Novik, Nikolai Petrovich. Nikolai Novikov - writer, journalist and educator

"... Several times I found out from Molotov the details of Stalin's death. I remember walking in the forest, having not really achieved anything, I asked a clearly provocative question:

- They say that Beria himself killed him?

Why Beria? Could be a Chekist or a doctor, - Molotov answered.

Much has been written on this subject. Who has not made attempts to understand the intricacies of testimonies, the contradictions of facts and documents! There are Volkogonov, and Radzinsky, Mukhin and Dobryukha, Karpov, Emelyanov, and others, but so far it has not been possible to recreate the picture of what happened that night. Until now, they argue about who is directly or indirectly responsible for this death: Beria-Khrushchev-Malenkov or Khrushchev-Malenkov. It was not possible to find out the names of the performers, although the circle of participants is very small.

In my opinion, the main difficulty lies in the almost complete inconsistency of the evidence. Only by bringing them all together, plotting and analyzing them, is it possible to separate truth from lies, break through numerous smoke screens and not be tempted by dead ends.

To begin with, I will show you the likely course of events, for simplicity, breaking the story into points. We then turn to the evidence and conclusions.

1. On February 28, 1953, a meeting was held at Stalin's Near Dacha with the participation of Beria, Bulganin, Malenkov and Khrushchev, at which the issues outlined by Stalin for an expanded meeting of the Presidium of the Central Committee, which was to be held on March 2, were discussed.
2. The conspirators who are among the guests understand that they can no longer wait. In addition, the situation has developed in the best possible way - today among the Chekists on duty there are those who are ready to act on their signal, and the people closest to Stalin are absent.
3. When leaving, they give a signal and leave to wait. The guards remaining in the house take the Chekist who is not connected with them out of the game, sending him to sleep.
4. However, the next day passes as usual - Stalin works, eats, walks, calls the ministers.
5. By evening, the excited conspirators, having waited all day uselessly, gather to discuss further actions in case of failure.
6. Only after 2 o'clock in the morning the long-awaited call is heard. They urgently come to the country. The guards do not know anything for sure: Stalin worked at his place, but did not call about food and tea at the usual time, and his rooms are very quiet. This is what they were waiting for, and now they need time to work out their own version of what happened, to prepare for the seizure of power, the distribution of roles.
7. Having scolded one guard, after talking with their man and giving him instructions, they leave.
8. Most likely, Stalin was supposed to be "discovered" between 9-10 o'clock in the morning. But the head of the field guard is stubborn and resourceful. When Stalin’s light does not go out even after 5 o’clock in the morning, he, bypassing direct instructions, sends Matryona Petrovna Butusova to Stalin, who found him on the floor.
9. Having shifted the paralyzed Stalin on the sofa, the guards again call Ignatiev and the conspirators.
10. The last two appear at the dacha at about 7 am and call the Minister of Health A. Tretyakov, who himself appoints the first medical consultation.
11. From 7 to 10 in the morning, they do not provide any assistance to Stalin, apparently they are processing the guards about giving evidence, other members of the Bureau of the Prisidium call on the phone. At 10 o'clock, a second examination of Stalin is carried out, with one of the doctors who have arrived.
At 10.40 am Beria, Malenkov and Khrushchev gathered in Stalin's office in the Kremlin. Later they were joined by Molotov, Mikoyan, Voroshilov, Kaganovich and others. After the meeting, Beria, Malenkov, Voroshilov and Mikoyan went to Stalin's dacha. Treatment starts at 11 am.

1. So, February 28, 1953. Stalin meets guests at the Middle Dacha. He has not been in the Kremlin since February 17 (this is evidenced by the visitor's log of his office in the Kremlin), so Khrushchev's statement about watching a movie and having a fun dinner is a lie. As we see from Lozgachev's testimony, Stalin prepared for this dinner in advance, and judging by the absence of strong alcoholic drinks, the conversation was to be serious - an extended meeting of the Presidium of the Central Committee was scheduled for Monday, March 2. (Lozgachev: "... That night there were supposed to be guests at the facility - this is how the Host called the members of the Politburo who came to him. As usual, when guests came to the Host, we worked out a menu with him. On the night of February 28 for the first March we had a menu: "Madjari" grape juice... This is a young grape wine, but the Owner called it juice for its small strength. And that night the Owner called me and said: "Give us two bottles of juice..." ")

The fact that the meeting was businesslike is indirectly confirmed by other witnesses:

but). On the night of February 28 to March 1, Sergei Vasilievich Gusarov stood at his post at the entrance to the main house of the dacha. He saw Beria, Malenkov and Khrushchev leaving at about 4 o'clock in the morning. He also remembered that Malenkov then “sighed with relief,” and then they all went home.
b). Bulganin, a participant in that evening, became an alcoholic by the end of his life. In almost all his memoirs, he generally tried not to tell the truth. She slips only occasionally, in details that he considered insignificant. Perhaps this was also the case in his conversation with Zhukov. Here is what he remembered about that night at Stalin's: "... After talking about business, everyone sat down at the table for dinner."

2. On that Saturday and Sunday, Valentina Istomina and the commandant of the dacha, I. Orlov, were off. The latter was missing for some strange reason. P. Lozgachev: "On the night of March 1, I was at the dacha - I was on duty ... Orlov, the commandant of the dacha, had just returned from vacation and had a day off." Overworked, probably.
Thus, under Stalin, the head of the "field guard" Khrustalev, his assistant Tukov, the deputy commandant P. Lozgachev and the servant-castellan Matrena Butusova were on duty. The next day, Khrustalev was replaced by Starostin, the 1st deputy head of the "field guard".

3. Tukov and Lozgachev claim that Stalin told Khrustalev, who was helping him: "Go to bed. I don't need anything. And I'm going to bed too. I won't need you today." Realizing the absurdity of such an order, Lozgachev adds: "... for all the time that I worked, this was the only time when the Boss said: "Go to bed ...". Usually he will ask: "Do you want to sleep?" - and drill through your eyes from head to toe. Well, what a dream! .. We were, of course, very pleased to receive such an instruction, and boldly went to bed. " Tukov echoes him: “After the guests left, Stalin said to the servants and commandants:“ I’m going to bed, I won’t call you, you can go to bed too. ”Stalin had never given such an order before ... "

Today it is often argued that such an order could not have been, that the guards simply would not have obeyed him and would not have gone to bed for anything. This is one of those mistakes that made it difficult to understand what happened that night.

Did Stalin's guards fall? There have been such cases. For example, Vlasik says that once in the Caucasus, due to the small number of Stalin's guards there (9 people), one sentry fell asleep at the post. Stalin ordered to increase security in order to enable her to have a normal rest.

In this particular case, I believe Lozgachev is telling the truth. There was such an order. True, it was not Stalin who gave it, but Khrustalev himself. This was done for one purpose - to remove one of the guards from the game. Whom?

but). From the stories of A. Rybin to F. Chuev: “On Stalin’s trips, the security guard Tukov often accompanied him. He sat in the front seat next to the driver and used to fall asleep on the way. One of the members of the Politburo, who was traveling with Stalin in the back seat, remarked:
- Comrade Stalin, I don't understand which of you is guarding whom?
- What is it, - answered Iosif Vissarionovich, - he also put his pistol in my raincoat - take it, they say, just in case!
b). In the book "Next to Stalin" A. Rybin writes that Stalin "having learned that Tukov lives with his wife and sick daughter in the same room and therefore does not get enough sleep, he helped him get an apartment."

So, always ready to take a nap, Tukov is sent to sleep. Lozgachev gets freedom of action until 10 am, when Khrustalev was supposed to be replaced by the unsuspecting Starostin.

4. There are several direct and indirect evidence that on March 1, Stalin was healthy and worked almost all day.

but). F. Chuev was talking to one of Stalin's "outside" bodyguards, who told him that on March 1 the Boss was out and about inquiring about dinner.
b). Minister of Finance Arseniy Zverev recalled that "March 1 or 2" he had a telephone conversation with Stalin: "Reorganization of the economy in a peaceful way was basically completed in 1946. In 1948, the volume industrial production surpassed pre-war levels in the country. Thus, it took about two and a half years to restore the industry. The heroic labor of the workers and the tireless activity of the Party ensured the fulfillment of the first post-war five-year plan in industry in four years and three months.

However, success did not mean at all that the path the country followed was easy. Against the backdrop of impressive successes in industry, the lag in agriculture was especially noticeable. It was more difficult to restore it than the industry. Difficulties in agriculture were largely due to serious omissions in its management, a violation of the principle of the material interest of collective farms and collective farmers in the results of their labor.

From meetings with Stalin, from conversations with him, from his statements, I formed a very definite idea that he was not sure of the correctness of all the methods we used to manage agriculture ...

… My area is finance. I will touch on this aspect of the problem, and in its most topical part for those years: the question of agricultural taxes.

Taxes are also used to encourage collective forms of development. They are inherently returnable: the funds received are again used in the interests of the working people.

Let me tell you, in particular, about the agricultural tax. This history goes back to the pre-war years. When the law on this tax was being drafted, Stalin was extremely wary of the proposal of the People's Commissariat of Finance to increase it (we motivated this by the formidable international situation and the need to urgently give large sums to industry), but in the end agreed to increase the taxation of collective farmers by 1.8 times.

When discussing the issue in the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, I asked to allow a certain amplitude of tax fluctuations. Noting that our statistics are not all right, I spoke about the desirability of setting an upper limit exceeding the previous one by 1.9 times. Having received consent, he began to clarify the data. Only after thorough preparation did the financial authorities get down to business and coped well with it.

The Great Patriotic War prevented further development of this problem. With the transition to peace, it was necessary to resolve the issue of reducing wartime taxes. The question of the agricultural tax came up sharply again. Again, it took a lot of research to prove the need for revision. There were people in the central office who were convinced that the Ministry of Finance was mistaken. Stalin even accused me of insufficient information about the financial situation of the collective farmers. Once he half-jokingly-half-seriously said to me:

It is enough to sell a chicken to a collective farmer to console the Ministry of Finance.

Unfortunately, Comrade Stalin, this is far from being the case - for some collective farmers, even a cow would not be enough to pay the tax.

After that, I sent a summary of the actual data to the Central Committee of the Party. The numbers spoke for themselves. The government decided to reduce the agricultural tax by one third.

At the beginning of March 1953, a specially created commission considered a certificate on the amount of income tax on citizens engaged in agriculture and certain local taxes. At that time, some members of the commission made a proposal to separately introduce the turnover tax and the workday tax. I objected, since the turnover tax already existed: it was formed mainly from the difference in procurement and retail prices for agricultural products, taking into account the cost of processing, as well as taking into account the profit received by processing enterprises.

In this way, a part of the national income created by collective farms and collective farmers was transferred to the state. Then I was instructed to draw up a certificate on the amount of turnover tax on certain types agricultural products. It indicated that the turnover tax on grain was 85 percent, on meat - 75 percent, and so on.

These figures are questionable. The certificate was shown to Stalin. In a telephone conversation with me, Stalin, without touching on the origin of the figures, asked how I interpret the nature of the turnover tax. I replied that the tax is related to profit, one of the forms of manifestation of the surplus product. I hear: "That's right." A new question: “Do you remember, before the war, one member of the Central Committee at a meeting of the Central Committee called the turnover tax an excise duty?” I remember this incident. Stalin then replied that the excise had a different economic nature.

