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Dmitry Likhachev
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Dmitry Sergeyevich Likhachev (Russian: Дми́трий Серге́евич Лихачёв, also spelled Dmitrii Likhachev or Dmitry Likhachov; 28 November [O.S. 15 November] 1906 – 30 September 1999) was a Russian medievalist, linguist, and an inmate of Gulag. During his lifetime, Likhachev was considered the world's foremost scholar of the Old Russian language and its literature.
Key Information
He was revered as "the last of old St Petersburgers", and as "a guardian of national culture". Due to his high profile as a Soviet dissident writer, social critic, and activist during his later life, Likhachev was often referred to as "Russia's conscience".
Life and career
[edit]Childhood and concentration camp (1906 – 1931)
[edit]Dmitry Likhachev was born in Saint Petersburg. From his early childhood he had a passion for literature, even though his parents did not approve of this interest.
In a 1987 interview with David Remnick, Likhachev recalled how he had, "watched the February and October Revolutions from his window."[1]
In 1923, at only 16 years old, Likhachev entered the Department of Linguistics and Literature of Leningrad State University. He attended the Roman-Germanic and Slavic-Russian sections at the same time, undertaking two diplomas. At the university the young Likhachev met many outstanding scientists [citation needed] [dubious – discuss] and developed his own way of thinking[clarification needed]. Likhachev graduated in 1928 from the Leningrad University. In 1928, at the end of his studies, Likhachev was arrested and accused of being a member of what Remnick called, "a students' literary group called the Cosmic Academy of Sciences", which "posed about as great a threat to the Kremlin as the Harvard Lampoon does to the White House."[1]
For his election to the "Cosmic Academy", Likhachev had presented a short report, in which he poked fun at the new spelling rules of 1918 and urged that they be "reformed" by restoring the banned letter "Yat". After his arrest, Likhachev was confronted with the paper by a Soviet secret police interrogator, who screamed, "What do you mean by language reform? Perhaps we won't even have any language at all under Socialism!"[1]
After nine months in jail, the young scientist was unlawfully exiled without trial and spent five years in the USSR's first concentration camp, located on the Solovetsky Islands in the White Sea.
Deported to the Solovki Special Purpose Camp, he spent 5 years studying "criminal folklore" (as he termed it). Dmitry Likhachev wrote his first scientific article, "Card Games of Criminals", in the camp. He didn't play cards himself, but was a keen observer. He also gathered much material about the language of thieves and later published articles and a book about thieves' slang and customs.
At the camp, hard work, poor living conditions and illness dramatically damaged Likhachev's health, but he survived. On the Solovetsky Islands he met both exiled Russian intellectuals and real criminals, who happened to save his life. As Dmitry Likhachev said many years later, "At the Solovki, I understood that every person is a person."
Whilst on the islands, for some period of time Dmitry Likhachev worked as a member of the Criminological Cabinet, organizing a labor colony for teenagers and saving them from death caused by hunger, drugs, and cold.
On the night of 28 October 1929, he was summoned from a visit with his parents and ordered to join a party of 300 prisoners destined for execution. Wishing to spare his parents the trauma, Likhachev told them that he had been summoned for night work and that they should not wait for him. He then hid behind a wood pile and listened as the three hundred prisoners were shot and thrown into a mass grave. The next morning, Likhachev returned from his hiding place as a completely different man. In a 1987 interview with David Remnick, Likhachev recalled the events of that night and concluded, "The executioner is older than me, and he is still alive."[2]
From 1931, Likhachev was a worker on the construction of the Stalin White Sea–Baltic Canal until his release.
Education (1931 – 1947)
[edit] |
Likhachev returned to Leningrad and started his scholarly career in the Pushkin House (as the Russian Literature Institute is known), which spanned more than 60 years and saw the publication of more than 500 scholarly works. Likhachev did not stop his work even during the Siege of Leningrad. He believed that Russia was an integral and indivisible part of European civilization, contrary to "Euroasiatic" views of Russia popular with Lev Gumilev, Boris Rybakov, and many other contemporaries.
Likhachev worked for five years as a proofreader in the publishing house of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. In 1936, thanks to petitions by the president of the Academy of Sciences, Aleksandr Karpinsky, Dmitry Likhachev's criminal record was cleared. In 1938 the talented scientist was noticed[by whom?] and invited to the Department of Old Russian Literature of the Institute of Russian Literature (known as the Pushkin House). Dmitry Likhachev worked here until the end of his life.
Old Russian literature, which at that time did not receive much academic attention, became the main scientific interest of Dmitry Likhachev who, by the beginning of the 1940s, was one of the most renowned specialists in this sphere. In 1941 Likhachev presented his thesis "The Novgorod Annalistic Corpus of the 12th Century".
World War II brought new trials. Likhachev, together with his wife and twin daughters, survived the horrors of the siege of Leningrad (1941-1944). He described his experience in a story, full of harsh details, exposing different types of people and their heroic or appalling behavior when faced with starvation and death. In 1942, completely exhausted by hunger and cold, Dmitry Likhachev started to gather materials on medieval poetry and soon published the book Defense of the Old Russian Cities. In 1943 Likhachev and his entire family were exiled to Kazan, supposedly because of the "connection with the Solovetsky Camp". But by the end of the war they had returned to Leningrad.
Academic career and legacy (1947 – 1999)
[edit] |
In 1947 Dmitry Likhachev received his Doctorate in Philology, having presented his thesis "Essays on the History of Annalistic Literary Forms of the 11th–16th Centuries". Three years later he became a professor at the Leningrad State University. From 1953 he was a corresponding member - and from 1970 a member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR.
