Likhachev Dmitry Sergeevich for shock work. Likhachev Dmitry Sergeevich

There was such a so-called. foreman of perestroika, whose name and authority broke the great Soviet Union, our Motherland. Now it has been declared practically a saint, or, if not a saint, then at least a beacon of culture and spirituality. But we do not know anything about his real appearance, and therefore it is interesting to listen to those who worked with him during his lifetime. To do this, let us turn to the diaries of Georg Myasnikov, who was his first deputy in the Cultural Foundation, organized under Likhachev in 1986 and who pulled all the work for him while he lived in Leningrad, despite the fact that the foundation itself was in Moscow.

Here is what he writes about him immediately after starting work with him in 1986:

At 16.00 I went to the Vnukovo-II airfield to meet D.S. Likhachev, who should fly with Reagan's wife from Leningrad. Arrived in her plane. Together with her wife A. Gromyko. Didn't wait. Took D.S. and Z.A. [Likhachev] and to the Akademicheskaya hotel. The old man has freshened up, sunbathed at the dacha and feels good. He is tormented by planetary thoughts - some kind of concert for the whole world with a conductor from Vienna and a metropolis between Moscow and Leningrad. Sabaoth. Behind the cloud. He has little interest in the purely real sense of the culture of the people. He simply does not see her and does not know. He complained about Piotrovsky, who did not let him, along with N. Reagan, into the Hermitage. Old people, but envious.

It was May, and now it's October, when it became clear what Likhachev is like:

Spoke to D.S. Likhachev by phone. The older, the more itchy. He's not as smart as he tries to make himself out to be.. Terribly amenable to all kinds of rumors, gossip. A lot of trash is spinning around him. Yes, and age makes itself felt, and maybe late-come glory. She constantly poses in front of the TV. Wants to go down in history. You don't need help, just don't get in the way. It's bad that he is torn off, he lives in Leningrad. The telephone is not a means of communication.
<...>
October 11. [.]. On the phone with D.S. Likhachev. Returned from Bulgaria. Again filmed by Bulgarian TW. Tired of posing, complains about receptions in Bulgaria. Something aged, grumbling. Little interest in the affairs of the Fund. The board asks to nominate for November. Bad residue. Too much senile foppery, the position of a sage from the outside. Does not get sick [for work].

And now it's 1992, when more than 5 years of joint work have passed:

Capable of any meanness. Cruel to the point of ruthlessness. Can go to any muck, lie. Invent, believe and will prove. For almost five years, working in the same house - the shrine of Russian science, they do not greet and do not shake hands with each other. Around him, the same bottom is assembled as he himself [.]. In his youth, there was little fame. Now vanity is taking its debts. He never forgets himself. He does not tolerate when his opinion is not perceived as absolutely correct. There is much more that does not fit into the framework of the created image of the first intellectual of our country.
<...>
February 13. As early as Monday, there were rumors that D. Likhachev was coming to Moscow and wanted to meet with the staff of the Foundation (probably, I. N. Voronova's criticism was conveyed in detail). I have no calls and messages, and I'm not interested anymore. Did not go to the station to meet. [. ]. How much for the sake of personal vanity he brought in dregs, how many nerves he took away! And not a word of thanks. He says that he is a believer. I do not believe! They say that he is an intellectual. Does not work! A mask behind which hides a petty philistine, a petty bourgeois, a squabbler. Unfortunately, this is the final conclusion about its internal content.

Know comments, as they say. Another telling fact. Likhachev received from the hands of Yeltsin the highest order of the Russian Federation - a country that is 20 years old (s) - the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called. Even such scum as Solzhenitsyn refused such an award, and this scum took the award from the hands of a state criminal.

DMITRY SERGEEVICH LIKHACHEV

Life dates: November 28, 1906 - September 30, 1999
Place of Birth: city of St. Petersburg, Russia
Soviet and Russian philologist, culturologist, art critic, doctor of philological sciences, professor.
Chairman of the Board of the Russian Cultural Foundation.
Notable works: "Letters about the good and the beautiful", "Man in the literature of Ancient Russia", "Culture of Russia in the time of Andrei Rublev and Epiphanius the Wise", "Textology", "Poetics of Old Russian literature", "Era and styles", "Great heritage"

Dmitry Sergeevich Likhachev is the greatest scientist and defender of Russian culture. He lived a very long life, in which there were deprivations, persecutions, as well as grandiose achievements in the scientific field, recognition not only at home, but throughout the world. When Dmitry Sergeevich died, they spoke with one voice: he was the conscience of the nation. And there is no exaggeration in this pompous definition. Indeed, Likhachev was an example of selfless and relentless service to the Motherland.

