Russian intelligentsia 
after the beginning of " perestroika" 
 Evolution and self-realizing




   

     I think it is necessary to explain the meaning of the 

word "intelligentsia" before I start. Really, it is quite 

uneasy. Actually, this idea, I mean, the idea of the 

intelligentsia is absolutely Russian, and the meaning of 

this word could be different and depend  on a period of 

history. And at the present this word is getting new 

meaning again. So, trying to look through the history of 

the idea in a few words, we can come soon to the topic of 

our talk.

       But  I should tell you before I start , the  notions  and 

marks I will give in my talk, you should not  take as the 

only one truth . Intelligentsia is an idea escaping from a 

real understanding, and it becomes clear just when it is 

used by quite unintelligent person. When a worker or a 

member of the government or a politic dealer use this 

word the meaning of it is always clear, I mean, it is clear 

what they are trying to say. When an intelligent himself is 

talking about the intelligentsia everything becomes 

difficult. Actually, this word is quite rarely used in the 

society of the intelligent people and only very few of them 

can call  themselves so. Why? Because this word was not 

invented  by them. It was invented to find the way to call 

an unusual and even unnatural people for the Russian 

society. But can you say that all the unusual people are 

like to each other ? And this is the reason why all the 

grades which was some when given are very different: it is 

from the " best people of the nation" to the" reason of all 

the problems of Russia". But as we would like to realize 

the meaning of this word let.s look at it from the opposite 

side  - for instance, let.s try to understand it.s place in 

society and it.s role in it. It makes a question if it was not 

any scientists or writers in Russia in the XIXth century, I 

mean, if there was no any people whom we call 

intelligentsia now  ? Of course, there were some. But the 

business is that an intellectual work nether cold bring you 

money even enough to live, so they , I mean, this people, 

could not be separated in a social category as such. Even 

in the beginning of the nineteenth century, for example, 

the work of a writer was quite unpaid . It  could bring 

glory, but not money. The first one who tried to live on 

money brought by literature  was  Pushkin , but even he, 

who was quite famous already in his life, he could not do 

it. Actually, an intellectual work often was a privilege of a 

monarchs and aristocracy. But to the end of the century 

the situation was absolutely changed, because at the same 

time in Russia appeared bourgeoisie, as a class, and a lot 

of  well educated people from the middle classes of the 

society, who wanted to deal with the economy and science 

and arts and journalism . They lived on their salary from 

this work and they earned enough to live, - so, they was 

called "intelligentsia".

       All those people often was far from workers and 

farmers and also from the government. They composed  a 

new social group - and the relations of this group with the 

power and  with the state was still unformed. It might be, 

that if the intelligentsia and the authority in those times 

were able to find an idea which could consider them and if 

they both could be a friend to each other , an especial 

sound of the word  " intelligentsia" and even this word as 

such now could not be so interesting to us. But it 

happened so that a new social group became a motherland 

for the ideas, which are deadfall for Russian state privacy 

and especially for Marxism and materialism. 

     Russian bourgeoisie then was too weak just to play an 

important role in the administration of the state and to 

have an influence on the fortune of the intelligentsia. And 

the authority and aristocracy in before-the-revolution-

Russia, in whole saw the intelligentsia as some a little bit 

educated barbarians. For instance, aristocracy preferred 

among the writers noble and rich Tourgenev and they 

ignored Dostoevsky who was simply- borned. From the 

other hand, for workers and farmers an intellectual work 

was a synonym of doing nothing. It seemed strange to 

them that you can get money for such a stupid things as a 

book or chemical practices. Over there and here this word 

has been used with a part of sarcasm. The intelligentsia, of 

course, felt it quite well. And that was the reason for a 

birth of the ideas , of a special ideology which is very 

popular for Russian intelligentsia. This is, if you want, a 

feeling of unnecessity  , of useless and a restrained vanity 

of an intellectual person, who wants to show everyone, 

that he can change the world to the best. But  whom he 

will show it, if no one look at him seriously?