1950 marked the publication of Likhachev's two-volume edition containing unique, important literary works translated into the modern Russian language: The Primary Chronicle, a history of Kievan Rus' from the 9th to the 12th centuries, and The Lay of the Host of Igor, an account based on a failed raid by Prince Igor Svyatoslavich of Novgorod-Seversk against the Cumans in 1185.
Dmitry Likhachev was not a scientist detached from everyday life. From the 1950s he began a campaign to save the wooden temples of the Russian North and to preserve the historical appearance of Russian cities. He helped found the museums of Dostoevsky, Pushkin and Pasternak.
In 1953 Likhachev was admitted into the Soviet Academy of Sciences as a corresponding member. He defended Andrei Sakharov, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and other dissidents during their persecution by Soviet authorities.
In the 1960s Likhachev was one of the initiators of a movement for the protection of historical monuments, libraries and archives. Thanks to Likhachev many monuments were saved, including Marina Tsvetaeva's flat in Moscow, the Nevsky Prospect in Leningrad (which was supposed to be turned into a shopping street) and Aleksandr's Garden. In the 1980s he headed the Soviet (later renamed Russian) Cultural Fund, supporting the process of the Orthodox Church's reclaiming of its temples, formerly appropriated by the Soviet government. The scientist also participated in the preservation of national minorities in danger of dying out while aiding the return to Russia of émigré public and cultural figures.
In 1980 Likhachev was one of the members of the Academy of Sciences who refused to sign a letter requesting the expulsion of the scientist Andrei Sakharov from the Academy because of Sakharov's public disapproval of the dispatch of Soviet troops to Afghanistan in 1979.
Despite his busy social life, Likhachev still spent a lot of time on philological work. Focusing on Old Russian literature, he developed the concept of artistic time and space. In 1969 the researcher was awarded with the USSR State Prize for his work "Poetics of Old Russian Literature".[citation needed]
Dmitry Likhachev gained worldwide recognition as a theorist of culture and as a public intellectual. In the 1980s he developed a concept that considered the problems of humanization and the reorientation of educational goals and ideas. The scientist viewed culture as a historical memory and as a process of accumulation, rather than merely a sequence of consecutive changes. This stance was also the theoretical basis for Likhachev's attention to ancient monuments, especially in architecture. Inspired by the works of Vladimir Vernadsky, Dmitry Likhachev suggested the idea of a “homosphere”- a human sphere of the Earth. His original contribution to general science was also the development of a new discipline called the ecology of culture, which was defined as an essential sphere of human life.
One of the emphases of Likhachev's ideas was the correlation between culture and nature. In his book Poetics of the Gardens (1982), park and garden art was for the first time considered as a semiotic reflection of major cultural and artistic styles and their corresponding ideologies.
In Moscow and St. Petersburg, in 1986 he created the International Association of intellectuals and creative "Myr Culture", with the writer Nicolaj Sanvelian, the Italian economist and writer Giancarlo Pallavicini and other leading writers, artists and scientists, he was inspiring and President for many years.[3]
In 1986 he was elected the first President of the Russian Cultural Fund. In his 1980s and 1990s, he became more of a public figure, serving as an informal advisor to St. Petersburg Mayor Anatoly Sobchak and Russian President Boris Yeltsin. In October 1993 he signed the Letter of Forty-Two.[4] In the same year, he became the first person to be named an Honorary Citizen of St Petersburg. He also presided over the commission set up to prepare for Alexander Pushkin's bicentenary.
Likhachev thought about his life journey as a vertical movement, towards a heavenly home. The reflections of his experience as a person are written in the book “Reminiscences” (1995).
During the first visit to Rome Gorbachev, Myr Culture has officially handed over, on behalf of the intellectual-creative in the world, a cultural program, called "Manifesto of the three" by the signatories founders of the association, the Russian spokesman Zagladin presented the world's press at the Foro Italico, in 1998, as an instance of cultural freedom for Russia and for the world, signed by Dmitry Likhachev, Nicolaj Sanvelian e Giancarlo Pallavicini.[5]
The last works by Dmitry Likhachev gathered together his general ideas about his native country. The book Thoughts About Russia, completed in 1999, a few days before the author's death, is devoted to Russia'’s place in world history, its myths and its most characteristic features. The edition Russian Culture was published posthumously in 2000.
As a great scientist, Likhachev was a foreign member of the Academies of Sciences of Bulgaria, Hungary and Serbia and a corresponding member of the Austrian, American, British, Italian and Göttingen Academies. In 1984 the minor planet 2877 was named after Likhachev.
A year before his death, Likhachev became the very first recipient of the reinstated Order of St. Andrew.
Dmitry Likhachev died on 30 September 1999.
In 2001 Likhachev's daughter and George Soros established the Likhachov Philanthropic Fund.
Family
[edit]In 1936, Likhachev married Zinaida Makarova (1907-2000), who devoted her entire life to her husband. They had twin daughters, Lyudmila and Vera (born 1937).
Legacy
[edit]A minor planet 2877 Likhachev discovered in 1969 by Soviet astronomer Lyudmila Chernykh is named after him.[6]
Honours
[edit] |
- 1952 – Stalin Prize
- 1963 – Elected to the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
- 1964 – Honorary doctorate of the Torun University
- 1964 – Honorary doctorate of the Oxford University
- 1966 – Order of the Red Banner of Labour
- 1968 – Elected to the Austrian Academy of Sciences
- 1970 – Elected to the Soviet Academy of Sciences
- 1964 – Honorary doctorate of the Edinburgh University
- 1969 – USSR State Prize
- 1972 – Elected to the Serbian Academy of Sciences
- 1973 – Elected to the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
- 1983 – Honorary doctorate of the University of Bordeaux
- 1983 – Honorary doctorate of the University of Zurich
- 1985 – Honorary doctorate of the Budapest University
- 1986 – Hero of Socialist Labour
- 1987 – Elected to the Lincean Academy
- 1988 – Honorary doctorate of the University of Göttingen
- 1991 – Honorary doctorate of the Charles University
- 1992 – Honorary doctorate of the University of Siena
- 1993 – Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- 1993 – Lomonosov Gold Medal
- 1993 – Honorary Citizen of his native city, Saint Petersburg
- 1995 – Elected to the American Philosophical Society
- 1996 – Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", Order II class.
