Aleksandr Milyukov (Russian: Милюков, Александр Петрович) (30 July [11 August] 1816, Kozlov, Tambov province — 6 February [18 February] 1897, St. Petersburg)Masanov I. F., Словарь псевдонимов русских писателей, учёных и общественных деятелей. [Dictionary of pseudonyms of Russian writers, scientists and public figures] (in Russian). М., Всесоюзная книжная палата, 1956—1960 гг. V. 4. P. 314. was a Russian writer, literary critic, journalist, chief ideologist and actual editor of the magazine Svetoch, memoirist, educator, literary historian, traveller, bibliographer, professor, a friend of M. M. Dostoevsky and F. M. Dostoevsky, who took an active part in the literary life of Russia in the 1840s and 1880s. He was a prototype of F. M. Dostoevsky's S. V. Liputin — a character in the novel Demons, and a follower of the Petrashevsky-Fourier circle, who belonged to the moderate wing of the movement (S. F. Durov, A. N. Pleshcheev). Many of Milyukov's works are characterised as independent, deep and persuasive in their argumentation, contain many valuable observations and have stood the test of time.Trofimov I. T. «Клара Милич». «Песнь торжествующей любви». Статьи А. М-ва о произведениях Тургенева // Тургеневский сборник. Материалы к полному собранию сочинений и писем И. С. Тургенева. [Klara Milicic. Song of triumphant love. Articles by A. M. M-v about Turgenev's works // Turgenev's Collection. Materials for the complete collection of works and letters of I. S. Turgenev.] (in Russian). Академия наук СССР. Институт русской литературы (Пушкинский дом). Л.: Наука. Ленинградское отделение, 1967. Iss, III. pp. 165—167.
The largest critical work, Essay on the History of Russian Poetry, went through three editions in the mid-19th century and served for half a century as a textbook on the course of Russian criticism for students of philology.
Biography Alexander Milyukov was the son of a Moscow burgher. He was born on July 30 (August 11), 1816, in Kozlov (Tambov Province). When he entered the gymnasium, Milyukov's father had to buy his son out of the bourgeois society, paying a lump sum that exceeded his annual income.Zastrizhnov E. M. «Маленький человек» в свете христианской традиции (от Гоголя к Достоевскому): Н. В. Гоголь, М. М. Достоевский, И. И. Панаев, М. Е. Салтыков, Е. П. Гребёнка, А. Д. Галахов, С. П. Победоносцев, Я. П. Бутков, Ф. М. Достоевский. [“Little Man” in the light of Christian tradition (from Gogol to Dostoevsky): N. V. Gogol, M. M. Dostoevsky, I. I. Panaev, M. E. Saltykov, E. P. Grebenka, A. D. Galakhov, S. P. Pobedonostsev, Y. P. Butkov, F. M. Dostoevsky.] (in Russian). М.: ТЕИС, 2004. P. 62. Alexander was admitted to the Moscow gymnasium. After thar, in 1839,Mann Yu. V. Гоголь. Труды и дни: 1809—1845. [Gogol. Works and Days: 1809-1845] (in Russian). М.: Аспект-Пресс, 2004. pp. 766—767. he entered to the Faculty of History and Philology of St. Petersburg University.А. П. Милюков. Некролог. [А. P. Milyukov. Obituary.] (in Russian). // Нива. СПб., 1897. Iss. 21 June, № 25. P. 599. This period is described in his work In Moscow 1820-1830s. There, he wrote about the poetic preferences of Moscow gymnasium students: “At that time, in addition to Pushkin, we were especially fond of Ryleyev and Polezhaev. A rare gymnasium student lacked a notebook with handwritten Thoughts and small poems by the latter poet. Although these works, as well as the very names of their authors, were forbidden fruits at that time, we often read them in class”. Ordinary gymnasium students showed a remarkable interest in literature, subscribing to literary magazines and buying the best new books. Each pupil contributed a monthly sum to the general treasury for the purchase of books. The pupils then decided where the money should be spent. Afterward, the books were raffled off by the gymnasium students, and the lottery proceeds were used to purchase new books. Gradually, the books settled in the home libraries of gymnasium students, depending on their reading habits.Reitblat A. I. Как Пушкин вышел в гении: Историко-социологические очерки о книжной культуре Пушкинской эпохи. [How Pushkin came out in Genius: Historical and Sociological Essays on the Book Culture of the Pushkin Era.] (in Russian). М.: Новое литературное обозрение, 2001. Book 1. 336 p. (Научная библиотека).
After university, Alexander Petrovich worked as a teacher of Russian language and literature in gymnasiums and institutes of St. Petersburg.Милюков, Александр Петрович [Milyukov, Aleksandr Petrovich] (in Russian). // Энциклопедический словарь Брокгауза и Ефрона: в 86 т. (82 т. и 4 доп.). СПб., 1890—1907. The pedagogical activity of A. P. Milyukov lasted 35 years. In particular, the materials of the Petrashevsky investigative case state that “in 1849 he taught Russian literature in the Second St. Petersburg gymnasium and in the Orphan Institute, and until June — in the Noble Regiment".
Milyukov began publishing in 1839 at Faddei Bulgarin's Northern Bee (under the pseudonym Sibiryak), but real literary fame came to Alexander Petrovich only after eight years, in 1847, when he published his first serious work, Essay on the History of Russian Poetry, written under the influence of V. G. Belinsky's ideas. For half a century, this book served as a manual on Russian literature for students of philology. In 1858, the second edition of Essay was reviewed by N. A. Dobrolyubov, who wrote the article On the Degree of Participation of Nationalities in the Development of Russian Literature. In total, Dobrolyubov reviewed five major works by Milyukov.А. P. Milyukov also succeeded N. A. Dobrolyubov in 1857-1858 as the private tutor of Russian literature to Natalia Alexandrovna Ostrovskaya — translator and memoirist, wife of the Minister of State Property M. N. Ostrovsky, brother of the famous playwright. Essay brought Milyukov fame as a connoisseur of Russian literature, known for his outstanding critical sense, independent opinions in evaluating authors, and a clear understanding of the tasks of criticism. The third edition of the book was published in 1864.S. N. Shubinsky. Милюков Александр Петрович. [Milyukov Aleksandr Petrovich] (in Russian). Русский биографический словарь. Павел Каллиников. 1 August 2017.