He was born in St. Petersburg, in the family of an electrical engineer Sergei Mikhailovich Likhachev. The Likhachevs lived modestly, but found opportunities not to give up their passion - regular visits to the Mariinsky Theater, or rather, ballet performances. And in the summer they rented a dacha in Kuokkala, where Dmitry joined the artistic youth.
In 1914, he entered the gymnasium, subsequently changed several schools, as the education system changed in connection with the events of the revolution and the Civil War.
In 1923, Dmitry entered the ethnological and linguistic department of the Faculty of Social Sciences of Petrograd University. At some point, he entered a student circle under the comic name "Space Academy of Sciences". The members of this circle met regularly, read and discussed each other's reports.
In February 1928, Dmitry Likhachev was arrested for participating in a circle and sentenced to 5 years "for counter-revolutionary activities." The investigation lasted six months, after which Likhachev was sent to the Solovetsky camp. Likhachev later called the experience of life in the camp his "second and main university." He changed several activities on Solovki. For example, he worked as an employee of the Criminological Cabinet and organized a labor colony for teenagers. " I came out of all this trouble with a new knowledge of life and with a new state of mind.- said Dmitry Sergeevich in an interview. - The kindness that I managed to do to hundreds of teenagers, saving their lives, and many other people, the kindness received from the fellow campers themselves, the experience of everything I saw created in me some kind of calmness and mental health that was very deeply rooted in me.».
Likhachev was released ahead of schedule, in 1932, and “with a red stripe” - that is, with a certificate that he was a shock worker in the construction of the White Sea-Baltic Canal, and this certificate gave him the right to live anywhere. He returned to Leningrad, worked as a proofreader at the publishing house of the Academy of Sciences (a criminal record prevented him from getting a more serious job).
In 1938, through the efforts of the leaders of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Likhachev's conviction was expunged. Then Dmitry Sergeevich went to work at the Institute of Russian Literature of the USSR Academy of Sciences (Pushkin House). In June 1941 he defended his Ph.D. thesis on the topic "Novgorod Chronicles of the XII century." The scientist defended his doctoral dissertation after the war, in 1947.
The Likhachevs (by that time Dmitry Sergeevich was married, he had two daughters) survived the war in part in besieged Leningrad. After the terrible winter of 1941–1942, they were evacuated to Kazan. After his stay in the camp, Dmitry Sergeevich's health was undermined, and he was not subject to conscription to the front.

The main theme of Likhachev the scientist was ancient Russian literature. In 1950, under his scientific guidance, the Tale of Bygone Years and The Tale of Igor's Campaign were prepared for publication in the Literary Monuments series. A team of talented researchers of ancient Russian literature gathered around the scientist.
From 1954 until the end of his life, Dmitry Sergeevich headed the sector of ancient Russian literature of the Pushkin House. In 1953, Likhachev was elected a corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences. At that time, he already enjoyed unquestioned authority among all the Slavic scholars of the world.
The 50s, 60s, 70s were an incredibly eventful time for a scientist, when his most important books were published: “Man in the Literature of Ancient Russia”, “The Culture of Russia in the Time of Andrei Rublev and Epiphanius the Wise”, “Textology”, “Poetics Old Russian Literature”, “Epochs and Styles”, “Great Heritage”. Likhachev in many ways opened ancient Russian literature to a wide range of readers, did everything to make it “come to life”, become interesting not only to philologists.
In the second half of the 80s and in the 90s, Dmitry Sergeevich's authority was incredibly great not only in academic circles, he was revered by people of various professions and political views. He acted as a propagandist for the protection of monuments - both tangible and intangible. From 1986 to 1993, Academician Likhachev was chairman of the Russian Cultural Foundation, was elected a people's deputy of the Supreme Council.
Dmitry Sergeevich lived for 92 years, during his earthly journey in Russia political regimes changed several times. He was born in St. Petersburg and died in it, but he lived both in Petrograd and Leningrad ... The outstanding scientist carried faith through all the trials (and his parents were from Old Believer families) and endurance, always remained true to his mission - to keep the memory, history, culture. Dmitry Sergeevich suffered from the Soviet regime, but did not become a dissident, he always found a reasonable compromise in relations with his superiors in order to be able to do his job. His conscience was not stained by any unseemly act. He once wrote about his experience of serving time in Solovki: “ I understood the following: every day is a gift from God. I need to live the day, be content to live another day. And be grateful for every day. Therefore, there is no need to be afraid of anything in the world". In the life of Dmitry Sergeevich there were many, many days, each of which he filled with work to increase the cultural wealth of Russia.

