Konstantin Sergeyevich Aksakov

Konstantin Sergeyevich Aksakov was a Russian critic and writer who became one of the earliest and most notable Slavophiles. He was born on March 29, 1817, in Novo-Aksakov, Orenburg Governorate, Russian Empire, and died on December 7, 1860, in Zakynthos, United States of the Ionian Islands. He authored plays, social criticism, and historical accounts of the ancient Russian social order. Aksakov was the son of the writer Sergey Aksakov and brother of the journalist Ivan Aksakov. His early critical work included an analysis of Nikolai Gogol's "Dead Souls," comparing Gogol to Homer and Shakespeare. In 1856, Aksakov sent a letter to Tsar Alexander II advising the restoration of the zemsky sobor. He also published articles on Slavic linguistics. Aksakov's thesis on Mikhail Lomonosov (1846) sought to reconcile his views on the Russian peasant's religious and historical role with Hegelian philosophy. He influenced Alexander III, instilling a radical understanding of autocracy's mission to ensure peasant well-being. Later, Aksakov abandoned Hegelian philosophy and became strongly anti-European.