To Karamzin from grateful descendants

Abstract

This review presents materials of the Scientific Session “The Time of Karamzin (On the 250th Anniversary of the Birth of N.M. Karamzin, Writer, Historian, and Reformer of the Russian Language),” which was held on March 21, 2016, within a general meeting of the RAS Division of Historical and Philological Sciences. The participants were famous scholars in the humanities, who clarified various aspects of the phenomenon of Karamzin. The presenters showed the central place of Karamzin in the development of Russian national self-awareness not only in the early 19th century but also in the subsequent periods of history. The review of various aspects of Karamzin’s legacy—his literary activity, work on reforming the Russian language, and, of course, his selfless labor on the preparation of History of the Russian State—allows us to speak about him as an outstanding and exceptionally modern figure of the Russian Renaissance, who predetermined the spiritual quest of Russia for years to come.