- 1998 – Order of St. Andrew
- 2000 – Russian State Prize
Medals
[edit]- Medal "For the Defence of Leningrad"
- Medal "For Valiant Labour in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945"
- Medal "For Labour Valour"
- Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary since the Birth of Vladimir Il'ich Lenin"
- Jubilee Medal "Twenty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945"
- Jubilee Medal "Thirty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945"
- Jubilee Medal "Forty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945"
- Medal "Veteran of Labour"
Main works
[edit]- 1942 – Defense of Old Russian Towns
- 1945 – National Self-Consciousness of Ancient Rus
- 1947 – Russian Chronicles and Their Cultural Significance
- 1950 – The Tale of Bygone Years (2 volumes)
- 1952 – Genesis of the Tale of Igor's Campaign
- 1955 – The Lay of Igor's Campaign
- 1958 – Human Dimension of the Old Russian Literature
- 1962 – Russian Culture at the Times of Andrei Rublev and Epiphanius the Wise
- 1962 – Textology
- 1967 – The Poetics of Early Russian Literature[7] (Russian: Поэтика древнерусской литературы, romanized: Poetika Drevnerusskoy Literatury[7])
- 1971 – Artistic Heritage of Ancient Rus in Our Time
- 1973 – Development of Old Russian Literature: the Epochs and Styles
- 1975 – Great Heritage: Classic Works of Old Russian Literature
- 1976 – Laughing World of Ancient Rus
- 1978 – The Tale of Igor's Campaign and Culture of That Time
- 1981 – Russian Notes
- 1981 – Literature – Reality – Literature
- 1982 – The Poetry of Gardens
- 1985 – Letters about the Kind and Beautiful
- 1987 – Selected Works, in Three Volumes
- 1989 – From the Note-Books of Various Years
- 1992 – Russian Art from the Antiquity to Avantgarde
- 1995 – Reminiscences
- 1996 – Essays on the Philosophy of Artistic Creativity
- 1997 – Articles on Intelligentsia
- 1999 – Meditations about Russia
- 2000 – Essays on Russian Culture
References
[edit]- ^ a b c David Remnick (1994), Lenin's Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Empire, page 104.
- ^ Remnick (1994), pages 104-105.
- ^ Various editions of the World of Culture Association have been published, and "Forum of the artistic intelligentsia of Russia, Moscow, Boltscioj Theatre, 1995.
- ^ Писатели требуют от правительства решительных действий. Izvestia (in Russian). 5 October 1993. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
- ^ http://www.giancarlopallavicini.it/cultura/myr-cultura-in-italia. Archived 17 February 2016 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Schmadel, Lutz D. (2003). Dictionary of Minor Planet Names (5th ed.). New York: Springer Verlag. p. 236. ISBN 3-540-00238-3.
- ^ a b Likhachev, Dmitriĭ Sergeevich (2014). Amazon.com: The Poetics of Early Russian Literature: 9780739186428: Likhachev, D.S., Arden-Close, Christopher M.: Books. Lexington Books. ISBN 978-0739186428.
External links
[edit]
- Likhachov Webpage on the Likhachev Fund Website
- Dmitry Likhachev: The Elder of Russian Culture
- Dmitry Likhachev Obituary
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Dmitry Likhachev
View on GrokipediaEarly Life and Imprisonment
Childhood and Pre-Arrest Education (1906–1928)
Dmitry Sergeyevich Likhachev was born on November 28, 1906 (November 15 by the Julian calendar), in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire, as the second son of electrical engineer Sergei Likhachev and his wife.[10] The family belonged to the modest urban intelligentsia, with limited financial means but cultural interests, including a strong passion for ballet that prompted annual relocations nearer to theaters despite budgetary constraints.[11] From an early age, Likhachev displayed a keen interest in literature and reading, though his parents favored more practical pursuits.[6] In 1915, at age nine, Likhachev entered both a classical gymnasium and K.I. Mai's Realschule, the latter emphasizing applied and technical training alongside humanities.[12] He completed his secondary education by graduating from a classical high school in Saint Petersburg (renamed Petrograd in 1914), which provided a rigorous foundation in languages, history, and literature amid the disruptions of World War I and the 1917 revolutions.[13] In 1923, Likhachev enrolled at Leningrad State University (formerly Petrograd University), joining the Department of Linguistics and Literature within the Faculty of Social Sciences.[13] Over the next five years, he pursued a broad curriculum in languages and literatures, including Russian, Slavic, and Western European traditions, graduating in 1928 with a focus on philological analysis that foreshadowed his later scholarly interests.[2] His university studies occurred during the New Economic Policy era, exposing him to evolving Soviet ideological influences on humanities education, though his personal inclinations leaned toward textual criticism and cultural heritage rather than contemporary political doctrine.[14]Arrest, Gulag, and Release (1928–1932)
On February 8, 1928, Dmitry Likhachev, then a 21-year-old student at Leningrad State University, was arrested at his parents' apartment in Leningrad for alleged participation in the "Green Lamp" society, a student discussion circle focused on philosophical readings of authors like Dostoevsky and critiques of Soviet ideology, which authorities deemed counter-revolutionary.[15][16] He was sentenced to five years of penal servitude without trial and transported to the Solovetsky Islands in the White Sea, site of the Solovetsky Special Camp (SLON), the Soviet Union's first major forced-labor facility established in a former monastery.[2][17] At Solovki, Likhachev endured harsh conditions including forced labor, arbitrary executions, and intellectual suppression, yet he engaged in scholarly activities such as studying camp topography, befriending intellectuals and criminals, and contributing an article on prisoner slang to the camp journal Solovetskie Ostrov.[18][2] He narrowly escaped mass executions during periodic reprisals, including one in 1929 when selections targeted political prisoners, and worked in the camp's criminological unit, assisting in the establishment of facilities for juvenile offenders.[2] These experiences, later detailed in his memoirs, highlighted the camp's role as a testing ground for Gulag methods, blending punitive labor with experimental "re-education."[19] In 1931, Likhachev was transferred with other Solovki inmates to the Belomorkanal construction project, a canal linking the White Sea to the Baltic Sea built largely by prisoner labor, where he continued manual work under similarly brutal conditions.[2] He received an early release in late 1932 after serving approximately four years, returning to Leningrad under restrictions that barred him from academic pursuits initially, though his survival owed partly to his utility in administrative and intellectual tasks within the camps.[20][17][21]Academic and Scholarly Career
