Mikhail Shcherbatov
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| Prince Mikhailo Mikhailovich Shcherbatov | |
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| Born | July 22, 1733 |
| Died | December 12, 1790 |
| Occupation | Imperial Historian |
Prince Mikhailo Mikhailovich Shcherbatov (Russian: Михаил Михайлович Щербатов) (July 22, 1733 - December 12, 1790) was a leading ideologue and exponent of the Russian Enlightenment, on the par with Mikhail Lomonosov and Nikolay Novikov. His view of human nature and social progress is kindred to Swift's pessimism.
Scherbatov's father was a governor-general of Moscow and a Rurikid prince. His belonging to the oldest of Russian families may explain Scherbatov's life-long interest in the national history. In a series of articles published in 1759-61 he defended serfdom and upheld ancient provileges of nobility which had been repealed by Peter the Great.
When elected by the nobility of Yaroslavl to represent their interests at the Legislative Assembly of 1767, Shcherbatov virulently slammed the existing institutions of the Russian Empire. He caught the attention of the Empress and was appointed imperial historian in 1768 and president of a ministry in 1778. He worked in the Senate from 1779 to 1786.
Scherbatov's History of Russia from the Earliest Times, of which seven volumes appeared between 1771 and 1791, is imbued with rationalistic ideals of the Age of Reason. He thought that inequality was inherent to human nature and illustrated this tenet in the first Russian utopia, entitled Journey to the Land of Ophyr (1783). Scherbatov's final and probably most lasting work was a scathing attack on the contemporary social customs in the treatise On the Corruption of Morals in Russia, published in 1797.
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| Persondata | |
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| NAME | Shcherbatov, Mikhailo Mikhailovich, Prince |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Imperial Historian |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 22, 1733 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 12, 1790 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