      Still now,  the most favorite and, may be, the most 

difficult question , which is asked by a drunken, but  

nether the less intellectual person, who had already lost 

control under himself to his partner, is : "Do you respect 

me?"  This question really  show you all the fortune of the 

Russian intelligentsia. It is always in a sharp conflict with 

the authority of it.s time. When it can not find a respect 

from the authority and aristocracy, the intelligentsia went 

to the people. It was natural, because the aim of helping 

people to become free from the bad authority always 

seems very important and noble. Also the ideas of a social 

justice , which was represented in the ideology of Marks  

in those epoch , became a name card of a Russian 

intelligent. And, at the same time, it will be a mistake to 

say , that the intelligentsia had a constant fight with the 

authority. It is not right. It was just on the opposite side to 

the power and when there was such an ability it showed to 

the other social; groups that the power is not quite good. 

Their notions of a moral often could not let them to make 

something not humanitarian, but a revolution needs blood, 

but the same notions let them to nudge people to it.s it 

was the start of a revolution ideas in Russia and everyone 

knows the end.

            But the intelligentsia also was nether respected by 

the people  who simply works. They could not realize the 

interests the intelligentsia was fighting for, and they could 

not understand the advantages of the revolution for the 

intelligentsia. The intelligent people them selves was 

explaining their interests in revolution just by their love to 

a humanitarian ideas and to a people , and they also could 

not explain their own advantages of the revolution. Really, 

they could not say, of course, " We wanted you to respect 

us, to look at us seriously!"

        Of course, it is very sad - but in all the times in all the 

societies only those people were respected, who was able 

to reach their aims. The intelligentsia from the beginning 

refused to take up the way of everybody.s  living also 

refused from the success, they also proclaimed  as the 

most main aim of the life  an ability to give your life for 

someone, I mean, an ability to sacrifice, to work for the 

interests of a whole social group but not a single person. It 

is all a very beautiful formulas, but are they useful for the 

whole class of the state? I think, that it is a way of living 

for a ones, just saints, and it can not be proclaimed. Any 

work for the composing can not be noticed as soon as 

destroy can, and - oh, oh- it is always making not by a 

social groups , but by a particular people, who.s 

equipment to this group is quite a casual factor. It.s clear 

enough, that there was always been such people in Russian 

intelligentsia. They were scientists, doctors and teachers 

devoted to their work and they were not looking for any 

advantages. They composed an excuse and a glory of the 

Russian intelligentsia. But they really was respected by 

everyone and they did not felt that they were unnecessary , 

so there was no place for the main question of Russian 

intelligentsia in their  thoughts.

      Most part of the intelligentsia, who took part in the 

Revolution, is composed of the students, who did not 

finished their education , ingenious scientists, unfortunate 

journalists , who could not be respected and wanted to get 

a moral compensation in a glory, respect and love just for 

their ability to sacrifice. For a new power  of Bolsheviks it 

was clear,- because the most part of them came from the 

worst round of the intelligentsia and solved their problems 

with the "do-you-respect-me"-question, -       

   and Bolsheviks hated the intelligentsia even more then 

the previous authority and aristocracy. An ex - intelligent 

Lenin wrote : " The intelligents  think that they are a 

center of the world, but actually they are not it, but a some 

shat". At the same time the intelligentsia, who were just 

crazy about the ideas of social justice could be a danger 

for a new and  unfair authority, as for the old one. And the 

epoch of repression had began.

    It is natural, that Bolsheviks tried to kill the best part of 

the intelligentsia first. It was people who really wanted to 

make good, but not an evil. Such people could be pleasant 

to the country and make an opposition to the power. But 

all the others belonged to the intelligentsia also were not 

favorites, because they could again ask for a serious look 

at them, could make an opposition to the authority, but the 

Bolsheviks every political opposition could be a murder. 