Formal Education and Early Research (1932–1947)
Following his unconditional release from the Solovki labor camp in late 1932, Likhachev returned to Leningrad and secured initial employment as a proofreader and literary editor, roles that provided financial stability amid ongoing political repression.[6] From 1934 to 1938, he worked at the Leningrad Department of Publishers of the USSR, where he engaged in editorial tasks that allowed him to deepen his familiarity with historical texts.[22] In 1938, he joined the Department of Early Russian Literature at the Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkinsky Dom) of the Academy of Sciences, marking the start of his dedicated scholarly career in Old Russian textual studies and philology.[2] [6] Likhachev's formal postgraduate education culminated in 1941, when he defended his candidate's dissertation, a textological analysis titled The Novgorod Annalistic Corpus of the 12th Century (or equivalently, The Novgorod Chronicle of the XII Century), examining the composition and transmission of medieval chronicles.[2] [22] This work established his expertise in chronicle textology, emphasizing empirical reconstruction of manuscript variants over ideological interpretations prevalent in Soviet scholarship. His research at Pushkinsky Dom during the late 1930s focused on the cultural and literary forms of Old Russian narratives, prioritizing primary source analysis amid constraints from Stalinist censorship. The German invasion and subsequent siege of Leningrad from 1941 to 1944 severely disrupted Likhachev's work; assigned to civil defense duties, he endured extreme hardships, including the deaths of his father and infant daughter from starvation and disease.[2] In 1942, amid the blockade, he co-authored the pamphlet Defense of Ancient Cities with M. A. Tikhonova, drawing parallels between medieval Russian fortifications chronicled in historical texts and contemporary resilience against the siege.[22] Evacuated in 1943 to Kazan due to perceived risks from his pre-revolutionary family ties, Likhachev continued archival research on chronicles remotely.[2] By 1947, resettled in Leningrad, he published The Russian Chronicles and Their Cultural-Historical Significance, synthesizing his pre-war findings on chronicle genres as vehicles of historical memory and literary evolution.[2] [22] This period laid the foundation for his later doctoral dissertation, defended that year on chronicle forms from the 11th to 16th centuries.[22]Professorship and Institutional Roles (1947–1991)
In 1947, Likhachev defended his doctoral dissertation in philology, titled Essays on the History of Annalistic Literary Forms of the 11th–16th Centuries, earning the degree of Doctor of Philological Sciences from Leningrad State University.[11] This achievement marked his formal entry into senior academic ranks following earlier research constraints imposed by his pre-war imprisonment.[13] From 1946, Likhachev served as an associate professor (docent) at Leningrad State University, advancing to full professor in 1951 and assuming the role of head of the Department of Old Russian Literature in 1954, a position he held until 1991.[2] In this capacity, he lectured on Old Russian chronicles and literature, shaping curricula amid post-war Soviet academic recovery and ideological oversight.[10] Concurrently, at the Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkin House) of the USSR Academy of Sciences—where he had worked since 1938 as a researcher—Likhachev progressed to senior researcher in the Department of Old Russian Literature and later became its head, overseeing textual criticism and archival studies of medieval manuscripts.[23][13] Likhachev's institutional prominence within the Soviet scientific establishment grew through Academy of Sciences affiliations: elected corresponding member in 1953 and full academician in 1970, reflecting recognition of his textual editions and analyses despite earlier political vulnerabilities.[2][17] These roles positioned him to influence national philological standards, including editorial boards for critical publications, while navigating bureaucratic hierarchies that prioritized ideological conformity over unfettered inquiry.[24] By the 1980s, as head of both university and institute departments, he mentored generations of Slavists, emphasizing empirical philology grounded in primary sources rather than doctrinal interpretations.[2]Post-Soviet Academic Contributions (1991–1999)
Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Dmitry Likhachev, then in his mid-80s, maintained active scholarly engagement with Old Russian literature and cultural philology, producing editions, methodological articles, and monographs that built on his lifelong expertise. In 1991, he co-authored Die Lachtwelt des alten Russland with A. M. Panchenko, a study examining humor and satire in medieval Russian texts, extending his earlier analyses of folkloric elements in ancient literature.[25] That same year, Likhachev published the article "Принцип дополнительности в изучении литературы" ("The Principle of Complementarity in the Study of Literature"), advocating an integrative approach combining textual, historical, and cultural contexts to interpret early Slavic works, a method rooted in his textual criticism of chronicles like The Primary Chronicle.[25] These efforts reflected his commitment to rigorous philological standards amid the post-Soviet academic transition, where funding shortages and ideological shifts challenged institutional continuity. Likhachev also contributed to scholarly editions of ancient Russian narratives during this period, overseeing translations and commentaries for texts such as Повесть временных лет (The Primary Chronicle) and Слово о полку Игореве (The Lay of Igor's Campaign), ensuring their accessibility while preserving paleographic fidelity.[25] His 1991 monograph Poezja ogrodow. O semantyce stylow ogrodowo-parkowych explored the symbolic poetics of garden designs in medieval Russian culture, linking landscape aesthetics to literary motifs in hagiography and chronicles, thereby bridging philology with art history.