Mikhail Magnitsky as a religious type during the reigns of Alexander I and Nicholas I

Mikhail L. Magnitsky was a famous statesman in the reign of Alexander I. He had a significant influence on the formation of government policy in science, education, censorship, and religious policy. At first, Magnitsky was a supporter of enlightenment and constitutional ideas, a member of the Masonic Lodge “Polar Star”, and a close associate of the leader of the Russian liberals M. M. Speransky. During his exile in 1812-1816, Magnitsky underwent a spiritual crisis, which led him to religion. Magnitsky carried out a number activities at Kazan University, which were supposed to add a religious component to science and education. His views were first quite removed form Orthodoxy and were developing in line with Protestant mysticism popular among the intellectual and political elite of the time. A full analysis of his world-view reveals that starting in the 1820's, Magnitsky broke with the liberal camp and became a convinced conservative. He underwent a serious evolution from a Westernizer, liberal, and deist, first to a supporter of non-confessional mysticism, and then to an Orthodoxy conservative and monarchist. Tis spiritual evolution was quite typical for many of the representatives of Russian conservative thought of the time.