Nikolai Berdyaev was a leading representative of Russian religious philosophy of the 20th century, in whose works the distinctiveness of the Russian philosophical tradition found its fullest expression.
Thoughts about Russia—its purpose and destiny—prompted Berdyaev, shortly before his death, in 1946, to write the book “The Russian Idea,” a brilliant sketch of Russian thought of the 19th century and the early 20th century. It examines issues of historical and cultural continuity and the further development of Russian religious philosophy.
Berdyaev’s “idea of Russia” is a messianic idea: it holds that Russians are called to play a worthy role in the history of the world, in affirming the principles of commmunality and brotherhood of people.