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Afrikan Aleksandrovich Špir (Russian: Африка́н Алекса́ндрович Спир; German: Afrikan (von) Spir, French: African (de) Spir, Italian: Africano Spir) (15 November 1837 – 26 March 1890〔Spir died at 9 PM, Fabrizio Frigerio, ''Catalogue raisonné du fonds African Spir'' (''Analytical Catalogue of Afrikan Spir's Corpus'') p. 6, n. 28. Death certificate of African Spir, 26 March 1890 (Vol. 1890, n. 139).〕) was a Russian Neo-Kantian philosopher of Greek-German descent who wrote primarily in German. His book ''Denken und Wirklichkeit'' (''Thought and Reality'') exerted a "lasting impact" on the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche.〔Rüdiger Safranski, ''Nietzsche: A Philosophical Biography'' (trans. Shelley Frisch), W. W. Norton & Company, 2003, p. 161: "This work (and Reality'' ) had long been consigned to oblivion, but it had a lasting impact on Nietzsche. Section 18 of ''Human, All Too Human'' cited Spir, not by name, but by presenting a "proposition by an outstanding logician" (2,38; ''HH'' I §18).〕〔For Nietzsche's annotations in his copy of African's Spir ''Thought and Reality'', as well as Hélène's Claparède-Spir comments on these annotations in a letter in German to Hans Vaihinger (dated Geneva, March, 11th, 1930), cf. Fabrizio Frigerio, ''op. cit.'', p. 15, n. 29 c., Ms. l.e. 253.〕 ==Biography== Spir was born on 15 November 1837 in his father's estates of Spirovska, near the city of Elisavetgrad (Elizabethgrad, now Kirovohrad, Kherson Governorate), Russian Empire (now in Ukraine).〔''Ibid.'', p. 4, 2, n.2. Birth Certificate of African Spir (in Russian) and n.3. German translation of the Birth Certificate and the Certificate of Baptism of African Spir.〕 His father, Alexander Alexandrovich Spir, was a Russian surgeon—Chief Physician of the military Hospital of Odessa specifically—and former professor of mathematics in Moscow. In 1812, he received the Order of St. Vladimir, was knighted, and became councillor and member of Kherson's Governorate hereditary nobility.〔According to the Russian Law about the Nobility, people who were awarded with the St. Vladimir Order (each class) had had the rights of hereditary nobility until the Emperor's Decree of 1900 was issued. After this only three first classes of the Order gave such a right.〕 His mother, Helena Constantinovna Spir, daughter of the major Polovich, was on her mother's side the granddaughter of the Greek painter Logino, who arrived in Russia under the reign of Catherine the Great. Alexander Spir gave each of his five children—four boys and one girl—names chosen in an old Greek Calendar, this is the source of the curious name "Afrikan". Spir disliked his Christian name, simply signing his letters and books "A. Spir". His modesty impelled him not to use either the German "von" or the French "de"—denoting his noble status—before his family name.〔Or to abridge it, if it was absolutely necessary to maintain it, like in his engagement-card: "A. v. Spir-Elise Gatternicht Verlobte Odessa December 1871 Stuttgart", cf.''Ibid.'', p. 4, Personal papers of African Spir, Ms. fr. 1406, 2, no.7.〕 He described his education as follows: "I spent my childhood in the countryside and later I studied for a while in Odessa, first in a Private boarding-school and after in a Gymnasium, more or less equivalent, if I do not mistake, to a French high-school. I have not been at the University, instead I entered the Midshipmen's School in Nikolayev (now Mykolaiv), not far from the Black Sea."〔Autobiographical notice, cf.''Ibid.'', p. 7, Personal Papers of African Spir, Ms. fr. 1409, 5, no.7.〕 During this period he developed an interest in philosophy and read (in the French translation of Tissot) Immanuel Kant’s ''Critique of Pure Reason'', which gave him the basis of his speculative thought. He later followed the readings of Descartes, David Hume, and Stuart Mill.〔"two philosophers, Stuart Mill and David Hume, that he appreciated very particularly, and who always stayed his preferred authors, “because, he said, of their clarity et of their perfect sincerity.” Hélène Claparède-Spir, ''Paroles d'un sage : choix de pensées d’African Spir'', (''Words of a wise man: choice of Spir's words'') Paris-Genève, Je Sers-Labor, 1937, p.24.〕 In 1855, at the age of 18, he participated as Sub-lieutenant of the Russian navy in the Crimean War, during which he was twice decorated (Order of St. Andrew and Order of St. George). Spir defended the same bastion (N. 4 at Malakoff) as Leo Tolstoy during the siege of Sevastopol. After his father’s death in 1852, he inherited his father’s estates (his last remaining brother, the poet Aristarch, having died in 1841) whereupon he emancipated his serfs and gave them land, goods and money, presaging the reform of 1861. In 1862, he left Elizabethgrad for a tour in Germany, where he spent two years "to know better the mind's matter".