Pavel Florensky: A Quiet Genius: The Tragic and Extraordinary Life of Russia's Unknown da Vinci

Description

Pavel Florensky was, at one and the same time, a supremely gifted philosopher, mathematician, physicist, engineer and theologian. He was also a poet and wrote studies of history, language and art. His book "The Pillar and the Ground of Truth" is widely seen as a masterpiece of Russian Orthodox theology. This title offers an account of his life.

Avril Pyman is Reader Emerita in Russian Literature at the University of Durham, UK, and a Fellow of the British Academy. She is an expert in Russian literature of the 'Silver Age' and has published a major biography of Aleksandr Blok (2 volumes, 1980) and A History of Russian Symbolism (1994), as well as many translations from Russian.

"In this wonderful biography, Avril Pyman brings to life the tragic genius of Pavel Florensky: theologian, philosopher, mathematician, art critic. With a profound knowledge of his cultural and religious world, Pyman enables us to hear the authentic voice of the martyred priest who is now gaining an audience in Orthodoxy and beyond."-- Andrew Louth, Professor of Patristic and Byzantine Studies, University of Durham, UK "Avril Pyman brings to the biography of Pavel Florensky the experience of a lifetime's research on Russian culture of the early twentieth century. No one could be better equipped to write this first biography in English of a man whom the epithet 'polymath' fits like no other. Mathematician, philosopher, linguist, applied physicist, inventor - and, above all, priest - Florensky could, in another place and time, have achieved an unparalleled reputation in a multitude of areas. In the event, his life ended, in the fateful year of 1937, after four years of exile and imprisonment, with a bullet in the back of his head. His writings on mathematics, philosophy and theology, although never completed in the way they were planned, confirm the immense originality of his thought. They are described in this book in a way that makes them accessible to readers without specialist knowledge. What emerges as the guiding thread of the whole is the depiction of a uniquely integrated personality, foreseeing and withstanding one crisis after another, and living out to the utmost degree the religious faith at which he arrived in his twenties through study and reflection, and which provided thenceforth the underpinning of his entire life. Avril Pyman's book brings to the attention of English-language readers for the first time a neglected cultural figure of immense importance. The book is the culminating achievement of a distinguished scholar."-- John Elsworth, Professor Emeritus, University of Manchester, UK, President of the International Council for Central and East European Studies, ICCEES and Chair of the Editorial Board of Slavonica. "This is a thoroughly researched and very readable book that includes evocative photographs, a very useful chronology, a helpful glossary of names and extensive notes... The book should be of special interest for those engaged in both theology and science. In the first instance, it is a great source of inspiration of a life well lived." -- ESSSAT -- ESSSAT "Pavel Florensky (1882-1937) was an outstanding figure of Russia's Silver Age and religious-philosophical renaissance. Avril Pyman's study, the first full-length intellectual biography of him in English, is a rich guide to his life and thought. She refers to him as Russia's 'da Vinci' to capture the extraordinary range of his intellectual interests, which spanned philosophy, theology, mathematics, physics and other sciences, electrical engineering, aesthetics and art history, philosophy of language, and literature. She masterfully shows how Florensky combined these various areas into an 'integral worldview,' a quest characteristic of the best minds of the Silver Age. [...] Pyman seeks to write biography, not hagiography. She succeeds admirably." - Slavonic and East European Journal, 55.3 (Fall 2011). "Avril Pyman's book is highly recommended for anyone interested in Florensky. While the biography itself is relatively short (less than two hundred pages), it is supplemented by a significant timeline based upon his life, and a glossary of names which will help the average reader unfamiliar with the Silver Age of Russian thought. It is not, as Pyman points out, a comprehensive biography - much of the material which would be needed for that is still being released, but it does provide a needful introduction to a man who could just as well have had the greatest mind in the twentieth century. It shows the complexities of his life, and shows that he was a man, with his own foibles, and they too must be understood in order to understand his writings as a whole. 4/5 stars." Vox Nova, Catholic Perspectives on Culture, Society, and Politics "Avril Pyman is the best, perhaps the only, qualified person in the world to deal with Florensky's heritage, for she has studied the period and the background for some fifty years and her sympathy and enthusiasm are matched by her scholarly objectivity. ... [She] is to be congratulated on a long-awaited monument to her hero." - Donald Rayfield, Literary Review "Pavel Florensky is one of the most extraordinary intellectuals ever to emerge in the Russian speaking world (and the competition is formidable), yet outside Russia he is almost completely unknown beyond a small community of Slavists and theologians. Avril Pyman's fine biography-the first of Florensky in English-must surely redress the situation. It is possible, and greatly to be desired, that its publication will become the defining moment when the study of Florensky breaks out of Russian studies into all the disciplines in which he himself worked at the highest level: aesthetics, art history, geology, linguistics, mathematics, philosophy, physics and theology. [...] Avril Pyman reconstructs Florensky's last years beautifully, largely from his careful, loving letters to his family." -- The Times Literary Supplement Avril Pyman has written a fine "creative path" account of P. A. Florenski.. She sympathetically conveys the emotional content of her protagonist's life story. -- Canadian Slavonic Papers "Beautifully written and well researched, [Pyman's] study examines Florensky's remarkable life as scientist and priest, mathematician and mystic, Renaissance man and Russian patriot. [...] Pyman provides a fresh perspective on the Silver Age in her probing exploration of the dialogue between traditional ecclesiastical culture and the spiritually adventurous intelligentsia; this is one of the major contributions of this book. [...] Pyman's skill in life writing is manifest not only in her careful blending of events and ideas, but also in her poetic turns of phrase and occasionally nostalgic tone (appropriate to her subject matter). She successfully eschews hagiography (for which many readers will be grateful) and instead crafts a living portrait