Editing Russian cosmism

{{Short description|Russian philosophical and cultural movement}}
{{Distinguish|Cosmicism}}
[[File:Tsiolk na lune (pic Gofman) 3.png|thumb|{{center|An illustration to [[Konstantin Tsiolkovsky|Tsiolkovsky's]] educational science fiction story ''On the Moon'' (1893)}}]]
'''Russian cosmism''' (Russian: Русский космизм), or simply '''cosmism''', is a [[Philosophical movement|philosophical]] and [[cultural movement]] that emerged in late 19th- and early 20th-century [[Russia]], integrating [[science]], [[religion]], and [[metaphysics]] into a unified worldview. It is characterized by the belief in humanity’s cosmic destiny, the potential for [[immortality]], and the use of scientific and technological advancements to achieve control over nature and [[Space exploration|explore space]].<ref name="occult">''Hagemeister M.'' {{cite book |last1=Rosenthal |first1=Bernice Glatzer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kumg5iYYkWkC&pg=PA185 |title=Russian cosmism in the 1920s and today |date=1997 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=9780801483318 |lang=ru |accessdate=2019-11-16}} / Rosenthal B. G. (ed.) The occult in Russian and Soviet culture.— Cornell University Press, 1997.— 468 p.— p.185—202.— ISBN 0-8014-8331-X, ISBN 978-0-8014-8331-8. (Information and Interdisciplinary Subjects Series)</ref>

At the beginning of the 20th century, there was a burst of scientific investigation into interplanetary travel, largely driven by fiction writers such as [[Jules Verne]] and [[H. G. Wells]], which would influence philosophical movements like Russian cosmism.{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}} The movement was also influenced by [[Eastern Orthodoxy|Eastern Orthodox]] thought, [[Russian philosophy]], and advancements in natural sciences. Key figures in Russian cosmism include [[Nikolai Fyodorov (philosopher)|Nikolai Fedorov]], who advocated for the abolition of death and resurrection of ancestors through scientific means; and [[Konstantin Tsiolkovsky]], whose work in astronautics and space travel laid the foundations for modern [[cosmonautics]]. Other notable thinkers, such as [[Vladimir Vernadsky]] and [[Alexander Chizhevsky]], contributed ideas on the [[noosphere]], [[biosphere]], and cosmic influences on human life.

Although suppressed during the Soviet era, cosmism influenced [[Soviet space program|Soviet space exploration]], [[transhumanism]], and later philosophical movements. In the 21st century, Russian cosmism has gained renewed interest, particularly in discussions on [[space colonization]], technological immortality, and the role of humanity in the universe.{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}}

==Theory==
Cosmism entailed a broad theory of [[natural philosophy]], combining elements of [[religion]] and [[ethics]] with a history and philosophy of the [[Cosmology|origin]], [[evolution]], and future existence of the [[cosmos]] and [[humankind]]. It combined elements from both [[Eastern philosophy|Eastern]] and [[Western philosophy|Western philosophic traditions]] as well as from the [[Russian Orthodox Church]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.berdyaev.com/berdiaev/berd_lib/1915_186.html|first=Nikolai|last=Berdyaev|title=The religion of resuscitative resurrection The "Philosophy of the Common Task" of N. F. Fedorov|publisher=berdyaev.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181014115444/http://www.berdyaev.com/berdiaev/berd_lib/1915_186.html|archive-date=14 October 2018|url-status=live|author-link=Nikolai Berdyaev}}</ref>
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|quote     = The Culture of Health is the basic science about ''Spiritual Humanity''. It studies the perspectives of  harmonious development of ''Spiritual man'' and ''Spiritual ethnos'' as a conscious creator of the ''State of Light'' into the territory of the Solar System
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|source    =&nbsp;[[Victor Skumin]]<ref name="Russian cosmism">{{cite book |year=2013 |url=http://sovieteramuseum.com/?product=art-works-by-russian-cosmism-painter-xx-xxi-ct-catalogue-of-exhibition-2013 |title=Art works by Russian cosmism painter XX – XXI ct. Catalogue of exhibition 2013 |publisher=Roerich museum |access-date= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200203092903/http://sovieteramuseum.com/?product=art-works-by-russian-cosmism-painter-xx-xxi-ct-catalogue-of-exhibition-2013 |archive-date=3 February 2020 |url-status=unfit |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://900igr.net/prezentatsii/fizkultura/Kultura-zdorovja/007-Kultura-zdorovja-fundamentalnaja-nauka-o-Dukhovnom-CHelovechestve.html |year=2009 |author=Kovaleva E. A. |title=Педагогический совет. Культура здоровья учащихся как фактор здоровьесберегающей среды школы. Слайд 7 |trans-title=Pedagogical Council. Slide 7 of the presentation "culture of health" to the lessons of physical education on the theme the "Health" |publisher=900igr.net |access-date=27 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211121104530/http://900igr.net/prezentatsii/fizkultura/Kultura-zdorovja/007-Kultura-zdorovja-fundamentalnaja-nauka-o-Dukhovnom-CHelovechestve.html |archive-date=21 November 2021|url-status=live}}</ref>}}
Cosmism was one of the influences on [[Proletkult]], and after the [[October Revolution]], the term came to be applied to "...the poetry of such writers as [[Mikhail Gerasimov (poet)|Mikhail Gerasimov]] and [[Vladimir Kirillov]]...: emotional paeans to physical labor, machines, and the collective of industrial workers ... organized around the image of the universal 'Proletarian', who strides forth from the earth to conquer planets and stars."<ref>Thomas Seifrid, ''A Companion To Andrei Platonov's'' The Foundation Pit (Academic Studies Press, 2009: {{ISBN|1-934843-57-1}}), pp. 69-70.</ref> This form of cosmism, along with the writings of [[Nikolai Fyodorovich Fyodorov|Nikolai Fyodorov]], was a strong influence on [[Andrei Platonov]].<ref name="Russian cosmism"/>

