Ivan Ilyin
Russian philosopher
Died when: 71 years 268 days (860 months)Star Sign: Aries
Ivan Alexandrovich Ilyin or Il'in (Ива́н Алекса́ндрович Ильи́н, 9 April [O.S. 28 March] 1883 – 21 December 1954) was a Russian jurist, religious and political philosopher and constitutional monarchist, who supported the right-wing of the Kadet party.
He perceived the February Revolution as a "temporary disorder", and the October Revolution as a catastrophe, and actively joined the struggle against the Bolshevik regime.
He became a white émigré journalist, slavophile and an ideologue of the Russian All-Military Union.As an anti-communist, Ilyin initially defended Hitler but in 1934 he was arrested and subsequently banned from making public appearances for refusing to promote anti-Semitic policies.
When Ilyin lost his main source of income Sergei Rachmaninov helped him financially to stay in Switzerland.Ilyin was not allowed to be politically active.
He mostly studied aesthetic, ethical and psychological questions.Ivan Ilyin, often sick, wrote over 40 books and hundreds of articles and pamphlets in Russian and German.
Almost all of his works were political, social or religious in character and related to Russia.Ilyin did not belong to the group of followers of Vladimir Solovyov, who preached worldwide theocracy and with whom the Russian religious and philosophical Renaissance of the early 20th century is usually associated.
Ilyin called for a Christian-based, patriarchal form of rule for Russia.Appeals to heroism and moral aristocratism appear throughout Ilyin’s writings.
Ilyin criticized individualism, liberalism, and neutrality.The ultra-nationalist, and Russian orthodox Ilyin was critical of Western-style democracy, emphasizing instead the importance of a strong government in accord with Russia’s autocratic heritage.
Ilyin's views on the social structure of Russia had a great influence on post-Soviet intellectuals and politicians, including Alexander Solzhenitsyn, and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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