John Ruskin (b 8 February 1819, London - d 20 January 1900, Brentwood)     amous prose writer and poet, historian and art theorist, artist and lecturer, literature and art critic, the author of works on natural sciences and social reformer, John Ruskin attracted the public attention of educated England and abroad almost for two thirds of the century. Fifty books, seven hundred articles and lectures were written by him. Ruskin was born in the Puritan family of rich Scottish wine merchant. He worked out his own religious ethic understanding of life. During his childhood the family travelled a lot over England. Later he was in Italy and France. His artistic taste was brought up by French gothic, Alps and Italian masters of XII-XVI.     In 1837 he entered Oxford. At the same time he attended Copley Fielding's water-colour class. In 1837-8 his first article "The Poetry of Architecture" was published in "Architectural Magazine". Ruskin began to be interested in Turner, who became the central figure in Ruskin's "Modern Painters". The first volume was published in 1843, the second - in 1846. Here Ruskin took up the problems of "Art" and "Nature", a human being and society. The unchangeable point of his considerations was priority of ethic values. In 1847 his book "The Seven Lights of Architecture" was printed, since 1852 "The Stones of Venice" began to come out and in 1856 - "Elements of Drawing". After the Tuner's death (1851) Ruskin worked over Turner catalogue. In 1869 Art History department was opened in Oxford University and Ruskin got the chair. He became the professor. In 1851 he published a pamphlet "Pre-Raphaelitism" in "The Times"("The Times", 13 and 30 May; CW, xii, pp. 319-35) and since that time his name was linked with the movement. Particularly he sympathised to D.G.Rossetti, J.E.Millais and later, E. Burne-Jones. Already in "The Stones of Venice" Ruskin came forward against the capitalistic civilisation and he got the glory of "sociologist - preacher". The theme of fatal coscequances of machine civilisation was went on in his works "The Political Economy of Arts"(1857) and in "Letters to Workers of England"(1858). The dream of good and beauty union appeared in his tale "King of Golden River"(1841) led to creation of new communes. The St.George commune was organised by Ruskin's initiative.     Under Ruskin's influence the critic of poet, writer and drawer F.-D. Hamerton (1834-1894) was formed. Walter Pater(1839-1887) read out Ruskin. William Morris (1834-1896) inherited the Ruskin's interest to the social utopias, architecture and applied arts.