" THE APPARENT CONTRADICTIONS": THE PREFACE BY SERGEY RACHINSKY TO CHARLES DARWIN'S BOOK "ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES"

This publication introduces the preface by Sergey Rachinsky, the profeccor of Moscow University, to Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species. In Russia, Rachinsky is best known as an educator and the founder of the school in Tatevo, Tver Oblast, and as the founder of the temperance society in Tatevo. Rachinsky was also the first translator of Darvin's On the Origin of Species into Russian. He wrote a preface to the 4th edition of On the Origin of Species in 1882. The preface is part of a broad discussion about Darwinism, which began in Russia with the first publication of Darwin's book in 1859. But this edition of the book was censored. Its manuscript was preserved in the private archive of Rachinsky. Rachinsky was a botanist and also a person of a deep religious faith, which was reflected in his preface. He mentioned various issues related to Darwin's theory of natural selection and was especially interested in the philosophical and religious aspects of this topic. Some of these aspects had previously been raised by his famous Russian contemporaries, such as Nikolay Strakhov, Dmitry Pisarev, Kliment Timiryazev, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Konstantin Pobedonostsev. Rachinsky evaluates positively the theory of the natural selection that provided a common law for the genealogical kinship of species. He points out that Darwin's theory is valid in its sphere and does not contradict Christianity; he also highlights that church does not impose any restriction on the study of laws of nature. The introductory article consists of four parts. It attempts to put Rachinsky's preface in the context of discussions of the 1860-1870s. In the first part, it gives a general description of the text and explains its relevance. In the second part, it describes discussions of the 1860s that took place following Darwin's publication of On the Origin of Species. The third part describes discussions of the 1870s after the publication of The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex. The third part characterises Rachinsky's personality and the circumstances around the writing of the preface.