The birth of Russian intelligentsia from the spirit of enlightenment: Alexander Radishchev

This text is the first part of a larger study about Alexander Radishchev, one of the leading representatives of Enlightenment in Russia's XVIII Century. Analyzing Voltaire's and Diderot's relationship with Catherine II, the Empress of Russia, in the Introduction of this article, the author formulates the reasons for thematization of Russian reception of Enlightenment. Since Radishchev is considered as 'the father of Russian intelligentsia', different approaches to the meaning of the concept of 'Russian intelligentsia' are considered in the first chapter. Radishchev's biography is interpreted in the second chapter in order to facilitate the understanding of his ideas. Interpretation of his ideas, as well as of Catherina's 'enlightened absolutism', will be subject to further consideration in the second part of the study. Tekst je prvi deo obimnije studije u kojoj je analizirano delo Aleksandra Radisceva, vodeceg predstavnika Prosvetiteljstva u Rusiji XVIII veka. Polazeci od odnosa Voltera i Didroa prema ruskoj imperatorki Katarini Velikoj, autor u uvodnom delu rada formulise razloge za bavljenje ruskom recepcijom Prosvetiteljstva. U prvom poglavlju interpretirane su razlicita tumacenja fenomena 'ruske inteligencije' jer se Radiscev smatra njenim rodonacelnikom. U drugom delu izlozena je biografija Radisceva koja olaksava razmatranje njegovih ideja. Analiza tih ideja, kao i 'prosvecenog apsolutizma' Katarine II, bice predmet razmatranja u nastavku ovog rada.