Alexander Herzen Biography

Alexander Herzen, Journalist
Born asAleksandr Ivanovich Herzen
Occup.Journalist
FromRussia
BornApril 6, 1812
Moscow, Russia
DiedJanuary 21, 1870
Paris, France
Aged57 years
Early Life and Education
Alexander Ivanovich Herzen, born on April 6, 1812, in Moscow, Russia, was a popular author, journalist, and political activist. He was the illegitimate kid of Ivan Alekseyevich Yakovlev, a rich Russian landowner, and his girlfriend, a young German Lutheran named Luise Lange (née Haag). In spite of his parents not being wed, Alexander was accepted into his daddy's household and had a privileged childhood.

Herzen went to Moscow State University, where he studied philosophy and lives sciences. He was particularly drawn to the works of French and German philosophers, including Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, which shaped his early political and philosophical views.

Political and Philosophical Ideals
From an early age, Herzen was crucial of the tsarist autocracy that ruled Russia. He believed that social justice could just be achieved through a radical overhaul of Russia's class-based society. Inspired by the eagerness of the French Revolution, his political beliefs were rooted in the ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity.

Herzen became an ardent advocate of socialism, thinking that the working-class had the potential to be an effective force for modification in Russian society. He was also drawn to the principle of utopian socialism, an idyllic vision of a society where communal living and cooperation would change the competitors and greed of capitalist society.

Arrest and Exile
Alexander Herzen's political views, however, were seen as a danger to the Russian autocracy. In 1834, he was arrested for his participation in a secret society that spread revolutionary ideas. Herzen was sent out into internal exile in Vyatka, a remote province in the Russian Urals, where he invested six years.

Throughout his exile, Herzen continued to establish his political and philosophical concepts. He ended up being increasingly disillusioned with utopian socialism and started to promote for agrarian socialism, which concentrated on land reform and the redistribution of wealth. In this period, he also composed a number of essential works, including his autobiography, "My Past and Thoughts".

Emigration to Western Europe
In 1847, Herzen was given consent to take a trip to Western Europe for health reasons. He settled in Paris, where he entered into contact with prominent socialist and advanced leaders, including Louis Blanc, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, and Karl Marx. However, he was disappointed with their dogmatic method to socialism and the internal disputes within the socialist motion.

The Birth of Russian Socialism in Exile and "The Bell"
In 1852, Herzen relocated to London, where he established the "Free Russian Press", a publishing house that produced books, handouts, and regulars promoting socialist and advanced ideas. He acquired extensive prestige with the publication of "The Bell" (Kolokol), an extreme paper that was smuggled into Russia and flowed among the intellectual and political elite.

Under Herzen's editorship, "The Bell" ended up being a powerful voice for reform and a driving force in Russian social idea. Its criticism of the Russian government and advocacy for the rights of the peasantry made it an extremely prominent publication. A few of the crucial figures connected with Herzen and "The Bell" consisted of prominent Russian revolutionaries like Mikhail Bakunin, Nikolai Ogarev, and Vissarion Belinsky.

Tradition and Influence
Alexander Herzen's works and journalism had a profound impact on Russian society and the advancement of socialist idea. His advocacy for social and political modification inspired future generations of Russian intellectuals and revolutionaries, as they worked towards eliminating serfdom and the autocratic routine.

Herzen's influence extended beyond Russia, with his work having a considerable influence on European socialism and the worldwide battle for social justice. His enthusiastic commitment to the reason for the oppressed and marginalized resonated with people across political and social limits.

Alexander Herzen passed away on January 21, 1870, in Paris, but his concepts and vision continued to inspire political motions and thinkers for generations to come. As a pivotal figure in the history of Russian and European socialism, Alexander Herzen's life functions as a testament to the power of ideas and the determination to combat for a more simply and fair world.

Our collection contains 17 quotes who is written / told by Alexander.