Further, Stalin asked: what explains such a high turnover tax on the main types of agricultural products? I replied that this was the difference between the procurement and retail prices set by the government for agricultural products. Next question: Why do we charge income and VAT separately, and wouldn't it be better to combine these payments? I say that if we combine, at least in the form of deductions from profits, then in an easy and Food Industry there will be a profit of 150-200 percent per year; there will be no interest in reducing the cost, which is planned at a rate of 1-3 percent per year, because the profit will be great without that, but not as a result of work. Again I hear the remark: “That's right!”. In this way, many fundamental problems of financial activity were touched upon, and the question of the agricultural tax was not once mentioned. At the end of the conversation, Stalin said: "Goodbye." (Rare case: he usually just hung up.)

However, the meeting no longer took place - a few days later I.V. Stalin died. "(" Notes of the Minister "M., 1973, pp. 242-246)
in). Starostin’s memoirs of that day have been preserved: “From 19 o’clock, the silence in Stalin’s rooms began to disturb us. Tukov and I were afraid to enter his chambers without a call, and reported the strange silence in the chambers to the assistant commandant P. Lozgachev.” So, until 19:00 Starostin and Tukov were calm, did not notice anything unusual, and now "SILENCE" in the rooms began to disturb them. Those. there had been no silence before.
G). Lozgachev tries to lie in a more beautiful way, but lets out the details. According to him, when Stalin was found on the floor, "a pocket watch and the Pravda newspaper were lying next to him." Where did this "Truth" come from? Who brought it? It is unlikely that Stalin began to reread the old issue without even asking if there were new mail and newspapers.

From all this evidence, it can be concluded that until 19:00 the day passed as usual.

5. From the memoirs of Khrushchev's son, Sergei Khrushchev: "... The last time my father waited for Stalin's call was at the beginning of March 1953, on Sunday, the first day. On the eve, or rather, that morning, he returned home to the dacha at five o'clock, as usual when he dined at Stalin's. Father had no doubt that Stalin could not stand the loneliness of the day off, he would demand them to himself. Father did not dine, went for a walk, punishing: if they call from there, call him immediately. He made such a statement for the sake of formality, everything is fine knew what to do in this case. Father did not wait for the call ... It began to get dark. He had a bite to eat and sat down to papers. Already in the evening Malenkov called, said that something had happened to Stalin. Without delay, father left.
We, of course, did not know who called, what he said. And no one was interested in it. Everyone was minding their own business."

This is the picture that turns out: having returned from Stalin, Khrushchev is waiting for some kind of call. Nervous - he can’t have lunch, he can’t sit still, leaving, he reminds his family what they know without him. The behavior is strange and suspicious. Then a call - and he is urgently carried away to a meeting.

Sergei Khrushchev: “... Some surprise was caused by the imminent return of his father, he was absent for an hour and a half or two ... Silently he went up to the bedroom and again delved into his papers.
The second time he left almost at night and returned in the morning.

6. As we remember, already at 19:00 the silence in Stalin's rooms alerted Starostin and Tukov. Suspicious was the fact that usually, going to bed, Stalin switched the phone to the attached duty officer.
Until 22:00 Lozgachev fools them. Starostin: "... At 22 o'clock I began to send Lozgachev to Stalin, since Stalin's behavior was strange to us. Lozgachev, on the contrary, began to send me to Stalin and said:" You are the oldest here, you should be the first to go to Stalin " ". Persecution led to nothing. Lozgachev pretended that everything was in order, and the visiting guards had only suspicions, but no evidence that Stalin was not sleeping. They appeared later.

P. Yegorov recalls: “On March 1, 1953, at noon, I took over post No. 6 at the dacha in Volynskoye. The guards at posts outside the house changed every two hours, so I was on duty from 12.00 to 14.00, from 16.00 to 18.00, and so on "Why such details? Yes, to the fact that about this night, about every hour of it, researchers from all over the world have written entire books. I'm ready to tell you about the time from zero to two in the morning, because it was these hours that remained in my memory forever. My post No. 6 was located just at the windows of the same Big Dining Room, where, as is commonly believed, Stalin's life ended. the curtains were never drawn, and the light was usually on, and this circumstance was just what came in handy on that tragic March night.
Somewhere between one and two in the morning, Comrade Starostin, the 1st deputy head of the "exit guard", Comrade Starostin comes to me and asks:
- As there? Do you happen to see any movement in the Great Dining Room?
- Well no.
- As soon as you see Comrade Stalin, tell me right away!
“Good,” I say, but I don’t take my eyes off the windows. The lights are on, but no one is there. No and no. After some time, minutes, maybe 20, Starostin comes again. I again reported to him that I had not seen anything, and he said:
- I don’t know what to do ... Usually at this time we serve him tea with lemon, but now something doesn’t call ... Go by yourself - you can disturb the rest. It will be inconvenient ... In short, if anything, you call me.
He didn't come again. On the morning of March 2, I changed."

Starostin's suspicions are finally justified enough to call Ignatiev. Starostin: "First of all, I called the Chairman of the MGB - S. Ignatiev and reported on the state of Stalin. ... I call G. Malenkov and inform about the state of Stalin. Malenkov mumbled something into the receiver and put it on the lever. "
Further events develop, apparently, as follows: Malenkov calls Khrushchev, reports the information received from the dacha. Khrushchev: "... I immediately called the car. She was at my dacha. I quickly got dressed, arrived, it all took about fifteen minutes. We agreed that we would go in not to Stalin, but to the duty officers. We went there and asked: what's the matter?". They: "Usually, Comrade Stalin at such a time, at eleven o'clock in the evening, always calls, calls and asks for tea. Sometimes he eats. Now this was not the case. "... We felt that it was inconvenient for us to appear at his place and fix our presence ... We went home."

7- 11. Now I will explain why I am sure that it happened this way and not otherwise.
The fact is that Starostin was not a timid man. He was not afraid to contradict Stalin if he felt that he was right.

From the memoirs of A. Rybin: "... As for Stalin himself ... From 1930 to 1953, the guards saw him "in weightlessness" only twice: at the birthday party of S. M. Shtemenko and at the wake of A. A. Zhdanov.

Everyone saw that Stalin treated Zhdanov with special warmth. Therefore, after the funeral, he arranged a commemoration at the dacha. Leaving home in the evening, Molotov punished Starostin:

- If Stalin is going to water the flowers at night, do not let him out of the house. He can forgive.

Yes, the years have already taken their toll. Stalin easily caught a cold, often had a sore throat. Therefore, Starostin drove the key into the well so that Stalin could not open the door. Groaning around her in vain, Stalin asked:

- Open the door.

- Rain on the street. You can catch a cold, get sick, ”Starostin objected.

I repeat: open the door!

“Comrade Stalin, I can’t open the door for you.

“Tell your minister to send you out!” Stalin exploded. “I don't need you anymore.

- There is! - Starostin saluted, but did not move from his place. Having made an indignant noise that some guard was not obeying him, the Generalissimo, Stalin went to bed. In the morning, Starostin doomedly carried his things into the car. Then he was summoned to Stalin, who peacefully offered:

“Forget about what you were talking about yesterday. I didn't speak, you didn't hear. Relax and come to work.

It was an interesting situation, wasn't it? Well, you yourself will appreciate its psychological subtleties. And I will only emphasize this: if Stalin still wanted to water the flowers and even remembered the whole night conversation, it means that he was not very drunk. It is so? Although purely in everyday life everything is clear here - a person buried the best interlocutor.

Now about how Stalin's guards acted, if there was a suspicion that something was wrong with him.
The former deputy of the Main Directorate of Security of the Ministry of State Security of the USSR, Colonel N.P. Novik: on Saturdays, Stalin went to the bathhouse built on the territory of the dacha (in which, by the way, the security of the dacha was also bathed, but, of course, not when Stalin visited it). Usually this procedure took Stalin 1:00-1:10. But one day he suddenly did not come out of the bathhouse at the appointed time. After 20 minutes, the guards reported to Novik, who was at the dacha at that time. After 35 minutes, he called the Minister of State Security Ignatiev, who immediately called Malenkov. There was a command to break the door in the bath (from the inside it was closed with a latch). After 46 minutes, Novik with a crowbar and a bodyguard were already running to the bathhouse. But the door opened and a slightly sleepy Stalin came out on the threshold.

As you can see, the security worked clearly, no one was trembling in front of closed doors.

So it turns out that as soon as Stalin violated the schedule, Starostin, who had long suspected something was wrong, immediately called his minister back. It would be simply impossible to convince this person that Stalin was "just sleeping", if he had seen his condition. That is why Khrushchev and Malenkov did not go to Stalin, but went to the "duty room". There they shouted at Starostin, accusing him of alarmism and left to share power. Why it was they, and not Beria, as was believed until now, we will see a little later.

Starostin, as we see, is a hard man. Although he had orders to leave the Boss alone, when the schedule was violated for the second time and the lights did not go out in Stalin's rooms, he found a way by asking Butusova to visit Stalin under some pretext. She had no order, so there was nothing to be afraid of. It was she who found Stalin on the floor.

Now Starostin's second call to Ignatiev follows, now our conspirators cannot get away - and they arrive at 7 in the morning with the "doctor". True, this is the Minister of Health and he needs a council and tools. Therefore, confining himself to a superficial examination, he begins to compile a list of doctors who he manages to collect only by 10-11 o'clock in the morning.

In this regard, Svetlana Alliluyeva’s recollection is interesting: “They told me that, apparently, the blow happened at night, they found him at three in the morning lying here in this room, right here, on the carpet, near the sofa, and they decided to move him to another room on sofa where he used to sleep. This confirms that Malenkov and Khrushchev, having arrived at about 3 am, immediately understood what had happened. And here is another testimony, academician A.L. Myasnikov, showing what time Stalin was finally "discovered" on the floor: "... The minister said that on the night of March 2, Stalin had a brain hemorrhage, with loss of consciousness, speech, paralysis of his right arm and leg. Yesterday until late At night, Stalin, as usual, worked in his office. The security officer on duty saw him at the table at 3 o'clock in the morning (he looked through the keyhole). The light was on all the time, but that was how it was done. Stalin slept in another room ", in the office there was a sofa on which he often rested. In the morning at seven o'clock the guard again looked through the keyhole and saw Stalin sprawled on the floor between the table and the sofa. He was unconscious. The patient was laid on the sofa, on which he lay all further time".

S. Alliluyeva: "... The whole circus began with the Academy of Medical Sciences - as if the Academy was needed to establish a diagnosis. Not earlier than at 10 o'clock in the morning, the doctors finally arrived, but they could not find a case history with the latest data , with notes and definitions..."

Historian A. Fursenko: "... When reading the official conclusion about the illness and death of Stalin, a number of questions arise that suggest that it could be fabricated under pressure from Stalin's inner circle, in order to present this document to the highest party and Soviet elite with one single goal: so that it would not occur to anyone that Stalin was killed by his comrades-in-arms who had fallen out of favor.

The conclusion, printed on 20 pages of typewritten text and signed by the entire composition of the council, differs from handwritten detailed records of previous diseases. The document is not dated, but its draft contains the date - July 1953, i.e. 4 months after Stalin's death, which in itself casts doubt on its complete authenticity. As follows from the text of the conclusion, it was drawn up on the basis of a handwritten Medical Journal, which was maintained during March 2-5. But the magazine is missing in the case of Stalin's illness, and, as competent persons informed the author of these lines, it is no longer in nature at all. In other words, the Medical Journal appears to have been destroyed.