Many ideas of the Russian cosmists were later developed by those in the [[transhumanism|transhumanist]] movement.<ref name="Russian cosmism"/> [[Victor Skumin]] argues that the [[Victor Skumin#Culture of Health, Agni Yoga and Theosophy|Culture of Health]] will play an important role in the creation of a human spiritual society into the [[Solar System]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Skumin |author-link=Victor Skumin |first=V. A. |script-title=ru: Культура здоровья — фундаментальная наука о человеке. |trans-title=A Culture of Health as a fundamental human science. |year=1995  |url=https://biblmdkz.ru/kz.html |language=ru |isbn=5-88167-003-5 |access-date= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210623174117/https://biblmdkz.ru/kz.html |archive-date=23 June 2021|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://kult-zdor.ru/?page_id=5 |title=Концепция Учения |trans-title=The Concept Of Doctrine |publisher=kult-zdor.ru |access-date= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210627104056/http://kult-zdor.ru/?page_id=5 |archive-date=27 June 2021|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Branches ==
Russian cosmism can be divided into two categories: scientific and philosophical.<ref>Гачева, Анастасия. 2019. ''Русский Космизм в Идеях и Лицах''. Москва: Академический проект, 3.</ref> While the scientific branch is naturalistic, the philosophical branch is mystical and metaphysical, yet both branches are inherently spiritual. This is particularly evident among early Russian cosmists who followed in the footsteps of spiritual thinkers like [[Nikolai Fyodorov (philosopher)|Fyodorov]] and [[Vladimir Solovyov (philosopher)|Solovyov]]. For a more nuanced categorization, there is often a third category mentioned by scholars: the artistic branch.<ref>Bezgodov, Aleksandr, and Konstantin Barezhev. 2019. ''The Origins of Planetary Ethics in the Philosophy of Russian Cosmism''. Xlibris, p. 93.</ref>

=== The philosophical branch ===
{{see also|Nikolai Fyodorov (philosopher)}}
Nikolai Fyodorovich Fyodorov (1828–1903) is regarded as the father of Russian cosmism and its most representative figure. The major idea associated with Fyodorov is the philosophy of [[Nikolai Fyodorov (philosopher)#Humankind's Common Task|Humankind's Common Task]], which meant "to regulate the forces of nature, to defeat death and bring ancestors back to life so that they too would participate in the general resurrection."<ref>Elisabeth Koutaissoff and Marilyn Minto. "Introduction". In ''What Was Man Created For? The Philosophy of the Common Task''. Lausanne: Honeyglen Publishing/L’Age d’Homme, p. 12.</ref> 

This idea was so central to his philosophy that "whatever topic he wrote about, Fedorov brought in his main idea of the Common Task—how to achieve universal brotherhood, rationalise nature instead of merely exploiting her bounties, overcome death, resurrect the ancestors and create a united humanity worthy of governing the universe."<ref>Elisabeth Koutaissoff and Marilyn Minto. "Introduction". In ''What Was Man Created For? The Philosophy of the Common Task''. Lausanne: Honeyglen Publishing/L’Age d’Homme, p. 18.</ref> The sense of urgency for uniting for a common task is a theme that exists in one way or another in the works of all Russian cosmists.
[[File:Alexander Scriabin (by Alexander Mozer).jpg|thumb|[[Alexander Scriabin]] as a Russian cosmist.]]

