Nikolai Grech as a Russian Nodier? An Episode From the History of Russian-French Literary Relations

The Russian writer and grammarian Nikolai Ivanovich Grech (1787-1867) in his book ÒTravel Letters from England, Germany and FranceÓ (1839) devoted very heartfelt pages to the visit he paid to the French writer Charles Nodier (1780-1844) in 1837 during his stay in Paris. According to Grech, he came to Nodier without an announcement, but very soon became close to him and even became friends. This circumstance in itself would not have deserved special consideration if four years earlier the journal ÒSon of the Fatherland and Northern ArchiveÓ had not published a very complimentary note about Nodier, in which the French writer was likened to his Russian colleague, in whom it was not difficult to recognize Grech. Meanwhile, Grech was the publisher of this magazine, and therefore it is clear that the note could not have appeared without his knowledge. Also, clearly with his knowledge and, moreover, from his words, this comparison was already directly transmitted, with the naming of the surname, in his book "One Year in Russia" by the French writer Henri Merimee, who closely communicated with Grech during his stay in St. Petersburg. The article analyzes Grech's reviews of Nodier and provides an answer to the question of why Grech was so interested in identifying himself with Nodier - an identification to which his contemporary Pyotr Andreyevich Vyazemsky remained completely indifferent, although he was also tipped for the role of the "Russian Nodier".