True, some "Draft records of medicinal prescriptions and duty schedules during I.V. Stalin's illness on March 2-5, 1953" have been preserved. on separate sheets, preceded by a cardboard cover cut out from a folder of a former case in Stalin's medical history, thus entitled. Moreover, out of two dozen sheets of such records, judging by their initial numbering, then crossed out, the first few pages are missing in the file, by which it would be possible to judge when, at what day and hour the treatment began. There is also no schedule of duty and the conclusion of doctors after each of them. Finally, on the cut-out cover of the cardboard folder entitled "Draft Notes ...", Volume X is listed, which indicates that there were nine more volumes in the history of Stalin's illness. What their fate is is also unclear.

All this raises perplexing questions, suggesting that the draft notes and the Medical Journal contained data that did not fit into the official conclusion. Apparently, at some stage, the Medical Journal and some of the draft entries were deliberately removed. One cannot ignore the fact that the typewritten text of the conclusion was drawn up a few days after Beria's arrest, on June 26, 1953.

But even such "verified" entries look strange:

The first visit is at 7 am.
The second visit is at 10 am.
Third inspection - 11 am.

Apparently, it was at this time that the council finally gathered.

Academician A. Myasnikov: “The consultation was interrupted by the appearance of Beria and Malenkov (later they came and went only together). Beria turned to us with words about the misfortune that had befallen the party and our people and expressed confidence that we would do everything in the forces of medicine, etc. "Keep in mind," he said, "that the party and the government absolutely trust you, and everything that you find necessary to undertake will meet with nothing from our side but full consent and help." "

Now let's talk about customers. In 1952, the long-term head of Stalin's security and then the head of the government's security, Lieutenant General N.S., was removed from his post. Vlasik. Other officials were also replaced. Stalin appointed one of his bodyguards, Major General Kosynkin, to the post of commandant of the Kremlin. A young man, Major General Kosynkin, "died untimely" on 17 February. Apparently, Stalin felt the danger, and from that day on he no longer appeared in the Kremlin.
Instead of Vlasik, the functions of the head of the government security were now performed by the Minister of the Ministry of State Security Ignatiev.
Khrushchev and Malenkov supervised the MGB, i.e. Ignatiev depended on them. What was this person?

Ignatiev SD - Minister of the MGB, was a typical nomenklatura, he made a career only along the party line. Ignatiev was appointed Minister of the MGB in August 1951 (after the arrest of Abakumov) on the recommendation of Khrushchev and Malenkov. P. Sudoplatov recalled him like this: “Every time I met Ignatiev, I was amazed at how incompetent this person was. Each agent’s message was accepted by him as the discovery of America. I fell under the influence of what I read, not trying to double-check the facts ... At the end of February 1953, a few days before Stalin's death, I noticed a growing uncertainty in Ignatiev's behavior. Ignatiev's deputy at that time was Vasily Ryasnoy, also Khrushchev's man, from Ukraine.

So, surrounded by Stalin were the people of Malenkov-Khrushchev.

And Beria? Since April 1943, Beria has not led the apparatus of political repression - the NKGB (since 1946 - the MGB); until December 29, 1945, he remained People's Commissar of Internal Affairs, and then left this post, concentrating on activities as head (from August 20, 1945) of the "Special Committee" on atomic energy.

Lieutenant General GB P.A. Sudoplatov claimed that in the post-war years, Beria was "removed from supervising any affairs related to state security," adding that since Lavrenty Pavlovich led the "Special Committee" on the atomic bomb, he still dealt with the MGB - but only through foreign intelligence, who obtained information about the atomic program of the West.
Lieutenant General GB N.S. Vlasik wrote that Stalin, "being in the south after the war, ... gave instructions to remove Beria from leadership in the MGB" (should read: "NKVD". Officially, Beria was relieved of the post of People's Commissar of Internal Affairs on December 29, 1945).

P. Sudoplatov: "All the gossip that Beria's people killed Stalin is unfounded. Without the knowledge of Ignatiev and Malenkov, no one from Stalin's entourage could get access to Stalin ...".

The researcher Dobryukha, who published several books about Stalin's death, tries to blame the murder on Beria, but with an unbiased look, he achieves the opposite result. For example, here is the dialogue he gets with Yuri Sergeevich Solovyov, on duty at post No. 1 - Entrance door to the cottage:

"- You probably knew Khrustalev too?

Ivan Vasilyevich? Well, how about...

Do you remember when he died? - I asked a question to which researchers have not been able to find an exact answer for many years.

Died 10 days after he was released.

And he was... arrested? When?

Immediately after Stalin's death.

How long did he serve?

He served ten days... He got out... And after 10 days he died... He left somewhere after Stalin.

How do you explain the death of Khrustalev?

This is the work of Beria!

Did Beria Khrustalev remove it? But for what?

This man Beria had to be removed, because Khrustalev was the largest of all, a figure, he was the chief among us, in Stalin's "exit guard", and ... the only one ... - the interlocutor suddenly cuts himself off in mid-sentence ... - Khrustalev was over the chief of all, - after a little thought, the interlocutor tries to avoid answering.

I see you know something, as few people do now. Let me help you express yourself on the pages of print!

No need. No need. Do you think that if 50 years have passed, then everyone can talk about it? In vain! Because the one about whom I could say a lot still has big hands ... But I have materials in my head to expose him. But can you stop such a flow of misinformation? I don't want to be like Don Quixote who fought windmills..."

Look, the name of Beria is called to "evade the answer" - it's safe to blame everything on him. But about the other, who "still has big hands", whose name is hidden under tons of disinformation, he is afraid to tell.

Indeed, it is difficult to break through the lies and fear that guard the mystery of this death.
For example, Svetlana Alliluyeva recalls: Beria "when it was all over, he was the first to jump out into the corridor and in the silence of the hall, where everyone stood silently around the bed, his loud voice was heard, not hiding the triumph:" Khrustalev! car!" The superficial Radzinsky, who cares about the beautiful effect, and not the truth, joyfully rubbing his hands and jumping up and down, exclaims: "Beria turns to Khrustalev! Of all the attached, he chooses Khrustalev!" Well, of course! After all, Khrustalev was the head of the field guard. It would be strange if Beria turned to someone else!

On closer examination, everything indicates that the "customers" are Malenkov and Khrushchev.
But who was the executor and how did he turn this case?

Apparently, Khrustalev was only a forced assistant. His granddaughter recalls: “Regarding the death of Ivan Vasilievich, the family said that soon after Stalin’s death, my grandfather got drunk and died of a heart attack. After his death, his wife and son left for Tbilisi, where they lived for some time, then returned to Moscow.” Indeed, Khrustalev was under arrest for 10 days, having been released, he died (or he was helped to die) after another 10 days.

The fact is that immediately after the death of Stalin, he completely "came apart". Yegorov recalls: “I myself first got into Stalin’s house only on March 5, 1953. We, the “field guards,” were put on guard of honor at the body of the leader who had just died. Then a black hearse came. They loaded the deceased into it. We got into cars and they took him to a special institute for an autopsy and embalming.

At the institute, it seems that we lifted the body on a stretcher to the second floor. We stood there for a while, looked at the one for whom they were ready to sacrifice their lives. Medics came out, rolled up their sleeves and… took our Master away from us. And we, broken, not brushing away tears, went downstairs to the lobby. There were shops there. We sat down and waited almost in silence. Khrustalev remained at the top. But after a while he went down. The conversation turned to Stalin. And then Khrustalev suddenly told us the story of how, as a kid, Stalin tried to cling to a passing cab with his hand, but fell, injured his hand, and after that it began to develop poorly in him. I still remember, Khrustalev said, that recently Stalin began to lock the doors, that some kind of fear was growing in him.

Especially, - said Khrustalev, - I was worried when he went into the bathhouse and closed. His age, his health and a tightly closed bathhouse. What could have happened there...

Suddenly, Stalin's dental bridge was demolished from above. It looks like it was golden. And Khrustalev, as the most important, accepted it for safekeeping. After some time, we were taken to the Hall of Columns in the House of the Unions, where they laid the body of the leader for farewell. They didn't let us go anywhere until the very end of the funeral."

It seems that something haunts Khrustalev ...

But Lozgachev, "small, strong, broad-shouldered, ... with a kind smile" Lozgachev, he was the killer. That's why he tries so hard to confuse his testimony. It is no coincidence that, having dispersed almost all the guards and servants of the Middle Dacha, he was left as the commandant of the "object".

How did he do it? Most likely, as an assistant to the commandant, in the old proven way. Working in the archives, Dobryukha discovered that on November 8, 1953, the Kremlin Sanitary Directorate decided to donate “medicines and three bottles of mineral water” to the Lenin Museum for the Stalin Museum, but for some reason, for reasons not specified, on November 9 only “2 bottles of (one from under Narzan, the other from under Borjomi)". The question is, where did the third one go and why was it not transferred to the museum? Maybe this was the one, after drinking from which on the evening of March 1, Stalin fell dead next to him? ..

Conclusion

S. Khrushchev: "... The message about Stalin's illness appeared in the newspapers only on March 4. Before that, it seemed that some kind of, albeit illusory hope was glimmering. My father did not answer anything intelligible to my questions, he got off with short phrases:" They treat, they do everything possible..."
Such a publication in the newspapers could only mean one thing: there were no more hopes left. After all, everything that concerned Stalin was kept behind seven locks. Father confirmed the worst fears, said: "Anything can happen, we must prepare the people." I remember he also said: “But it turns out: he lived and lived and is not. Here you can invent a lot. And even when Lenin fell ill, medical bulletins were regularly published.”
I finally understood: everything. I was especially struck by the mention of Lenin's bulletins, because they ended with an obituary.
I tried to ask my father about the details, but he did not spread ... "

S. Alliluyeva: "... Many had sincere tears in those days - I saw there in tears K. E. Voroshilov, and L. M. Kaganovich, and G. M. Malenkov, and N. A. Bulganin and N.S. Khrushchev."

N.S. Khrushchev: “Everyone gathered. They also saw that Stalin had died. Svetlana also arrived. I met her. When I met, I was very excited, cried, could not restrain myself. for the future of the party, of the whole country."

S.N. Khrushchev: “On March 5, 1953, my father returned home earlier than usual, somewhere before midnight. “But what about the duty?” - flashed through my head. While my father took off his jacket, washed himself, we silently waited, gathered in the dining room. went out, sat wearily on the sofa, stretching out his legs, paused, then said: “Stalin is dead. Today. They'll announce tomorrow." He closed his eyes.
...Father continued to sit on the couch, eyes half closed. The others were frozen in chairs around the table. I did not notice anyone, I looked only at my father.
After hesitating, he asked: "Where is the farewell?" - "In the Hall of Columns. Tomorrow they will announce," - as it seemed to me, my father answered indifferently and somehow aloofly. Then he added after a pause: "Very tired these days. I'll go to sleep."
The father got up heavily and slowly made his way to the bedroom.
I was confused and indignant: "How can you go to sleep at such a moment? And not say a word about him. As if nothing had happened!" My father's behavior surprised me."

"... The New York Times correspondent continues: "About 6 o'clock in the morning, in a smooth stream, without noise, columns of trucks began to occupy the city center. ... By 9 o'clock in the morning, thousands of soldiers were concentrated in the city center, surrounded by lines of trucks. Tank columns appeared on Gorky Street. ... Not only thousands of MVD soldiers were deployed along and across these streets, but tens of thousands of trucks were driven to Moscow, placed in solid lines close to each other, forming impenetrable barricades. At all key points, these barricades of truckloads of troops were reinforced with tanks in three rows. Moscow remained in this iron collar from 10 or 11 a.m. on March 6 until 4 p.m. on March 9. (Radio Liberty)

Isn't it a strange organization of the funeral? What was the government so afraid of? Is it not those rumors among the people that they were informed about by daily reports: "Stalin was poisoned"? ..