This was the reason, for the power to choose as an aim  

the annihilation of old one and the composing of a new so-

called "soviet" intelligentsia , which will be loyal to the 

present political situation. During the first years of the 

power of  Bolsheviks the word "intelligent" was 

something like a ... curse, and it again was using without 

this meaning only in fifty years, when to the authority.s 

opinion, they get a necessary selection  result thanks to a 

prisons and propaganda. 

      Actually, they.ve got a result but it was not constant. 

New-formed-intelligentsia , composed by a "soviet 

power" partly of a farmers and workers, who got an 

education  and partly of an intelligentsia of a before-

Revolution - period could have the only one definition and 

it is  - conformists. It was people who understood or was 

near to understood that there were some problem in their 

native country, but they were afraid to talk about it. The 

most part of their lives, even if they wanted to create 

something new , and become useful to a society was 

wasted  to the providence of the self-safety. Except it they 

were paid even lees then a worker. At last, to the seventies 

all those who were still alive  was quite agree with the 

situation. And in their talks appeared a new expression : " 

you pretend that you give us a salary and we pretend 

working". But, by the end of the epoch  of the communists 

all the soviet people could say the same. 

       In a few words, through all the history of the  soviet 

country the authority and the intelligentsia was afraid  of 

each other. It became a little bit less just twice. For the 

first time - during the Second World War , because the 

intelligentsia showed itself in a best way in it. All the 

intelligent people, who wanted to be useful for the country 

and for the people found a tragic, but a real way to do it. 

Scientists and students, professors and school-boys from 

the intelligent families, for instance, Bulat Ocudzava, went 

to the army just because they wanted to protect their 

country. The most part of this people were killed in the 

first fights. It was a specific and a very short period for the 

intelligentsia of becoming free, when it was protecting the 

interests of a people but did not  work for the power.

        The second, more longer and less tragic period is 

well-known as an "epoch of sixties"  or  a 

    "thaw" . It was the first and the last case when the 

intelligentsia was trying  to work  with the soviet power. 

After Stalin.s death Nikita Hrushev  made a few steps on a 

way of the liberalizing of the society and the intelligentsia 

saw in them the beginning of a great reforms. As they used 

to live in a situation of a  compromise with the authority 

for a half of a century now they were so glad to change the 

conditions of that compromise; they were agree to live in 

the country with the same ideology, because now it was 

unnecessary to think about self-safety. In the first years of 

Hrushev`s power their hopes became more and more real: 

millions of people  arrested for the political reasons were 

released  , it was said loudly about all the Stalin.s  crimes, 

there were an ability to watch foreign films  to read books 

written by the foreign authors, such as Heminguey, for our 

people. From the year1957 there began a sun-rising of an 

art of vanguard and there appeared a lot of quite an 

unusual artists, poets and scientists. During a few years the 

whole generation of a people , who was born before the 

Second World War and just after the War could deal with 

a western art without a shape. There appeared a new wave 

in Russian literature , the first novels, written be 

Solgenizin were published. This generation we will call 

later " Shestidesyatniki". The enthusiasm of a soviet 

young of that time  can be compared with a feelings of a 

western teenagers of that time . Russia was opened to a 

foreigners for some period of time, but just for a cultural 

exchange  The economics and politics of the USSR were 

the same as before and also the ideology. The young 

people from the intelligentsia saluted Hrushev as a 

reformer for the first time but later they realized that he 

just gave them a longer rein and did not want to free them. 