out of the many strengths and weaknessess of one of the complex minds of his time, a mind that was idiosyncratic, humble, proud, stubborn, enigmatic, vulnerable, unconventional, endlessly curious, tenacious, and soaring--all at the same time. [...] It brings the extraordinary life of Russia's last Renaissance man to the attention of the wider readership it deserves." -- The Russian Review (April 2011, Vol. 70, No. 2) "Excelling in her task, Avril Pyman has authored the first true biography of the priest Pavel Florenskii...Pyman has been most judicious in her recourse to primary sources and has truly culled important facets from the vast Florenskiana that is at hand as well as from the personal reminiscences of those closely associated with him...Pyman's biography is especially praiseworthy." -Slavic Review "Avril Pyman's marvelous biography of Pavel Florensky is a labour of love and the fruit of decades of dedicated research into the intellectual culture of Russian modernism. Over the past thirty years Florensky has emerged as a giant of European culture of his day, but his lifelong intellectual project to a large degree remains poorly understood (which is understandable given the breathtaking variety and spectacular ambition of his endeavours). With Avril Pyman's book Florensky has finally begun to receive his due. With the deft touch of a seasoned biographer Dr Pyman uncovers the intricate and poignant design that lies at the base of Florensky's various intellectual activities and engagements. Displaying a complete command of her subject Avril Pyman draws on the vast corpus of Florensky's published writings, most of which have never been translated into English, on the memoirs and correspondence of his family and friends, and on the constantly expanding body of scholarly literature on him. Eminently readable and authoritatively precise, Dr Pyman's biography will be a touchstone for all future work on Pavel Florensky."-- Robert Bird, Chair and Associate Professor, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, The University of Chicago "With her unique blend of intellectual curiosity, spiritual insight, and compassionate sensitivity, Avril Pyman has created a fascinating portrait of one of the most complex and elusive figures of Russia's Silver Age. She succeeds in uncovering the underlying unity of experience and vision that informed the myriad strands of Florensky's journey of discovery, and skilfully relates her subject to the broader historical and cultural context of those tragic times." -- Pamela Davidson, Professor of Russian Literature, The School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London, UK "Avril Pyman has produced a beautifully written and well-researched biography of the enigmatic Pavel Florensky. Eschewing hagiography, Pyman examines Florensky's remarkable life as scientist and priest, mathematician and mystic, Renaissance man and Russian patriot of the early decades of 20th century. Her book tells the story of an extraordinarily gifted individual whose intellect, empathy, and understanding even the Stalinist purges could not eclipse. The first major biography of Florensky in English, Pyman's work brings his extraordinary life to the attention of the wider readership it deserves." -- Maria Carlson, Professor and Associate Chair, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Kansas, USA "The word 'genius' may be overused, but we can have no doubts that it fits Pavel Florensky. He was a polymath of a kind that may seem almost impossible in the modern age. One of the brilliant school of young mathematicians who pushed at the boundaries of the subject at the beginning of the 20th century, he was convinced by his work on set theory and discontinuities that we live in a non-deterministic universe, and this faith led him not only in the direction of religion, but to becoming an Orthodox priest - a humble and devoted one. Yet his work in the natural sciences continued: in physics, electrodynamics, editing - after the Revolution - a large 'Technical Encyclopedia', and incredibly, when in exile and prison in the 1930's, continuing research on the natural resources of the Far East and north of Russia, while maintaining a copious correspondence. "But his work ranged far more widely even than that: into philosophy, theology, folklore and above all into the history and theory of art - he made ground-breaking studies, still of great importance, on 'reverse perspective' and on the iconostasis (while being on friendly terms with luminaries of the 'Modern Movement'). "A few of Florensky's works, chiefly on art, have been translated in the West; but he is scarcely well-known. Until Avril Pyman's volume we have lacked any biographical study - no doubt because such a protean figure is daunting for any specialist scholar. Fortunately Dr Pyman, after a lifetime's involvement with the intellectual history of the Russian 'Silver Age', and a deep knowledge of Russian Orthodoxy, is just the right person to tackle Florensky as the culminating project of her distinguished career. "Her book is not only supremely authoritative, but the fluent and accessible narrative of an extraordinary, perhaps saintly, life." -- Robin Milner-Gulland, Research Professor of Russian and East European Studies, the University of Sussex, UK "Pavel Florensky was without doubt one of the greatest Christian geniuses of the twentieth century, combining theological and philosophical depth with exceptional brilliance as a theoretical and practical scientist and a keen awareness of the cultural and artistic currents of his day - all this extinguished in the brutality of the Soviet prison camps. Here at last is a biography based on extensive study of Florensky's correspondence as well as his books and essays. It should establish his reputation definitively, both as a thinker and as a Christian martyr." -- Archbishop Rowan Williams "Avril Pyman's biography, the fruit of many years of detailed research, gives a very full picture of the man and an introduction to his thought. It will bring a figure of cardinal importance, hitherto scarcely known in the West, to the attention of a wide reading public." -- Geoffrey Hosking, Emeritus Professor of Russian History, University College London, UK. Avril Pyman's biography presents the Western reader with the first introduction in English to this truly remarkable intellectual figure. Those who have already encountered Florenskii's name will find this reliably researched book invaluable in its sympathetic, yet sober, approach,which dispels legends and inaccuracies that have accumulated around the thinker, who is often revered as a martyr to Orthodoxy... Pyman's book is a timely and valuable contribution to the emerging field of Florenskii studies. It is an excellent starting ground for any reader in the West who would like to learn about one of Russia's foremost minds. -- Clemena Antonova, Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium * Slavonica *