Antiochus[1] orAntioch[2] Kantemir orCantemir (Russian:Антиох Дмитриевич Кантемир,Antiokh Dmitrievich Kantemir;Romanian:Antioh Cantemir;Turkish:Antioh Kantemiroğlu;French:Antioche Cantemir; 8 September 1708 – 31 March 1744) was aMoldavian who served as aman of letters,diplomat, and prince during theRussian Enlightenment. He has been called "the father ofRussian poetry".
Kantemir was born into anoble Moldavian family atIași on 8 September 1708.[3] His illiterate grandfatherConstantin had been madevoivode of Moldavia by theOttomans in 1685 and was succeeded by his well-educated sonsAntioch andDemetrius. Kantemir was the son of Demetrius by his wife, Princess KassandraCantacuzene, who claimed descent from theByzantine dynasty of the same name.[3] He spent much of his youth inConstantinople as a hostage to theTurks.[citation needed] He was then educated by his father and at theSt PetersburgAcademy[1] before moving to the family estate nearDmitrovsk.[citation needed]
He served as the Russian ambassador atLondon from 1731 to 1736, when he was relocated toParis to serve as Russia'sminister plenipotentiary to theKingdom of France.[2] There, he became a noted intellectual[1] and a close friend ofMontesquieu andVoltaire. Kantemir died a bachelor inParis amid litigation concerning his illegitimate children.[citation needed]
Considered "the father ofRussian poetry",[1] Kantemir used hisclassical education to assistPeter the Great'sprogramme of modernizing and westernizingRussian culture. His most noticeable effort in this regard is hisPetrida, an unfinishedepic glorifying the emperor. He produced atract on old Russianversification in 1744[citation needed] and numerousodes andfables.[1] His use ofgallic rhyme schemes can make his work seem antiquated and awkward to modern readers.[citation needed]
He edited his father'sHistory of the Growth and Decay of the Ottoman Empire in England and wrote a biography and bibliography of his father which later accompanied its 1756 edition.[4][2] His 1742Letters on Nature and Man (O Prirode i Cheloveke) was a philosophical work.[citation needed] He is best remembered for hissatires in the manner ofJuvenal, includingTo My Mind: On Those Who Blame Education andOn the Envy and Pride of Evil-Minded Courtiers, which were among the first such works in the Russian language.[2]
Kantemir translatedHorace andAnacreon into Russian, as well asAlgarotti'sDialogues on Light and Colors.[1] He also translatedDe Fontenelle'sConversations on the Plurality of Worlds, in 1730. When Kantemir's teacher, Christopher Gross, asked the academy to publish the translation, the responsible manager of the chancellery,Johann Daniel Schumacher, wanted to first get permission from the government and the Holy Synod.Correspondence regarding the matter dragged on until 1738, when permission to publish was finally given, but the book was not published until 1740.[5]
Kantemir's own works were translated intoFrench by theAbbé Guasco, who also penned his biography.[1]
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