The Free Society of Lovers of Literature, Science and the Arts

Abstract

Parallel to the foundation of the Moscow Friendly Society there arose another literary society in St. Petersburg which was initially known as The Friendly Society of Lovers of the Refined, and was later renamed The Free Society of Lovers of Literature, Science and the Arts (1803). The society was founded by a group of young students, this time from the Gymnasium of the Academy of Sciences. They were: I. M. Born, V.V. Popugaev, V. I. Krasovskii, V.V. Dmitriev, A.S. Volkov, and M.K. Mikhailov. They were joined later by G. Kamenev, A. Vostokov, I.P. Pnin, N.F. Ostolopov, A.E. Izmailov, the two sons of Radishchev, Nikolai and Vasilii, K.N. Batiushkov, and also A.F. Merzliakov. Most of them were of middle-class origin (raznochintsy). Between 1801 and 1807 the Society reflected the ideas and mood of the more radically minded youth in Russia who continued some of Radishchev’s ideas, and concerned themselves with problems of social and political reform. After 1807, the Society became more and more conservative. Except for a four year interval from 1812 to 1816 meetings continued until 1825, when the Society was dissolved.