[25] Though his output increasingly incorporated publicistic reflections—such as in Reflections on Russia (1991), which intertwined scholarly insights on cultural continuity with contemporary observations—core academic works emphasized empirical textual analysis over ideological narrative.[26] This phase marked a consolidation of his methodologies, influencing younger scholars navigating Russia's emergent academic freedoms. By the mid-1990s, Likhachev's advanced age limited new primary research, but he supervised collaborative projects at the Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkinskii Dom), where he had held advisory roles since the 1940s, fostering post-Soviet editions of Old Russian corpora that prioritized source-critical authenticity over prior Soviet-era politicization.[27] His final contributions included essays refining interpretations of genre evolution in early Russian poetics, as seen in republications and annotations that corrected earlier oversights in dating and authorship attribution for works like the Ryazan Chronicle tales.[28] These endeavors underscored a causal emphasis on historical context in literary genesis, resisting ephemeral post-Soviet trends toward decontextualized nationalism, and cemented his legacy as a guardian of empirical Slavic studies until his death in 1999.[2]Public Advocacy and Moral Authority
Cultural Preservation Efforts
Likhachev pioneered the concept of the ecology of culture, defining it as a scientific discipline dedicated to the systematic study and protection of cultural heritage, akin to environmental ecology, to safeguard interconnected cultural systems from degradation and loss.[29] This approach underscored the fragility of cultural artifacts and traditions, advocating for preventive measures to maintain their integrity over time, and influenced late Soviet and post-Soviet preservation policies by framing culture as a living, interdependent ecosystem requiring ongoing stewardship.[30] Amid the Siege of Leningrad from September 1941 to January 1944, Likhachev persisted in scholarly activities despite extreme deprivation, including near-starvation, and actively assisted in rescuing precious manuscripts and library holdings from destruction by fire, bombing, and neglect, thereby preserving key elements of Russian literary and historical records during the crisis that claimed over 800,000 civilian lives.[31] In 1986, Likhachev co-founded and led the Soviet Fund for Culture (later the Russian Fund for Culture), an organization aimed at mobilizing resources for the restoration and protection of cultural monuments, libraries, and archives amid bureaucratic neglect and urban development pressures.[32] Through this body, he coordinated campaigns against the demolition of historic sites in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) and advocated for federal funding to repair war-damaged structures, emphasizing culture's role in national identity over ideological conformity.[2] Likhachev authored the Declaration of the Rights of Culture in the early 1990s, a document asserting inherent protections for cultural heritage comparable to human rights, including prohibitions on destruction during conflicts and guarantees for linguistic and artistic diversity, which has informed international discussions on cultural safeguards in wartime.[33] He also championed the digitization of archival materials starting in the late 1980s, warning of physical decay risks and pushing for public-access digital repositories to democratize preservation efforts.[7] His initiatives extended to establishing specialized museums, including those dedicated to Fyodor Dostoevsky, Alexander Pushkin, and Boris Pasternak, which focused on curating personal artifacts, manuscripts, and environments to educate on Russian literary traditions and prevent the erosion of associated sites.[1] In 1988, Likhachev spearheaded the founding of the All-Russian Museum of History and Ethnography, intended to catalog and exhibit ethnographic collections representing Russia's diverse regional heritages, countering Soviet-era homogenization policies.[34] These efforts culminated in the Likhachev Foundation, established posthumously but rooted in his vision, which continues to award prizes for selfless contributions to monument restoration and archival conservation.[35]Engagement with Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics
During the era of Mikhail Gorbachev's perestroika and glasnost in the late 1980s, Dmitry Likhachev emerged from relative scholarly obscurity to wield significant moral and advisory influence in Soviet politics, consulted by Gorbachev himself amid efforts to reform the ossified communist system.[36] His Gulag survival lent unique credibility, positioning him as a counterweight to ideological orthodoxy while he advocated for cultural preservation against bureaucratic encroachments, such as protesting redevelopment schemes for Moscow's historic Arbat Street that threatened architectural heritage.[2] In a December 1988 essay, Likhachev posed foundational questions about constructing a "democratic, sovereign Russia," which resonated as a critique of lingering totalitarianism and influenced debates on national identity during the USSR's unraveling.[10] In March 1990, addressing the Congress of People's Deputies, Likhachev urged lawmakers to confer broad presidential powers on Gorbachev to stabilize the fracturing union and avert descent into anarchy, reflecting his pragmatic concern for institutional continuity amid rapid liberalization.[37] This intervention underscored his non-partisan stance, prioritizing Russia's cultural and ethical regeneration over ideological alignment, as he viewed Soviet communism as having systematically humiliated the nation through repression and Russification policies that eroded traditional values.[38] After the 1991 Soviet dissolution, Likhachev sustained his influence in post-Soviet Russia under Boris Yeltsin, leveraging personal respect—Yeltsin reportedly held him in awe—to shape policy on historical reconciliation, notably persuading the president in 1998 to attend the reburial of the Romanov remains, a symbolic repudiation of Bolshevik regicide and embrace of pre-revolutionary legacy.[39][20] He lobbied persistently for cultural infrastructure, including state funding for a dedicated national television channel focused on education and heritage, aiding the launch of what became Kultura TV in 1997.[17] Rejecting sentimentalism for the Soviet past's "stability," Likhachev championed emergent freedoms while cautioning against xenophobic nationalism, insisting Russia formed an inseparable part of European civilization rather than a distinct Eurasian entity.[17][3]Views on Dissidence and Intellectual Responsibility
