Dmitry Vladimirovich Filosofov (; – 4 August 1940) was a Russian

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

essay An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...

ist,

literary critic A genre of arts criticism, literary criticism or literary studies is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical analysis of literature' ...

, religious thinker, newspaper editor and political activist, best known for his role in the influential early 1900s ''

Mir Iskusstva ''Mir iskusstva'' ( rus, «Мир искусства», p=ˈmʲir ɪˈskustvə, ''World of Art'') was both a Russian magazine and the artistic movement it fostered, playing a significant role in shaping the Russian avant-garde. The movement was d ...

'' circle and part of quasi-religious ''Troyebratstvo'' (The Brotherhood of Three), along with two of his closest friends and spiritual allies, Dmitry Merezhkovsky and

Zinaida Gippius Zinaida Nikolayevna Gippius (; – 9 September 1945), a Russian poet, playwright, novelist, editor and religious thinker, became one of the major figures in Russian symbolism. She began writing at an early age, and by the time she met Dmitry ...

. Following the

Bolshevik Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of two revolutions in Russia in 1917. It was led by Vladimir L ...

he emigrated to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Biography

The son of

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

Anna Filosofova Anna Pavlovna Filosofova (; ; 5April 183717March 1912) was a Russian feminist and activist of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Born into a wealthy, noble family, she married and they had six children. Initially concerned with the plight of ...

and Vladimir Dmitryevich Filosofov, a powerful official in the Ministry of War and Defence, Dmitry Filosofov was educated first in the private Karl May School (where he first met Alexandre Benois and

Konstantin Somov Konstantin Andreyevich Somov (; – 6 May 1939) was a Russian artist associated with the ''Mir iskusstva'' ("World of Art") movement that began in the last decade of the 19th century. After the Russian Revolution, he eventually emigrated to Pa ...

), then in the Saint Petersburg University, studying law. After a couple of years spent abroad, he started working as a journalist, writing for '' Severny Vestnik'' and '' Obrazovanye''. With the inception of ''Mir Iskusstva'' magazine, Filosofov became the editor - first of literary, then of literary criticism sections. It was at this time that his close friendship with Dmitry Merezhkovsky and

began; soon he joined them to form "Troyebratstvo", a quasi-religious group which some saw as a domestic sect, claiming to aim at renovating the Christian values along the new,

modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

lines. Along with Merezhkovskys he was one of the initiators and practical organizers of - first the Religious-Philosophical Society, then the '' Novy Put'' magazine, which he edited in 1904, the last year of its existence. Years 1906-1908 he spent with Merezhkovskys in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

; when back in Russia he continued writing, contributing to ''Slovo'' and '' Russkaya Mysl'' among others. Sharing Merezhkovskys' hostility towards Bolshevist Russia, in December 1919 he fled the country but refused to follow the couple down to Paris. Instead, along with

Boris Savinkov Boris Viktorovich Savinkov (; 31 January 1879 – 7 May 1925) was a Russian revolutionary, writer, and politician. As a leading figure in the Socialist Revolutionary Party's (SR) Combat Organization in the early 20th century, he was a key organ ...

, the notorious terrorist-turned-novelist he struck up a friendship with, Filosofov chose to stay in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

to begin working on the reformation of the

White Army The White Army, also known as the White Guard, the White Guardsmen, or simply the Whites, was a common collective name for the armed formations of the White movement and Anti-Sovietism, anti-Bolshevik governments during the Russian Civil War. T ...

on the territory of Poland. He was a coordinator of Russian Political Committee, one of the leaders of the People's Union for the Defence of Motherland and Freedom, and

Józef Piłsudski Józef Klemens Piłsudski (; 5 December 1867 – 12 May 1935) was a Polish statesman who served as the Chief of State (Poland), Chief of State (1918–1922) and first Marshal of Poland (from 1920). In the aftermath of World War I, he beca ...

's counsellor. Choosing to stay in

, but visiting Paris occasionally, Filosofov edited numerous Russian immigrant newspapers, including ''Svoboda'' (Freedom, 1920–1921), ''Za Svobodu'' (1921–1932), ''Molva'' (People's Talk, 1932–1934), co-edited Paris-Warsaw magazine ''Myech'' (Sword, 1934–1939). Dmitry Filosofov died in

Otwock Otwock (Yiddish: אָטוואָצק) is a city in the Masovian Voivodeship in east-central Poland, some south-east of Warsaw, with 43,895 inhabitants (2024). Otwock is part of the Warsaw metropolitan area. It is situated on the right bank of the ...

near Warsaw on 4 August 1940 and is buried at the Orthodox Cemetery in Warsaw.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Filosofov, Dmitry 1872 births 1940 deaths Writers from Saint Petersburg People from Sankt-Peterburgsky Uyezd Journalists from the Russian Empire Essayists from the Russian Empire Literary critics from the Russian Empire Mir iskusstva artists 19th-century LGBTQ people from the Russian Empire 20th-century Russian LGBTQ people