''John of Damascus'' (Иоанн Дамаскин) is a poem by
Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy, first published in the January, No.1,
1859
Events
January–March
* January 21 – José Mariano Salas (1797–1867) becomes Conservative interim President of Mexico.
* January 24 ( O. S.) – Wallachia and Moldavia are united under Alexandru Ioan Cuza (Romania since 1866, final u ...
issue of ''
Russkaya Beseda
''Russkaya Beseda'' (russian: Ру′сская бесе′да, en, The Russian Colloquy) was a Russian literary magazine founded in Moscow, Russian Empire, in 1856 by Alexander Koshelev who remained its editor-in-chief until 1858, when Ivan ...
'' magazine. Fragments of the poem have been put to music by several composers, among them
Pyotr Tchaikovsky,
Sergei Taneyev and
Vasily Kalinnikov.
[Yampolsky, Igor. Commentaries to John of Damascus. The Works of A.K. Tolstoy in 4 volumes. Vol.I. Poems. Moscow. Khudozhestvennaya Literatura Publishers. 1964. P. 774.]
Background
The main source for Tolstoy was the ''zhitie'' (life story) of
theologian and
hymnographer John of Damascus
John of Damascus ( ar, يوحنا الدمشقي, Yūḥanna ad-Dimashqī; gr, Ἰωάννης ὁ Δαμασκηνός, Ioánnēs ho Damaskēnós, ; la, Ioannes Damascenus) or John Damascene was a Christian monk, priest, hymnographer, and a ...
. The poem's leitmotif, that of the poet's role as related to the state authorities, for Tolstoy, who was still at the Court, was a serious personal matter.
Nikolai Leskov referred to the poem as an autobiographical piece of work of an author who was eager to leave the Court and become a "free artist".
Tolstoy himself was critical of the poem's beginning and also its Chapter 7. In a letter to
Ivan Aksakov
Ivan Sergeyevich Aksakov (russian: Ива́н Серге́евич Акса́ков; , village Nadezhdino, Belebeyevsky Uyezd, Orenburg Governorate – , Moscow) was a Russian littérateur and notable Slavophile.
Biography
Aksakov was born in ...
on 31 December 1858 he wrote: "The epic side is not for me, lyricism and occasionally drama draw me away."
Controversy
The poem caused controversy. The Moscow censorship committee at the request of the
3rd Department ordered the circulation of the ''Russkaya Beseda'' to be stopped for the poem to be withdrawn from the edition, which had already been printed.
Evgraf Kovalevsky, the Minister of Education, issued a special order, permitting the publication which outraged the head of the 3rd Department, Prince
Vasily Dolgorukov. Details of this conflict were related by the latter's son N.V. Dolgorukov in one of his 1863 articles.
According to biographer Dmitry Zhukov, Dolgorukov, informed of the forthcoming publication by the Interior Minister
Alexander Timashev
Alexander Yegorovich Timashev (April 15, 1818, Orenburg Governorate – February 1, 1893, Saint Petersburg) was Adjutant General (1859), Cavalry General (1872); in 1856–1861 – Chief of Staff of the Gendarme Corps and Manager of the Third ...
's agents, ordered to stop the print. Ivan Aksakov sent the proofread lists to Kovalevsky immediately. The latter, knowing already that
Empress consort Maria Alexandrovna's impression of the poem had been favourable, ordered the censorship committee to permit the publication. Dolgorukov was outraged: "How could you have done this without informing me first?" "You are not the Prime Minister to demand of me any such thing," Kovalevsky retorted, reportedly. According to the archives, it was
Alexander II who, having heard of ''Ioann Damaskin'', asked censors to pay "special attention" to the poem. Kovalevsky sent his personal report to the emperor, stating: "Only some verses, taken out of context might have caused suspicion; otherwise the general idea, the implementation of it, everything about this poem, permeated with the spirit of Early Christianity, dispels doubts."
[ Zhukov, Dmitry]
Alexey Konstantinovich Tolstoy
. P.54
References
{{Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy
1859 poems
Poetry by Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy