ABSTRACT
As a political journalist and polemicist, Alexander Herzen displayed an artistry and enjoyed an influence which in themselves would secure him a place in history, though he was to meet his match in these respects. Herzen was born in 1812, the natural son of a rich nobleman. His illegitimate birth was not allowed to interfere with his education, social standing, or fortune. As teen-agers, Herzen and Nicholas Ogarev, with whose life his was to be so tragically intertwined, swore a solemn oath to devote their careers to freeing the Russian people. The encouraging news from Russia led Herzen to acquire a habit which was always to embarrass his admirers and amuse his enemies, and which to tell the truth does occasionally make him look silly. Herzen's growing estrangement from the circle around The Contemporary was also connected with a personal vendetta he carried on against its editors, Nekrasov and Panayev.
