Every year on June 3, all of Russia celebrates the Day of Remembrance of the historian, writer, humanist, historiographer of the Russian state Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin. This is a special day for the residents of Ulyanovsk. For us, Karamzin is not just an outstanding compatriot who has done a lot for our culture, but also our countryman. Nikolai Mikhailovich was born on December 12, 1766 in the village of Karamzinka in the Mainsky district of the modern Ulyanovsk region, at that time still the Simbirsk province of the Kazan province.
Karamzin's prose and poetry had a decisive influence on the development of the Russian literary language. Karamzin deliberately refused to use Church Slavonic vocabulary and grammar, bringing the language of his works to the everyday language of his era and using the grammar and syntax of the French language as a model.
Karamzin introduced new words into the Russian language - neologisms, such as "charity", "love", "freethinking", "attraction", "responsibility", "suspicion", "industry", "refinement", "human". He was also one of the first to use the letter Y.
In 1803, Nikolai Mikhailovich wrote the historical story "Martha the Posadnitsa, or the Conquest of Novgorod". In the same year, by decree of Alexander I, Karamzin was appointed to the post of historiographer and until the end of his life he was engaged in writing the History of the Russian State, practically ceasing the activities of a journalist and writer. Although Karamzin's "History of the Russian State" was not the first description of the history of Russia, it was Karamzin who opened the history of Russia to a wide educated public. In his work, Nikolai Mikhailovich acted more as a writer than as a historian. Describing historical facts, he cared about the beauty of the language, least of all trying to draw any conclusions from the events he describes. Nevertheless, his commentaries, which contain many extracts from manuscripts, mostly first published by Karamzin, are of high scientific value. Treating the history of our Fatherland with care, in 1818 Nikolai Mikhailovich actively advocated the organization of memorials and the erection of monuments to outstanding figures of Russian history, in particular, K.M. Sukhorukov (Minin) and Prince D.M. Pozharsky on Red Square.
Every year, in gratitude for the numerous merits of the historiographer, writer and humanist, events are held throughout the country on Memorial Day. In our city, events dedicated to the Day of memory of N.M. Karamzin were also held today.
The annual event in memory of N.M. Karamzin took place in the Palace of Books - Ulyanovsk Regional Scientific Library named after V.I. Lenin. The action of memory began with a traditional flower-laying ceremony at the monument to the muse of history Clio, which was attended by representatives of cultural institutions of the city and the region, local historians, writers, and the public.
The second significant event of the day was the presentation of the publication "Chronicles of the Petersburg period of life and work of N.M. Karamzin." The presentation took place in the solemn hall of the Palace of the Book. This unique book is a correspondence between Karamzin and his entourage, documenting and reconstructing the facts of Karamzin's life and work. The responses to the volumes of the History of the Russian State, reviews of this period, poems dedicated to Karamzin, diaries, testimonies, memoirs of contemporaries are indicated, the historical, literary and cultural context is recreated. The publication was released with the financial support of the Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation. The preparation of the publication and comments were carried out by L.A. Sapchenko, Doctor of Philology, Professor of the Department of Russian Language, Literature and Journalism of the Ulyanovsk State Pedagogical University named after I.N. Ulyanov.
In children's art schools, talks and class information hours were held, where schoolchildren were told about the merits of Nikolai Karamzin to national literature and history.
In the Ulyanovsk Regional Library for Children and Youth named after S.T. Aksakov, literary and educational events were held on the occasion of the Karamzin Memorial Day. Specialists have prepared interesting quizzes, conversations, loud readings, presentations, virtual trips about the life and work of the historiographer and writer Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin.