Antioch Dmitrievich Kantemir

Antioch Kantemir

Prince Antiochus Kantemir ( Russian Антиох Дмитриевич Кантемир ; September 10 * ^{. Jul} / 21st September 1708 ^greg. In Constantinople Opel , † March 31 ^jul. / 11. April 1744 ^greg. In Paris ) was a Russian poet, satirist, diplomat and an early Enlightenment representative in Russia. He was the son of the Moldovan gospodar Dimitrie Cantemir .

Kantemir received a comprehensive education, he spoke several languages, was well versed in natural and spiritual sciences and studied Russian history. His literary activity began in 1725 with translations. In political epigrams and satires (1729–31) he appeared as a defender of the political reforms of Peter the Great . From 1732 Kantemir was the Russian ambassador to Great Britain and from 1738 to 1744 in France . During his stay abroad he continued to write satirical works, translated Horace ( Epistulae , 1742) and Anacreon , but fought in vain for publication in Saint Petersburg . Kantemir was a supporter of the theory of natural law, spread ideas of the Enlightenment and sharply criticized the church and the clergy.

In 1730 Kantemir translated the first section ( Premier soir ) of the treatise Entretiens sur la pluralité des mondes (1686) ( Conversations about the multitude of worlds ) by the French physicist Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle . In 1742 he wrote his own comments on this treatise. Many of them became part of the anthology On Nature and Man , which was the first attempt to establish a Russian philosophical terminology and to explain the most important philosophical terms. However, the translation of the treatise was confiscated by the Holy Synod in 1756 .

Kantemir also compiled the first Russian-French dictionary (first edited in Moscow in 2004).

Kantemir was friends with the contemporary poet Wassili Trediakowski and supported his style of syllabic poetry . The works of Kantemir, his translations and his contacts with Montesquieu , Voltaire and other leading intellectuals of his time let the imperial government's relationship with him cool down in the early 1740s. Even so, he was tolerated in influential diplomatic posts during the War of the Austrian Succession for his authority in European capitals, his diplomatic knowledge and skillful approach .

Kantemir is considered one of the founders of classical Russian literature .

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personal data
SURNAME	Kantemir, Antioch Dmitrievich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Russian poet, satirist, diplomat, and an early Enlightenment representative in Russia
DATE OF BIRTH	September 21, 1708
PLACE OF BIRTH	Constantinople
DATE OF DEATH	April 11, 1744
Place of death	Paris