Likhachev eschewed open dissidence, avoiding public protests, hunger strikes, and petitions against Soviet policies, such as those protesting the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia or condemning Andrei Sakharov in 1975, despite facing KGB pressure for his refusal to conform.[40] Instead, he advocated a form of quiet, principled resistance through unwavering commitment to scholarly integrity and cultural preservation, viewing overt political confrontation as futile and self-destructive under totalitarian conditions.[2] He provided Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn with firsthand details on the Solovki camps for The Gulag Archipelago in the 1960s but declined to join dissident circles, prioritizing long-term survival and intellectual endurance over immediate activism—"In Russia one must live long," he remarked, reflecting his belief that regimes could be outlasted through persistence rather than provocation.[41] [36] On intellectual responsibility, Likhachev emphasized the traditional role of the Russian intelligentsia as moral guardians who promote culture, empathize with human suffering, and model ethical conduct without succumbing to ideological expediency.[2] He critiqued the notion that "the end justifies the means" as immoral and destructive, drawing on Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment to argue that unattainable goals pursued through unethical methods erode personal and societal integrity.[42] While defending persecuted figures like Sakharov and Solzhenitsyn against authorities, he urged intellectuals to focus on preserving national heritage—such as ancient manuscripts and libraries—over political agitation, seeing this as a higher duty that sustained Russia's spiritual continuity amid repression.[40] In his view, true dissidence began not in the 1960s samizdat era but with early Soviet victims like himself, imprisoned in 1928 for intellectual nonconformity, underscoring responsibility as enduring witness rather than heroic martyrdom. Likhachev's approach extended to post-Soviet politics, where he warned against nationalism's excesses and vulgarity unleashed by the regime's collapse, reinforcing that intellectuals must prioritize tolerance and cultural stewardship to prevent moral decay.[17] This stance positioned him as a conscience of Russia, blending liberal European orientation with Orthodox-rooted ethics, without the alienation of radical dissidents.[2]Philosophical Perspectives
Russian Cultural Heritage and Orthodoxy
Dmitry Likhachev viewed Orthodox Christianity as the spiritual foundation of Russian cultural heritage, arguing that it propelled the nascent Russian nation into the historical arena and infused its literature, art, and ethos with enduring moral depth. He asserted that "it is impossible to develop a culture without religion," positioning Orthodoxy as essential for cultural continuity and national resilience, particularly in medieval chronicles that documented triumphs of "spirit and courage" amid invasions.[10][10] This perspective framed Russian heritage not as isolated artifacts but as a "timeless monolith" embodying a multi-ethnic synthesis, where Orthodox traditions bridged diverse peoples including Greeks, Bulgarians, and Tatars, fostering a unified identity oriented toward European humanism and personal dignity.[10][43] Central to Likhachev's analysis was the 988 baptism of Rus', which he identified as the genesis of ancient Russian culture via profound Byzantine-Orthodox influences that surpassed Scandinavian or steppe elements in formative impact. These influences introduced advanced literary, iconographic, political, and theological elements, creating a "Scando-Byzantine" cultural framework that elevated Russian heritage to universal significance and served as a "cultural bridge" among ethnic groups.[43][43] He described sites like the Solovetsky Monastery as embodiments of "Holy Russia rising from the sea," symbolizing Orthodox monasticism's role in preserving spiritual and material legacy against destruction, and advocated their protection as museums of medieval technologies and frescoes to maintain this heritage.[10][10] Likhachev critiqued Soviet-era assaults on Orthodox heritage as a form of internal "civil war" that eroded cultural ecology, urging post-Soviet restoration efforts such as the 1988 Millennium of Russia's Baptism to reaffirm Orthodoxy's dialogic role in civilizational history.[10] He supported initiatives like the reburial of Nicholas II's remains in 1998 to promote national repentance and unity through Orthodox moral authority, while warning against privatization or redevelopment that threatened sacred sites, insisting that Russia's "fate" hinged on safeguarding this intertwined religious-cultural patrimony.[10][10]Critiques of Totalitarianism and Modernism
Likhachev's critique of totalitarianism stemmed directly from his imprisonment in the Solovki labor camp from 1928 to 1932, where he observed the system's brutality as a microcosm of Stalinist Russia, with the camp's 1929 population exceeding that of Belgium.[2] He documented early repression, tracing it to the Red Terror of 1918, which targeted intellectuals through arrests for innocuous activities like student associations, yet noted persistent underground intellectual life in camps, including prisoner-published journals and performances of works by authors such as Zamyatin and Lermontov.[21] In his reflections, Likhachev condemned the regime's cultural devastation, including post-release isolation for "former" prisoners and coerced conformity, such as ignoring the repurposing of sites like St. Isaac's Cathedral, while praising resistors who refused to denounce figures like Andrei Sakharov despite personal risks like arson attacks in 1976.[21] Philosophically, Likhachev viewed Soviet totalitarianism as a distortion of Russia's traditional holism—a communal solidarity evident in medieval literature and "Old Rus" social structures—into coercive uniformity that eroded cultural continuity.[44] He articulated the regime's profound harm, stating that it "humiliated and robbed Russia so much, that Russians can hardly breathe," linking this plunder to a broader national suffocation under communist policies that suppressed genuine Russian identity.[38] This critique extended beyond politics to the regime's assault on heritage, which he defended against demolitions and ideological overlays, positioning totalitarianism as antithetical to organic cultural wholeness. Regarding modernism, Likhachev highlighted its promotion of individualism and social fragmentation as a counterpoint to traditional cohesion, using medieval Russian texts to illustrate past unity against contemporary atomization.[44] He contrasted the holistic ethic of pre-modern Russia, rooted in shared cultural norms, with modern tendencies toward isolation and specialization, advocating broad humanistic knowledge to counteract these disintegrative forces rather than narrow expertise.[2] In this framework, modernism's emphasis on rupture and novelty undermined the enduring moral and aesthetic continuity he championed, echoing totalitarianism's rejection of heritage while fostering a different pathology of disconnection.[44] Likhachev thus endorsed a communicative solidarity that acknowledged differences without descending into either enforced collectivism or unchecked individualism, applying this to both domestic renewal and global dialogue.[44]Personal Life and Family
Marriage and Children
Likhachev married Zinaida Aleksandrovna Makarova in 1935.[11] The couple remained together until his death in 1999, a union spanning over six decades marked by her steadfast support amid his imprisonments and professional challenges.[45] Makarova, born in 1907, devoted her life to Likhachev, managing family affairs during periods of hardship including the Soviet purges and World War II evacuations.[46] In August 1937, the couple had twin daughters, Vera and Lyudmila.[45] [47] Vera Dmitrievna Likhacheva (1937–1981) pursued a career as an art historian, while Lyudmila outlived her father.[48] The family maintained close-knit living arrangements, with daughters, sons-in-law, and grandchildren residing together in later years, reflecting Likhachev's emphasis on familial unity.[49] One daughter predeceased him, leaving him survived by his wife, the other daughter, two grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren at the time of his death.[2]Daily Life and Personal Resilience
Likhachev demonstrated extraordinary personal resilience during his imprisonment in the Solovetsky Special Purpose Camp (SLON) from 1928 to 1932, following his arrest at age 22 for membership in a student circle deemed counter-revolutionary by Soviet authorities.[18] Assigned to forced labor, he followed a grueling daily routine that included a fixed path from barracks to work sites, such as the Krimkab workshop, traversing the island's rugged terrain for three years between 1929 and 1931.[10] In his memoirs, he detailed the camp's topography, harsh conditions, and social fabric, where he formed bonds with fellow intellectuals and even criminals amid pervasive brutality and routine executions.[21] These experiences, rather than embittering him, cultivated a philosophy emphasizing individual agency toward goodness, even under totalitarian oppression, as he later articulated the freedom to pursue ethical paths despite systemic cruelty.[10] Upon release in 1932, Likhachev returned to Leningrad and established a scholarly routine at the Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkin House), where he labored for over 60 years, immersing himself in archival research and writing amid ongoing ideological pressures.[6] His daily life reflected modest habits suited to an intellectual dissident: focused study of Old Russian texts, correspondence with peers, and avoidance of political entanglement that could invite re-arrest, as evidenced by his survival through the Great Purge of 1937–1938 without further incarceration. During the 872-day Siege of Leningrad (September 1941 to January 1944), he endured extreme hunger—famously noting that "real life is hunger, and the rest a mirage"—while rationing minimal food, witnessing family deaths including his father's, and sustaining himself through mental discipline and cultural reflection.[50] Family life provided both anchors and trials that tested his endurance. Married twice—first to a wife who died young, then to Zinaida Aleksandrovna in 1945—he raised children amid wartime devastation, later suffering the loss of his daughter Vera, a collaborator in his research, in a car accident.[27] Yet Likhachev's resilience shone in his refusal to succumb to despair; he channeled personal losses into prolific output, editing texts and mentoring students into his 90s, viewing cultural labor as a moral imperative against ideological erasure. This stoic continuity, unmarred by vengefulness toward the regime that imprisoned him, underscored his belief in intellectual integrity as a bulwark against adversity.[21]Legacy and Recognition
Honors and Awards
Dmitry Likhachev received extensive recognition for his scholarly work in Russian literature, philology, and cultural preservation, including high Soviet and Russian state honors as well as numerous international accolades. These awards underscored his role in studying ancient Russian texts such as The Tale of Igor's Campaign and promoting cultural heritage amid political upheavals.[51] Key Soviet-era honors included the title of Hero of Socialist Labor in 1986, the USSR's highest civilian distinction, awarded with the Order of Lenin (No. 459674) and the Hammer and Sickle Gold Medal (No. 20822) for contributions to science, culture, and his 80th birthday.[52] He also received the Order of the Red Banner of Labor in 1966 and the Medal "For Labor Valor" in 1953, reflecting sustained academic labor.[52][53] State prizes comprised the Stalin Prize of the second degree in 1952 and the USSR State Prize in 1969 for Poetics of Old Russian Literature.[52][53] Post-Soviet Russian awards highlighted his enduring impact, such as the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called in 1998 from President Yeltsin for contributions to Russian culture and literature, the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" second degree in 1996, and the designation as First Honorary Citizen of Saint Petersburg in 1993.[51][52] He was a laureate of the Russian Federation State Prize in 1993 and posthumously in 1999, the Presidential Prize of the Russian Federation in 1997, the Tsarskoye Selo Art Prize in 1997, and the Lomonosov Gold Medal in 1993 from the Russian Academy of Sciences.[52] Internationally, Likhachev earned honorary doctorates from institutions including the University of Nicolaus Copernicus in Toruń (1964), Oxford University (1967), Edinburgh University (1971), University of Bordeaux (1982), University of Zurich (1983), Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest (1985), Sofia University (1988), and Charles University in Prague (1991). Bulgarian honors featured the Order of Cyril and Methodius first degree (1963 and 1977), Order of Georgi Dimitrov (1986), Order "Madarski Konnik" first degree (1995), and Order "Stara Planina" first degree (1996), alongside the International Cyril and Methodius Prize in 1979.[52] He was elected to foreign academies, such as the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (1963) and the British Academy (1976), and named honorary citizen of Milan and Arezzo, Italy (1992).[52] These recognitions affirmed his global influence in Slavic studies despite his experiences under Soviet repression.[2]Institutional and Cultural Impact
