Maksim Antonovich Well-known critic in the 60s of the XIX century Country: Ukraine

Biography of Maxim Antonovich

Maxim Alexeevich Antonovich, a well-known critic in the 1860s, was born in 1835 in the Kharkov province. He came from a religious background and received his education at the Kharkov Seminary and the Petersburg Theological Academy. Antonovich gained recognition in 1859 when he published an article titled "What is sometimes revealed in liberal phrases" in the "Sovremennik" (No. 10) journal, dedicated to the book "On the Russian Schism of Old Believers" by Shchapov. This article established him as one of the closest collaborators of the journal, where he initially contributed articles and notes on philosophy books and later extensive critical articles. One of his most controversial articles was the one he wrote about Turgenev's "Fathers and Sons" titled "The Asmodeus of Our Time" (1862). In Turgenev's novel, Antonovich saw malicious and harmful ridicule of the younger generation and harshly criticized the author, failing to recognize any artistic merits in his work.

During 1861-1862, Antonovich also wrote popular articles on natural sciences in "Narodnoe Chtenie" and collaborated with P.L. Lavrov's "Encyclopedic Dictionary" from 1861-1863. In 1863, he led the political department in G.Z. Eliseev's "Ocherki." Until the eventual prohibition of "Sovremennik" in 1865, Antonovich was one of its closest collaborators, contributing numerous articles such as "Moskovskie Vedomosti" and "Golos" (No. 1), "Sovremennye Romany" (about Pisemsky's "The Troubled Sea" and Turgenev's "Phantoms," No. 4), "Letnii Literaturnyi Sezon" (No. 7), "Dobrosovestnye Mysliteli i Nedobrosovestnye Zhurnalisty" (No. 2), "Promakhi" (No. 2 and 4), "Sovremennaya Esteticheskaya Teoriya" (No. 3), "Lzherealisty" (No. 7), "Nadezhdy i Opaseniya" (No. 8), "Suemudrie Dnya" (No. 10), and others. His "Literaturnye Melochi," signed with the pseudonym "Postoronnii Satirik," garnered significant attention due to their sharpness and were published in several books of "Sovremennik" in 1864-1865. Antonovich held a negative view towards several writers, particularly attacking "Russkoe Slovo" and its leaders, Pisarev and Zaitsev, as well as "Vremya" and "Epokha," where Strakhov wrote. After the prohibition of "Sovremennik," Antonovich turned to translating books on natural sciences.

In 1869, Antonovich reemerged in literature, publishing several articles in "Kosmos" and releasing together with Yu.G. Zhukovsky "Materials for the Characterization of Russian Literature. Literary Explanations with Nekrasov." In this book, Antonovich fiercely criticized his former collaborator and like-minded individual, Nekrasov, portraying him in dark colors. The book sparked heated debates. After this, Antonovich temporarily stepped away from the critical arena and devoted himself to natural sciences, particularly geology. His critical activities resumed only in the second half of the 1870s. In 1875-1876, "Petersburg Letters" by Antonovich appeared in the "Tiflisskii Vestnik" (published by Nikoladze), where he heavily criticized the literature of that time, especially "Otechestvennye Zapiski." In 1878, Antonovich briefly held the position of the first critic in "Slovo." In the same year, he published "The Glacial Hypothesis and Glacial Phenomena in Finland and Povenetsky Uyezd" in the "Gorny Zhurnal." In 1881, Antonovich returned as a critic in "Novoe Obozrenie," which had a short existence. In 1883, Antonovich joined the State Bank.

Over the last 30 years, Antonovich published works such as "Glacial Traces on Gogland Island" (Proceedings of the VI Congress of Naturalists in 1882), "On Schrader's Book 'Comparative Linguistics and Primitive History'" ("Russkaya Mysl," 1887, No. 12), a significant study titled "Charles Darwin and His Theory" (St. Petersburg, 1896), "Memoirs on Belinsky's Commemoration" ("Russkaya Mysl," 1898, No. 12), "The Arrest of Chernyshevsky" ("Byloe," 1906, No. 3), regarding Rusanov's article on "Lavrov" ("Byloe," 1907, No. 4), "Materials for the Biography of Chernyshevsky" ("Minuvshie Gody," 1908, No. 5-6), and "Memoirs of Chernyshevsky" ("Trudy Imperatorskogo Volnogo Ekonomicheskogo Obshchestva," 1910, No. 1). Antonovich also made numerous translations in natural sciences, history, philosophy, and social sciences. His works in geology hold scientific value (see Chernyshev, "Materials for the Study of Devonian Deposits"). In the first issue of the journal "Sovremennik," founded in 1911 by Amfiteatrov and other writers, Antonovich published an article of literary content. - See: Vengerov, "Critical-Biographical Dictionary," Vol. I. A. Fomin