“Spanish Tolstoy”: the Venice Report of S. de Madariaga

Abstract

One of the most important problems of mankind throughout its history has been the problem of correlation between the common and the particular. The realisation of the importance of the coexistence of the universal and the unique has not lost its relevance to this day. One of the sides of this problem is the comprehension of national traditions in the global context. This issue was addressed by S. de Madariaga in his Venice report on the anniversary of Leo Tolstoy. The translation of Madariaga's report into Russian by K.V. Fotiev was presented by the journal “Grani” in 1960 with the title “Tolstoy's Testament”, and half a century later a translation by K.S. Korkonosenko entitled “Tolstoy's message” was published. Both titles are based on gospel allusions. Tolstoy's literary activity is defined by the Spanish researcher as the starting point for the study of the spiritual life of Russia. Considering the difference between the Russian worldview and the European one, Madariaga searches for the commonality that unites the Russian and Spanish view of the world. The author of the report finds the main points of contact primarily in the sphere of morality, as well as in social life. Tolstoy's work in its various aspects appears to Madariaga as a pan-European cultural value that can open the way to the spiritual salvation of mankind.