〔Fabrizio Frigerio, ''op. cit.'', p. 7, Personal Papers of African Spir, Ms. fr. 1409, 5, no.7.〕 His sister Charitis died soon after his return to Russia in 1864. After the death of his mother, in 1867, he sold his estates at a ridiculously low price, distributed almost all of his possessions and left Russia permanently.〔Hélène Claparède-Spir, ''Un précurser A. Spir'', Lausanne-Genève, 1920, p. 18〕 He first went to Leipzig, where he attended the lectures of Moritz Wilhelm Drobisch (1802–1896), a Herbartian philosopher and one of the forerunners of the Neo-Kantian revival of the 1860s. He was there at the same time that Nietzsche was a student, although it does not appear that they met. In 1869, he moved to Tübingen and to Stuttgart in 1871. Here, at the orthodox Church of the Court,〔''Ibid.'': "I was educated and baptized in the Greco-Russian faith, although my father was a Protestant."〕 he married on 30 January 1872, Elisabeth (Elise) Gatternich〔Elise Sophie Adelaïde Gatternicht, born on 4 June 1850 in Stuttgart, daughter of Johann Adam Gatternicht and Jeanne Catherine, born Heuss (Excerpt of Certificate of Birth, Stuttgart, 19 July 1883), Fabrizio Frigerio, ''op. cit.'', p. 4, Personal Papers of African Spir, Ms. fr. 1406, 5, nos. 8 and 9.〕 and the two had a daughter, Hélène.〔Hélène-Catherine-Augusta Spir (Stuttgart, 14.2.1873 – Geneva, 12.11.1955), who will marry the Swiss neurologist and psychologist Edouard Claparède (Geneva, 24.3.1873 – Geneva, 29.9.1940) and became Hélène Claparède-Spir (or Elena Afrikanovna Klapared-Spir, in russian: Елона Африкановна Клапаред-Спир (Шпир).〕 In Leipzig, Spir befriended the publisher and fellow Freemason Joseph Gabriel Findel, who published most of Spir’s works. His most important book, ''Denken und Wirklichkeit: Versuch einer Erneuerung der kritischen Philosophie'' (''Thought and Reality: Attempt at a Renewal of Critical Philosophy'') was published in 1873. A second edition, which was the one owned by Nietzsche, was published in 1877. In an attempt to reach a broader readership, Spir wrote directly in French his ''Esquisses de philosophie critique'' (''Outlines of critical philosophy''), published for the first time in 1877.〔"The author of the present ''Outlines'' who, without being himself a German, has published many books in German, will submit his philosophy to the scrutiny of the French Public.", Fabrizio Frigerio, ''op. cit.'', p. 9, no. 14, Ms. fr. 1410.〕 A new edition was published forty years after his death, in 1930, with an introduction by the French philosopher and professor at the Sorbonne Léon Brunschvicg. In 1878, having suffered from pneumonia, in order to treat the consequences of his illness, a chronic cough, Spir moved to Lausanne, Switzerland, where he spent five years. In 1884, Spir asked the Russian Emperor authorization to leave Russian citizenship and to obtain Swiss citizenship. In the same year, he received the imperial authorization and applied for a certificate of registry at Belmont-sur-Lausanne, where he lived with his family.〔''Ibid.'', p. 5, nos. 18, 19, 20, 21.〕 In 1886, to enjoy the facilities of a bigger library (the "Société de Lecture", a private reading society),〔Due to his chronic cough, it was not possible for Spir to read books in a public library; as a member of the "Société de Lecture" it was possible for him to take at home the books that he wanted to read.〕 he moved to Geneva.〔Establishment's Setting n. 18529, delivered 19 June 1886, to Mr. African De Spir, without profession, born 10 November 1837, from Russia, married to Miss Eisabeth De Gatternicht, Fabrizio Frigerio, ''op. cit.'', p. 5 , no. 24.〕 On 17 September 1889, he received from the Swiss Federal Government the authorization for his wife, his daughter, and himself to become Swiss citizens.〔Authorization N. 347, Fabrizio Frigerio, ''op. cit.'', p. 6 , no. 25.〕 He died of influenza in Geneva, at 6 rue Petitot, on 26 March 1890. He was buried in the Saint-Georges cemetery. He was survived by his wife Elisabeth and his daughter, Hélène.〔For Spir's biography cf.Hélène Claparède-Spir, ''Un précurseur: A. Spir'' (Forerunner: A. Spir'' ), Lausanne-Genève, Payot & Cie, 1920.〕 Manuscripts, personal papers, photographs, books by or on African Spir were donated in March 1940 by his daughter Hélène Claparède-Spir to the Library of Geneva (Bibliothèque de Genève, formerly Bibliothèque Publique et Universitaire de Genève), where they compose the "Fonds African Spir" and can be consulted. Other papers concerning Spir, his daughter Hélène Claparède-Spir and her family can be consulted at Harvard University Library. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「African Spir」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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