Their freedom was just an illusion. Sadly known KGB 

continued it.s working  and every one who made a step 

over then it was let to had a rescue to visit a prison. At the 

beginning of his regime  Hrushev did not think much 

about the intelligentsia , and this is how we can his 

liberalism . But when a crowds of students and young 

intelligents began to visit stadiums just to hear such an 

opposite to the authority poets as Evtushenko or 

Voznesenskiy , after the intelligent`s protests against  

power.s action of an entrance of forces into 

Chehoslovakia , Hrushev had changed his relation to the 

intelligentsia . He began to criticize  new ways in art, 

stopped publishing of a foreign books and accused the 

intelligentsia in the refuse of a  socialistic moral . Except 

it, soon he himself lost the authority and his place was 

taken by more serious communists who rebuilt the 

previous situation. It was an epoch of disappointment. A 

lot of people who were just disagree to the politics of the 

USSR had even to leave their country for USA or Europe 

but most of them again went to a compromise  with the 

authority and stopped discussing loudly the steps of it. But 

there was already composed an especial society and a self-

completed group of those intelligents , who had their own 

underground art and their companies , there they were 

discussing political problems. To such groups there were 

belonging  so many bright-colored people who had their 

own very important role in a culture and politics of a post-

soviet epoch.  

        When in a year 1987  the head of KPSS Mikhail 

Gorbachev proclaimed in the Soviet Union the beginning 

of a reform period , which will be called " perestroika" 

later , it was a new and may the best period for a soviet 

intelligentsia. The first and the middle part of eighties, 

actually the period of a deep crisis and  a depression for 

the whole society, paradoxically solved an actual problem 

for the intelligentsia , the problem of the relations with the 

authority . For the most part of them, especially for a new 

generation of the intelligentsia , the authority was not a 

real enemy, because in the middle of eighties there were 

no any repression  for the people from the opposition . The 

power of communists  was so deeply in crisis and had so 

many problems to solve, that it did not have time for fights 

with the intelligentsia. At the same time all the values of 

their epoch were archaic and laugh not only for the 

intelligentsia but for the most part of the people . Life in 

the country there the authority does not respect people and 

people does not respect the authority seemed to be more 

comfortable for the intelligentsia . But it was already clear 

for everyone that a period of a destroy of the existing order 

of things will come soon. And the intelligentsia, who used 

to be the agent of such a destroy again felt that they were 

necessary and meanful. 

       Of course, it does not mean that the intelligentsia in 

whole realized their new mission. Until the moment  of 

Gorbachev saying about the beginning of a reform period 

the most part of them lived the same conformist life as in 

the period of  seventieth. They have been working , I mean 

, they pretended working , because it did not have any 

sense to work for such a  small salary  and they always  

said "to go to the work" instead " to work" and  " to get 

money" instead "to earn" . They have been sitting in their 

small flats, not in the living rooms, but in the small 

intimate kitchens , and in a small groups they have been 

discussing  power, laughing at the power , talking about 

the rejected films and books , solving existential problems. 

They had their own underground culture,  non-official art 

and music, even own publishing houses in the form of 

copy-machines and printing machines called "samizdat".   

      But if the younger ones  - students, scientists and  so 

on in the age from 18 to 30 - grown up in the years of the 

ideological crisis, in whole had a very skeptic relation to 

the present power, but the intelligents of the elder 

generation , "shestidesyatniki", who relived a hope birth in 

the years of Hrushev regime and even made a career 

success then, now they were quite interested in the 

political situation.  Exactly this generation played a great 

role in the first period of social reforms just to went from 

the scene and continue  playing in a new quantity stopped 

being an intelligent.

          When in the year 1986 in the Soviet Union 

Gorbachev came to the regime the elder generation of the 

intelligentsia in whole had a very positive reaction to this 

event. Even much, much earlier than the head of KPSS 

said his first speech they felt a sympathy to him because 

he was a man, near their age and consequently he 

remembered and understood liberal values , which 

appeared in a soviet society in sixties. Their feelings were 

right - Gorbachev, as  Hrushev some when, was not 

criticizing the idea of socialism but he began the 

liberalization of the society and proclaimed the epoch of a 

publicity.

      But since the beginning of a reform period the old 

intelligentsia of a generation of sixties was divided into a 

two groups. The first one was very prudent, because they 

remembered  a sad end of the Hrushev`s  thaw and 

conceived all that was going on very skeptically trying to 

look at it keeping the distance. They were the people , 

who were absolutely agree with their unnecessarily and 

even made it the style of their lives. They did not trust to 

the government at all and they saw a provocation in the 

publicity invention, the aim of which was to find all those 

who thinks in an opposite way to the regime and kill them. 

