Two centuries of the Russian classics

2686-7494

IWL RAS

https://doi.org/10.22455/2686-7494-2026-8-3-6-27

Research Article

Articles

The 1755 Lisbon Earthquake and Its Philosophical Interpretation in Western and Russian Literature of the 18th Century

Krasheninnikova

Olga A.

red@rusklassika.ru

25 09 2026

8 3 6 27

Lisbon earthquake poem Voltaire “On the Destruction of Lisbon ” J.-J. Rousseau “Letter on Providence ” G. Malagrida Gideon Krinovsky V. A. Levshin

2026

The article examines the cultural significance of the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. This event in 18th-century Europe spurred the study of seismic phenomena and the emergence of seismology as a science, and gave rise to a considerable number of philosophical and theological interpretations of this natural disaster. The Lisbon earthquake has featured prominently in Western philosophical thought (Voltaire’s “Poem on the Destruction of Lisbon,” 1756 and Rousseau’s “Letter on Providence,” 1756), sparking debates on the philosophy of optimism, Leibniz’s theodicy, and the origin of evil. Less well known is the contribution of 18th-century Russian theological thought, represented by the famous Elizabethan preacher Gideon Krinovsky (1726– 1763) and the writer V. A. Levshin (1746–1826), who offered their own original perspectives on the causes of the disaster. The Russian concept of the catastrophe that had occurred was not scientific, but purely theological: the cause of evil in the world was recognized as man’s sinful deviation from God’s commandments, and the natural disaster itself was intended to serve as a lesson in the need for repentance.

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