Olga Alekseevna Novikova as an interlocutor of I.S. Aksakov and K.N. Leontiev
Abstract
The article for the first time provides a brief overview of two extensive and formed at the same time (1870s–1880s) epistolary complexes, which are important for studying the history of Russian journalism, literature and political life. These are the correspondence of the publicist and public figure Olga Novikova (1840–1925) with Ivan Aksakov and Konstantin Leontiev. Novikova's acquaintance with Leontiev dates back to the 1860s, and with Aksakov, probably, to an even earlier time. All the three figures were united by Aksakov's newspaper "Rus". Novikova actively published her articles in it and in 1882 contributed to the publication of Leontiev's essay "Easter on Mount Athos" in this periodical. The author of the article comes to the conclusion that Novikova's correspondence with Aksakov had more business character, representing a dialogue between the publisher and the "freelance" London correspondent, and her correspondence with Leontiev was more friendly, it is interesting by its inner psycho-logical drama. The letters mention great Russian writers, European scientists and political figures, and discuss the works of each of the participants in the epistolary dialogue. The correspondence with Leontiev refutes the idea of Novikova as a self-centred person "without a lively inner interest" in her numerous interlocutors (as Ivan Goncharov characterized her). The scientific publication of these epistolary materials, scattered over several archival repositories in Moscow and St. Petersburg, is urgently needed, since, on the one hand, they significantly supplement the knowledge of Novikova’s activities in Russia (“the London” period of her life has been studied to a much greater extent), and on the other hand, they provide valuable details in the history of Slavophile journalism.
