Two Unknown Autographs by K.N. Leontiev from the Archives of the Russian Panteleimon Monastery on Mount Athos
Publication Title:
Two Unknown Autographs by K.N. Leontiev from the Archives of the Russian Panteleimon Monastery on Mount Athos
Abstract:
This article introduces into scholarly circulation two newly discovered short texts relating to the Athonite period in the life of the eminent writer and thinker Konstantin Nikolaevich Leontiev (1831–1891), a period of crucial importance for his personal and literary destiny. Both fragments are written in the third person and served, in the first case, as the basis for a letter from the assistant superior of the Panteleimon Monastery, Archimandrite Makary (Sushkin), to Leontiev's wife, and in the second case, as the basis for a report by the same Father Makary, possibly addressed to the Holy Mountain's Protaton (the highest ecclesiastical administrative body on Mount Athos). The article provides information on the whereabouts of the draft autographs and the possible reason for their exclusion from the publication prepared by the monastery in 2015. The documents are examined in the context of Leontiev's biography and literary output. Special attention is paid to the second text (“Remarks for Father Makary”), as it serves as a kind of missing link between two works by the philosopher and diplomat – his unpublished during his lifetime “Memorandum on Mount Athos and its Relations with Russia” (1872) and the article “Panslavism on Athos” (1872, published in 1873). The article establishes the dating of the manuscripts, the circumstances that prompted their writing, and the relevant contextual events. The texts are published based on the autographs and are accompanied by commentaries.
References:
(Sources)
Collected Works
1. Leont′ev, K.N. Polnoe sobranie sochineniy i pisem v 12 t., t. 11, kn. 1 [Complete works and letters in 12 vols., vol. 11, book 1]. Saint-Petersburg: Vladimir Dal′, 2018. 856 p.
Individual Works
2. Constantinow, N. [Leont′ev, K.N.] Le Panslavisme au Mont-Athos. Constantinople: Typographie et lithographie centrales, 1873. 94 p.
3. Dmitrievskiy, A.A. Russkie na Afone. Ocherk zhizni i deyatel’nosti igumena Russkogo Panteleimonova monastyrya svyashchennoarkhimandrita Makariya (Sushkina) [Russian on Athos. An Essay on the Life and Work of the Abbot of the Russian Panteleimon Monastery, Hieroarchimandrite Makarius (Sushkin)]. Moscow: Indrik, 2010. 351 p.
4. Gubastov, K.A. Pis′ma K.N. Leont′evu. Stat′i [Letters to K.N. Leontiev. Articles], in Leont′ev, K.N. Polnoe sobranie sochineniy i pisem v 12 t. Prilozhenie. Kn. VI [Complete Works and Letters in 12 vols. Appendix. Book VI]. Saint-Petersburg: Vladimir Dal′, 2025. 623 p.
(Articles from Scientific Journals)
5. Bol′shakov, S.N. Ieroskhimonakh Ieronim (Solomentsev) – vozobnovitel′ russkogo monashestva na Afone v XIX veke [Hieroschemamonk Jerome (Solomentsev) – the Restorer of Russian Monasticism on Athos in the 19th century], in Vestnik Russkogo Zapadno-Evropeyskogo Ekzarkhata, 1963, no. 41, pp. 52–62.
6. Fetisenko, O.L., Furtsev, D.O. Ob odnom neizvestnom avtografe K.N. Leont′eva [About One Unknown Autograph of K.N. Leontiev], in Russko-Vizantiyskiy Vestnik, 2025, no. 1(20), pp. 155–162.
7. Talalay, M.G., Fetisenko, O.L. K.N. Leont′ev v epistolyarnoy khronike Andreevskogo skita na Afone (1871–1874) [K.N. Leontiev in the Epistolary Chronicle of the St. Andrew’s Skete on Mount Athos], in Russko-Vizantiyskiy Vestnik, 2024, no. 1(16), pp. 197–217.
8. Talalay, M.G., Fetisenko, O.L. Neizvestnye pis’ma K.N. Leont′eva k ieromonakhu Dorofeyu (Kudryavtsevu) i drugie materialy iz Russkogo arkhiva Andreevskogo skita [Konstantin N. Leontiev’s Unknown Letters to Hieromonk Dorotheos (Kudryavtsev) and Others Materials from the Russian Archive of the Skete of Saint Andrew], in Slovestnost’ i istoriya, 2023, no. 4, pp. 170–191.
(Articles from Proceedings and Collections of Research Papers)
9. [Fetisenko, O.L. Preambula], in Leont′ev, K.N. Polnoe sobranie sochineniy i pisem v 12 t., t. 10, kn. 2 [Complete works and letters in 12 vols., vol. 10, book 2]. Saint-Petersburg: Vladimir Dal′, 2017, pp. 617–618.
10. Leont′ev, K.N. Khronologiya moey zhizni [The chronology of my life], in Leont′ev, K.N. Polnoe sobranie sochineniy i pisem v 12 t., t. 6, kn. 2 [Complete works and letters in 12 vols., vol. 6, book 2]. Saint-Petersburg: Vladimir Dal′, 2003, pp. 28–35.
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(Monographs)
18. Fetisenko, O.L. Letopis’ zhizni i tvorchestva K.N. Leont′eva (1831–1891). Ch. 1: 1831–1880. [Chronicle of the Life and Work of K.N. Leontiev (1831–1891). Part 1: 1831–1880], in Leont′ev, K.N. Polnoe sobranie sochineniy i pisem v 12 t. Prilozhenie. Kn. III [Complete Works and Letters in 12 vols. Appendix. Book III]. Saint-Petersburg: Vladimir Dal′, 2022. 704 p.
19. Fetisenko, O.L. Letopis’ zhizni i tvorchestva K.N. Leont′eva (1831–1891). Ch. 2: 1881–1891 [Chronicle of the Life and Work of K.N. Leontiev (1831–1891). Part 2: 1881–1891], in Leont′ev, K.N. Polnoe sobranie sochineniy i pisem v 12 t. Prilozhenie. Kn. IV [Complete Works and Letters in 12 vols. Appendix. Book IV]. Saint-Petersburg: Vladimir Dal′, 2022. 735 p.
20. Ioakim (Sabel′nikov), ieromon. (ed). Velikaya strazha. Zhizn’ i trudy blazhennoy pamyati afonskikh startsev ieroskhimonakha Ieronima i skhiarkhimandrita Makariya [The Great Guard. The Life and Works of the Blessed Memory of the Athonite Elders Hieroschemamonk Jerome and Schema-Archimandrite Macarius]. Moscow: Izdatel′stvo Moskovskoy Patriarkhii, 2001. 838 p.
21. Kotel′nikov, V.A. Voin mysli. Konstantin Leont′ev v poedinke s vekom [Warrior of Thought. Konstantin Leontiev in a Duel with the Century]. Saint-Petersburg: Vladimir Dal′, 2025. 443 p.
22. Makariy (Makienko), ieromon. (ed.) Russkiy Afon XIX–XX vekov. T. 5. Istoriya Russkogo Svyato-Panteleimonova monastyrya na Afone c 1735 do 1912 goda [Russian Athos of the 19th – 20th Centuries. Vol. 5. The History of Russian St. Panteleimon monastery on Athos from 1735 to 1912]. Svyataya Gora Afon: Izdanie Russkogo Svyato-Panteleimonova monastyrya na Afone, 2015. 802 p.
Key words:
Panteleimon Monastery, Athonite archives, Panslavism on Athos, Russian philosophy, Greco-Russian relations
The DOI index:
10.17588/2076-9210.2026.2.112-128
Publication file:
