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Alexandre II: Le tsar libérateur
French
- GenresHistory
Paperback
First published December 31, 1990
About the author
Henri Troyat
520 books270 followersTroyat was a French author, biographer, historian and novelist.
Troyat was born Levon Aslan Torossian in Moscow to parents of Armenian descent. His family fled Russia in anticipation of the revolution. After a long exodus taking them to the Caucasus on to Crimea and later by sea to Constantinople and then Venice, the family finally settled in Paris in 1920, where young Troyat was schooled and later earned a law degree. The stirring and tragic events of this flight across half of Europe are vividly recounted by Troyat in 'Tant que la terre durera'.
Troyat received his first literary award, Le prix du roman populaire, at the age of twenty-four, and by twenty-seven, he was awarded the Prix Goncourt.
Troyat published more than 100 books, novels and biographies, among them those of Anton Chekhov, Catherine the Great, Rasputin, Ivan the Terrible and Leo Tolstoy.
Troyat's best-known work is La neige en deuil, which was adapted as an English-language film in 1956 under the title The Mountain.
He was elected as a member of the Académie française in 1959. At the time of his death, Troyat was the longest serving member of the Academy.
From Wikipedia
Troyat was born Levon Aslan Torossian in Moscow to parents of Armenian descent. His family fled Russia in anticipation of the revolution. After a long exodus taking them to the Caucasus on to Crimea and later by sea to Constantinople and then Venice, the family finally settled in Paris in 1920, where young Troyat was schooled and later earned a law degree. The stirring and tragic events of this flight across half of Europe are vividly recounted by Troyat in 'Tant que la terre durera'.
Troyat received his first literary award, Le prix du roman populaire, at the age of twenty-four, and by twenty-seven, he was awarded the Prix Goncourt.
Troyat published more than 100 books, novels and biographies, among them those of Anton Chekhov, Catherine the Great, Rasputin, Ivan the Terrible and Leo Tolstoy.
Troyat's best-known work is La neige en deuil, which was adapted as an English-language film in 1956 under the title The Mountain.
He was elected as a member of the Académie française in 1959. At the time of his death, Troyat was the longest serving member of the Academy.
From Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 29, 2026
Bulgarian review first, followed by the English translation below
Update:
След този цар Русия не е имала свестен управник. Синът му е ограничен автократ, внукът му - ограничен глупак. Онези след тях идват други луди. Защо в историята е такава рядкост истински свестен човек да поеме властта вероятно зависи и от вида власт. Диктатурите не предполагат нито реформаторство, нито почтеност. Макар в този случай да има изключение.
В Путиновите учебници по “ревизирана” история реформите на Александър II се разглеждат като „необходими, но недомислени“, защото са създали почва за революционни идеи.
Първоначално ревю:
Това е човекът, изобразен на паметника в центъра на София. Пред този паметник наистина изпитвам уважение към изобразения човек и владетел. Уважавам и човека, и владетеля. Не е бил перфектен, но е бил - дето се вика - свестен.
Александър II е прагматик и по убеждения консерватор...който прави повече реформи, отколкото мнозина по-либерално настроени на негово място биха посмели. Просто стига логически до заключението, че са по-ефективното решение. Александър II остава в историята като освободител, премахвайки последното узаконено в Европа робство - крепостничеството. В края на ХIX век Русия е последната държава в Европа, която най-сетне - поне официално - се отървава от него. В устрема си към проливите и Босфора, набързо ни отделя от Османската империя - но тизи аспект не е ключов за Троая, занимават го далеч по-тежките предизвикателства на вътрешния руски “фронт”.
Твърде консервативен и тясно фокусиран за анархистите, твърде либерален и широкоскроен за хардлайнерите, всъщност винаги стремящ се към ред (в немския му смисъл), работохоликът Александър II води политическа линия, недопадаща нито на приятели, нито на врагове.
Личният му живот е не по-малко интересен: скандализира цяла Русия, заживявайки с 28 години по-младата Екатерина Долгорукая, която му е много повече от любовница.
И приключва земния си път застигнат от поредния атентатор, след като през цялото си управление по чудо е избегнал куп покушения. Глупаво от страна на атентаторите, премахнали един от най-разумните руски царе, за да дойде нa власт твърдоглав, ограничен и тираничен наследник - Александър III, ускорил значително залеза на империята и обявил се твърдо против нашето Съединение.
Троая, както винаги, е написал завладяваща биография с малко, но прецизни щрихи.
Update:
After this Tsar, Russia has not had a decent ruler. His son was a narrow-minded autocrat, and his grandson—a narrow-minded fool. Those who followed were of a different kind of madness. Why it is so rare in history for a truly decent person to take power likely depends on the nature of that power itself. Dictatorships presuppose neither reformism nor integrity. Though in this case, there was an exception.
In Putin’s "revised" history textbooks, the reforms of Alexander II are viewed as "necessary but ill-conceived," under the pretext that they created a breeding ground for revolutionary ideas.
Original Review:
This is the man depicted on the monument in the center of Sofia. Standing before this monument, I feel genuine respect for the person and ruler portrayed. I respect both the man and the sovereign. He wasn't perfect, but he was—as they say—a decent soul.
Alexander II was a pragmatist and a conservative by conviction... who implemented more reforms than many more liberally-minded people in his position would have dared. He simply arrived at the logical conclusion that they were the most effective solution. Alexander II remains in history as the "Liberator," abolishing the last legalized form of slavery in Europe—serfdom. In the late 19th century, Russia was the last European state to finally—at least officially—rid itself of it. In his rush toward the Straits and the Bosphorus, he quickly separated us from the Ottoman Empire—but this aspect is not key for Troyat; he is far more concerned with the much heavier challenges of the Russian internal "front."
Too conservative and narrowly focused for the anarchists, too liberal and broad-minded for the hardliners, always striving for order (in the German sense), the workaholic Alexander II led a political line that pleased neither friends nor foes.
His personal life is no less interesting: he scandalized all of Russia by living with Ekaterina Dolgorukaya, 28 years his junior, who was much more to him than just a mistress.
And his earthly journey ended at the hands of yet another assassin, after miraculously surviving a string of attempts throughout his reign. It was a foolish move by the assassins, removing one of the most sensible Russian Tsars, only for a stubborn, narrow-minded, and tyrannical successor to take power—Alexander III, who significantly accelerated the decline of the empire and stood firmly against the Bulgarian Unification.
Troyat, as always, has written a captivating biography with few but precise strokes.
Update:
След този цар Русия не е имала свестен управник. Синът му е ограничен автократ, внукът му - ограничен глупак. Онези след тях идват други луди. Защо в историята е такава рядкост истински свестен човек да поеме властта вероятно зависи и от вида власт. Диктатурите не предполагат нито реформаторство, нито почтеност. Макар в този случай да има изключение.
В Путиновите учебници по “ревизирана” история реформите на Александър II се разглеждат като „необходими, но недомислени“, защото са създали почва за революционни идеи.
Първоначално ревю:
Това е човекът, изобразен на паметника в центъра на София. Пред този паметник наистина изпитвам уважение към изобразения човек и владетел. Уважавам и човека, и владетеля. Не е бил перфектен, но е бил - дето се вика - свестен.
Александър II е прагматик и по убеждения консерватор...който прави повече реформи, отколкото мнозина по-либерално настроени на негово място биха посмели. Просто стига логически до заключението, че са по-ефективното решение. Александър II остава в историята като освободител, премахвайки последното узаконено в Европа робство - крепостничеството. В края на ХIX век Русия е последната държава в Европа, която най-сетне - поне официално - се отървава от него. В устрема си към проливите и Босфора, набързо ни отделя от Османската империя - но тизи аспект не е ключов за Троая, занимават го далеч по-тежките предизвикателства на вътрешния руски “фронт”.
Твърде консервативен и тясно фокусиран за анархистите, твърде либерален и широкоскроен за хардлайнерите, всъщност винаги стремящ се към ред (в немския му смисъл), работохоликът Александър II води политическа линия, недопадаща нито на приятели, нито на врагове.
Личният му живот е не по-малко интересен: скандализира цяла Русия, заживявайки с 28 години по-младата Екатерина Долгорукая, която му е много повече от любовница.
И приключва земния си път застигнат от поредния атентатор, след като през цялото си управление по чудо е избегнал куп покушения. Глупаво от страна на атентаторите, премахнали един от най-разумните руски царе, за да дойде нa власт твърдоглав, ограничен и тираничен наследник - Александър III, ускорил значително залеза на империята и обявил се твърдо против нашето Съединение.
Троая, както винаги, е написал завладяваща биография с малко, но прецизни щрихи.
Update:
After this Tsar, Russia has not had a decent ruler. His son was a narrow-minded autocrat, and his grandson—a narrow-minded fool. Those who followed were of a different kind of madness. Why it is so rare in history for a truly decent person to take power likely depends on the nature of that power itself. Dictatorships presuppose neither reformism nor integrity. Though in this case, there was an exception.
In Putin’s "revised" history textbooks, the reforms of Alexander II are viewed as "necessary but ill-conceived," under the pretext that they created a breeding ground for revolutionary ideas.
Original Review:
This is the man depicted on the monument in the center of Sofia. Standing before this monument, I feel genuine respect for the person and ruler portrayed. I respect both the man and the sovereign. He wasn't perfect, but he was—as they say—a decent soul.
Alexander II was a pragmatist and a conservative by conviction... who implemented more reforms than many more liberally-minded people in his position would have dared. He simply arrived at the logical conclusion that they were the most effective solution. Alexander II remains in history as the "Liberator," abolishing the last legalized form of slavery in Europe—serfdom. In the late 19th century, Russia was the last European state to finally—at least officially—rid itself of it. In his rush toward the Straits and the Bosphorus, he quickly separated us from the Ottoman Empire—but this aspect is not key for Troyat; he is far more concerned with the much heavier challenges of the Russian internal "front."
Too conservative and narrowly focused for the anarchists, too liberal and broad-minded for the hardliners, always striving for order (in the German sense), the workaholic Alexander II led a political line that pleased neither friends nor foes.
His personal life is no less interesting: he scandalized all of Russia by living with Ekaterina Dolgorukaya, 28 years his junior, who was much more to him than just a mistress.
And his earthly journey ended at the hands of yet another assassin, after miraculously surviving a string of attempts throughout his reign. It was a foolish move by the assassins, removing one of the most sensible Russian Tsars, only for a stubborn, narrow-minded, and tyrannical successor to take power—Alexander III, who significantly accelerated the decline of the empire and stood firmly against the Bulgarian Unification.
Troyat, as always, has written a captivating biography with few but precise strokes.
September 26, 2025
Se trata de una biografía amena e introductoria. Útil para entender el contexto, no sólo del Zar, sino de la Rusia del siglo XIX, dónde desfilarán otros personajes de importancia. En el plano meramente histórico el libro carece de profundidad o análisis, sólo pretende realizar una narración cronológica de los hechos.
July 30, 2022
Una biografía normalita
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews