Skovoroda: The World Tried to Catch Me but Could Not

Book excerpt: Grigori Savvich Skovoroda is the person that all philosophers wish to become. He was a mendicant teacher, nomad and Christian humanist, and the exceptional talents he possessed provided him the means for success as he preached his version of Christian humanism. He had a profound mind, phenomenal memory, and played several musical instruments. Along with knowing the Russian and Ukrainian languages, Skovoroda was fluent in Hebrew, German, Latin and Greek, and translated works of Cicero and Plutarch from Greek into Ukrainian. He also had a photographic memory of the Bible. Skovoroda traveled on foot southern Russia and eastern Ukraine for some 30 years, influencing every person he met and household he visited and compiling a library of compositions of his version of Christian humanism. His memory and influence endures to the present. This volume contains a biography, analysis of his philosophy, and a translation into English of several selections of his work.