The second group was more active and creative. Though 

they also belonged to the elder generation, they wanted to 

work hand by hand with the authority to change the 

ideological climate in the society. Mostly they were 

people who had partly realized their talent and took more 

or less important place in the society: famous writers, 

journalists, scientists. Thanks to them the result of  the 

reforms in the area of culture was much deeper than 

Gorbachev could suppose and touching the area of politics 

and economics.

     For those intelligents who worked with the new 

authority it was becoming more and more clear that they 

were necessary to their country. They felt that a lots of 

things depended on them and they were careful, but at the 

same time step by step they were realizing their aim. The 

main thing of that aim was the composing of a new 

society, where  those who thinks differently could be quiet 

for their lives. In the other words, those people for the first 

time for all the history of the intelligentsia were protecting 

their own interests and they did it quite well. For instance, 

the  editor of a newspaper knew quite well what a highly 

limited brave article he can publish today and which he 

would be able to publish tomorrow. At long last those 

intelligents were becoming politics and a part of them 

became deputies in the first free elections to the 

Parliament. The others became very popular thanks to 

their brave talks and made a career in art and science. At 

last some of them used their popularity and experience to 

make a success in business, sometimes dealing with a 

crime . Anyway, by the year 1991, to the moment of the 

destroy of the soviet power all those people got a new 

status and they could not already be called "intelligentsia". 

Today a part of them works in the government, heading 

culture departments and even try to ballot to the post of 

the President. In hearts they are still trying to identify them 

selves with the intelligentsia , but it.s  just a remembrance 

of the past, because as they got glory and  a social status 

most of them nether will agree to change to the illusion of 

the independence, which can be given by the condition of 

unnecessarity .It is necessary to add that those people who 

had reached a success are the most bright and talented 

from all the generation.

       The other and the biggest and passive part  of the 

intelligentsia of the old generation continued being 

unnecessary. Those people excused their passivity firstly 

by the insurance in what was Gorbachev doing and when 

the power crashed they were still sitting in their kitchens, 

condemning the money interests of the more active ones. 

And as Russia still were deeply in crisis , the most part of 

them lost their jobs or was getting even lees  money then 

in a soviet period. It may seem that all those people did 

not mention that the new epoch had come, they were still 

sitting in their kitchens , criticizing  the new authority with 

the same irritation as the previous one. They were the 

secondary engineers , scientists and more others , who did 

not have a real profession and who was able just to "go to 

the work" and  pretend working. The new epoch made 

them looking for a new ways of earning money , but they 

were too weak and inflexible to reach a success in a new 

conditions of living. So as if they did not have any 

profession the most part of them was trying to make a 

career in business but often they were failed . They were 

changing lots of professions they even began working 

physically, but nether the less they were still poor, because 

they could make plans much better then realize them . At 

long last the most part of those already old people agreed 

with their  status of unfortunates and came back to their 

kitchens to drink there not a tea only but also vodka. And 

at the same time among all those broken people there were 

enough talented ones, who just lost the time for the self-

realization. Their lives seems to me the most tragic now , 

because they saw a real life of their dreams when they did 

not have any strengths not to deal with it and even not to 

be glad for it. Those people are just victims of a long 

silent compromise with a soviet authority and it does not 

have any sense to accuse them in weakness , because they 

lived their lives as well as they could. And they them 

selves , trying to find the excuse for their passive lives 

confirm that in the epoch of sixties , in the epoch of their 

youth, mental values meant  much more then material and 

the  end of the communistic epoch brought a destroy of the 

country and the triumph of a material values. I would like 

to underline that the most part of those intelligents now 

are in a such deep opposition to the present authority, that 

deal with their last enemies - communists and deal also 

with the communist ideology.