N. Zenkovich "Secrets of the outgoing century"
S. Kremlev "Why was Stalin killed?"
Y. Emelyanov "Stalin"
E. Radzinsky "Stalin"
D. Volkogonov "Triumph and Tragedy"
S. Alliluyeva "Twenty letters to a friend"
E. Prudnikova "Beria"
Y. Mukhin "The Murder of Stalin and Beria"
N. Khrushchev "Memories"
V. Kozhinov "Russia. Century 20"
A. Avtorkhanov "The Mystery of Stalin's Death"
A. Rybin "Next to Stalin"
F. Chuev "One hundred and forty conversations with Molotov"
Yu. Zhukov "Stalin: secrets of power"
www.hrono.ru/libris/lib_h/hrush45.html
ricolor.org/history/rsv/portret/ ... travlenie/
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delostalina.ru/?p=160&page=2 target=_blank>
www.otchizna.info/archiv2006/Otchizn... talina.htm
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www.stalinlive.ru/index.php?id=58
scepsis.ru/library/id_1891.html
books.google.com/books?id=Q4pd4m ... q=&f=false
www.pseudology.org/people/Stalin_Chuev.htm
books.google.com/books?id=ap9AOA ... q=&f=false
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artem-sverdlov.livejournal.com/10338.html
www.contr-tv.ru/print/1088/

Russian journalist, publisher and public figure, freemason, one of the largest figures of the Russian Enlightenment

Nikolai Novikov

short biography

Russian journalist, publisher, educator, philosopher - was born on May 8 (April 27, O.S.) 1744 in the Moscow province, the family estate of Tikhvinskoye-Avdotyino, located not far from the village. Bronnitsy, in the family of a middle-class nobleman. In childhood, he was trained by a local clerk, during the years 1755-1760. He was educated at the Moscow University Noble Gymnasium at the University, but he was expelled from there for lack of zeal for learning.

Entering the service in the Izmailovsky regiment at the beginning of 1762, Novikov soon became a non-commissioned officer. Even then, inclinations towards book publishing and a passion for literature appeared: Novikov published two stories translated from French and a sonnet.

In 1767 young man elected to the commission of deputies who were to draw up a draft of the imperial "New Code". Having passed through his hands a hundred documents, he acquired a lot of knowledge about Russian realities, which significantly influenced the formation of his views as an educator.

Having resigned, in 1769 Novikov began to publish the satirical magazine Truten, publishing accusatory materials and entering into polemics with the magazine Vsyakaya Vsyachina, which was published by Catherine II herself. As a result, in April 1770 he was forced to close the Drone. But already in 1772, under his leadership, the satirical magazine "The Painter" was published, which was awarded the title of the best periodical of the 18th century.

Another important activity of Novikov was the upholding of the national foundations of culture, the opposition to the blind worship of the nobles in front of everything foreign. Therefore, in parallel with magazines, he published historical publications. So, in 1772, his “Experience historical dictionary about Russian writers”, during 1773-1775. - 10-volume collection of historical documents "Ancient Russian Vivliofika". During 1777, Novikov published 22 issues of the weekly St. Petersburg Scientific Vedomosti, which are considered the first Russian journal of critical bibliography. After its closure in September 1777, Novikov began publishing the country's first philosophical journal, Morning Light. The publication was charitable, the profit from it went to the creation and maintenance of the original public schools in St. Petersburg.

In 1779, a new stage began in Novikov's biography, connected with his move to Moscow. Here the curator of the Moscow University Kheraskov offered him to rent a printing house (this was facilitated by the fact that both of them were members of the Masonic order). Under Novikov, the printing house increased noticeably; in less than three years, more publications were printed in it than in all 24 years of its existence. Nikolai Ivanovich published magazines and books, textbooks, works by Lessing and other authors in translation. At the expense of profits in Moscow, he opened a reading room, two schools, a pharmacy, he provided great assistance to the poorest townspeople and peasants.

In the prime of his publishing activity, Novikov had to cut it off. The clouds over him began to thicken as early as 1784, when he was presented with claims for reprinting a number of textbooks, which he undertook on the orders of the Moscow Commander-in-Chief to replenish the reserve of inexpensive educational literature. In 1785, Novikov's publications were included in the inventory, they were examined for reliability by the archbishop.

Appointed commander-in-chief of Moscow in 1790, Prince Prozorovsky wrote many denunciations against Novikov, and on his orders the publisher was arrested. The investigation had not yet been completed, when on May 10, 1792, Catherine II issued a decree to send N.I. Novikov to the Shlisselburg Fortress, and in August she signed a decree on his imprisonment there for 15 years. The accusations brought against Novikov could just as well have been brought against very many people, so in fact, most likely, he suffered for too zealous and independent social activities.

Nikolai Ivanovich had a chance to spend 4.5 years in the fortress, enduring great hardships. On the very first day of his accession to the throne, Emperor Paul I gave Novikov his will on the condition that he would not engage in his former activities. Several years of imprisonment turned an energetic man into a morally and physically broken man. Having ceased to engage in any social activity, he until August 12 (July 31 according to the old style) 1818, i.e. Until his death, he lived on his estate.

Biography from Wikipedia

Nikolai Ivanovich Novikov(April 27 (May 8), 1744, Tikhvinskoye-Avdotyino, Moscow province - July 31 (August 12), 1818, ibid.) - Russian journalist, publisher and public figure, freemason, one of the largest figures of the Russian Enlightenment.

Youth

He was born on April 27 (May 8), 1744 in the family estate of Tikhvinskoye-Avdotyino, near the village (now the city) of Bronnitsy, Moscow province. Father - Ivan Vasilyevich Novikov (1699-1763) - from the nobility of Petrovsky training, the son of a colonel, rose to the rank of captain-colonel in the navy, retired under Anna Ivanovna, then for 10 years he was governor in Alatyr, where he married Anna Ivanovna Pavlova. As a child, Nikolasha studied with a village sexton, then, at the age of 11-16, at the Moscow University Noble Gymnasium at Moscow University (1755-1760), from where he was expelled "for laziness and not attending classes."

At the beginning of 1762, he entered the service in the Life Guards of the Izmailovsky Regiment (where he was recorded as a child) and, as a sentry at the drawbridge of the Izmailovsky barracks on the day of the coup of Catherine II, was promoted to non-commissioned officer. Already during his service in the regiment, Novikov showed a “taste for verbal sciences” and a penchant for book business: published two translated French novels and a sonnet (1768). In 1766, he made his first publishing experience: he printed at the Academic Printing House “The Register of Russian Books Sold in Bolshaya Morskaya, in the Knutson House”

In 1767, Novikov was among the young people who were entrusted with keeping minutes in the commission of deputies for drafting the New Code. The empress considered this assignment a matter of high importance and prescribed "to keep the protocol to identify special nobles with abilities." Novikov worked in the small commission on the middle gender of people and in the large commission. Participation in the work of the commission introduced Novikov to many important issues raised by Russian life, and to the conditions of Russian reality, and became an important stage in the formation of his educational views. When reporting on the work of the commission, Novikov became personally known to Catherine. On January 1, 1768, by personal decree, he was released from the guard into the army as a lieutenant with the appointment to the Murom Infantry Regiment of the Sevskaya Division, but continued to serve at the Commission.

The beginning of journalism

In 1769, after the completion of the work of the Commission, Novikov retired and began to publish the weekly satirical magazine Truten. This magazine (1769-1770) held the idea of ​​the injustice of serfdom, protested against the abuse of landlord power, scourged injustice, bribery, etc. , speaking with denunciations against very influential spheres, for example, against the courtiers. On the issue of the content of satire, Truten entered into a controversy with Vsyakaya Vsyachina, the organ of Empress Catherine II herself. Other journals also took part in the controversy, divided into two camps. "Vsyakaya Vsyachina" preached moderation, indulgence to weaknesses, "smiling satire", condemning "any offending of persons." Drone stood for bold, open denunciations. The struggle, however, was unequal: "Truten" first had to moderate its tone, completely abandon the discussion of the peasant question, and then Novikov, having received a hint about the possible closure of the journal, ceased publishing it in April 1770. An attempt to continue the satirical line in the new journal " Chatterbox (June-July 1770), unfortunately, was interrupted at the second issue.

In 1772, Novikov published a new satirical magazine, The Painter, the best periodical XVIII century. "Painter" pursued the same ideas as "Druten": in a number of articles, some of which belonged to I.P. Turgenev, others were attributed to A.N. Radishchev, he strongly and ardently opposed serfdom. In 1775 Novikov published a book "The Painter", in which he collected the best articles from the magazine of the same name and "Drunk" in a revised form.

Publication of historical monuments

Novikov considered one of the most important tasks to be the struggle against the admiration of the nobility for foreigners, for the national foundations of Russian culture. Simultaneously with satirical magazines, he published a number of historical publications. Among them are the book "The Experience of the Historical Dictionary of Russian Writers" (1772), as well as "Ancient Russian Vivliofika ..." - monuments of Russian history published monthly (1773-1776), "Ancient Russian Hydrography" (vol. I, 1773 - description of the Moscow state compiled under Fyodor Alekseevich), and other editions of historical materials. He was the first to publish Scythian history» A. I. Lyzlova.

Novikov was aware of the need to publish historical monuments of paleographic accuracy, a set of heteroglossia, compiling alphabetical indexes, etc., sometimes applying these techniques when using several lists (for example, in Idrografiya). Novikov drew material for his editions of ancient monuments from private, church, and state ancient repositories, access to which was allowed to him by the Empress in 1773. Novikov himself compiled a collection of historical manuscripts. Many materials were delivered to him by Miller, Prince Shcherbatov, Bantysh-Kamensky and others, as well as by Catherine II, who supported the publication of Vivliofika with generous subsidies.

In 1787, the "Velvet Book" was published by N. I. Novikov under the title "The Genealogical Book of Russian Princes and Nobles and Emigrants" and is a valuable document for genealogical research.

freemasonry

In his views on Russian antiquity, Novikov was not always stable. Ancient Russian sovereigns, according to him, “allegedly they had a presentiment that by introducing the sciences and arts into Russia, the most precious Russian treasure - morals - would be irretrievably lost”; but at the same time, he is a zealous supporter of education, an admirer of Peter the Great and those people whose works for the benefit of Russian education he lovingly entered into his “Experience in a Historical Dictionary of Russian Writers” (1772). Novikov found the outcome of these hesitations and contradictions in Freemasonry.

Novikov's first connections with Freemasonry began in St. Petersburg. Friends back in 1775 invited him to Freemasonry, but he hesitated for a long time, not wanting to bind himself with an oath, the subject of which was unknown to him. Masons, obviously, greatly valued Novikov's entry, since, contrary to their rules, they informed him of the content of the first three degrees before he entered the lodge. Novikov, however, was not satisfied with the Elagin system that he entered, and only later did he find "true" Freemasonry in the Reichel system, in which " everything was focused on morality and self-knowledge».

Journals published by Novikov

• satirical magazines:
  • Drone (1769-1770) - about the abuses of the landowners, about injustice and bribery;
  • Chatterbox (June and July 1770);
  • Painter (1772-1773) - denunciations of the enemies of education, criticism of the government administration and the judiciary, mockery of noble morals;
  • Purse (1774) - respect for Russian antiquity and condemnation of gallomania.

