Sergey Mikhaylovich Solovyov (Soloviev, Solovyev; russian: Серге́й Миха́йлович Соловьёв) (, in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

– , in Moscow) was one of the greatest

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

n historians whose influence on the next generation of Russian historians ( Vasily Klyuchevsky,

Dmitry Ilovaisky Dmitry Ivanovich Ilovaysky (; February 11/23, 1832, Ranenburg - February 15, 1920) was an anti-Normanist conservative Russian historian who penned a number of standard history textbooks. Ilovaysky graduated from the Moscow University in 1854 and ...

, Sergey Platonov) was paramount. His older son Vsevolod Solovyov was a historical novelist. His son Vladimir Solovyov was one of the most influential Russian philosophers. His youngest child, daughter Polyxena Solovyova, was a noted poet and illustrator.

Life and works

Solovyov studied in the

Moscow University M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...

under Timofey Granovsky and traveled in Europe as a tutor of Count Stroganov's children until 1844. The following year he joined the staff of the

, where he rose to the dean's position (1871–77). He also administrated the

Kremlin Armoury The Kremlin Armoury,Officially called the "Armou/ory Chamber" but also known as the cannon yard, the "Armou/ory Palace", the "Moscow Armou/ory", the "Armou/ory Museum", and the "Moscow Armou/ory Museum" but different from the Kremlin Arsenal. ( ...

and acted as tutor to the future

Alexander III of Russia Alexander III ( rus, Алекса́ндр III Алекса́ндрович, r=Aleksandr III Aleksandrovich; 10 March 18451 November 1894) was Emperor of Russia, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Finland from 13 March 1881 until his death in 18 ...

. Solovyov's magnum opus was the ''History of Russia from the Earliest Times'', totally unprecedented in its scope and depth. From 1851 until his death, he published 29 volumes of this work. Among his other books, the ''History of Poland's Downfall'' (1863) and the ''Public Readings on Peter the Great'' (1872) were probably the most popular.

Views and influence

Solovyov appreciated Russia's position as the outpost of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...

in the East. In his opinion, the Russian statehood resulted from a "natural and necessary development" of numerous political and social forces, which he attempted to trace. He took particular interest in the

Time of Troubles The Time of Troubles (russian: Смутное время, ), or Smuta (russian: Смута), was a period of political crisis during the Tsardom of Russia which began in 1598 with the death of Fyodor I (Fyodor Ivanovich, the last of the Rurik dy ...

and

Peter the Great Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...

's reforms, which he described as temporary diseases of the organism of the Russian state. In the words of the 2004

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various t ...

, his ''History'' "wove a vast body of data into a unified and orderly whole that provided an exceptionally powerful and vivid picture of Russia's political development over the centuries. The work inaugurated a new era in Russian scholarship with its depiction of Russia as evolving through organic and rational processes from a primitive, family-based society into a centralized, autocratic state".

References

Solovyov, Sergey Mikhailovich
i

(in Russian) *Sergey Solovyov. History of Russia from the Earliest Times,

(in Russian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Solovyov, Sergey 1820 births 1879 deaths Writers from Moscow People from Moskovsky Uyezd Privy Councillor (Russian Empire) Historians of Russia 19th-century historians from the Russian Empire Rectors of Moscow State University Full members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences

Life and works

Views and influence

See also

References