Vladimir Viktorovich Lesevich (1837–1905) was a Russian philosopher, publicist and public figure, a proponent of positivism, born in Poltava Governorate. He was linked to Nizhny Novgorod Province through his imprisonment in the Nizhny Novgorod Ostrog during the political persecutions of the late 1870s.[1]

Biography and views

He was born in the village of Denisovka, Poltava Governorate, into a noble family of Orthodox faith. He graduated from the Kiev Engineering School (1855) and the Academy of the General Staff (1861). From 1856 to 1859 he served as an officer in the 1st Caucasian Sapper Battalion and took part in combat operations in the Caucasus. After the abolition of serfdom, he transferred his redemption payments to the peasant commune. In 1863 he refused to help suppress the "January Uprising" and retired with the rank of staff captain.[1]

Returning to his family estate, he founded the first school in Ukraine to teach in the Ukrainian language, in the village of Dubovka; it was soon closed by the authorities, which received wide publicity in "Kolokol" ("The Bell"), the "Sankt-Peterburgskiye Vedomosti", and "Domashnyaya Beseda". While in Germany, Lesevich met with Alexander Herzen. Having settled on positivism in the mold of Auguste Comte, he published a series of philosophical works: "Essays on the Development of the Idea of Progress" (1868), "The Philosophy of History on Scientific Ground" (1869), "Positivism after Comte" (1869), and "The Newest Literature of Positivism" (1870). In 1877 Lesevich published "An Attempt at a Critical Study of the Foundations of Positive Philosophy" (St.

Petersburg), and in 1878 "Letters on Scientific Philosophy" (St. Petersburg); in these works he developed positivism in the direction of critical realism, drawing on the ideas of the German neo-Kantians — Avenarius, Hering, Riehl, and others.[2] In the 1870s he moved to St. Petersburg, contributed to the journals "Otechestvennye Zapiski" (from 1875), "Vestnik Evropy", and "Russkaya Mysl", and took part in the "Society of Sober Philosophers" and the "Olkhin Circle".[1]

Imprisonment and exile in Nizhny Novgorod

In 1879 Lesevich was suspected of ties with the Narodniks and arrested without formal charges. He was held in the Nizhny Novgorod Ostrog, and after trial was exiled to Yeniseysk, where he spent about three years. In Siberia he became acquainted with the ideas of Siberian regionalism (oblastnichestvo). In 1881 his place of exile was changed to the Caucasus, and in 1882 to Poltava, where he lived at the estate of his brother-in-law Vladimir Leontovich. In 1883 he moved to Kiev. In 1885 his place of exile became Tver; in 1886 Lesevich was released. Throughout this time he carried his personal library with him and subscribed to Russian and foreign periodicals.[1]

Activity after his release

In 1888 Lesevich was allowed to return to St. Petersburg. There he joined the circle of Nikolai Mikhailovsky, worked with the "Russkoye Bogatstvo" publishing house, and organized the Society for the Study of the Ethnography and History of Ukraine. In St. Petersburg he founded the T. Shevchenko Literary Fund and the Ukrainian Publishing Society, which planned to publish Panas Myrny's novel "Do the Oxen Low When the Mangers Are Full?" and other books in the Ukrainian language; their distribution was banned by censorship following the signing of the Ems Ukaz (1876). In the 1890s Lesevich became a follower of the ideas of Richard Avenarius. In addition to his exile of 1879–1888, Lesevich was exiled a second time in 1901–1903.[3] He died in Kiev in 1905. He was married to L. P. Pichugina and had one daughter. Lesevich's posthumous three-volume "Collected Works" — two volumes of philosophical articles and one volume of articles of a general scientific character — was Moscow.[3][1]

That same year, 1886, saw the publication of the collection "Studies and Essays" (St. Petersburg), which included both philosophical and historical-literary articles by Lesevich.[2]

Sources

  1. bioslovhist.spbu.ru — Lesevich Vladimir Viktorovich (1837 — 1905) (archived)
  2. philhist.spbu.ru — Lesevich Vladimir Viktorovich — Russian Philosophy: History, Sources, Research — In 1877 Lesevich published "An Attempt at a Critical Study of the Foundations of Positive… (archived)
  3. e-heritage.ru — Scientific heritage of Russia — In addition to his exile of 1879 — 1888, Lesevich was exiled a second time in 1901 — 1903.