Biography

Nikolai Aleksandrovich Berdyaev was born in Russia in 1874. Born into a family of mixed royalty and military renown, he chose a different path in life. He attended the University of Kiev in order to earn a law degree but ended up pursuing other academia such as economics, philosophy and religion. Living in a time of powerful political and military influences, his teachings in these areas led him to experience exile, incarceration, and Gestapo interrogation. Berdyaev bore many labels such as Marxist, theologian, and Christian existentialist. He quoted as saying, “The Russian yearning for the meaning of life is the major theme of our literature, and this is the real point of our intelligentsia’s existence.” Nikolai Berdyaev died in March of 1948. His legacy includes several works such as The Meaning of History, Freedom and the Spirit, The Beginning and the End, and Dostoevsky.

Wailand Groenendyk
CCEL Staff Writer