovsky revived the historical novel in Russia. His favorite method was that of antithesis, which he applied in his novels and in his critical study Tolstoy i Dostoyevsky, a work of seminal importance and enduring value.
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What is Symbolism, and how did Merezhkovsky contribute to it?
Symbolism was a late 19th-century literary and artistic movement that originated with French poets and spread through Europe and the Americas, influencing 20th-century literature. Symbolist artists used subtle, suggestive, and highly symbolic language to express personal emotional experiences.
Dmitry Sergeyevich Merezhkovsky, a Russian poet, novelist, critic, and thinker, significantly contributed to the revival of religious-philosophical interests among Russian intellectuals. His essay, On the Reasons for the Decline and on the New Trends in Contemporary Russian Literature (1893), has been described as a landmark of Russian modernism and the beginning of Russian Symbolism.
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Can you name any famous works written by Merezhkovsky?
Dmitry Sergeyevich Merezhkovsky was a Russian author known for his poetry, novels, criticism, and philosophical works.
Famous works by Merezhkovsky:
* Khristos i Antikhrist (Christ and Antichrist) trilogy, which revived the historical novel in Russia
* Pavel I (play)
* Aleksandr I (novel)
* 14 Dekabrya (December the Fourteenth)
* Tolstoy i Dostoyevsky (critical study)
* Gogol i chort (Gogol and the Devil)1 Britannica SourceCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
How did Merezhkovsky’s beliefs and historical interests influence his writing?
Dmitry Sergeyevich Merezhkovsky's beliefs and historical interests significantly shaped his writing. His trilogy, Khristos i Antikhrist (Christ and Antichrist), showcases his historical erudition and theological ideas, revitalizing the historical novel in Russia.
His method of antithesis, evident in his novels and critical studies like Tolstoy i Dostoyevsky, demonstrates his approach to exploring complex ideas. Merezhkovsky's interest in Russian history led to works such as the play Pavel I and the novels Aleksandr I and 14 Dekabrya, forming another trilogy that reflects his historical and philosophical perspectives.
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Dmitry Sergeyevich Merezhkovsky (born Aug. 14 [Aug. 2, Old Style], 1865, St. Petersburg, Russia—died Dec. 9, 1941, Paris) was a Russian poet, novelist, critic, and thinker who played an important role in the revival of religious-philosophical interests among the Russian intelligentsia.
After graduation from the University of St. Petersburg in history and philology, Merezhkovsky published his first volume of poetry in 1888. His essay O prichinakh upadka i o novykh techeniyakh sovremennoy russkoy literatury (1893; “On the Causes of the Decline and on the New Trends in Contemporary Russian Literature”), sometimes erroneously described as the manifesto of Russian Symbolism, was nevertheless a significant landmark of Russian modernism. At the beginning of the 20th century he and his wife, Zinaida Gippius, organized religious-philosophical colloquia and edited the magazine Novy put (1903–04; “The New Path”).
With his trilogy Khristos i Antikhrist (1896–1905; “Christ and Antichrist”), Merezhkovsky revived the historical novel in Russia. Its three parts, set in widely separated epochs and geographical areas, reveal historical erudition and serve as vehicles for the author’s historical and theological ideas. Another group of fictional works from Russian history—the play Pavel I (1908) and the novels Aleksandr I (1911–12) and 14 Dekabrya (1918; December the Fourteenth)—also form a trilogy. Merezhkovsky’s favourite method is that of antithesis. He applied it not only in his novels but also in his critical study Tolstoy i Dostoyevsky (1901–02), a work of seminal importance and enduring value. His Gogol i chort (1906; “Gogol and the Devil”) is another noteworthy critical work.
The Russian Revolution of 1905 had a radicalizing effect on Merezhkovsky. Together with Gippius and Dmitry Filosofov he published the anthology Le Tsar et la révolution (1907; “The Tsar and the Revolution”) while living in France. After Merezhkovsky returned to Russia in 1908, he became one of the most popular Russian writers. He published extensively in newspapers and became known as the advocate of a “new religious consciousness.”
Merezhkovsky enthusiastically welcomed the first phase of the Russian Revolution of 1917 but saw the Bolsheviks’ rise to power after its second phase as a catastrophe for Russia. He emigrated in 1920. After a short stay in Poland, he moved to Paris, where he lived until his death. His later works include the novels Rozhdenie bogov (1925; The Birth of the Gods) and Messiya (1928; “Messiah”) as well as biographical studies of Napoleon, Dante, Jesus Christ, and Roman Catholic saints. Merezhkovsky was of the opinion that Russia should be freed from Bolshevism at any cost, which is why he welcomed Germany’s attack on the Soviet Union in 1941 during World War II. During his lifetime Merezhkovsky’s authority among Russian émigrés was great. His works began to be published in Russia again only in the late 1980s and early 1990s, as the Soviet Union began to collapse.