DMITRY LIKHACHEV “I WANTED TO KEEP RUSSIA IN MEMORY…”

“With the birth of a man, his time will also be born. In childhood, it is young and flows in a youthful way - it seems fast at short distances and long at long distances. In old age, time definitely stops. It is sluggish. The past in old age is very close, especially childhood. In general, of all three periods of human life (childhood and youth, mature years, old age), old age is the longest period and the most tedious.
Memories open a window to the past. They not only give us information about the past, but also give us the points of view of contemporaries of events, a living feeling of contemporaries. Of course, it also happens that memory betrays memoirists (memoirs without individual errors are extremely rare) or the past is covered too subjectively. But on the other hand, in a very large number of cases, memoirists tell what was not and could not be reflected in any other type of historical sources.
The main drawback of many memoirs is the complacency of the memoirist ... Therefore, is it worth writing memoirs? It is worth it so that the events, the atmosphere of previous years are not forgotten, and most importantly, so that a trace of people remains, maybe no one will ever remember about which the documents lie ... "

This is the beginning of a new book by Dmitry Sergeevich Likhachev, a prominent scientist and defender of Russian culture, “MEMORY. I wanted to keep Russia in my memory…”
He lived a very long life, in which there were deprivations, persecutions, as well as grandiose achievements in the scientific field, recognition not only at home, but throughout the world. Dmitry Sergeevich Likhachev was an example of selfless and relentless service to the Motherland.

Dmitry Sergeevich Likhachev is a well-known scientist, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, thinker, philologist, art critic, author of fundamental works on the history of Russian literature and culture, hundreds of scientific and journalistic works translated into many foreign languages. He was awarded high ranks and a number of government awards. He was born on November 28, 1906 in St. Petersburg and lived a long life, in which there were deprivations and persecutions, grandiose accomplishments and world recognition. He studied at the Gymnasium of the Imperial Philanthropic Society, then moved to the famous gymnasium of Karl Ivanovich May, and in 1917 continued his education at the Soviet Labor School. L. D. Lentovskaya (now school No. 47 named after D. S. Likhachev). In 1923 he entered the Petrograd University, the ethnological and linguistic department of the Faculty of Social Sciences. He graduated from the university in 1928 and almost immediately was arrested for participating in the student circle "Space Academy of Sciences", sentenced to five years "for counter-revolutionary activities" and sent to the Solovetsky Special Purpose Camp. Dmitry Sergeevich called this period "the most significant period of his life", his "second and main university". Cold, hunger, illness, hard work, pain and suffering - he experienced all this. From time to time, mass executions were carried out in the camp, and he miraculously managed to avoid being shot. It was here that he learned to cherish every day, appreciate sacrificial mutual assistance and remain himself in any situation. “It is clear that someone else was taken instead of me. And I need to live for two. To not be ashamed before the one who was taken for me, ”he wrote later. In November 1931, Likhachev was transferred to the construction of the White Sea-Baltic Canal and in August 1932 he was released early from prison as a shock worker. Dmitry Sergeevich returned to Leningrad, worked as a literary editor and proofreader in various publishing houses, and in 1938 received an invitation to the Pushkin House - the Institute of Russian Literature of the USSR Academy of Sciences. He begins to write and publish books, defends his dissertation for the degree of candidate of philological sciences. Then - the war, the terrible Leningrad blockade. Together with his family, he is evacuated along the Road of Life to Kazan and continues to work. Soon he becomes an assistant professor, professor, lectures at the Faculty of History, defends his dissertation again, on a different topic, writes and publishes his work. The range of his interests is unusually wide. The main theme of Likhachev the scientist is ancient Russian literature, but there were other topics that Likhachev the writer simply could not get around. In his wonderful book “Letters about Kindness”, addressed mainly to young people, he writes: “Kindness is the most valuable thing in life, and at the same time kindness is smart, purposeful ...”. And again: “There is light and darkness, there is nobility and meanness, there is purity and dirt: you need to grow up to the first, and is it worth descending to the second? Choose the decent, not the easy." Eight days before his death, he handed over to the publishing house the manuscript of the corrected and enlarged version of the book Reflections on Russia, on the first page of which it was written: “I dedicate it to my contemporaries and descendants.”