=== The artistic branch ===
[[Alexander Scriabin]], who was inspired by the Russian cosmist ideas of his day, sought to unite humanity for a common task much like Fyodorov. He can be regarded as the most representative member of the artistic branch of Russian cosmism.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Yansori |first=Ali |date=2023-12-07 |title=Alexander Scriabin as a Russian Cosmist |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s11212-023-09590-6 |journal=Studies in East European Thought |language=en |doi=10.1007/s11212-023-09590-6 |issn=1573-0948|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Scriabin's vision was to use artistic means to achieve Cosmist ends. His artistic vision, which was grounded in philosophy and spirituality, can be most clearly observed in his project [[Mysterium (Scriabin)|Mysterium]].

=== The scientific branch ===
In 1881, Russian revolutionary and rocket pioneer [[Nikolai Kibalchich]] proposed an idea of pulsed [[rocket propulsion]] by combustion of explosives,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Кибальчич Николай Иванович - История науки - Известные ученые |url=https://famous-scientists.ru/founder/90 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230323175249/https://famous-scientists.ru/founder/90 |archive-date=March 23, 2023 |access-date=2025-03-13 |website=famous-scientists.ru |language=ru}}</ref> which was an early precursor for [[Project Orion (nuclear propulsion)|Project Orion]].<ref>{{cite tech report |url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20000096503 |title=Nuclear Pulse Propulsion: Orion and Beyond |last1=Schmidt |first1=George R |last2=Bonometti |first2=J.A. |last3=Morton |first3=P.J. |date=1 January 2000 |institution=NASA |number=20000096503}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=ON A METHOD OF PROPULSION OF PROJECTILES BY MEANS OF EXTERNAL NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS PART I |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA306631.pdf |access-date=12 March 2024 |website=apps.dtic.mil}}</ref>

[[Konstantin Tsiolkovsky]] (1857–1935) was among the pioneers of theoretical [[space exploration]] and [[cosmonautics]]. In 1903, Tsiolkovsky published the first serious scientific work on space travel. His work was essentially unknown outside the [[Russian Empire]], but inside the country it inspired further research, experimentation and the formation of the Society for Studies of Interplanetary Spaceflight.<ref name="Riper2007">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k8CxJeFzCdQC&pg=PA26|first=A. Bowdoin|last=Van Riper|title=Rockets and Missiles: The Life Story of a Technology|date=29 October 2007|publisher=[[JHU Press]]|isbn=978-0-8018-8792-5|pages=26–28|access-date=13 October 2018}}</ref> Tsiolkovsky wrote a book called "The Will of the Universe; Unknown Intelligent Forces" in which he propounded a philosophy of [[panpsychism]]. He believed humans would eventually colonize the [[Milky Way]]. His thought preceded the Space Age by several decades, and some of what he foresaw in his imagination has come into being since his death. Tsiolkovsky did not believe in traditional religious cosmology, but instead he believed in a cosmic being that governed humans.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.prlib.ru/en/node/404538|last=Tsiolkovsky|first=Konstantin Eduardovich|author-link=Konstantin Tsiolkovsky|title=The Will of the Universe; Unknown Intelligent Forces|place=[[Kaluga]]|year=1928|pages=23|language=ru|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181019001447/https://www.prlib.ru/en/node/404538|url-status=live|archive-date=19 October 2018}}</ref>

=== Other cosmists ===
[[Alexander Bogdanov]] (1873–1928) was a Russian and later Soviet physician, philosopher, science fiction writer, and Bolshevik revolutionary. His wide scientific and medical interests ranged from universal systems theory to the possibility of human rejuvenation through [[blood transfusion]]. He saw heterochronic blood transfusions as an alliance of solidarity between the generations, where the old benefited from the rejuvenating effects of the young blood, while the young received immunities from the elders' blood. Ironically, he died as a result of a hemolytic transfusion reaction. His successors put Russia in the forefront of the development of centralized national blood transfusion services.<ref>Huestis, Douglas. (2007). Alexander Bogdanov: The Forgotten Pioneer of Blood Transfusion. Transfusion medicine reviews. 21. 337-40. 10.1016/j.tmrv.2007.05.008.</ref> 

