Nikolay Lisovoy: “I am a Conservative!” (Review of Nikolay Lisovoy’s Work in the Soviet Period)

This article delves into the works of Nikolay Nikolayevich Lisovoy (1946–2019) during the initial 45 years of his life, which coincided with the Soviet era. It was during this period that the main concepts of his creativity were formulated: the Orthodox Empire and its relation to the Church, the history of Russian theology, the history of the Russian Church and its saints, Russian conservative journalism from the late 19th to the early 20th century, and the Russian spiritual and political presence in the East. Nikolay Lisovoy’s youth was marked by the peak of his poetic creativity, and he primarily considered himself a poet. To the contemporary reader, Nikolay Lisovoy is largely known for his writings on the Holy Land and his activities in the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society (IPPO). However, during the considered period of his creative output, these themes were not yet at the forefront of his attention, thus his main contributions to the development of Russian conservative thought remain practically unknown. Based on Nikolay Lisovoy’s personal archive and his early publications, the author analyzes his works written during the Soviet era, delves into the origins of his creativity, and identifies individuals who significantly influenced his formation. Of particular interest is the examination of Nikolay Lisovoy’s works at the intersection of disciplines: physics, philosophy and theology, semiotics and linguistics, history and canon law, historiosophy and political science. Nikolay Lisovoy’s creative output is explored using materials from his personal archive within the context of the epoch, taking into account individuals who had a particular influence on him, including his mother Olga Talantseva, Fyodor Sukhov, Vasily Shulgin, Archimandrite Innokenty (Prosvirnin), Tatyana Glushkova and others.

This publication, commemorating the 5th anniversary of Nikolay Lisovoy’s passing, aims to initiate a comprehensive study of Nikolay Lisovoy’s spiritual and scientific legacy from the first 30 years of his creative path, which unfolded during the Soviet period, and and introduce it to the scientific society. By 1991, Nikolay Lisovoy laid the foundations of concepts that are extremely relevant to conservative thought today. The most important of them is the idea that Russia was and remains an Orthodox Empire, destined to resist the entropy threatening humanity and originating from the West. Above all, he considered himself a conservative.

The author of the article has been a disciple of Nikolay Lisovoy since 2003, actively promoting his works. After being ordained as a priest in 2013, he regularly performed confession, communion, and administered the last sacraments for the scholar and his spouse.

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2. Amvrosy (Grenkov), ieroskhim. (1971). Pis’ma [Letters]. Zhurnal Moskovskoi Patriarkhii, (11), 68–77. [In Russian]

3. Lisovoi, N. N. (1993). V. V. Shul’gin: chelovek, politik i myslitel’ [V. V. Shulgin: a Man, a Politician and a Thinker]. In Mezhdunarodnaia nauchnaia konferentsiia “Kul’turnoe nasledie russkoi emigratsii: 1917–1940-e god”. Sbornik materialov. Moscow: RAN. “Kongress sootechestvennikov”. [In Russian].

4. Lisovoi, N. N. (1997). K datirovke Mstislavova Evangeliia [On the Dating of the Mstislav Gospel]. In Mstislavovo Evangelie XII veka: Issledovaniia (pp. 710–719). Moscow: Skriptory. [In Russian].

5. Lisovoi, N. N. (1973). Ob odnoi mifologeme vremeni v sviazi s problemoi mezhkul’turnykh kontaktov [On One Mythologeme of Time in Connection with the Problem of Intercultural Contacts]. In Materialy nauchnogo seminara “Semiotika sredstv massovoi kommunikatsii” (Part II, pp. 345–355). Moscow. [In Russian].

6. Lisovoi, N. N. (1983). Novye muzei SSSR [New Museums of the USSR]. Moscow. [In Russian].

7. Lisovoi, N. N. (1990). Osnovanie Russkoi Pravoslavnoi Tserkvi [The Foundation of the Russian Orthodox Church]. In Russkaia Pravoslavnaia Tserkov’: 988–1988. Ocherki istorii (Vol. 1, pp. 4–29). Moscow. [In Russian].

8. Lisovoi, N. N. (1989). Krug zemnoi. Stikhi i poemy [The Circle of the Earth. Poems and Poems]. Moscow: Sovremennik. [In Russian].

9. Lisovoi, N. N. (1991). Shkola Prepodobnogo Sergiia [The School of St. Sergius]. In Sergii Radonezhskii : [sbornik] (pp. 414–429). Moscow: Patriot. [In Russian].

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11. Lisovoi, N. N. (1995). Pod znakom Sofii. (K predystorii idei Tret’ego Rima) [Under the Sign of Sofia. (On the Prehistory of the Idea of the Third Rome)]. In Rimsko-konstantinopol’skoe nasledie na Rusi: ideia vlasti i politicheskaia praktika. IX Mezhdunarodnyi seminar istoricheskikh issledovanii “Ot Rima k Tret’emu Rimu”. Moskva, 29–31 maia 1989 g. (pp. 58–64). Moscow. [In Russian].

12. Lisovoi, N. N. (1986). Skvoz’ veka, traditsii i stili (Ritmy drevnikh ornamentov; Sintoistskie i buddiiskie traditsii v iaponskoi arkhitekture; Iaponskaia skul’ptura: poiski i traditsii; Osobennosti i dostizheniia iaponskoi zhivopisi [Through the Ages, Traditions and Styles (Rhythms of Ancient Ornaments; Shinto and Buddhist Traditions in Japanese Architecture; Japanese Sculpture: Searches and Traditions; Features and Achievements of Japanese Painting]. In Iskusstvo stran Vostoka (pp. 269– 297). Moscow. [In Russian].

13. Lisovoi, N. N. (1997). Chudo Serafima [The Miracle of Seraphim]. In Prepodobnyi Serafim Sarovskii. Sbornik (pp. 9–18). Moscow. [In Russian].

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19. Lisovoi, N. N. (2011). “Osvobozhdaiushchaia sila”. O bogoslovskom nasledii episkopa Mikhaila (Gribanovskogo) [“Liberating Force”. On the Theological Legacy of Bishop Mikhail (Gribanovsky)]. In Mikhail (Gribanovsky), episkop. Sochineniia, pis’ma, zhizneopisanie (pp. III–XXXIV). Moscow: PSTGU. [In Russian].

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