Konstantin Aksakov

Konstantin Sergeyevich Aksakov (Russian: ?????????? ???????) (1817 - 1860) was a Russian critic and writer, one of the earliest and most notable Slavophiles. He wrote plays, social criticism, and histories of the ancient Russian social order. The writer Sergey Aksakov was his father, and the journalist Ivan Aksakov was his younger brother.

Konstantin was the first to publish an analysis of Gogol's Dead Souls, comparing the Russian author with Homer (1842). After Alexander II's ascension to the throne, he sent him a letter advising to restore Zemsky sobors (1855). Aksakov also penned a number of articles on Slavonic linguistics.


 Personal Life
Aksakov was raised on a country estate before moving to Moscow with his family. He remained with his parents his entire life, never marrying or moving out of the house. He studied at Moscow University, becoming a member of the Stankevitch circle, a group of Russian Hegelians and early forerunners of Russian Democracy.

Aksakov eventually made the acquaintance of Ivan Kireevsky and Aleksey Khomyakov, adopted their philosophy of Slavophilism, and broke of all contact with the Stankevitch circle.


 Philosophy
Aksakov's thesis on Lomonosov (1846) attempted to synthesize his view of the Russian peasant's religious and historical mission with Hegel's philosophy. Later in his career, Akasakov abandoned Hegelian philosophy, becoming radically anti-European.

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