• "Sankt-Peterburgskie Uchenye Vedomosti" (1777) is the first Russian journal with critical and bibliographic content. In 1777, Novikov published 22 issues of the St. Petersburg Scientific Bulletin, which were published weekly and dated back to the first period of his activity. It was a journal of scientific and literary criticism, which aimed, on the one hand, to bring Russian literature and science closer to the scientific world of the West, and on the other hand, to show the merits of Russian writers, especially historians.

• "Morning Light" (1777-1780) - the first philosophical journal in Russia. The moralizing element in Uchenye Vedomosti was still weak, but it became dominant in Morning Light. This monthly Novikov began to publish, having stopped Vedomosti, from September 1777, first in St. Petersburg, and from April 1779 - in Moscow. It published Jung's Nights (Nights), Pascal's Opinions, but mainly translations from German writers, moralists, pietists and mystics. "Morning Light" was published with the assistance of a circle of like-minded people, including M. N. Muravyov and I. P. Turgenev, and, moreover, with charitable purposes: all the income from the publication was intended for the organization and maintenance of the first public schools in St. Petersburg. Two main features of Novikov's later activities already affected this: the ability to organize public amateur performances and the desire to work for the benefit of education. An appeal to the subscribers of the magazine, with an invitation to promote the formation of schools, caused a plentiful influx of donations.

• "Fashionable monthly publication, or Library for ladies' toilet" (1779) - the first domestic women's magazine. The first issue of the "Fashionable Monthly Edition" was published in January in St. Petersburg, from the fifth issue, due to the relocation of N.I. Novikov, the magazine began to appear in Moscow. The magazine was published for a year, was closed by the publisher due to its employment and lack of readers (for example, in one of the issues of the publication a list of subscribers was published, in which there were only 58 names) The magazine was literary, included prose and poetry. The word "fashionable" in its title, according to researchers of the history of the press, was used to attract the attention of a female audience and update its typological concept of the magazine, modern for this period - this was the first attempt to create a periodical for women.

Schools founded by Novikov in St. Petersburg

In November 1777, Novikov opened the School (later called Ekaterininsky) at the Church of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, for 30 or 40 people, with boarders and incoming students, paid and free. IN next year A second school was opened (Alexandrovskoye, at the Church of the Annunciation on Vasilyevsky Island). Both of these schools existed as early as 1782. The further fate of the schools founded by Novikov is unknown.

Moscow

In 1779 Kheraskov, who was the curator of Moscow University and also a freemason, offered Novikov to rent the university printing house and the publication of Moskovskie Vedomosti. Novikov moved to Moscow, and here begins the third and most brilliant period of his activity. Having quickly put in order and significantly expanded the university printing house, Novikov printed in it in less than three years more books than how much came out of it in the 24 years of its existence before it fell into the hands of Novikov. Including - the first Complete Works of A.P. Sumarokov (in 10 volumes), Levshin's "Russian Fairy Tales" (in 10 volumes), etc.

Along with the publishing of books, Novikov also raised the importance of the Moscow Gazette, to which he began to add various contents; the number of subscribers increased sevenfold (from 600 to 4000). In 1781 Novikov published a sequel to Morning Light under the title of Moscow Monthly Edition. This was followed by the periodical "City and Village Library" (1782-1786), in 1782 "Evening Dawn", in 1784-1785 "Resting Hardworker", in which Novikov resumed his fight against serfdom, the first Russian children's magazine"Children's reading for the heart and mind" (1785-1789), Science Magazine"Shop of natural history, physics and chemistry" (1788-1790). Through his publishing activity, he wanted to create a fairly plentiful and easily accessible supply of useful and entertaining reading for a wide circle of readers, not at all limited to propagating his views.

In order to reduce the cost of books, Novikov entered into relations with all the bookstores that existed at that time, started commission agents, sold booksellers on favorable terms goods on credit, sometimes in tens of thousands of copies, organized a book trade not only in provincial cities, but also in villages. In Moscow, where until then there were only two bookshops with a turnover of 10,000 rubles, under Novikov and under his influence, their number increased to twenty. They sold two hundred thousand books a year; in particular, M. I. Glazunov created a publishing house that existed until the October Revolution of 1917. Novikov also established the first library for reading in Moscow.

In a society where even the title of a writer was considered shameful, it was necessary to have a considerable amount of determination in order to become a printer and bookseller and see in these occupations one's patriotic vocation. People who were close to Novikov at that time claimed that he did not spread, but created in us a love for the sciences and a desire for reading. Through the intensified work of translators, writers, printing houses, bookstores, books, magazines and the rumors they provoked, it began, according to V. O. Klyuchevsky, to break through something that Russian enlightened society was not yet familiar with: public opinion.

In 1781, Novikov married the niece of Prince Trubetskoy, Alexandra Egorovna Rimskaya-Korsakova (died April 12, 1791).

In 1782 he founded the Friendly Scientific Society of supporters of the ideas of the Enlightenment, which in 1784 established the publishing house Printing Company (princes Yuri and Nikolai Trubetskoy, Ivan and Peter Lopukhins, V. V. Chulkov, I. Turgenev, A. Kutuzov, A. Ladyzhensky, Schroeder, A. I. Novikov).

persecution

Novikov's activity was in its prime when a thunderstorm was already gathering over him. First of all, the commission of public schools made claims against him (in 1784) for reprinting some textbooks published by it. Novikov did this by order of the Moscow commander-in-chief Chernyshev, and not for profit, but in order to have enough cheap educational books on sale. But Chernyshev died in the meantime, and Novikov had to give the commission a reward.

In 1785, it was ordered to compile an inventory of Novikov's publications and submit them for consideration to the Moscow Archbishop Platon, who was also to test Novikov himself in the faith. In his report, Plato divided Novikov's publications into three categories: some he considered very useful in the poverty of our literature; others, mystical, he, in his words, did not understand; the third, compiled by the French encyclopedists, he considered pernicious. About Novikov's faith, Plato wrote: "I pray to the all-merciful God that there are Christians like Novikov all over the world." Of the 460 publications, only 23 were recognized as "able to serve for various free sophistication." 6 of them were sealed as Masonic, and 17 were forbidden to be sold.

Church in Avdotino, where N. I. Novikov is buried

In 1787, during a crop failure and the massive famine that arose as a result of this, Novikov began to provide philanthropic assistance to the peasants of his Avdotino estate, and then to neighboring villages. Having spent more than 50,00 rubles for this (with the support of G. M. Pokhodyashin), he saved peasants from 100 villages from starvation. Unable to endure such audacity, Empress Catherine signed a decree "on the prohibition of the sale of all books that relate to holiness." More than 330 publications were seized from the shops and burned, most of which were published in Novikov's printing houses.

By order of the Empress dated 10/17/1788, Novikov was denied an extension of the lease of the University Printing House. Seriously ill, in June 1789 he left Moscow for Avdotino. In 1791, the Printing Company officially liquidated itself, transferring all property and debts personally to Novikov.

In 1790, Prince Prozorovsky was appointed commander-in-chief in Moscow, an ignorant, suspicious, cruel man, promoted by servility. He sent denunciations to Novikov, which caused Count Bezborodko to be sent to Moscow to carry out a secret inquiry; but Bezborodko did not find any reason to persecute Novikov.

On April 13, 1792, a decree was sent to Prozorovsky to investigate whether Novikov, contrary to the law, was printing church books. April 22 Hussars broke into Novikov's bedroom and carried out a search, despite the fact that the owner was ill. Empress Catherine ordered to look for books, letters - anything that might seem suspicious, but legally there was nothing to complain about. The hussars turned the house upside down and found nothing. During searches of bookshops and libraries, a number of previously banned books were found. Despite this, Novikov was dragged out of bed, put into a chair and transferred to a carriage. During this scene, Novikov's children trembled in a fit, their epilepsy opened.

Hearing about the arrest of Novikov, Prince Razumovsky was indignant: “ The sick old man was taken under guard, and they boasted, as if the city had been captured". Nikolai Ianovich faced interrogations in Moscow and torture in St. Petersburg.

Even before the end of the investigation, by decree of May 10, 1792, the empress ordered Novikov to be secretly transported to the Shlisselburg fortress, where Sheshkovsky himself did new interrogations.

However, the investigation was able to bring charges based only on suspicions, which were so unconvincing that it was simply indecent to arrange a trial. Finally, on August 1, 1792, the empress signed a decree on the imprisonment of Novikov without trial in the Shlisselburg fortress for 15 years. Novikov was accused of a "vile schism", of selfish deceptions, of Masonic activities (which was not prohibited either before or after), of relations with the Duke of Brunswick and other foreigners (these relations concerned exclusively Freemasonry and had no political significance). Catherine's decree read: ... although Novikov did not reveal his innermost intentions, the crimes he did not recognize were so important that We ordered him to be locked up in the Shlisselburg Fortress».

The decree applies all these accusations not to Novikov alone, but to all his accomplices-masons; only Novikov suffered, although he was not even considered the head of the Moscow Freemasons. Even Prince Prozorovsky was amazed at the outcome of the Novikov case: “ I don't understand the end of this- he wrote to Sheshkovsky, - as closest accomplices, if he is a criminal, then they are criminals».

Even Karamzin, who expressed sympathy for the fate of Novikov in his "Ode to Mercy", was looking for the reasons for Novikov's conviction not in the charges officially brought against him and in the first place put the distribution of bread to the starving Novikov, which seemed suspicious, since they did not know the source of the money spent by him at the same time. funds. It is most likely that Novikov suffered for his too, according to the then concepts, independent social activities. Novikov spent four and a half years in the fortress, suffering an extreme need for the most necessary, even medicines, although Dr. Bagryansky selflessly shared his conclusion. In prison, he was assigned cell number 9, which previously contained the former emperor Ivan Antonovich.

Of the 15 years, Novikov spent only 4 years - the empress died, and the new emperor Pavel the First, on the very first day of his reign, ordered the release of Novikov for lack of guilt. However, Novikov was imprisoned in the fortress while still in full development of his strength and energy, and he came out “decrepit, old, bent”.

But at large, terrible news awaited - while he was in Shlisselburg, all his property was sold at auction, including the Avdotino estate. However, Novikov was able to achieve the return of the estate, but at the same time financial position was so deplorable that the estate had to be mortgaged. With the proceeds, Nikolai Ivanovich planned to repair the manor buildings again, but it turned out that it would be cheaper to rebuild everything.

Novikov built four-apartment brick houses for the peasants, which he called "communication houses". This name was given because Novikov believed that civilization had destroyed the former natural connection between people. People have separated, fenced off from each other. This wall between people was supposed to be broken by the “communication houses”. This, in fact, was the first commune in Russia.

Also, Nikolai Ivanovich dreamed of reviving the connection between man and nature. He was engaged in gardening, set up an orchard on the estate, and spent a lot of time in the park. Friends sent him seeds of various crops (flowers, clover), cuttings of cherries, pears, apple trees.

He had to give up all social activities and until his death on July 31 (August 12, 1818) he lived almost without a break in his Avdotino, caring only about the needs of his peasants, about their education, etc.

Novikov was literally exhausted in order to improve his affairs. But the children were poor helpers, because they suffered from epilepsy, which began on the day of his arrest. In December, Novikov panicked every year - it was necessary to get funds somewhere for the next mortgage payment, because if this was not done, then all the property could go under the hammer. In 1817, Novikov had a particularly difficult time, he was barely able to raise money at the last moment. Immediately after that, he had a stroke and lost his memory and died soon after.

Novikov Nikolai Ivanovich - a famous figure in Russian education. His contribution to educational activities is enormous. Autocracy, the serf regime and all its offspring were disgusting to Novikov. But he saw a way out of arbitrariness and despotism in enlightenment. The main means for solving social issues and human delusions lies in knowledge, Nikolai Novikov was sure.

Biography

Journalist and educator Nikolai Ivanovich Novikov (1744-1818) was born in a family estate near the village of Bronnitsy. For some time he studied at the gymnasium at Moscow University, from where he was soon expelled for laziness and absenteeism. Together with him, Grigory Potemkin, the future favorite of the Empress, was expelled from the gymnasium with the same wording.

Leaving school, Novikov goes to military service to the Izmailovsky Guards Regiment. The one with the support of which Catherine II came to power. The Empress did not forget the merits of the faithful regiment and generously distributed awards and ranks. Novikov receives his first promotion and immediately retires with the rank of lieutenant. Novikov no longer goes to public service.

Journalistic activity

Journalism becomes the main occupation of Novikov. Novikov publishes satirical magazines, in which he ardently denounces bribery and abuse of landlord power. But criticism does not concern the actions of the empress. The magazines were an unprecedented success. They seemed like a breath of freedom and the height of courage.

"Drone", "Purse", "Painter", "Riddle" - publications came out one after another, replacing each other. The curator and editor was Nikolai Novikov (biography and photo above). But he refused authorship due to his lack of education, which he did not hesitate to openly admit. He said that he was incapable of writing and could be useful only by publishing other people's works.

Novikov's journal business flourished, they boldly ironic about their lack of education, ridiculed the mores of society and panache. The payment for bold criticism was generous compliments addressed to Catherine. The success of satirical magazines went with the end of the war. Catherine, having lost all interest in wits, immediately closed all satirical magazines.

historical documents

After the ban on the publication of satirical magazines, Nikolai Novikov publishes the first Russian literary encyclopedia - "The experience of a historical dictionary about Russian writers." This book made a lot of noise. It was perceived as literary criticism and an attempt to place writers according to their “rank”. Many felt left out.

At the same time, Novikov published historical materials. His experience was noticed by the empress, and she ordered that everyone government agencies provided him with historical documents freely. His enterprise has acquired an official status. As a result of this project, the "Ancient Russian Vifliofika" (library) appeared.

Thus, Novikov laid the foundation for three areas of publishing - encyclopedic dictionaries, publications of historical sources and satirical periodicals.

university printing house

In 1777, Nikolai Ivanovich Novikov (photo above) begins publishing the monthly magazine Morning Light, the proceeds of which are used to support schools for orphans and children from poor families. At the same time, Novikov became close to the Freemasons, they were the founders of the Alexander and Catherine's schools.

The magazine published detailed reports on donations, which he himself promoted. One of the issues contains an article about how children voluntarily gave up breakfast and dinner for a month in order to pass on the savings to those in need. Masonic connections helped Novikov to combine charity and journalism.

Nikolai Novikov moved to Moscow in 1779. He rents a university printing house, and at the same time Moskovskie Vedomosti. Making a profit was not Novikov's goal in itself, it was important for him to educate active and educated people. It was for this that Novikov founded the "scientific community" and took up book publishing. They translated foreign publications and paid for the education of talented youth at the university.

Nikolai Novikov distributed his publications in huge quantities and created a reading public. Their publications were very diverse - from German grammar to Christian literature. Through the efforts of Novikov's entourage, the writings of the Fathers of the Church in Russian saw the light of day.

By 1784, the "academic community" led by Novikov opened two more printing houses in Moscow. The goal of these people was to educate a generation of people who will be able to transform the country in the future. Nikolai Novikov gathered like-minded people and sponsors around him, so an informal friendly community was quietly formed.

Punishment for enlightenment

The activities launched by Novikov attracted many envious people. From time to time, the Empress was complained about this or that incident in relation to the printing house. She became increasingly suspicious of the project. First of all, Catherine despised the Masons. Secondly, she began to annoy some new public life, which is clearly different from what it was before.

First public organization Catherine seemed suspicious. The empress lost her peace and complained to the mayor that she knew how to deal with the Swedes or the Turks, but would not know what to do with the lieutenant. And although there was no political background in Novikov's activities, his educational activities and Freemasonry brought suspicions of freethinking to him.

In 1792, a judicial investigation was carried out on him and his friends, which did not reveal anything. However, Novikov was sentenced to fifteen years and imprisoned in the Shlisselburg fortress. His contemporaries were horrified by the massacre committed against the book publisher, no one believed in his conspiratorial activity.

Novikov was released by Paul I, who replaced Catherine. Nikolai Novikov left the prison completely broken, a biography of this noble man has developed in such a way that he no longer engaged in social activities. He spent twenty-two years on his estate and avoided contact with the authorities.

Novikov paid much attention to the problems of education. He believed that education should be conducted in such a way that children would be happy, educated, and useful as a result. He stressed the importance of the all-round development of the child. Not limited to printing, Novikov opened a free library and two schools.

In his article on raising children, Novikov draws attention to the fact that one should not drown out the curiosity of a child. It is necessary to transfer to children only proven, well-proven knowledge. The subjects of education are selected according to the age of the child, only those that he can understand.

Summing up, it is no exaggeration to say that the activities of Nikolai Novikov played an important role in the development of Russian pedagogy, education and publishing.

NOVIKOV NIKOLAY IVANOVICH - Russian public figure, enlightener, publicist, publisher.

Nobleman. He studied at the noble gymnasium at Moscow University (1756-1759, in 1760 from the number for a long self-free from the beam) . He served in half-kah - the Life Guards of Iz-may-lov-skom (1762-1768; ko-man-di-ro-van for ra-bo-you in the Ulo-wife-noy ko-miss-sii 1767-1768 / 1769, pro-to-ko-list) and Mu-rom-sky pe-hot-nom (1768-1769), retired in chi-not in-ru- chi-ka. In the years 1770-1773, the number of re-vo-dchi-kom in the College of Foreign Affairs. Until 1779 he lived in Sankt Peterburg.

In ka-che-st-ve from da-te-la epi-zo-di-che-ski has been performing since 1766. The first major enterprise of N.I. Novikov - the sa-ti-ric hedgehog-not-del-nick "Tru-shadow" (1769-1770), in which he led in a le-mi-ku with the magazine "Everything-everything-chi-na" and her unvoiced re-dak-to-rum - by Empress Eka-te-ri-noy II, from-flock-vaya not-about-ho-di-bridge as evil-bo-day-noy-sa-ti- ry on “faces”, and ra-zo-bla-che-niya “common-st-ven-ny-po-ro-kov” (chi-new-draw-e-th-pro-of -la, pro-vincial not-ve-same-st-va, not-so-ver-shen-st-va for-ko-nov, etc.). Other satirical journals by N.I. Novikov would also be about-ra-shche-na to so-qi-al-but ost-swarm pro-ble-ma-ti-ke - “Pus-to-me-la” (1770); “Zhi-vo-pi-sets” (1772-1773), where, in part-no-sti, for the first time, they opened something to ask a question about a gesture about -ra-shche-nii-me-shchi-kov with cross-st-I-on-mi.

In the magazine "Ko-she-lek" (1774) N.I. Novikov pub-li-ko-val ma-te-ria-ly, sacred ob-li-che-ni-gal-lo-ma-nii in the Russian community and protection -those of the national self-life of Russian culture. A significant part of the ma-te-ria-lovs in these magazines-on-lakh was attached-over-le-zha-la by N.I. Novikov, however, his author-tor-st-vo in a number of cases-of-os-pa-ri-va-et-is-sled-to-va-te-la-mi (for example ., “P-sem to Fa-la-lei” and an-ti-cre-po-st-no-thing-so-go “From-tear-ka-te-she-st-via in *** I*** T***"). One-but-time-men-but N.I. Novikov published the first in Russia bio-bib-lio-graphic reference book “Experience is-to-ri-che-go-go words about Russian pi-sa-te-lyakh ”(1772, included information about 315 Russian pi-sa-te-lyakhs of the XI-XVIII centuries).

In 1773 N.I. Novikov, together with the book-seller K.V. Mil-le-rom uch-re-dil “Society, old-paradise-sya about na-pe-cha-ta-ni books”; it is you-pus-ka-lo Ch. arr. re-given "General-st-vu ..." by Empress Eka-te-ri-noy II re-vo-dy, would you-were-half-not-us a member -on-mi “Co-b-ra-niya, old-paradise-sche-go-sya about re-in-de-foreign-country books.” With the aim of pu-la-ri-for-tion of knowledge about Russian history N.I. Novikov with fi-nan-so-howl support of Empress Eka-te-ri-na II and with the participation of N.N. Ban-tysh-Ka-men-sko-go, V.V. Kre-sti-ni-na, G.F. Mil-le-ra, book. MM. Shcher-ba-to-va and others published the “Ancient Russian viv-lio-fi-ku” (parts 1-10, 1773-1775; 2nd, ras-shi- ren-noe, ed.: Parts 1-20, 1788-1791). For the same purpose, he began publishing the journal “On-ve-st-in-va-tel of Russian antiquities” (1776, one new- measures), for the first time gave valuable historical pa-myat-ni-ki (“A word in laudatory ve-li-to-mu go-su-da-ryu Bo- ri-su Fe-do-ro-vi-chu Go-du-no-woo ... ”K. Fid-le-ra,“ Book of Big-sho-mu black-te-zhu ”, both 1773 ; "Is-to-riya about not-wine-nome for-th-th-niya near-not-th battle-ri-on A.S. Mat-vee-va", 1776, "Bar-hat-naya book”, 1787, etc.). You-launched into the light historical co-chi-non-nia - “A short story about the former self-names in Russia”, book. MM. Shcher-ba-to-va (1774), "Scythian is-to-riya" by A.I. Lyz-lo-va (1776) and others.

From the mid-1770s, the activities of N.I. Novikov was to a large extent connected with ma-son-st. Member of several lodges. From yes-val ma-son-journals-on-ly, including "Morning light" (1777-1780, you-went-dil in St. Peter-ter-burg-ge , since May 1779 in Mo-sk-ve; its continuation is the magazine "Mo-s-kov-skoe monthly-monthly issue", 1781). In them, dek-la-ri-ro-val rejection from sa-ti-ra in favor of fi-lo-sof-st-in-va-niya and nra-in-teachings, pro-pa- gan-di-ro-val "ancient knowledge hidden under the hye-horn-li-fi-che-language" on-right-len-nye against godless and "free-thought-liya". Part of the funds from the sale of you-launched by them a journal-on-catching on-the-right-lyal for the maintenance of two primary schools for de-vo-check and boys from poor families (opened in 1777-1778 in St. Petersburg). In 1779, at the suggestion of M.M. Khe-rasko-va for 10 years weren-do-val ti-on-graphics of Moscow University and received the right to publish the newspaper “Mo-s-kov-skie-ve-do- mo-sti ”(actually, it was for-no-ma-been-hired by N.I. Novikov the editors of S.B. Sy-rei-shchi-kov and P .V. Ivanov; N.I. Novikov himself re-dak-ti-ro-val only "Addition to" Mo-s-kov-ve-do-mo-sts " ", 1783-1784). In the same year, N.V. Novikov is familiar with I.G. Schwartz, someone, within the framework of ma-son-sky activity, attracted N.I. Novikov Ch. arr. to the or-ga-ni-za-tion of the re-pi-ta-nia of the youth-she-st-va and the collection for this ma-te-ri-al-nyh in-victim-in-va-ny (since 1780, N.I. Novikov has been a member of the Gar-mo-niya lodge).

