Rostislav Ivanovich Sementkovsky (russian: Ростислав Иванович Сементковский, 1846 – 1918) was a Russian writer,

publicist A publicist is a person whose job is to generate and manage publicity for a company, a brand, or public figure – especially a celebrity – or for a work such as a book, film, or album. Publicists are public relations specialists who ...

and

translator Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...

, also known under the pen name Ratov. A professional

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

, and a

Saint Petersburg University Saint Petersburg State University (SPBU; russian: Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет) is a public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter the G ...

's law faculty graduate, Sementkovsky started his career in journalism in 1873, first in '' Novoye Vremya'', then ''Finansovoye Obozreniye'' (Finance Review), '' Birzhevyie Vedomosti'', ''Telegraf'' and ''Novosti'', where in 1880-1890 he was the head of the Foreign Affairs section. In 1897 he became the editor-in-chief of the popular and influential '' Niva'' magazine (where for some years he had edited the Literary News section), while still writing on the broad range of subjects concerning

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

and

history of literature The history of literature is the historical development of writings in prose or poetry that attempt to provide entertainment, enlightenment, or instruction to the reader/listener/observer, as well as the development of the literary techniques ...

. A devoted

Francophile A Francophile, also known as Gallophile, is a person who has a strong affinity towards any or all of the French language, French history, French culture and/or French people. That affinity may include France itself or its history, language, cuisin ...

and a proponent of the closest possible Franco-Russian relations, Sementkovsky (as Ratov) published in 1897 a book called ''Pending the War'' (В ожидании войны) which was immediately translated into French and caused extremely hostile reaction in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Of the several short novels he authored the two best-known were ''Girl's Dreams'' (Девичьи сны, 1888) and ''Jews and Yids'' (Евреи и жиды, 1890). The Collected Works by R.S. Sementkovsky in 3 volumes came out in 1906.Sementkovsky
s brief bibliography. Russian National Library. 2011 Among the translations he did into Russian were the books by

Robert von Mohl Robert von Mohl (17 August 1799 – 4 November 1875) was a German jurist. Father of diplomat Ottmar von Mohl and salonnière Anna von Helmholtz. Brother of Hugo von Mohl, Moritz Mohl and Julius von Mohl. From 1824 to 1845 he was professor of pol ...

William Booth William Booth (10 April 182920 August 1912) was an English Methodist preacher who, along with his wife, Catherine, founded the Salvation Army and became its first " General" (1878–1912). His 1890 book In Darkest England and The Way Out o ...

Hippolyte Carnot Lazare Hippolyte Carnot (6 October 1801, Saint-Omer – 16 March 1888) was a French politician. He was the younger brother of the founder of thermodynamics Sadi Carnot and the second son of the revolutionary politician and general Lazare Nicol ...

Max Nordau Max Simon Nordau (born ''Simon Maximilian Südfeld''; 29 July 1849 – 23 January 1923) was a Zionist leader, physician, author, and social critic. He was a co-founder of the Zionist Organization together with Theodor Herzl, and president or vice ...

Pierre Paul Leroy-Beaulieu Pierre Paul Leroy-Beaulieu (9 December 1843 in Saumur – 9 December 1916 in Paris) was a French economist, brother of Henri Jean Baptiste Anatole Leroy-Beaulieu, born at Saumur, Maine-et-Loire on 9 December 1843, and educated in Paris at ...

, Paul Lacombe, Kazimierz Krzywicki,

John Stuart Mill John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 – 7 May 1873) was an English philosopher, political economist, Member of Parliament (MP) and civil servant. One of the most influential thinkers in the history of classical liberalism, he contributed widely to ...

and

Adam Mickiewicz Adam Bernard Mickiewicz (; 24 December 179826 November 1855) was a Polish poet, dramatist, essayist, publicist, translator and political activist. He is regarded as national poet in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. A principal figure in Polish Ro ...

. For the

Florenty Pavlenkov Florenty Fyodorovich Pavlenkov (Russian: Флорентий Фёдорович Павленков; 20 October 1839 – 20 January 1900) was a Russian publisher, librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing ...

's Biographic Library he wrote the biographies of

Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (, ; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898), born Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, was a conservative German statesman and diplomat. From his origins in the upper class of J ...

Denis Diderot Denis Diderot (; ; 5 October 171331 July 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer, best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the ''Encyclopédie'' along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. He was a promine ...

Georg von Cancrin Count Georg Ludwig Cancrin (russian: Егор Францевич Канкрин, tr=Egor Francevič Knkrin; 16 November 1774 – 10 September 1845) was a Russian German aristocrat and as a politician best known for spearheading reforms in the Ru ...

Antiochus Kantemir Antiochus or Antioch Kantemir or Cantemir (russian: Антиох Дмитриевич Кантемир, ''Antiokh Dmitrievich Kantemir''; ro, Antioh Cantemir; tr, Antioh Kantemiroğlu; french: Antioche Cantemir; 8 September 1708 – 31 Mar ...

and

Mikhail Katkov Mikhail Nikiforovich Katkov (russian: Михаи́л Ники́форович Катко́в; 13 February 1818 – 1 August 1887) was a conservative Russian journalist influential during the reign of tsar Alexander III. He was a proponent of Rus ...

.Rostislav Sementkovsky
s biography.

Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary The ''Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopaedic Dictionary'' (Russian: Энциклопедический словарь Брокгауза и Ефрона, abbr. ЭСБЕ, tr. ; 35 volumes, small; 86 volumes, large) is a comprehensive multi-volume ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sementkovsky, Rostislav Russian journalists 19th-century writers from the Russian Empire Russian editors 1846 births 1918 deaths 19th-century translators from the Russian Empire