The Role of K. N. Leontiev in the “Religious Movement” of Russian Society
Despite the growing secularization of Russian society, many contemporaries spoke about the “religious movement” among educated people of the late 19th century. K. N. Leontiev played an important role in this movement and in its comprehension, his life was a vivid example of the religious conversion of a secular educated intellectual, whose aspirations and works became centered around Orthodoxy. This phenomenon was reflected both in his literary works and in his social connections. One of such revealing ties was the friendship with Joseph Fudel, a young publicist, future priest and the first publisher of the thinker. Leontiev became an iconic figure in the life of this prominent representative of the “religious movement”, whose cradle at that time was Optina Pustyn, where meetings of two friends of different generations took place. After the conversion, the topic of Athos and Optina monasticism became one of Leontiev’s favorites. And he managed to instill a love to the Church among the young people who visited him and on whom he had high hopes. Subsequently, it was Leontiev’s importance for bringing the intelligentsia closer to the Church that Fudel put above all else.