Other cosmists included [[Vladimir Vernadsky]] (1863–1945), who developed the notion of a [[noosphere]], and [[Alexander Chizhevsky]] (1897–1964), pioneer of "[[Chronobiology|heliobiology]]" (study of the sun's effect on biology).<ref>L. V. Golovanov, Alexander Chizhevsky entry in the [[Great Russian Encyclopedia]], Moscow, 2001 edition. See  [http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&sl=ru&tl=en&u=http://slovari.yandex.ru/%25D0%2590%25D0%259B%25D0%2595%25D0%259A%25D0%25A1%25D0%2590%25D0%259D%25D0%2594%25D0%25A0%2520%25D0%259B%25D0%2595%25D0%259E%25D0%259D%25D0%2598%25D0%2594%25D0%259E%25D0%2592%25D0%2598%25D0%25A7%2520%25D0%25A7%25D0%2598%25D0%2596%25D0%2595%25D0%2592%25D0%25A1%25D0%259A%25D0%2598%25D0%2599/%25D0%2591%25D0%25A1%25D0%25AD/%25D0%25A7%25D0%25B8%25D0%25B6%25D0%25B5%25D0%25B2%25D1%2581%25D0%25BA%25D0%25B8%25D0%25B9%2520%25D0%2590%25D0%25BB%25D0%25B5%25D0%25BA%25D1%2581%25D0%25B0%25D0%25BD%25D0%25B4%25D1%2580%2520%25D0%259B%25D0%25B5%25D0%25BE%25D0%25BD%25D0%25B8%25D0%25B4%25D0%25BE%25D0%25B2%25D0%25B8%25D1%2587/&rurl=translate.google.com&twu=1&usg=ALkJrhibb_mRRqrG0zmDCVry13dsUkEe6g Google.Translate version of the article from the Russian version of the Encyclopedia].</ref><ref>Soiuz Pisatelei, Soviet literature, Issues 1-6, [https://books.google.com/books?id=TOJKAAAAYAAJ&q=Alexander+Chizhevsky+Cosmism p 188], Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1982.</ref><ref>James T. Andrews, “Red cosmos: K.E. Tsiolkovskii, grandfather of Soviet rocketry”, Issue 18 Centennial of Flight Series, [https://books.google.com/books?id=3jO5KHOLdDcC&dq=Alexander+Chizhevsky+Cosmism&pg=PA114 p 114], Texas A&M University Press, 2009, {{ISBN|1-60344-168-9}}, {{ISBN|978-1-60344-168-1}}</ref> A [[minor planet]], [[3113 Chizhevskij]], discovered by [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] astronomer [[Nikolai Stepanovich Chernykh]] in 1978, is named after him.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=3111+Misuzu+1977|title=3111 Misuzu 1977 - Google Search|website=www.google.com}}</ref> 

Russian paleontologist and sci-fi writer [[Ivan Yefremov]] developed the ideas of cosmism and concluded that [[communism]] was a necessary structure for any future society which wants to survive in space. The successor of the traditions of Ivan Yefremov was geologist and sci-fi writer Alexander Shalimov. The astrophysicist [[Nikolai Aleksandrovich Kozyrev]] was the discoverer of Lunar tectonic activity (1959) and author of Causal Mechanics/Theory of Time.{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}}

==Gallery of Russian cosmists==
<gallery class="center" widths="190" heights="180">
File:Pasternak fedorov.jpg|[[Nikolai Fyodorovich Fyodorov|Nikolai Fyodorov]]
File:Vladimir Solovyov 1892 by Nikolay Yarochenko.jpg|[[Vladimir Solovyov (philosopher)|Vladimir Solovyov]]
File:Skrjabin Alexander.jpg|[[Alexander Scriabin]]
File:1934-V I Vernadsky.jpg|[[Vladimir Vernadsky]]
File:Konstantin Tsiolkovsky in his working room (by Feodosiy Chmil), 1934.png|[[Konstantin Tsiolkovsky]]
File:Ivan A. Yefremov.jpg|{{center|[[Ivan Yefremov]]}}
File:Скумін у серпні 2020 року.jpg|[[Victor Skumin]]
</gallery>

