Anatoly Vaneev: "Understanding elevates the soul" (the history of the family and creativity of the follower Lev Karsavin)

The article is the first detailed study of the life and creative path of Anatoly Vaneev, the author of the significant book "Two Years in Abezi", dedicated to the last stage of the life of the largest Russian religious philosopher, scientist and poet Lev Karsavin. Vaneev himself took place as an independent thinker and a notable figure in the history of his family and the history of the great culture of Russia. The research is based on the found personal archive of the family, which was considered lost for a long time. Most of the information is recreated on the basis of previously unknown archive documents. The article covers the period from the second half of the XIX century, when the grandfather of the main character, Anatoly AlexandrovichVaneev, became close to the participants of the St. Petersburg "Union of Struggle for the Liberation of the Working Class". He became an associate and personal friend of V. I. Lenin and many major revolutionaries, was exiled to Siberia and died of tuberculosis there. During the Soviet period, he was one of the «Pantheon»of the most important figures in the history of the Communist Party. Anatoly Vaneev went through the trials of the war, was wounded, arrested and unjustly convicted. The article shows how, despite the trials, he consistently and all his life engaged in self-education, learning to think. The meeting with Karsavin opened the gift of independent thought in Vaneev, made him a genuine thinker. His book "Two Years in Abezi" is mistakenly perceived as a memoir, it is an original portrait of Karsavin and Vaneev's own religious and philosophical reflection on life. The whole book is subordinated to the main goal - to make the reader reflect and search for the highest meaning of his life, the highest vocation of cultural creativity of each person.