Alexandr A. Chuprov: Life, Work, Correspondence

4. Social and Political Activities (S. 33-34)

Den (E1928, p. 313) and Ioffe (E1928, p. 315) indicate that Chuprov longed to be able to give all his time to science. Indeed, while contrasting himself with his father, he (Chp ~ B 1.11.97) remarked that it was necessary to protect oneself against encroachments made by others and defend the time needed for one’s own work. Nevertheless, Chuprov was no armchair scientist. Apart from his attitude towards teaching (§ 3.1), which in itself refutes his own (earlier) statement just quoted, there are two other relevant circumstances: his participation in political life and the indissoluble connection of his work with social concerns.

Chuprov did to a certain degree take part in political affairs. In attempting to turn the attention of the intelligentsia to the Constitutional-Democratic (Cadet) party, he (letter to father 11.11.05, F2244, 2/245) published a booklet (1906a) explaining its aims and in 1906 –1907 he participated in the work of the Cadet’s agrarian committee (letters to father 9.11.06 and 7.2.07, Ibidem). He was one of those few, who […] essentially influenced the formulation of the ideology of that party (Kaminka E1926).

Maintaining (p. 3) that the Cadets have no clear boundaries between themselves and more radical left-wing parties, Chuprov (pp. 7 and 11) declared: For the advent of the final expropriation to take place it is necessary that capitalism develops wider than it had time to do even in the most advanced nations of the capitalist culture. At present, educated economists can no longer believe in the inevitable downfall of the capitalist system brought about by the general overproduction which threatens to become chronic.

Note also Chuprov’s post-war statement (1922d, p. 213): The intrinsic contradictions of capitalism are great and deep, but at present the ability to manage them is still greater. Chuprov was not a Marxist, a fact borne out by his correspondence with his father (1897 –1902, F2244). Indeed, he referred very critically to the first two volumes of Das Kapital. In the second volume he was especially dissatisfied with the arithmetical manner of exposition (13.11.01, 1/244).

Upon converting everything into algebraic form, it becomes much more durchsichtiger [transparent] 4.1. Concerning the first volume, Chuprov briefly formulated his disagreement with some of its sections (10.1.97 and 1.12.00, 1/244, and end of December 1902, 2/245). However, he also remarked that much Marxism was already in the air (13.11.01, 1/244). Finally, 18.3.02 (2/245) Chuprov, while informing his father about his talk with Struve 4.2, remarked.