N.I. Novikov teaching-st-in-the-shaft in the or-ga-ni-za-tion of Uchi-tel-skaya (Pe-da-go-gi-che-sky) (1779-1786) and Pe-re-vo-dche -sky (Fi-lo-lo-gi-che-sky) (1782-1786) (1781-1789) and "Friendly Academic Society" (1782-1786) at Moscow University. Pub-li-ko-shaft of textbooks and training in-so-biya on foreign language, arif-me-ti-ke, geo-graphics, etc. In the ka-che-st-ve attached to the newspaper "Mo-s-kov-skie-do-mo-sti" from yes-val the first in Russia magazine for children "Children's reading for the heart and mind" (1785-1789). In the early 1780s, he entered the lodge of “theo-re-ti-che-sko-go-gra-du-sa”, under-chi-nyav-shui-sya ber-lin-sko-mu-or- de-well ro-zen-krei-tse-dov, some-ideo-lo-gi-che-ski pro-ti-to-sto-yal pro-sve-ti-tel-sko-mu ra-tsio -on-liz-mu. For-no-small you-with-things in the Masonic ie-rar-hia. In 1784, after the death of Schwartz, together with Prince. N.N. Tru-bets-kim and P.A. Ta-ti-shche-vym N.I. Novikov became a member-of-os-no-va-te-lem of Di-rek-to-rii of the “theo-re-ti-che-sko-go-gra-du-sa” of the Moscow rose-zen-crey-tsers . In the same year, the initiation-ro-val created in Mo-sk-ve Ti-po-gra-fi-che-company. According to me, a number of researches-follow-up-va-te-lei, among other Moscow ma-so-nov, tried to get in touch with the led. book. Pavel Petr-ro-vi-chem (future Emperor Paul I). Pe-rio-di-che-ski osu-sche-st-v-lal fi-lan-tro-pich. actions, you-zy-vav-shie from the authorities in doses-re-niya in na-me-re-nii ma-so-nov to attract to yourself and just-to-on-ro -die (sa-may krup-naya - buying up grain on the medium-st-va G.M. Po-ho-dya-shi-na, etc. -shim cross-st-I-us in 1787). Co-de-st-in-the-shaft of the opening in Mo-sk-ve teach-li-scha for different-chin-tsev, pain-ni-tsy for ti-po-count-skih ra-bo -sneeze and ap-te-ki for the poor. In with. Av-dot-and-but you-built for your kre-st-yan stone houses, at the end of the 1780s in the same place - ko-lo-kol-nu at the church-vi in honor of the icon of Bo-zhi-she Ma-te-ri "Tikh-vin-sky".

N.I. Novikov began in 1784, when it was reported that he had published two textbooks, the right to publish then-ryh when-over-le-zha-lo one-no-mu from the St. Petersburg ty-po-counts. They would be con-fi-sko-va-na, and the money for the sale of ek-zem-p-la-ry was charged with N.I. Novikovm. In 1786, by order of the imp. Eka-te-ri-ny II compiled an inventory of all the books given by N.I. Novikov (6 books on Ma-son-sky te-ma-ti-ku for-pre-sche-but pro-da-vat), and mi-tro-po-lit Mo-s-kov-sky Pla-ton ( Lev-shin) was used by N.I. Novikov "in-for-not-ours" (right-in-glory). Ho-cha N.I. Novikov was recognized as good-ro-in-row-daughter by christia-ni-n, he remained under dose-re-ni-em with them-per-rat-ri-tsy . In 1788, Eka-te-ri-na II for-pre-ti-la pro-dle-vat N.I. Novikov is the term for renting the uni-ver-si-tet-sky ti-po-gra-fi. Since 1790 N.I. Novikov on-ho-dil-sya under a hundred-yan-ny in-li-tsey-skim on-blue-de-ni-em. In the spring of 1792, are-sto-van and dos-tav-len in St. Petersburg. About-vy-nyal-sya in about-ma-not a row-to-vy ma-so-nov for the purpose of personal-no-go-ga-shche-tion, in the step-no-che-st -ve from prav-in-glory-via, from-men-no-che-sky connections with Prus-si-her through or-den ro-zen-crey-tse-rov, or-ga-ni -for-tion for-go-in-ra against them-per-rat-ri-tsy and in-torture to attract to him on-the-next-no-pre-hundred-la. Dop-ra-shi-val-sya is also about the lu-che-nii of gold with the help of a fi-lo-soph-th-stone.

By decree of August 1 (12), 1792, Eka-te-ri-on II, convinced that N.I. Novikov dey-st-vi-tel-but yav-la-et-sya the head of tai-no-go ma-son-go-for-go-vo-ra in Russia, recognized him vi-new in all counts and worthy of the death penalty, someone for-me-ni-la for 15 years for-key-ing in Shlis-sel- Burg fortress. In November 1796, after the accession to the throne of Emperor Paul I, N. os-bo-zh-den, all about th shot-you. The last years of life of N.I. Novikov spent in Av-dot-and-not. Tried to start a su-horse production, and also, for some-some-eye-de-no-holes, in 1805 again weren-do-wat tee - in graphic design of Moscow University. For-no-small-study of mys-tic co-chi-no-ni with his co-rat-no-one on the Masonic activity no-sti S.I. Ga-ma-le-ey. After the death of N.I. Novikov his ra-zo-riv-she-mu-sya se-mei-st-vu according to the race of the emperor Alek-san-dr-I would-la-oka-for-for-power .

By the beginning of the 1790s, N.I. Novikov, from yes, but over 900 in the name of, but in, books - about 1/4 of the printed production of Russia of that time - me-ni (pre-obla-da-la ori-gi-nal-naya and re-re-water-naya white-let-ri-sti-ka, a significant part of the composition-la-li-bo- go-word and ma-son-sky co-chi-non-nia, as well as historical, educational, reference, philosophical, legal , pe-da-go-gichekaya, eco-no-mic li-te-ra-tu-ra). Under the command of N.I. roof-ta bib-lio-te-ka-chi-tal-nya. N.I. Novikov us-ta-nov-len bust in the city of Bronnitsy (2003; sculptor M.G. Salman).

Compositions:

Selected abusive co-chi-non-nia / Under-go-to-ka text-hundred, intro. Art. and commentary by G.P. Ma-ko-go-nen-ko. M.; L., 1951;

Sa-ti-ri-che-sky zhur-na-ly N. I. No-vi-ko-va / Entry. Art. and com-men-ta-rii P. N. Ber-ko-va. M.; L., 1951;

From swearing. M., 1983;

Laughing-scha-sya De-mok-rit. M., 1985;

Letters to N. I. No-vi-ko-va. M., 1994.

Additional literature:

Longgi-nov M.N. No-vi-kov and mo-s-kov-sky mar-ti-ni-sta. M., 1867. St. Petersburg, 2000;

Ne-ze-le-nov A.I. N.I. No-vi-kov, from-da-tel zhur-na-lov 1769-1785 SPb., 1875;

Bo-go-lu-bov V.N. N.I. No-vi-kov and his time. M., 1916;

Ver-nadsky G.V. No-vi-kov. P., 1918; Se-men-ni-kov V.P. com-pa-ni. P., 1921;

Ma-ko-go-nen-ko G.P.N. No-vi-kov and Russian enlightenment of the 18th century. M.; L., 1952;

Budyak L.M. No-vi-kov in Mo-sk-ve and Pod-mos-ko-vie. M., 1970;

Lee-hot-kin G.A. Ok-le-ve-tan-ny Ko-lo-vi-on. L., 1972;

Der-bov L.A. General-st-ven-but-po-li-ti-che-sky and is-to-ri-che-sky views N. I. No-vi-ko-va. Sa-ra-tov, 1974;

N.I. L., 1976;

Mar-ty-nov I.F. Book-go-from-da-tel N. No-vi-kov. M., 1981;

Not-beautiful S.M. Apo-table do-br-ra: In-ve-st-in-ing about N.I. No-vi-ko-ve. M., 1994;

No-vi-kov and Russian ma-son-st-vo. M., 1996.

At the beginning of 1762, he entered the service in the Izmailovsky regiment and, as a sentry at the Izmailovsky barracks on the day of the accession of Catherine II, was promoted to non-commissioned officer. Already during his service in the regiment, Novikov showed a "taste for verbal sciences" and a penchant for book business; published two translated French novels and a sonnet (1769). In 1767, Novikov was among the young people who were entrusted with keeping minutes in the commission of deputies for drafting a new code; The empress considered this assignment a matter of high importance and prescribed "to keep the protocol to identify special nobles with abilities." Novikov worked in a small commission on the middle gender of people and in a large commission. Participation in the work of the commission acquainted him with many important issues of Russian life and with the conditions of Russian activity and made him personally known to Catherine. In 1768, Novikov retired and soon began publishing the weekly satirical journal Truten (1769-70); 3rd ed. P.A. Efremov, St. Petersburg, 1865). He entered into a struggle with the gallomania then dominant in Russian society, which, of all French educational philosophy of the 18th century. learned only one Voltaireian laughter, turning it into indiscriminate sneer. Novikov's journals provide vivid images of lions and lionesses of the then high society, dandies and dandies, petimeters and coquettes. "Truten" armed himself against the abuses of landlord power, against injustice and bribery, and spoke out with denunciations against very influential (for example, courtiers) spheres. On the question of the content of the satire, "Truten" entered into a controversy with "Vsyakoy Vsyachinay", the organ of the Empress herself; other journals, divided into two camps, also took part in this controversy. "Vsyakaya Vsyachina" preached moderation, indulgence to weaknesses, condemning "any offending of persons." Drone stood for bold, open denunciations. The fight was unequal; "Truten" had to moderate its tone, refuse to discuss the peasant question, and then completely stopped, not at the will of the publisher. In 1772, Novikov published a new satirical magazine, The Painter, the best periodical of the 18th century (eight editions, including three in the 19th century. We only publish those books in fourth and fifth editions that these simple-hearted people, because of their ignorance of foreign languages, like it. "" The Painter "carried out the same ideas as" Drone ": in a number of articles, some of which belonged to I. P. Turgenev, others were attributed to Radishchev, he passionately fought against serfdom. Soon the "Painter" was forced to replace the living satire on modern morals with serious articles of abstract content, and then completely stopped (1773). A new attempt in the same direction was made by Novikov according to a narrower program: in 1774 he began to publish "Purse" (republished by A.N. Afanasyev in 1856) - a magazine specifically directed against gallomania. His attacks against the mores of secular society aroused great displeasure in court circles, and the magazine ceased at the ninth issue, and the publisher, as the legend says, was also subjected to personal persecution. Novikov tried to find a counterbalance to the fashionable French upbringing in the virtues of his ancestors, in the moral height and strength of the old Russian principles. He published a number of historical publications, which were supposed to help strengthen national self-consciousness and give "an outline of the customs and customs of our ancestors" so that we would know "the greatness of their spirit, adorned with simplicity." These are: "Ancient Russian Vivliofika" (monthly edition, 1773 - 75; 2nd ed. 1788 - 91; new ed. 1894); "Ancient Russian Hydrography" 9 v. I, 1773; description of the Moscow state, compiled under Feodor Alekseevich); "The Narrator of Russian Antiquities, or a Collection of Memorable Notes on the History and Geography of Russia" (part 1, 1776; materials from it were later included in the 2nd edition of "Vivliofiki"); "The story of the innocent imprisonment of the boyar A.S. Matveev" (M., 1776; 2nd ed., 1795); "Scythian history from various foreign historians,

more so from Russian true histories and stories, from Andrey Lyzlov, composed and written with diligent labors in the summer of 1692 "(1776; 2nd ed., M., 1787; like "Hidrography", published with the aim of "denouncing the unfair opinion of those people who who thought and wrote that before the time of Peter, Russia had no books other than church books"). Novikov understood the need for publishing historical monuments of paleographic accuracy, a set of contradictions, compiling alphabetical indexes, etc., sometimes applied these techniques when using several lists but his edition of acts and annals was published in "Vivliofika", and at one time was recognized as faulty. This, however, does not detract from the historical significance of "Vivliofika", which is still of considerable scientific interest. Novikov drew material for his editions of ancient monuments from the ancient repositories of private and church, as well as state, access to some was allowed to Novikov by the empress in 1773. He himself compiled a collection of manuscripts of historical content I. Many materials were delivered to him by Miller, Prince Shcherbatov, Bantysh-Kamensky and others, as well as by Catherine II, who supported the publication of Vivliofika with generous subsidies. The relations of the empress to Novikov during this period of his activity were generally distinguished by favor. According to A.I. Nezelenov, Novikov was influenced by the idea of ​​"Vsyakoy Vsyachiny" that it is better to correct morals by depicting good examples than by satire; hence his historical editions. The empress, in turn, in her comedies began to castigate (albeit weaker than "Drunk") gallomania and cruel treatment of serfs and, to a certain extent, was imbued with love for Russian antiquity. In his views on Russian antiquity, Novikov was not always stable. The ancient Russian sovereigns, in his words, "as if they had a presentiment that by introducing the sciences and arts into Russia, the most precious Russian treasure - morals would be irretrievably ruined"; but at the same time he is a zealous supporter of enlightenment, an admirer of Peter the Great and those people whose works for the benefit of Russian education he lovingly enters into his "Experience in a Historical Dictionary of Russian Writers", which appeared in 1772 (see Bibliography, VI, 492 ). Novikov found the way out of hesitations and contradictions in Freemasonry. Novikov's first connections with Freemasonry began in St. Petersburg. As early as 1775, friends invited him to Freemasonry, but Novikov hesitated for a long time, not wanting to bind himself with an oath, the subject of which was unknown to him. The Freemasons greatly valued Novikov's entry; contrary to their rules, they informed him of the content of the first three "degrees" before he entered the lodge. Novikov was not satisfied with the Elagin system, which he entered, and only later did he find "true" Freemasonry in the Reichel system, in which "everything was turned to morality and self-knowledge." In 1777, Novikov published 22 issues of the St. Petersburg Scientific Vedomosti (2nd ed. A.N. Neustroev, St. Petersburg, 1873), which were published weekly and adjoined to the first period of his activity. It was a journal of scientific and literary criticism, which set itself the goal, on the one hand, of bringing Russian literature and science closer to the scientific world of the West, and, on the other hand, of presenting the merits of Russian writers, especially historical ones. The moralizing element in Vedomosti is very weak. He becomes dominant in "Morning Light" (1777 - 80), monthly magazine, which Novikov, having stopped Vedomosti, began to publish from September 1777, in St. Petersburg, and from April 1779 - in Moscow. Here appeared Jung's Nights, Pascal's Opinions, translations from German writers, moralists, pietists and mystics. "Morning Light" was published by Novikov with the assistance of a circle of like-minded people, including M.N. Muravyov and I.P. Turgenev, and with charitable purposes: all the income from the publication was intended for the device and maintenance of the original public schools in St. Petersburg. Two main features of Novikov's later activities already affected this: the ability to organize public amateur performances and the desire to work for the benefit of education. Appeal to the subscribers of the magazine, with an invitation to promote the formation of schools, in

brought about a bountiful influx of donations. Already in November 1777, Novikov opened a school at the Church of the Vladimir Mother of God, for 30 and 40 people, with boarders and incoming students, paid and free, later called Ekaterininsky. The following year, a second school was opened (Alexander, at the Church of the Annunciation on Vasilyevsky Island). In 1779, Kheraskov, the curator of Moscow University and a freemason, offered Novikov to rent the university printing house and the publication of Moskovskie Vedomosti. Novikov moved to Moscow, and here begins the third and most brilliant period of his activity. In Moscow, Novikov found a circle of Freemasons, people devoted to the same interests of morality and self-knowledge (I.V. Lopukhin, S.I. Gamaleya, I.E. Schwartz, Prince Trubetskoy and Cherkassky, I.V. Turgenev, several university professors , Princess V.A. Trubetskaya). In this circle, Novikov's theoretical thought finally plunged into Freemasonry, not stopping before Rosicrucianism, with its alchemical nonsense. But this mystical fog did not interfere with Novikov's educational activities, which found great support in I.E. Schwartz, with whom Novikov "became inseparable for the rest of his life, until the very death of Schwartz." Having quickly put in order and significantly expanded the university printing house, Novikov printed more books in it in less than three years than how many had come out of it before in 24 years. Novikov also raised the importance of Moskovskiye Vedomosti, to which he began to add various contents; the number of subscribers increased sevenfold (from 600 to 4000). In 1781, Novikov published a continuation of Morning Light under the title of the Moscow Monthly Edition; then followed in 1782 "Evening Dawn", in 1784 - 1785. - "The Rest of the Worker", in which Novikov resumed his fight against serfdom. By his publishing activity, he wanted to create an abundant and accessible supply of useful and entertaining reading for a wide range of readers, not limited to the promotion of his mystical views. For 448 titles of books published by Novikov, there are 290 books of secular content, as well as a significant number of books of spiritual content that are not related to Freemasonry. Considering book printing "the greatest of all inventions", public initiative - the most reliable tool for the dissemination of education, Novikov, back in "The Painter" in 1773, expressed the idea of ​​establishing a "Society that strives to print books." This idea, supplemented by Schwartz's idea of ​​preparing, through university forces, reliable teachers, was carried out in the "Friendly Learned Society", which then merged with the printing company, established in 1784. with a share capital of 57,500 rubles. and with the stock of books received from Novikov for 320,000 rubles. at the sale price. The company's annual income exceeded 40,000 rubles, reaching 80,000 rubles in other years; after the closure of the company in 1791, despite the extensive sale of books published by it, there were still nearly 700,000 rubles left, not counting 16,856 books burned (as harmful), and 7,158 books transferred to the university and the Zaikonospassky Academy. In order to reduce the cost of books, Novikov entered into relations with all the bookstores that existed at that time, started commission agents, sold booksellers on favorable terms goods on credit, sometimes in tens of thousands of copies, organized a book trade not only in provincial cities, but also in villages. In Moscow, where until then there were only two bookshops with a turnover of 10,000 rubles, under Novikov and under his influence their number increased to 20, and they sold 200,000 books a year. He also founded the first library for reading in Moscow. People close to that time and to Novikov himself claimed that he not only spread, but also created in us a love for the sciences and a desire for reading. Through the intensified work of translators, writers, printing houses, bookstores, excited by the books and magazines published by him, it became, according to V.O. Klyuchevsky, to break through something that the Russian enlightened society was still unfamiliar with: public opinion. Along with book publishing

Novikov's enterprises also carried out the pedagogical and charitable activities of his circle. The latter reached its greatest development in the hungry year of 1787, when Novikov provided assistance to the starving on a large scale. The funds for this were delivered by the Guards officer Grigory Maksimovich Pokhodyashin, the son of a Ural mining plant, who put at the disposal of Novikov all his vast fortune and, dying in poverty, delighted his last moments by looking with tenderness at the portrait of Novikov, who showed him the true path of life. Novikov's activities were in full bloom when a thunderstorm was already gathering over him. First of all, the commission of public schools filed a claim against him (in 1784) for reprinting some of the textbooks it had published. Novikov did this on the orders of the Moscow Commander-in-Chief Chernyshev, and not for profit, but in order to have enough educational books on sale at a cheap price; but Chernyshev had died in the meantime, and Novikov had to give the commission a reward. The "abusive" history of the Jesuits, who were patronized by the empress, published by Novikov, was banned. In 1785, it was ordered to compile an inventory of Novikov's publications and submit them for consideration to the Moscow Archbishop Platon, who was also to test Novikov himself in the faith. In his report (January 1786), Archbishop Platon divided Novikov's publications into three categories: some he considered very useful in the poverty of our literature; others, mystical, he, in his words, did not understand; the third, compiled by the French encyclopedists, he considered pernicious. Plato wrote about Novikov's faith: "I pray to the all-merciful God that there are Christians like Novikov all over the world." In March 1786, Novikov was again allowed to trade in books, but some of them were sealed. Plato's recall did not dispel Catherine's mistrust of Novikov. Long before the expiration of Novikov's contract for the lease of the university printing house, the empress repeatedly repeated the order that the printing house should not be given to Novikov again. The loss of the university printing house (1789) was very sensitive for Novikov, although the printing houses of the company remained at his disposal. In 1790, Prince Prozorovsky, an ignorant and cruel man, was appointed commander-in-chief in Moscow. He sent denunciations to Novikov, which prompted a business trip to Moscow for Count Bezborodko to carry out a secret inquiry. Bezborodko did not find any reason to persecute Novikov. In 1791, Novikov was forced, however, to cease the existence of the printing company. In April 1792, a decree was sent to Prozorovsky to investigate whether Novikov, contrary to the law, was printing church books. Prozorovsky sent for the arrest of Novikov, who was living seriously ill in his estate Avdotino, a hussar team, which frightened Novikov's children so much that they suffered from nervous attacks all their lives afterwards. Finding no evidence against Novikov, Prozorovsky asked to send the famous investigator of that time, Sheshkovsky, and spoke about the inconvenience of transferring the Novikov case to an ordinary court. Even before the end of the investigation, by decree of May 10, 1792, the empress ordered Novikov to be secretly transported to the Shlisselburg fortress, where Sheshkovsky led his new interrogations. On August 1, 1792, the empress signed a decree on the imprisonment of Novikov in the Shlisselburg fortress for 15 years. The decree said that this decision was also a mitigation of the "merciless" execution (i.e., death), to which he would be subject by the force of laws for his "crimes discovered and actually recognized by him," "although he has not yet revealed his secret intentions ". From the question points published in the second volume of the "Collection of the Historical Society", which were put by Novikov, and his answers, it is clear that Novikov was accused of a "vile schism", of selfish deceptions, of Masonic activities (which was not prohibited either before or after ), in relations with the Duke of Brunswick and other foreigners, in relations with Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich. The decree of August 1 refers all these accusations not to Novikov alone, but to all his accomplices-masons; only Novikov suffered, although he was not considered the head of the Muscovites

masons. As a matter of fact, Novikov alone was charged with violating the subscription given to him in 1786 not to sell books recognized as harmful; but this was not a "state" crime. Even Prince Prozorovsky was amazed at the outcome of the Novikov case: “I don’t understand the end of this case,” he wrote to Sheshkovsky: as the closest accomplices, if he is a criminal, then those criminals too. Karamzin, who expressed sympathy for Novikov's fate in his ode to Grace, looked for the reasons for Novikov's conviction not in the charges officially brought against him and, by the way, in the first place put the distribution of bread to the starving Novikov, which seemed suspicious, since they did not know the source of the money he spent. this funds. Novikov spent four and a half years in the fortress, suffering an extreme need for the most necessary, even medicines, although Dr. Bagryansky selflessly shared his conclusion. Emperor Paul I released Novikov on the first day of his reign. Novikov was taken to the fortress while still in full development of his strength and energy, and he came out "decrepit, old, bent." He was forced to abandon all social activities and until his death (July 31, 1818) he lived almost without a break in Avdotino, taking care of the needs of his peasants and their education.