ТHE SOURCES OF M. O. MENSHIKOV’S RELIGIOUS CRISIS IN THE CONTEXT OF THEIR INFLUENCE ON HIS CREATIVE ACTIVITY (based on the early diaries)

In the article, the authors analyse the formation of the worldview of the pre-revolutionary publicist M. O. Menshikov in his youth. Family upbringing, years of apprenticeship, and the early stage of his creative development were considered. The early diary entries in which young Menshikov expresses his views on God, religion, scientific knowledge and other ideological problems were carefully studied. As a result, the research establishes the origins and ideological principles that were formed in Menshikov’s youth and influenced his religious instability and socio-political ideas.