Dmitry Kantemir

Dmitry Kantemir (born Nov. 5 [Oct. 26, Old Style], 1673, Orhei or Fălciu, Moldavia [now Fălciu, Rom.]—died Sept. 1 [Aug. 21], 1723, Dmitrovka, near Kharkov, Russia [now in Ukraine]) was a statesman, scientist, humanist, scholar, and the greatest member of the distinguished Romanian-Russian family of Cantemir. He was prince of Moldavia (1710–11) and later adviser of Peter the Great of Russia.

The son of Prince Constantin Cantemir of Moldavia, Kantemir early won the favour of his country’s Turkish overlords and hoped eventually to unite the principalities of Moldavia and Walachia under his rule. Named prince of Moldavia in 1710, he soon allied himself with Russia (April 1711), believing Turkish power to be nearing its end. Sharp Russian reverses in the ensuing Russo-Turkish war, however, caused him to flee to Russia, where he settled and was made a prince of the empire by Peter the Great. Versed in 11 languages, Kantemir wrote prolifically on Romanian and Ottoman history; his Historia Incrementorum atque Decrementorum aulae Othomanicae (1716; History of the Growth and Decay of the Othman Empire) earned him a reputation throughout Europe. A keen student of Turkish culture and religion, he devised a system of notation for Turkish music and wrote a comprehensive synthesis of Islamic religious beliefs and practices. His other works include the first critical history of Moldavia-Walachia and the first comprehensive descriptions of Moldavia’s geography, ethnography, and economy. He was elected a member of the Berlin Academy for his scientific work in 1714, and he also helped found the Academy of Sciences at St. Petersburg.