BERDIAEV, NIKOLAI (1874–1948), Russian philosopher and spiritual thinker. Nikolai Alexandrovich Berdiaev is one of the distinguished Christian existential philosophers of the twentieth century. His major themes were freedom, creativity, and eschatology. Born in Kiev, he died seventy-four years later in Clamart, a suburb of Paris, without realizing his desire to return to his homeland. Yet Berdiaev was first and foremost a Russian and a mystic, despite his indebtedness to the West.

Berdiaev's life can be divided almost evenly into three quarter-centuries: the years in Kiev, the years in Vologda, Saint Petersburg, and Moscow, and the years abroad in exile (primarily France). Berdiaev was the scion of a privileged family. His father held high military honors; his mother, born Princess Kadashev, had French royal blood. The family's means and status were quite comfortable; yet Berdiaev was restless. From his early youth he was disposed to regard the world...