Alexander Herzen

Lore & Background

Herzen was an illegitimate son of a rich Russian landowner, Ivan Yakovlev, and Henriette Wilhelmina Luisa Haag from Stuttgart. He was born in Moscow shortly before Napoleon's invasion of Russia. In 1834, Herzen and his lifelong friend Nikolay Ogarev were arrested and tried for attending a festival where verses uncomplimentary to the tsar were sung; he was banished to Vyatka in 1835. He later eloped with his cousin Natalya Zakharina in 1837. After his father died in 1846, leaving him a large inheritance, Herzen emigrated with his family to Italy in 1847, never to return to Russia. He supported the revolutions of 1848 but was bitterly disillusioned with European socialist movements after their failure. His assets in Russia were frozen, but Baron Rothschild negotiated their release. His mother and one son died in a shipwreck in 1851; his wife died of tuberculosis in 1852. He then settled in London, founding the Free Russian Press in 1853. In 1856, Ogarev joined him, and they worked on the periodical Kolokol. Herzen began an affair with Ogarev's wife, Natalia Tuchkova, with whom he had three children. He spent time in London organizing with the International Workingmen's Association and became acquainted with Mikhail Bakunin and Karl Marx. He died in Paris in 1870 of tuberculosis complications.

Reader's Guide

Herzen's significance lies in his role as a foundational figure for Russian socialism and agrarian populism, influencing later movements such as the Narodniki, Socialist-Revolutionaries, Trudoviks, and even the agrarian American Populist Party. His writings, particularly the novel Who is to Blame? and his autobiography My Past and Thoughts, are considered important works in Russian literature. Through his London-based Free Russian Press and the periodical Kolokol, he sought to influence Russian politics and contributed to the climate that led to the emancipation of the serfs in 1861. Herzen combined ideas from the French Revolution and German idealism, disliked bourgeois values, and sought authenticity among the peasantry. He promoted both socialism and individualism, arguing that the full flowering of the individual could best be realized in a socialist order, while rejecting grand narratives and advocating small-scale communal living with non-interventionist government. His disillusionment with the Revolutions of 1848 did not diminish his revolutionary thought, and he remained critical of those who fled to America. His legacy endures as a key intellectual bridge between Western European radical thought and Russian revolutionary movements.

Did You Know?

• Herzen was an illegitimate son; his father gave him the surname Herzen because he was a 'child of his heart' (German: Herz).
• He was first cousin to Count Sergei Lvovich Levitsky, a pioneer of Russian photography, who took a famous photograph of Herzen in 1860.
• Herzen's mother and one of his sons died in a shipwreck in 1851.
• He told Mikhail Bakunin that Karl Marx had accused him of being a Russian agent, though the two were on very good terms.

Early Life and the Road to Exile

Herzen was born in Moscow in 1812, just before Napoleon's occupation. He was the illegitimate son of a wealthy landowner, Ivan Yakovlev, and Henriette Wilhelmina Luisa Haag from Stuttgart. Yakovlev named him Herzen, meaning "child of his heart" in German. His father had personally met Napoleon and was permitted to leave Moscow carrying a letter to the Russian emperor. A year later the family returned to Moscow, where Herzen would eventually study at Moscow University. In 1834, he and his close friend Nikolay Ogarev were arrested for attending a festival where verses critical of the tsar were sung. Found guilty, he was banished to Vyatka in 1835. He remained there until 1837, when Grand Duke Alexander, the future tsar, visited and intervened on his behalf. Herzen was then posted to Vladimir as editor of the local gazette. That same year, he eloped with his cousin Natalya Zakharina. By 1839 he was fully freed, and in 1840 he returned to Moscow, where he met the literary critic Vissarion Belinsky. His father's death in 1846 left him a substantial inheritance, but in 1847 he emigrated with his family to Italy, never to return to Russia.

Intellectual Evolution and Political Thought

Herzen's political thinking evolved dramatically over his lifetime. He began as a liberal but gradually embraced socialism, drawing on a wide range of influences including Voltaire, Schiller, Saint-Simon, Proudhon, and especially Hegel and Feuerbach. After the death of Vissarion Belinsky in 1848, Herzen became the chief promoter of the Westernizer's ideas. He combined the values of the French Revolution with German idealism, and in his early writings he regarded the French Revolution as the culmination of human social development. He harbored a deep distrust of bourgeois and middle-class values, instead seeking authenticity in the Russian peasantry, whom he idolized. His central political cause was the emancipation of the serfs, which he fought for until it was achieved in 1861. After that landmark, he pushed further, demanding constitutional rights, common ownership of land, and genuine popular governance. The failed Revolutions of 1848 in Europe left him bitterly disillusioned with continental socialist movements, yet he never abandoned revolutionary thought itself. He criticized those who, exasperated by the post-1848 Reaction, fled to distant frontiers rather than continuing the struggle.

London Years and the Free Russian Press

After settling in London in 1852 following his wife Natalia's death from tuberculosis, Herzen devoted himself to influencing Russian politics from abroad. In 1853 he founded the Free Russian Press, and in 1856 his old friend Nikolay Ogarev joined him; together they launched the periodical Kolokol, which ran from 1857 to 1867 and was widely read. Herzen also engaged with the International Workingmen's Association and moved in revolutionary circles that included Karl Marx and Mikhail Bakunin. His reputation for scandal-mongering emerged during this period: he told the newly arrived Bakunin, fresh from escaping Siberian imprisonment, that Marx had called him a Russian agent, when in fact the two men were on cordial terms. His personal life was turbulent; he began an affair with Natalia Tuchkova, Ogarev's wife, and they had three children together, yet the friendship between Herzen and Ogarev endured. His assets in Russia had been frozen upon emigration, but Baron Rothschild, with whom his family had prior business dealings, negotiated their release.

Literary Legacy and Final Years

Herzen's literary contributions remain significant in Russian letters. His social novel Who is to Blame? (1845–46) was an important work of its kind, and his autobiography My Past and Thoughts, written between 1852 and 1870, is frequently cited as one of the finest examples of the genre in Russian literature. His writings, many composed during his long exile in London, shaped a political climate that contributed to the emancipation of the serfs in 1861. He is widely regarded as the precursor of Russian socialism and a key ideological ancestor of the Narodniki, the Socialist-Revolutionaries, the Trudoviks, and even the agrarian American Populist Party. His personal life was marked by tragedy: his mother and one of his sons perished in a shipwreck in 1851, and his first wife Natalia died of tuberculosis in 1852. In 1864 he moved to Geneva and later to Paris, where he died in 1870 of tuberculosis complications. Originally buried in Paris, his remains were transferred to Nice a month later. He was also a first cousin of Count Sergei Levitsky, a pioneer of photography, who captured a famous portrait of Herzen in 1860.

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