Sergey Aksakov
Sergey Timofeyevich Aksakov, (b. Sept.
20 [Oct. 1, New Style], 1791, Ufa,
Russia—d. April 30 [May 12], 1859,
Moscow), novelist noted for his
realistic and comic narratives and for
his introduction of a new genre, a cross
between memoir and novel, into Russian
literature.
Brought up in a strongly patriarchal
family, Aksakov was educated in the
pseudoclassical tradition at home, at
school, and at the newly founded
university in Kazan. He became a
translator in the legislative commission
of the civil service, served in the
militia in the struggle against Napoleon
in 1812, married in 1815, and in 1816
retired to the family estate. After a
decade as a sporting country squire, he
returned to the civil service in Moscow
and became literary censor, inspector,
and, later, director of the college of
land surveying. Inheriting money, he
retired in 1839 and lived in and near
Moscow, entertaining his friends—mainly
writers and Slavophiles.
Before 1834, when his successful Buran
(“Blizzard”) was published, Aksakov’s
writings reflected outmoded literary
tastes: translations of Nicolas Boileau
and Molière, undistinguished verse, and
articles on the theatre. But then he was
inspired—by his love of rural Russia in
the days of serfdom, by his Slavophile
sons Ivan and Konstantin, and by his
admiration of the novelist Nikolay
Gogol—to set down the story of his
grandfather, his parents, and his own
childhood, transposed into realistic
fiction. This effort resulted in three
books that have become classics:
Semeynaya khronika (1856; The Family
Chronicle), Vospominaniya (1856;
“Reminiscences”; Eng. trans. A Russian
Schoolboy), and Detskie gody
Bagrova-vnuka (1858; Childhood Years of
Grandson Bagrov). Aksakov unfolds his
chronicles objectively in an unaffected
style with simple language. Their
interest lies in the illusion of reality
and intimacy created by his vivid
remembrance of his own and his
forebears’ past. These works, blending
personal reminiscence with the
techniques of the novelist, brought
Aksakov fame. The finest book of the
trilogy, The Family Chronicle, also
shows a remarkable understanding of
family psychology.
Also of interest are Aksakov’s books on
shooting, fishing, and butterfly
collecting and his recollections of
Gogol, which are firsthand material on
his friend’s complex personality.