       And, finally, the younger generation , children of the 

generation of sixties, who were at the age of from 20 to 30 

in the epoch of Gorbachev`s reforms ...Those people from 

all the points of view can not be generalized to the one 

category  and nether the less they particularly have played 

the most important role in the destroy of the soviet 

authority. Their interests to the politics were not very high 

and if it was at all it had a sharp and extremist.s character. 

They did not have to relive the epoch of the  mass politics 

repression and for this reason they were not afraid  of  a 

state machine. They did not look at the authority of the 

communists seriously and it is the reason for the death for 

any totalitarian  power. They did not mention it and they 

lived with their interests and they were trying to realize 

their talents in those conditions that they had. They were 

glad because of the epoch of publicity and thought of it as 

of a real way to make their freedom bigger. They used all 

the new abilities and were loosing their intelligent`s 

unnecessarity . They  were not just opening for them 

selves western and forgotten native culture, but they  also 

began publishing of a newspapers and magazines , opened 

computer centers on a base of the unnecessary institutes, 

they were just took up the western way of living. Thanks 

to their youth, energy and the lack of a fear in front of the 

state they had a success. So they have fixed all those 

declared steps made by  Gorbachev on the way to a 

liberalization. 

      At the time of a putsch in august of 1991, when an old 

generals were trying to shift Gorbachev and thought that 

there were no people in Russia, who are really interested 

in his politics, all those young intelligents came to the 

square in front of the White House , whose appearance 

helped Eltsin to make a design and proposed the final 

result.

        All those people still could be called "intelligentsia". 

It might be the last generation of a Russian intelligentsia , 

because they went out from the square in that life , where 

unnecessarity of a people can not join them. Nowadays the 

most part of them already became businessman , 

intellectuals -  scientists, writers, some of them even 

politics and it is quite difficult now to join them all by one 

word.

       The social meaning  of the word "intelligentsia" in 

Russia today is near to finish it.s life. It will be used 

further but like a synonym of the word " intellectuals" and 

it may be that will be no more quarrels and fights around 

the word combination " Russian intelligentsia".Anyway it 

was a group of unusual people, joined together by some 

weaknesses and liking compromises , but all of them had a 

very main advantage , I mean, they were able to think and 

analyze. The intelligents them selves often were talking 

about their sacral freedom, about their abilities to be 

always free. The notion of a sacral freedom was firstly 

invented by Russian poet Alexander Block. He wrote 

poems about the revolution and he was crying when the 

farmers fired the library in his estate. He has been working 

in the Bolshevik.s  NKVD ( future KGB) , presented at the 

requests and he died from the desperate in1922 in St. - 

Petersburg. Freedom can not be like that it was shown 

very well by the history of Russian intelligentsia.

     The other great Russian poet Boris Pasternak  wrote 

about the revolution and the intelligentsia : "we sing glory 

to that strength , which will sweep us away from the face 

of the Earth" . Awful and useless strength of the 

revolution actually had done it - it did everything to kill 

the intelligentsia. But at long last it failed. At the end of 

the century particularly the intelligentsia gave to this 

authority the last and the murdering blow. And now it 

seems that it was the end of some historical mission of the 

intelligentsia, that was going hand to hand with the 

totalitarian authority, fighting with it and when this fight is 

over it is " moving in the dark".

        Try to remember the characteristics , which we can 

give to a going away Russian intelligentsia

   an ability to be a victim  - and the wish to be respected;

    conformism - and a sacral freedom;

   unnecessarity - and the main role in Russian history;

   All these characteristics can be used only together like a 

these and antitheses , like a paradox. It can not be 

addressed to one particular person but it can be addressed  

to the group of people we call " Russian intelligentsia".

       My aim was to try to explain you how difficult and 

many-sided is the subject of our talk. I would like to 

underline ones more that all those marks which was given 

are not the only one truth, more over that the distance 

between me and  the subject of our talk is too short. At 

long last it would be difficult for me to answer if I belong 

to the Russian intelligents or have been ever belonged to. I 

think that this question is quite difficult now for all the 

russian intelligents.

    

   (translated by Maiya Bogdanova)