Berdyaev, Nicolas

(1874–1948)

   Philosopher and Theologian.

   Berdyaev was born in Kiev in the Ukraine. As a young man he supported the Marxist cause, but after the revolution, he was expelled from his position as Professor of Philosophy at the University of Moscow. By 1924 he had settled in France. There he wrote several books in which he attempted to reconcile Orthodox Christianity with the ideas of modern philosophy. Particularly influenced by the work of kant, nietzsche and dostoievsky, he has been described as a ‘Christian existentialist’. He is best known for his Freedom and the Spirit and The Destiny of Man.

   Nicolas Berdyaev, Dream and Reality (1950) [Autobiography];

   D.A. Lowne (ed. and transl.), Christian Existentialism: A Berdyaev Anthology (1965).