Alexander Vasilievich Nikitenko

Alexander Vasilievich Nikitenko
Alexander Vasilievich Nikitenko
	Portrait of Nikitenko by Ivan Kramskoi (1877)
Born	March 12, 1804; Uderevka, Biruchenskii uezd, Воронежская губерния(Voronezh Governorate)
Died	July 21, 1877 (aged 74); Moscow
Nationality	Russian Empire
Education	Doctor of Philosophy (1828)
Occupation(s)	Author, censor
Employer	Saint Petersburg University

Comment: Robert McClenon (talk) 17:21, 27 March 2018 (UTC)

Comment: I'm going to go ahead and accept this on the basis that anyone about whom good records have existed for more than a century is notable. Robert McClenon (talk) 17:21, 27 March 2018 (UTC)

Alexander Vasilievich Nikitenko (Александр Васильевич Никитенко; 1804, Uderevka – 1877, Pavlovsk) - was a literary historian, censor, Professor of Saint Petersburg University, ordinary member of St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. For many years, he had maintained a detailed diary, which became an important source in the history of literary and public life of mid-19th century Russia.

Biography

Alexander Nikitenko was born a Little-Russian serf, property of Count N.P. Sheremetev, stationed in Alekseevka Sloboda of the Biruchenskii uezd.

Nikitenko was born in 1804 or 1805; his father, who served as senior clerk in the estate office of Count Sheremetev, was educated at the level above that of his peers and suffered from harassment by superiors for serfs' interests. Nikitenko's childhood was not favorable for good upbringing. He received his initial education at Voronezh Uezd School, but could not further advance his studies because as a surf, he would not be admitted to a Gymnasium. The young man was devastated and contemplated suicide for several years.

In 1822, in Ostrogozhsk, where Nikitenko was scratching by giving private lessons, The Russian Biblical Society opened a local chapter, and Nikitenko was elected Secretary. His speech at the official meeting in 1824 was noticed, and Prince A.N. Golitsyn, The President of the Society and Minister of National Education, was made aware of it. Soon, with the assistance of V.A. Zhukovsky and K.F. Ryleev, Nikitenko was granted affranchisement.

At Ryleev's recommendation, Nikitenko settled in the household of E.P. Obolensky, a future Decembrist, who put him in charge of educating his younger brother. In 1825, Nikitenko was matriculated in The Imperial Saint-Petersburg University. He narrowly escaped prosecution for associating with the Decembrists, but was able to finish the course and graduate with a degree of Candidate from the Department of History and Philosophy. Nikitenko then was offered a course at the Professorial Institute at Derpt University, but he declined not willing to commit the required subsequent 14-year professorial contract with the university.^[1]

On 1826, he published his first article "On Overcoming the Misfortunes" in the "Syn Otechectva"("Son of the Fatherland"), for which he was given much consideration Grech and Bulgarin, and won the trust of the District Superintendant of the Education K.M. Borozdin who hired him as his secretary. At his request, Nikitenko compiled a commentary for the new Censorship Code (1828).

Since 1830 had been Political Economy lecturer in Saint Petersburg University. After failing to become faculty member with the Department of Natural Law and Political Economy, he joined the department of Russian Philology in 1832 as adjunct faculty, and in 1834 as professor.

In 1833, Nikitenko was appointed Censor and soon was arrested for 8 days in the military jail for releasing Victor Hugo's poem «Enfant, si j'étais roi» (translated by M. Delarue).

Nikitenko also served as lecturer of Russian Philology in [[Saint Petersburg Roman Catholic Theological Academy|Roman-Catholic Theological Academy. In 1839-41 he was editor of the literary journal "Syn Otechectva"("Son of the Fatherland"), in 1847-48 "Sovremennik" (The Contemporary)

In 1837, he was conferred upon the degree of Doctor of Philosophy for his dissertation "On Creative Power of Poetry or Poetic Genius"^[2]. In 1853, Nikitenko was elected Corresponding Member of the Department of Russian Language and Philology of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, and in 1855 was elected Ordinary Academician in the above department.

In his role of a censor, Nikitenko regularly wrote the code projects, instructions or commentaries to them in Martinist, as defined by Bulgarin, that is, in relatively liberal spirit.

In 1842, Nikitenko was arrested for one night in the military jail for allowing of the short novel "A Governess" by P. Ephebovsky, containing mockery of the Feldjagers.

Nikitenko enthusiastically welcomed the Great Reforms (political, judicial and economic reforms of Alexander II) describing himself as a "moderate progressist".

In 1859, Nikitenko became a member of Private Committee over Censorship, where he promoted ardently the importance of literature and petitioned to convert the extraordinary and temporary status of the institution of censorship into a permanent and regular one, as "Chief Censorship Agency" under Minister of National Education. He had partially succeeded, but received an unexpected blow when the Agency was transferred into the structure of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (charged in particular with police and state security tasks).

In the late 1850-ies, Nikitenko served as editor the Journal of the Ministry of Education; he sat and starting from 1857 chaired the Committee on Theater. Nikitenko completed his service in the rank of Privy Councillor.

His most known works on the literary history include his "Speech on Criticism" (SPb., 1842) and "Essays on the history of Russian Literature. Introduction" (SPb.,1845). As characterized by Soviet Historical Encyclopedia, his "scientific work and criticism were eclectic, lacked clear concept and did not gain much success".

The famous diary of Nikitenko was published in 1889-92 and was translated into a few foreign languages in the course of the XX century. The special 1893 edition also contained his memoir «Моя повесть о самом себе (The tale about myself) also enjoying multiple subsequent editions, but none during the Soviet period. In 2004 the diary was published in three volumes Dnevnik

Notes

^ "October 16, 1827" / Diary. — Vol. 1.
^ Императорский С.-Петербургский университет 1870.

Sources

Никитенко, Александр Васильевич. РБС/ВТ/Никитенко, Александр Васильевич (in Russian) – via Wikisource. //Русский биографический словарь : в 25 томах. — СПб.—М., 1896—1918. Русский биографический словарь (in Russian) – via Wikisource.{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
Ч. Ветринский, «Два русских общественных типа» (Никитенко и И. С. Аксаков, «Новое Слово», №№ 7—8, 1894);
M. A. Протопопов, «Из истории нашей общественности» («Записки» и «Дневник» Никитенко, «Русская Мысль», №№ 6—7, 1893);
К. Н. Медведский, «Повесть честного гражданина» (по поводу «Дневника» Никитенко, «Наблюдатель», №№ 3—4, 1893).
Глазычев В. Горчащий привкус ума
Чешихин В. Е.., [in Russian]. ЭСБЕ/Никитенко, Александр Васильевич (in Russian) – via Wikisource.{{citation}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
В. В. Григорьев (1870). Императорский С.-Петербургский университет в течение первых 50 лет его существования (PDF) (Типография В. Безобразова и Комп. ed.). СПб.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

External links

Category:1804 births Category:1877 deaths Category:Censors Category:Imperial Russian journalists Category:Imperial Russian male writers Category:Russian literary historians Category:Full Members of the St Petersburg Academy of Sciences Category:Russian memoirists Category:19th-century journalists Category:Russian male journalists Category:19th-century male writers

[1] "October 16, 1827" / Diary. — Vol. 1.

[FOOTNOTEИмператорский_С.-Петербургский_университет1870-2] Императорский С.-Петербургский университет 1870.

[1]

[2]