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Title of the article: The anonymous letter (Podmetnoye pismo) dated by 1732 as an outstanding record of Russian publicism of the 18th century
Author(s): KRASHENINNIKOVA O. A.
Section: Philology
Year: 2015
Issue: № 4, (38)
Pages: 81-97
Index UDK: 82.091
Index BBK: 83.3(2Рос=Рус)
Abstract: «Podmetnoe pismo (an anonymous letter) dated by 1732» is an anonymous tract, written at the time of the beginning of Anna Ioanovna rule, criticizing the Holy Sinod church policy and foreigners dominant influence in the supreme power. In order to find the author of this writing the Secret chancellery carried out an investigation during 1732–1738 that was later named «Reshilov’s case». The details of the investigation were studied by I. A. Chistovich in the 19th century in the archives, however the genuine text of the anonymous letter was considered to be lost. The copy of the letter was discovered at the present day by St. Petersburg fine art expert S. O. Androsov though the author of the writing remained unknown. The study of the text of «Podmetnoe pismo» and its political program proves that it was written by someone from the social circle of Markell Radyshevsky, the main critic and opponent of Theophan Prokopovich in the beginning of 1730s. In our opinion, the most probable author is an associate of Peter I, the former head of the printing-house of St. Petersburg and a political prisoner during Anna Ioannovna’s rule, Mikhail Petrovich Avramov (1681–1752). The comparative analysis showed the undoubted stylistical and substantive similarity between «Podmetnoe pismo» and the so-called «Chelobitnaya (plea) to Elizaveta Petrovna» dated by 1749 and some other Avramov’s writings. «Podmetnoe pismo dated by 1732» is to be recognized as an outstanding record of Russian publicism and one of the most interesting sources of the study of ideological struggle of the epoch of Anna Ioannovna rule.
Keywords: Podmetnoe pismo dated by 1732, Reshilov’s case, Mikhail Avramov, Markell Radyshevskiy, Theophan Prokopovich, Anna Ioannovna
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