Prince Vladimir Petrovich Meshchersky (11 January 1839 – 23 July 1914) was a Russian journalist and novelist who, throughout his career, wielded significant political clout. He was the grandson of historian

Nikolay Karamzin Nikolay Mikhailovich Karamzin (russian: Николай Михайлович Карамзин, p=nʲɪkɐˈlaj mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ kərɐmˈzʲin; ) was a Russian Imperial historian, romantic writer, poet and critic. He is best remembered for ...

. A strong supporter of the role of the landed gentry in politics and administration, Meshchersky "turned politics into an industry with which he traded in the most shameless manner for the benefit of himself and his favourites" – young men whose careers he advanced. A friend of composer

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

, he acquired a reputation as a homosexual philanderer. His patrons, the Tsars Alexander III and

Nicholas II Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Pola ...

, protected him from public disgrace. He was the editor of '' Grazhdanin'' (The Citizen), a traditional conservative newspaper which received subsidies from the imperial authorities. According to

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...

, "The sole paper which

sar SAR or Sar may refer to: Places * Sar (river), Galicia, Spain * Sar, Bahrain, a residential district * Sar, Iran (disambiguation), several places in Iran * Sar, Tibet, Tibet Autonomous Region of China * Šar Mountains, in southeastern Europe ...

Nicholas read for years, and from which he derived his ideas, was a weekly published on state revenue by Prince Meshchersky, a vile, bribed journalist of the reactionary bureaucratic clique, despised even in his own circle."Trotsky, Leon, ''The History of the Russian Revolution'': Volume One: The Overthrow of Tzarism,
The Tzar and the Tzarina
Meshchersky also contributed to the periodicals ''

The Russian Messenger The ''Russian Messenger'' or ''Russian Herald'' (russian: Ру́сский ве́стник ''Russkiy Vestnik'', Pre-reform Russian: Русскій Вѣстникъ ''Russkiy Vestnik'') has been the title of three notable magazines published in ...

'' and ''

Moskovskiye Vedomosti ''Moskovskiye Vedomosti'' ( rus, Моско́вские ве́домости, p=mɐˈskofskʲɪje ˈvʲedəməsʲtʲɪ; ''Moscow News'') was Russia's largest newspaper by circulation before it was overtaken by Saint Petersburg dailies in the m ...

'' (Moscow News). He was the author of several novels and memoirs.

References

* ''Out of My Past: The Memoirs of Count Kokovtsov'' Edited by H.H. Fisher and translated by Laura Matveev; Stanford University Press, 1935. {{DEFAULTSORT:Meshchersky, Vladimir 1914 deaths Russian journalists Russian male novelists Russian LGBT writers Russian people of Tatar descent 1839 births Gay writers Burials at the Isidorovskaya Church of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra Russian magazine founders