Dmitry Sergeevich Likhachev died on September 30, 1999 in the same city where he was born, and he lived, according to his own statement, in only three cities: St. Petersburg, Petrograd and Leningrad. The greatest gift of this outstanding scientist and writer to us, descendants, is his books, articles, letters and memoirs. For contemporaries, he was "the conscience of the nation", "the son of the twentieth century."

1. D. Likhachev. Land Native. (txt; 615 Kb) (epub; 1 Mb) (fb2; 1 Mb)	2. D. Likhachev. In besieged Leningrad. (txt; 1.2 Mb) (epub; 1 Mb) (fb2; 1 Mb)
3. D. Likhachev. Memories. (txt; 615 Kb) (epub; 1 Mb) (fb2; 1 Mb)	4. D. Likhachev. Notes about Russian. (txt; 1.2 Mb) (epub; 1 Mb) (fb2; 1 Mb)
5. D. Likhachev. Thoughts about life. Memories.

Dmitry Sergeevich Likhachev - Russian literary scholar, cultural historian, textologist, publicist, public figure.
Born November 28 (old style - November 15), 1906 in St. Petersburg, in the family of an engineer. 1923 - graduated from a labor school and entered Petrograd University in the department of linguistics and literature of the faculty of social sciences. 1928 - graduated from Leningrad University, having defended two diplomas - in Romano-Germanic and Slavic-Russian philology.
In 1928 - 1932 he was repressed: for participation in a scientific student circle, Likhachev was arrested and imprisoned in the Solovetsky camp. In 1931 - 1932 he was on the construction of the White Sea-Baltic Canal and was released as a "drummer Belbaltlag with the right to reside throughout the USSR."
1934 - 1938 worked in the Leningrad branch of the publishing house of the USSR Academy of Sciences. He drew attention to himself when editing the book of A.A. Shakhmatov "Review of Russian chronicles" and was invited to work in the department of ancient Russian literature at the Leningrad Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkin House), where from 1938 he conducted scientific work, from 1954 he headed the sector of ancient Russian literature. 1941 - defended his thesis "Novgorod annals of the XII century".
In Leningrad, besieged by the Nazis, Likhachev, in collaboration with the archaeologist M.A. Tianova, wrote the brochure "Defense of Old Russian Cities", which appeared in the blockade in 1942.
In 1947 he defended his doctoral dissertation "Essays on the history of literary forms of chronicle writing in the 11th-16th centuries." 1946-1953 - professor at Leningrad State University. 1953 - Corresponding Member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1970 - Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1991 - Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Foreign member of the Academies of Sciences: Bulgarian (1963), Austrian (1968), Serbian (1972), Hungarian (1973). Honorary Doctor of Universities: Torun (1964), Oxford (1967), Edinburgh (1970). 1986 - 1991 - Chairman of the Board of the Soviet Cultural Fund, 1991 - 1993 - Chairman of the Board of the Russian International Cultural Fund. USSR State Prize (1952, 1969). 1986 - Hero of Socialist Labor. Awarded with the Order of the Red Banner of Labor and medals. The first holder of the revived Order of St. Andrew the First-Called (1998).
Bibliography
Full bibliography on the author's website.
1945 - "National identity of Ancient Russia"
1947 - "Russian chronicles and their cultural and historical significance"
1950 - "The Tale of Bygone Years"
1952 - "The Emergence of Russian Literature"
1955 - "The Tale of Igor's Campaign. Historical and Literary Essay"
1958 - "Man in the Literature of Ancient Russia"
1958 - "Some Problems of Studying the Second South Slavic Influence in Russia"
1962 - "Culture of Russia in the time of Andrei Rublev and Epiphanius the Wise"
1962 - "Textology. On the material of Russian literature of the 10th - 17th centuries."
1967 - "Poetics of Old Russian Literature"
1971 - "The Artistic Heritage of Ancient Russia and Modernity" (together with V.D. Likhacheva)
1973 - "Development of Russian literature of the X - XVII centuries. Epochs and styles"
1981 - "Notes on Russian"
1983 - "Native Land"
1984 - "Literature - reality - literature"
1985 - "The past - the future"
1986 - "Studies in Old Russian Literature"
1989 - "On Philology"
1994 - Letters about kindness
2007 - Memories
Russian culture
