Did Nekrasov write a text about life among Muslims?

A text about the unfair attitude of the Slavs towards Muslims, the authorship of which is attributed to the poet Nikolai Nekrasov, is being distributed on the Internet. We decided to check whether this attribution is correct.

The text, signed with the name of Nekrasov, represents the author’s reflections on the reluctance to understand and accept people of other faiths: “I lived among Muslims for almost nine years. With his almost Slavic face. And, indeed, there was no feeling of fear. I didn’t expect any nasty tricks from them. He returned to Russia non-drinker, non-smoker and knowing something about Islam. And I look at the world differently. Our whole problem is that we don’t want to know anything, we are always right in everything, we are better than everyone else, we do not respect our neighbor, but demand love from a non-Christian... Look at yourself from the outside, and your hair will stand on end.” This text can also be found on social networks (Instagram, X, Facebook, "VKontakte", LiveJournal), and in blogs on news sites, and even in scientific articles. Internet users began to actively disseminate the quote against the backdrop of the terrorist attack that took place on March 22 in the Crocus City Hall near Moscow, the victims of which were steel at least 139 people. At the time of writing this analysis on charges of committing an attack on a concert hall were arrested seven people, at least four of them are citizens of Tajikistan.

Even the first phrase of the viral text about the nine years the author spent among Muslims does not correspond to the known facts from biographies of Nekrasov. He was born in the Podolsk province (now the territory of Ukraine), spent his childhood in the Yaroslavl province, in 1838 he moved to St. Petersburg, where he lived with short breaks until his death, going in the summer to hunt in the Yaroslavl province and on business in Moscow. In the 1850s and 1860s, the poet traveled abroad from time to time, but for no more than a few months at a time. Therefore, Nekrasov could not possibly spend nine years among Muslims, especially outside Russia.

The word “scoundrel” found in the text also raises questions. In the 19th century it used meaning "mean woman". Meaning “something vile, vile act,” the word has become widespread in literature since the mid-twentieth century, several decades after the poet’s death.

But more importantly, there is no text about Muslims in complete collection of works and letters Nekrasova. It is not in correspondence, criticism, or journalism.

Viral text has been spreading on the Internet since the 2010s. Its earliest mention with attribution to Nekrasov “Verified” was found in "LiveJournal" in a post dated December 24, 2012. A blogger under the nickname anti_terror_rf noted that he had discovered this text in other blogs, and gave arguments why he considers attributing these words to the poet groundless. 

Thus, the text about Muslims distributed on the Internet has nothing to do with Nekrasov and was created, apparently, in the early 2010s by an unknown author.

Cover photo: Nikolay Ge. Portrait of Nikolai Nekrasov/Wikimedia Commons

Incorrect quote attribution

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