Skovoroda, Kovalynskyi And Mingard

Abstract

The article is devoted to the circumstances of Hryhoriy Skovoroda’s use of the pseudonym «Daniil Meingard» and the role played by Mykhailo Kovalynskyi in Skovoroda’s adoption of this pseudonym. The article reconstructs the biography of Pastor Daniel Mingard, whose name was adopted by Skovoroda, including refuted false information about him, widespread in Ukrainian-language literature; a brief description of the intellectual biography of his son, Pastor Gabriel Mingard, who, unlike his father, was a notable figure in the intel- lectual life of the country of Vaud in the second half of the 18th century, in particular, one of the most original authors of the «Encyclopedia of Yverdon» — a liberal Protestant response to the «Encyclopedia» of Diderot and d’Alembert. The article states that the description of Daniel Mingard, which Kovalynskyi gives in «The Life of Grigory Skovoroda» in order to explain the origin of the pseudonym Skovo- roda, corresponds more to Gabriel than to Daniel Mingard. The explanation of this ambiguity is based on the hypothesis that Kovalynskyi, choosing Gabriel Mingard as an example to follow, projects the Mingard son-father relationship onto his relationship with Skovoroda. This hypothesis gives reason to reconsider the role of Kovalynskyi in the life of Skovoroda and in the formation of the image of the philosopher in «The Life of Grigory Skovoroda». The article reconstructs Kovalynskyi’s circle of reading and demonstrates that his literary preferences correspond to the leading trends of reception by Russian Freemasonry in the last third of the 18th century. Western, primarily liberal Protestant literature. This recon- struction gives reason to draw a parallel between Skovoroda’s opinion and Kovalynskyi’s reading circle, in the context of which the latter evaluates Skovoroda’s life and philosophy; they are related by devotion to religious and intellectual freedom, eclecticism, as well as numerous subjects that we consider purely Skovoroda’s subjects: self-knowledge, the inner man, the goodness of God, happiness, friendship, etc.