Related authors: Karl Marx (Philosopher), Philo (Philosopher), Louis Blanc (Politician), Jean-Jacques Rousseau (Philosopher), Mikhail Bakunin (Revolutionary), Lawrence Taylor (Athlete), Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (Economist), Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (Philosopher)

Alexander Herzen Famous Works:
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17 Famous quotes by Alexander Herzen

Small: All religions have based morality on obedience, that is to say, on voluntary slavery. That is why they
"All religions have based morality on obedience, that is to say, on voluntary slavery. That is why they have always been more pernicious than any political organization. For the latter makes use of violence, the former - of the corruption of the will"
Small: Slavery is the first step towards civilization. In order to develop it is necessary that things should
"Slavery is the first step towards civilization. In order to develop it is necessary that things should be much better for some and much worse for others, then those who are better off can develop at the expense of others"
Small: I am truly horrified by modern man. Such absence of feeling, such narrowness of outlook, such lack of p
"I am truly horrified by modern man. Such absence of feeling, such narrowness of outlook, such lack of passion and information, such feebleness of thought"
Small: You can no more bridle passions with logic than you can justify them in the law courts. Passions are fa
"You can no more bridle passions with logic than you can justify them in the law courts. Passions are facts and not dogmas"
Small: If nations always moved from one set of furnished rooms to another - and always into a better set - thi
"If nations always moved from one set of furnished rooms to another - and always into a better set - things might be easier, but the trouble is that there is no one to prepare the new rooms. The future is worse than the ocean - there is nothing there"
Small: We have wasted our spirit in the regions of the abstract and general just as the monks let it wither in
"We have wasted our spirit in the regions of the abstract and general just as the monks let it wither in the world of prayer and contemplation"
Small: Modern Western thought will pass into history and be incorporated in it, will have its influence and it
"Modern Western thought will pass into history and be incorporated in it, will have its influence and its place, just as our body will pass into the composition of grass, of sheep, of cutlets, and of men"
Small: Would it be possible to stand still on one spot more majestically - while simulating a triumphant march
"Would it be possible to stand still on one spot more majestically - while simulating a triumphant march forward - than it is done by the two English Houses of Parliament?"
Small: No one is to blame. It is neither their fault nor ours. It is the misfortune of being born when a whole
"No one is to blame. It is neither their fault nor ours. It is the misfortune of being born when a whole world is dying"
Small: Everything in Italy that is particularly elegant and grand borders upon insanity and absurdity or at le
"Everything in Italy that is particularly elegant and grand borders upon insanity and absurdity or at least is reminiscent of childhood"
Small: What breadth, what beauty and power of human nature and development there must be in a woman to get ove
"What breadth, what beauty and power of human nature and development there must be in a woman to get over all the palisades, all the fences, within which she is held captive!"
Small: Unaware of the absurdity of it, we introduce our own petty household rules into the economy of the univ
"Unaware of the absurdity of it, we introduce our own petty household rules into the economy of the universe for which the life of generations, peoples, of entire planets, has no importance in relation to the general development"
Small: It is possible to lead astray an entire generation, to strike it blind, to drive it insane, to direct i
"It is possible to lead astray an entire generation, to strike it blind, to drive it insane, to direct it towards a false goal. Napoleon proved this"
Small: Liberalism, austere in political trifles, has learned ever more artfully to unite a constant protest ag
"Liberalism, austere in political trifles, has learned ever more artfully to unite a constant protest against the government with a constant submission to it"
Small: There is nothing in the world more stubborn than a corpse: you can hit it, you can knock it to pieces,
"There is nothing in the world more stubborn than a corpse: you can hit it, you can knock it to pieces, but you cannot convince it"
Small: Science, which cuts its way through the muddy pond of daily life without mingling with it, casts its we
"Science, which cuts its way through the muddy pond of daily life without mingling with it, casts its wealth to right and left, but the puny boatmen do not know how to fish for it"
Small: Life has taught me to think, but thinking has not taught me to live
"Life has taught me to think, but thinking has not taught me to live"