Titles, awards and prizes
* Hero of Socialist Labor (1986)
* Order of St. Andrew the First-Called (September 30, 1998) - for outstanding contribution to the development of national culture (the order was awarded for No. 1)
* Order of Merit for the Fatherland, II degree (November 28, 1996) - for outstanding services to the state and a great personal contribution to the development of Russian culture
* The order of Lenin
* Order of the Red Banner of Labor (1966)
* Medal "50 Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945" (March 22, 1995)
* Pushkin Medal (June 4, 1999) - in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of A. S. Pushkin, for services in the field of culture, education, literature and art
* Medal "For Labor Valor" (1954)
* Medal "For the Defense of Leningrad" (1942)
* Medal "30 Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945" (1975)
* Medal "40 Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945" (1985)
* Medal "For Valiant Labor in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945" (1946)
* Medal "Veteran of Labor" (1986)
* Order of Georgy Dimitrov (NRB, 1986)
* Two orders of "Cyril and Methodius" I degree (NRB, 1963, 1977)
* Order of Stara Planina, 1st class (Bulgaria, 1996)
* Order "Madara horseman" I degree (Bulgaria, 1995)
* Badge of the Executive Committee of the Leningrad City Council "Inhabitant of besieged Leningrad"
In 1986, he organized the Soviet (now Russian) Cultural Foundation and was chairman of the Foundation's presidium until 1993. Since 1990, he has been a member of the International Committee for the Organization of the Library of Alexandria (Egypt). He was elected a deputy of the Leningrad City Council (1961-1962, 1987-1989).
Foreign member of the Academies of Sciences of Bulgaria, Hungary, the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Serbia. Corresponding Member of the Austrian, American, British, Italian, Göttingen Academies, Corresponding Member of the oldest US Philosophical Society. Member of the Writers' Union since 1956. Since 1983 - Chairman of the Pushkin Commission of the Russian Academy of Sciences, since 1974 - Chairman of the Editorial Board of the annual "Monuments of Culture. New discoveries". From 1971 to 1993, he headed the editorial board of the Literary Monuments series, since 1987 he has been a member of the editorial board of the Novy Mir magazine, and since 1988, of the Our Heritage magazine.
The Russian Academy of Art History and Musical Performance was awarded the Amber Cross Order of Arts (1997). Awarded with an Honorary Diploma of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg (1996). He was awarded the Big Gold Medal named after M.V. Lomonosov (1993). First Honorary Citizen of St. Petersburg (1993). Honorary citizen of the Italian cities of Milan and Arezzo. Laureate of the Tsarskoye Selo Art Prize (1997).
* In 2006, the D.S. Likhachev Foundation and the Government of St. Petersburg established the D.S. Likhachev Prize.
* In 2000, D.S. Likhachev was posthumously awarded the State Prize of Russia for the development of the artistic direction of domestic television and the creation of the all-Russian state television channel "Culture". The books “Russian Culture” were published; Sky line of the city on the Neva. Memoirs, articles.
Interesting Facts
* By Decree of the President of the Russian Federation, 2006 was declared the year of Dmitry Sergeevich Likhachev in Russia.
* The name of Likhachev was assigned to a minor planet No. 2877 (1984).
* In 1999, on the initiative of Dmitry Sergeevich, the Pushkin Lyceum No. 1500 was created in Moscow. The academician did not see the lyceum and died three months after the construction of the building.
* Every year, in honor of Dmitry Sergeevich Likhachev, the Likhachev Readings are held at GOU Gymnasium No. 1503 in Moscow and Pushkin Lyceum No. 1500, which bring together students from various cities and countries with performances dedicated to the memory of the great citizen of Russia.
* By order of the Governor of St. Petersburg in 2000, the name of D.S. Likhachev was assigned to school No. 47 (Plutalova Street (St. Petersburg), house No. 24), where Likhachev readings are also held.
* In 1999, the name of Likhachev was given to the Russian Research Institute of Cultural and Natural Heritage.

