Vassili Nikititch Tatichtchev

Vasilii Nikitich Tatishchev. This article is about Vasilii Nikitich Tatishchev (1686-1750), a high state official, philosopher, and author of the well-known “Russian History”. The article analyzes the rich secondary sources on Tatishchev, in particular the monography by Aleksei Tolochko. That author questions the assumption that Tatishchev had at his disposal a number of sources which were lost later. Tolochko is therefore very sceptical about the value of several pieces of information given only by Tatishchev. The article also deals with Tatishchev's life, reexamining the historian's autobiographical works, which the authors of most of his biographies left unquestioned. Studying Tatishchev's work in the context of 18th century historiography, the final part of the article shows the complexity of this eminent historian's relation to the Enlightenment.