“Socialism” of the Priest Grigory Petrov in the View of Maxim Gorky
A well-known pre-revolutionary writer and orator, priest Grigory Petrov, was perceived by some contemporaries as a socialist. Maxim Gorky, who himself gravitated towards socialist views, was one of the first to call him a socialist. However, over time, Gorky's views on socialism and his attitude towards Petrov changed. The article traces the evolution of Gorky's views on socialism in the context of his “god-seeking”, as well as relations with the Bolsheviks, shows the evolution of Petrov's relationship with the writing community. An analysis of the content of Petrov's book “The Gospel as the Basis of Life” showed that it is difficult to unambiguously consider him a socialist. This was reflected in Gorky's attitude towards Petrov. The history of their relationship is reconstructed based on the analysis of the preserved and published correspondence between Gorky and relatives and friends.