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Konstantin Dmitrievich Kavelin (Russian:Константи́н Дми́триевич Каве́лин; November 4, 1818 – May 5, 1885) was a Russian historian, jurist, andsociologist, sometimes called the chief architect of earlyRussian liberalism.
Born inSaint Petersburg into an old noble family, Kavelin graduated from the legal department of theMoscow University and read law at theUniversity of St Petersburg from 1839. Together withTimofey Granovsky andAlexander Herzen, he was one of the leadingWesternizers. In 1855, Herzen published Kavelin's celebrated proposal for the emancipation of serfs, which cost him the lucrative position oftsesarevich's tutor. In 1862, he was forced to resign from his post for becoming politically-involved with the student, constitutional movement.[1] During the 1860s, Kavelin was elected President of theFree Economic Society. In hisShort Review of Russian History (1887) he seconded manySlavophile opinions and praised thestate as the key institution of national history.
Some scholars believe that Kavelin was aprototype of Stiva Oblonski inLeo Tolstoy's novelAnna Karenina.