Likhachev chaired the Russian Cultural Foundation from its founding in 1986, directing funds toward the preservation and promotion of Russian literary and historical heritage amid the transition from Soviet to post-Soviet society.[13] Under his leadership, the foundation supported restoration projects, scholarly publications, and public education initiatives, countering decades of ideological suppression of pre-revolutionary cultural elements.[7] He spearheaded the establishment of the All-Russian Museum of History and Ethnography in 1988, which focused on documenting Russia's ethnic diversity and traditional artifacts, serving as a counterweight to Soviet-era Russification policies.[34] Likhachev also founded museums dedicated to prominent Russian authors such as Fyodor Dostoevsky, Alexander Pushkin, and Boris Pasternak, ensuring dedicated spaces for their manuscripts, correspondences, and personal effects to foster public engagement with classical literature.[14] His advocacy extended to architectural preservation, where he mobilized intellectual opposition against demolitions of historical sites during late Soviet urbanization drives, influencing policies that prioritized heritage over rapid development.[31] These efforts embedded a commitment to cultural continuity in post-1991 institutions, with organizations like the Dmitry Likhachev Foundation, established in 2001, perpetuating his emphasis on ethical stewardship of Russia's Orthodox and literary traditions.[54] Likhachev's institutional roles thus bridged dissident survivalism with state-sanctioned revival, shaping a post-totalitarian framework that valued empirical historical inquiry over politicized narratives.[55]Recent Commemorations and Scholarly Assessments
In 2021, the 115th anniversary of Likhachev's birth prompted exhibitions and scholarly discussions highlighting his role as a leading researcher of ancient Russian texts, including the Tale of Igor's Campaign, with events emphasizing his global-scale contributions to understanding Russian cultural origins.[56] The same year saw the unveiling of a memorial plaque dedicated to him at the Karl May School History Museum in Saint Petersburg, recognizing his enduring influence on educational and cultural preservation efforts.[57] The annual International Likhachev Scientific Readings, established to honor his legacy, continued as a major forum for global scholars, attracting over 1,500 participants yearly from more than 50 countries by the early 2020s, with the 20th edition in June 2022 featuring addresses from Russian officials on cultural transformations and receiving greetings from President Vladimir Putin.[58][59] The 21st Readings in May 2023 focused on interdisciplinary topics like world changes and prospects, underscoring Likhachev's emphasis on ethical cultural stewardship.[59] The Academician Likhachev Prizes, awarded for achievements in humanities and culture, marked their 20th anniversary in 2023 with a ceremony at the State Hermitage Museum, including medals and certificates presented to international recipients in recognition of contributions aligned with his preservationist ideals.[35] These ongoing awards, tied to his birthday observances, reflect sustained institutional commitment to his vision of cultural continuity amid modern challenges. Contemporary scholarly assessments portray Likhachev as a pivotal defender of Russia's Orthodox-rooted heritage against ideological erosion, with his methodologies in textual analysis of medieval literature remaining foundational in Slavic studies, though some Western critiques note his alignment with post-Soviet nationalist narratives as potentially selective in emphasizing continuity over rupture.[27] Russian academics, via platforms like the Likhachev Foundation, continue to cite his works as benchmarks for resisting cultural modernism, valuing his firsthand critiques of Soviet totalitarianism drawn from Solovki camp experiences as empirically grounded insights into intellectual resilience.[60] His influence persists in policy discussions, as seen in references to his views on civilizational transitions in analyses of Russia's historical self-definition.[61]Selected Works and Publications
Likhachev produced over 500 scholarly works and 600 publicistic pieces, focusing primarily on Old Russian literature, textology, and cultural history. His research emphasized the stylistic evolution, historical context, and preservation of medieval Russian texts, establishing foundational methodologies for studying chronicles, hagiography, and epic poetry.[62] Key scholarly publications include:- National Self-Consciousness of Ancient Rus: Essays on Russian Literature of the 11th–17th Centuries (1945), which examines the emergence of national identity in early Russian literary traditions.[62]
- Russian Chronicles and Their Cultural-Historical Significance (1947), a comprehensive analysis of chronicle writing as a cultural artifact, spanning 499 pages.[62]
- The Tale of Igor's Campaign: Historical-Literary Essay (1950, revised editions in 1976 and 1986), providing critical editions, translations, and contextual studies of this 12th-century epic.[62]
- The Origins of Russian Literature (1952), tracing the formative stages of literary expression in Kievan Rus'.[62]
- The Poetics of Old Russian Literature (1967, third edition 1979), a seminal work on literary devices, genres, and aesthetics in texts from the 10th to 17th centuries.[62]
- Development of Russian Literature of the 10th–17th Centuries: Epochs and Styles (1973), delineating stylistic periods and influences across medieval epochs.[62]
- Textology: Based on Russian Literature of the 10th–17th Centuries (1983, second edition), offering rigorous methods for textual criticism and manuscript analysis.[62][63]
References
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Likhachev_Foundation