ABSTRACT
In his brief but informative biography of Samarin, B. E. Nol’de devotes between one-third and one-half of the narrative to Samarin’s participation in the emancipation of the serfs. Perusing Samarin’s collected works and published correspondence one can readily see that there was no other national or personal problem that concerned him more or that placed a greater demand on his mind, conscience, and energy than ridding Russia of serfdom. On the question of serfdom during the 1840s and 1850s the early Slavophils, like other intelligent and concerned Russian gentry, were confronted by a difficult and trying decision. Concern is with Samarin’s views on, and contribution to, the emancipation of the serfs in Russia. There is no doubt that Samarin’s two years in the Baltic area had much to do with placing the problem of serfdom for him in the broader range of the “peasant” question, which inevitably involved the basic issue of the land.
