Grigory Vyrubov

Grigory Nikolayevich Vyrubov, also known as Grégoire Wyrouboff, was born in Moscow in 1843 and died in Paris in 1913. He was a Russian Positivist philosopher and historian of science. Vyrubov was brought up in Italy and France and studied medicine and natural philosophy at the University of Moscow. He was heavily influenced by Edmond Nikolayevich Pommier. In 1867, Vyrubov co-founded the Positivist journal Philosophie positive with Emile Littré and served as its editor until 1881. He also befriended Aleksandr Ivanovich Herzen and anonymously edited the first edition of Herzen's works. In 1896, Vyrubov criticized Dmitri Mendeleev's periodic law. In 1903, he succeeded Pierre Laffitte as the professor of history of science at the Collège de France, a position he held until his death. Vyrubov was also an active freemason, initiated in Paris in 1874, and was involved with both the Scottish Rite and the Grand Orient of France.