Nikolai Berdyaev 1874 – 1948

Nikolai Aleksandrovich Berdyaev was a Russian religious-existentialist philosopher. After early involvement with Marxism and a brief imprisonment under the Tsar, he turned to Christianity, was expelled from the Soviet Union in 1922 on the famous Philosophers' Ship, and spent the remainder of his life in Berlin and Paris. His central conviction is the absolute primacy of freedom and creativity in the human person, against any system that subordinates the individual to objectifying structures of thought, politics, or even being itself. His Slavery and Freedom and The Destiny of Man are central works.