==See also==
{{columns-list|colwidth=16em|
*[[Agni Yoga]]
*[[Biosphere]]
*[[Cosmology]]
*[[Cosmology (philosophy)|Philosophy of cosmos]]
*[[New Age]]
*[[Pantheism]]
*[[Proletkult]]
*[[Roerichism]]
*[[Resurrection of the dead]]
*[[Russian Futurism]]
*[[Russian philosophy]]
*[[Science and technology in Russia]]
*[[Science fiction]]
*[[Sobornost]]
*[[Soviet space program]]
*[[Space colonization]]
*[[Technological resurrection]]
}}

== Citations ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* [[Boczkowska, Kornelia]] ''The Impact of American and Russian Cosmism on the Representation of Space Exploration in 20th Century American and Soviet Space Art''. Poznan: Wydawnictwo Naukowe UAM, 2016. [https://books.google.com/books?id=p2eMswEACAAJ The Impact of American and Russian Cosmism on the Representation of Space Exploration in 20th Century American and Soviet Space Art]
* [[Nikolai Fyodorovich Fyodorov|Nikolai Fyodorov]]: Studien zu Leben, Werk und Wirkung (Nikolai Fyodorov: Studies to His Life, Works and His Influence) :by [[Michael Hagemeister]]:(München: Sagner, 1989):{{ISBN|3-87690-461-7}}:Originally presented as the author's thesis (doctoral) — Philipps-Universität Marburg, 1989.
* [[Michael Hagemeister]]: "Russian Cosmism in the 1920s and Today". In: Bernice G. Rosenthal (ed.): ''The Occult in Russian and Soviet Culture'' (Ithaca, London: Cornell UP, 1997), pp.&nbsp;185–202.
* [[Young, George M.]] ''The Russian Cosmists: The Esoteric Futurism of Nikolai Fedorov and His Followers''. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012. [https://books.google.com/books?id=O8FpAgAAQBAJ&pg=PR4 The Russian Cosmists: The Esoteric Futurism of Nikolai Fedorov and His Followers]
* [[Frédéric Tremblay]]: "George M. Young, ''The Russian Cosmists'', Oxford University Press, 2012, x + 280 pp.", ''Slavonic and East European Review'', vol. 94, n. 1, pp.&nbsp;155–158.

==External links==
{{commons|Константин Эдуардович Циолковский|Konstantin Tsiolkovsky}}
{{wikisource|Author:Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky|Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky}}
* R. [[Djordjevic]] [http://saj.matf.bg.ac.rs/159/pdf/105-109.pdf Russian Cosmism (with the Selective Bibliography) and its Uprising Effect on the Development of Space Research] (PDF)
* [http://www.emory.edu/INTELNET/rus_thought_overview.html Brief overview of Russian philosophy]
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20040910091321/http://philtar.ucsm.ac.uk/russian_philosophy/ PHILTAR - Comprehensive web site with links to texts and resources]}}
*[http://www.isfp.co.uk/russian_thinkers/index.html Gallery of Russian Thinkers] edited by Dmitry Olshansky
* [http://www.iep.utm.edu/r/russian.htm Russian philosophy] - entry in the ''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy''.
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20040910091055/http://www.mavicanet.com/directory/bel/2123.html Directory of links to Russian philosophers, mostly in Russian]}}
*[http://www.hudsonfla.com/thesis.htm Tsiolkovsky's Imperative in the 21st Century] Academic paper
*[http://phillumeny.onego.ru/labels/russian/space/page2/page2.html Virtual Matchbox Labels Museum - Russian labels - Space - Page 2 - Konstantin Tsiolkovsky] Historic images
*[http://www.russianspaceweb.com/tsiolkovsky.html Tsiolkovsky] from Russianspaceweb.com
*{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20080828211841/http://www.spaext.com/info/tsiolkovsky/index.html Spaceflight or Extinction: Konstantin Tsiolkovsky]}} Excerpts from "The Aims of Astronautics", ''The Call of the Cosmos''
*{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20060209011023/http://www.astronautix.com/articles/theceage.htm The Foundations of the Space Age]}}
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20200806222915/https://kozyrevmirrors.com/russian-cosmism/ Russian Cosmism]}}

===Videos===
* {{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_Ag-qT0tpM&t=193s |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/v_Ag-qT0tpM| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|title=Russian Cosmism, Perpetual Generations Abraham's Seed, 500 Quadrillion People|author=Pastor Moabel |publisher=youtube.com|access-date=26 September 2019}}{{cbignore}}
* {{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTIn1UeyGRc |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/JTIn1UeyGRc| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|title=Roerich. The Call Of Cosmic Evolution|publisher=youtube.com|access-date=7 January 2018}}{{cbignore}}

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