1989. Academician Dmitry Likhachev, Photo: D. Baltermants

Whims of time

It is fortunate that in our collective cultural memory the Soviet era is reflected not only as a time of hymns and repressions. We remember her heroes. We know them by sight, we know their voices. Someone defended the country with a rifle in their hands, someone with archival documents.

The lines from Yevgeny Vodolazkin’s book very accurately represent one of these heroes: “It would be difficult for a person who is not familiar with the structure of Russian life to explain why provincial librarians, directors of institutes, famous politicians, teachers, doctors came to the head of the Department of Old Russian Literature for support, artists, museum workers, the military, businessmen and inventors. Sometimes crazy people come.

The one about whom Vodolazkin writes is Dmitry Sergeevich Likhachev (1906-1999).

They came to the chief specialist in ancient Russian culture as the chief specialist in everything good.

But why was the already quite elderly Likhachev beaten in the entrance, setting fire to the apartment? Someone so aggressively expressed their disagreement with his interpretation of "The Tale of Igor's Campaign"?..

Likhachev simply did not participate in the choral condemnation of Andrei Sakharov. He had the courage to help Alexander Solzhenitsyn in the creation of the Gulag Archipelago. He took up the fight against illiterate restoration, with thoughtless demolitions of architectural monuments. It was then, decades later, that they began to reward for active citizenship. And then Dmitry Sergeevich himself tried to protect himself from attacks and attacks. Not relying on the common sense of others and the police.

And here's what is important: he did not experience this as a personal insult, a humiliation of dignity. He was offended that the hustle and bustle of life took away his time from doing science. In general, fate rather paradoxically disposed of Academician Likhachev's personal time. He - it seems to me, smiling sadly - wrote: “Time has confused me. When I could do something, I sat as a proofreader, and now, when I get tired quickly, it overwhelmed me with work.

And we use the results of this incredible work every day. Even if we do not regularly re-read Likhachev's articles, we watch the Kultura TV channel. And it was created on the initiative of people who are not indifferent to culture, including Dmitry Sergeevich.

To not lie...

Far from everything written by Likhachev I managed to read. And not only because some things have not matured. I just re-read his memoirs an infinite number of times. Dmitry Sergeevich, deeply feeling the word and the forms of its literary existence, felt all the dangers of the memoir genre. But for the same reason, he understood its capabilities, the degree of usefulness. Therefore, to the question: “Is it worth writing memoirs?” he replies confidently:

“It is worth it so that the events, the atmosphere of previous years are not forgotten, and most importantly, so that a trace of people who, perhaps, no one else will ever remember, about whom the documents lie,” remains.

Photo: hitgid.com

And academician Likhachev writes - without complacency and moral self-torture. What is the most remarkable thing about his memoirs? The fact that they are written on behalf of the Student in the highest sense of the word. There is a type of people for whom discipleship is a way of life. Dmitry Sergeevich writes with great love about his teachers - school, university. About those with whom life brought him together already outside the generally accepted “student” age and outside the classrooms. He is ready to consider any situation, even extremely unfavorable, as a lesson, an opportunity to learn something.

Talking about his school years, he not only shares his personal impressions, but recreates for the modern reader living images of the famous Karl May school in its time, the wonderful Lentovskaya school. And he immerses all this in the atmosphere of his native, beloved by him Petersburg-Petrograd-Leningrad. Likhachev's family memory is directly connected with the history of this city.