According to the historian S. N. Shubinsky, in 1849 A. P. Milyukov was almost put on trial in the Petrashevsky case. A group of people close to the circle of M. V. Butashevich-Petrashevsky met in St. Petersburg on Wednesdays in the courtyard wing of the house No. 7 on Zhdanovskaya Embankment, in the apartment of Irinarkh Vvedensky, a teacher, translator and literary critic. The acquaintance of A. P. Milyukov and I. I. Vvedensky took place in 1843 at a trial lecture in the Noble Regiment. This acquaintance quickly developed into a close friendship. The common interest that united the two men was a passion for the ideas of V. G. Belinsky. In his lectures on literature, Milyukov instilled in his students "the spirit of free thought and criticism".Medvedev А. P. Н. Г. Чернышевский в кружке И. И. Введенского // Н. Г. Чернышевский. Статьи, исследования и материалы [N. G. Chernyshevsky in the circle of I. I. Vvedensky // N. G. Chernyshevsky. Articles, studies and materials.] (in Russian). Саратов: Саратовское книжное издательство, 1958. pp. 42—104.
Among those who gathered at the “Wednesdays”, besides Milyukov, were N. G. Chernyshevsky, A. N. Pypin, P. S. Bilyarsky, and G. E. Blagosvetlov. The well-known conservative F. F. Vigel, aware of the gatherings, reported them to I. P. Liprandi, an official of the secret police. However, the intervention of Y. I. Rostovtsev, who supported I. I. Vvedensky, prevented arrests and further trials, despite the existence of a separate case against A. P. Milyukov. Some Petrashevites, including F. M. Dostoevsky, testified in the Milyukov case. Their testimony revealed that he had translated a book by the French Christian socialist Abbé La Mennais and had also read an article by A. I. Herzen titled Petersburg and Moscow.Sakulin P. N., «Алексей Николаевич Плещеев»: в сб. «История русской литературы XIX в.» [“Alexei Nikolaevich Pleshcheev": in the collection ”History of Russian Literature of the nineteenth century.”] (in Russian). В 5-ти т. М.: Издательство «Мир», 1911. V. 3. P. 282. On August 29, 1849, Alexander Milyukov was questioned by an investigative commission but was ultimately found marginally guilty and placed under gendarme supervision.От предшественников декабристов до конца «Народной воли» // Деятели революционного движения в России: Био-библиографический словарь. От предшественников декабристов до падения царизма: от конца XVIII в. до 50-х гг. XIX в. В 5 т. [From the Decembrists' predecessors to the end of “Narodnaya Volya” // Figures of the revolutionary movement in Russia: Bio-Bibliographical Dictionary. From the Decembrists' predecessors to the fall of tsarism: from the end of the 18th century to the 50s of the 19th century. In 5 vols.] (in Russian). М.: Издательство Всесоюзного общества политических каторжан и ссыльно-поселенцев, 1927. V. 1, iss. 1. P. XXXVIII.
A. P. Milyukov served as a link between the Petrashevsky circle and I. I. Vvedensky's group, a community of progressive literary figures engaged in teaching. Constant interaction with this literary circle brought Milyukov into close contact with Apollon Grigoriev, Lev Mey, Alexei Plescheyev, and Fyodor Dostoevsky. In 1862, alongside the St. Petersburg writer and poet Vsevolod Kostomarov —who was soon arrested and demoted to the rank of soldier for producing and distributing anti-government proclamations using his illegal printing press— Milyukov published the book History of the Literature of the Old and New World. In this context, reports indicated: “The most vigilant surveillance was established over the literary collaborator in the magazine Time and the literary groups Sovremennik and Russkoye Slovo, A. P. Milyukov”. The homes of A. P. Milyukov and A. N. Pleshcheev were searched following V. D. Kostomarov's denunciation of the proclamation To the Bar Peasants.Kogan G. F. Письма о Достоевском. Достоевский в неизданной переписке современников (1837—1881); Разыскания о Достоевском // Литературное наследство: Ф. М. Достоевский: Новые материалы и исследования. [Literary Heritage: F. M. Dostoevsky: New Materials and Studies.] (in Russian). М.: Наука, 1973. V. 86. pp. 349—567, 592.
Milyukov's greatest literary preference was the poetic work of Alexander Pushkin; he was a passionate admirer of Pushkin's poetry and especially enjoyed reciting Eugene Onegin. As a literary critic, Alexander Petrovich actively participated in the literary discussions of the 1850s–1870s, analyzing works such as I. A. Goncharov's novel Oblomov, F. M. Dostoevsky's Notes from the Dead House, and N. M. Karamzin's story Marfa Posadnitsa, written in 1803 but subjected to diverse criticism in the 1860s across various literary circles. He also discussed Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace, A. F. Pisemsky's Vziasna and The Stirred Sea,Anninsky L. A. Три еретика. [The Three heretics.] (in Russian). М., 1988. P. 135. (Писатели о писателях). as well as N. S. Leskov's chronicle The Soborians, among others.Leskov A. N. Жизнь Николая Лескова. [Nicolay Leskov's Life] (in Russian). М.: Художественная литература, 1984. V. 2. 607 p. (Литературные мемуары).