En 1851, du fond de son cachot de la forteresse Pierre-et-Paul de Saint-Pétersbourg, Bakounine y «confesse» au Tsar Nicolas Ier sa participation active au mouvement révolutionnaire qui balaya l’Europe trois ans plus tôt, dans l’espoir qu’il adoucira ses conditions de détention.
La Confession, un des rares écrits autobiographiques de Bakounine, n’est pourtant pas l’entreprise de reniement qu’on a voulu y voir.
Texte alerte et parfaitement maîtrisé, il s’agit d’un extraordinaire témoignage sur le «printemps des peuples» européens et, plus largement, sur la complexité du rapport des révolutionnaires au pouvoir qu’ils combattaient.
Il fut aussi, pour son auteur, un retour sur soi décisif avant de reprendre la lutte.
Pour cette édition, Jean-Christophe Angaut a effectué un travail de recherche et d'annotation qui permettra au lecteur de découvrir l'identité des nombreux protagonistes évoqués par Bakounine au fil de son récit. Ce livre est ainsi un document de première main pour tous ceux qui s'intéressent à ce moment de l'histoire européenne.
Lisez ici notre article consacré à ce sujet.
Michel Bakounine. Confession. 192 pages. Le Passager Clandestin. Mai 2013
About the author
Nadia Sikorsky grew up in Moscow where she obtained a master's degree in journalism and a doctorate in history from Moscow State University. After 13 years at UNESCO, in Paris and then in Geneva, and having served as director of communications at Green Cross International founded by Mikhail Gorbachev, she developed NashaGazeta.ch, the first online Russian-language daily newspaper, launched in 2007.
In 2022, she found herself among those who, according to Le Temps editorial board, "significantly contributed to the success of French-speaking Switzerland," thus appearing among opinion makers and economic, political, scientific and cultural leaders: the Forum of 100.
After 18 years leading NashaGazeta.ch, Nadia Sikorsky decided to return to her roots and focus on what truly fascinates her: culture in all its diversity. This decision took the form of this trilingual cultural blog (Russian, English, French) born in the heart of Europe – in Switzerland, her adopted country, the country distinguished by its multiculturalism and multilingualism.
Nadia Sikorsky does not present herself as a "Russian voice," but as the voice of a European of Russian origin (more than 35 years in Europe, 25 years spent in Switzerland) with the benefit of more than 30 years of professional experience in the cultural world at the international level. She positions herself as a cultural mediator between Russian and European traditions; the title of the blog, "The Russian Accent," captures this essence – the accent being not a linguistic barrier, not a political position but a distinctive cultural imprint in the European context.