The Likhachev family was known in St. Petersburg as early as the 18th century. Working with the archives allowed Dmitry Sergeevich to trace the history of the St. Petersburg family, starting with his great-great-grandfather, Pavel Petrovich Likhachev, a successful merchant. The grandfather of the scientist, Mikhail Mikhailovich, was already engaged in another matter: he headed the artel of floor polishers. Father, Sergei Mikhailovich, showed independence. He began to earn money himself quite early, successfully graduated from a real school and entered the Electrotechnical Institute. The young engineer married Vera Semyonovna Konyaeva, a representative of a merchant family with deep Old Believer traditions.

1929 Likhachev. Dmitry - in the center

Dmitry Sergeevich's parents lived modestly, without scope. But there was a real passion in this family - the Mariinsky Theater. The apartment was always rented closer to the beloved theater. In order to subscribe to a comfortable box and look decent, the parents saved a lot. Decades later, having gone through the Solovki, the blockade, and tough ideological "studies", Academician Likhachev will write: "Don Quixote", "Sleeping" and "Swan", "La Bayadère" and "Le Corsaire" are inseparable in my mind from the blue hall of the Mariinsky, entering which I still feel uplifted and cheerful.”

In the meantime, after graduating from school, a young man who is not even 17 years old enters the Leningrad (already so!) University. He becomes a student of the ethnological-linguistic department of the Faculty of Social Sciences. And almost immediately begins to seriously engage in ancient Russian literature. With particular love, Likhachev recalls the seminars of Lev Vladimirovich Shcherba. They were conducted according to the method of slow reading. In a year, only a few lines of a work of art were completed. Dmitry Sergeevich recalls: “We were looking for a grammatically clear, philologically accurate understanding of the text.”

In the university years (1923-1928) comes an accurate understanding of what is happening in the country. Arrests, executions, deportations began already in 1918. Likhachev writes very harshly about the decades of the Red Terror:

“While in the 1920s and early 1930s officers, ‘bourgeois’, professors, and especially priests and monks were shot in thousands along with the Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian peasantry, this seemed ‘natural’.<…>In the years 1936 and 1937, the arrests of prominent figures of the all-powerful party began, and this, it seems to me, most of all struck the imagination of contemporaries.

February 1928 became a turning point in Likhachev's life. Search and arrest. For what? For participating in the playful youth circle "Space Academy of Sciences"? For the book “International Jewry” found (at the tip of a traitor friend)? Likhachev himself does not indicate the exact, intelligible reason for the arrest. Maybe she didn't exist. But what happened, in his opinion, was this: "The monologic culture of the 'proletarian dictatorship' replaced the polyphony of intellectual democracy."

Solovetsky-Soviet life

Photo: pp.vk.me

In the memories of the prison, the house of pre-trial detention, the reader is struck not by moldy walls, not by rats, but by ... presentations with reports, discussions of theories. Unable to explain the absurdity of what is happening, Likhachev, surprised and ironic, writes: “Still, strange things were done by our jailers. Having arrested us for meeting once a week for only a few hours for joint discussions of issues of philosophy, art and religion that worried us, they united us first in a common prison cell, and then for a long time in the camps.

Reflecting on the years spent on Solovki, Likhachev talks about many things: about meetings with people of all levels of morality, about lice and "sewn-in" - teenagers who lost all their belongings and lived under planks, without rations - about temples and icons. But what is most impressive is how mental life and interest in knowledge were preserved in this hell. And, of course, miracles of compassion and mutual assistance.

It could be said that in 1932, after the issuance of documents on release, troubles ended for Likhachev. But this, alas, is not so. Ahead - difficulties with employment, obstacles skillfully erected to ill-wishers for scientific work, trials of blockade hunger ... From the memoirs:

"…Not! hunger is incompatible with any reality, with any well-fed life. They cannot exist side by side. One of the two must be a mirage: either hunger or a well-fed life. I think real life is hunger, everything else is a mirage. During the famine, people showed themselves, exposed themselves, freed themselves from all sorts of tinsel: some turned out to be wonderful, unparalleled heroes, others - villains, scoundrels, murderers, cannibals. There was no middle ground. Everything was real…”

Courageously overcoming all this, Likhachev did not allow his heart to turn into armor. He also resisted the other extreme - softness, spinelessness.