Adam Smith, Semyon Desnitsky, Ivan Tretyakov: great economist and his Russian disciples

The article examines the influence of Adam Smith's economic ideas on his Russian students — Semyon Efimovich Desnitsky (1740–1789) and Ivan Andreevich Tretyakov (1735–1779). The aim is to prove that the efforts of these thinkers, who later became professors of Moscow University, initiated the penetration of Smithianism into the Russian XVIII century economic literature. The method of sequential textual analysis demonstrates the main ways and means of A. Smith's ideological influence on the views of future Russian professors (criticism of trade monopolies and an uncompetitive environment in the banking sector, protection of freedom of trade, condemnation of mercantilist restrictions). The research reveals the general and special features in the economic positions of the first Russian Smithians. The authors particularly note the role of I. A. Tretyakov, who was the first to acquaint the Russian public with the elements of the labor theory of value developed in the works of A. Smith in the early 1760s. The main finding of the article concerns the influence of the “Scottish sage” on his Russian disciples who became convinced opponents of serfdom system. Drawing on Smith’s ideas, S. E. Desnitsky and I. A. Tretyakov came to realising that a free human personality should be at the center of an effective and dynamic economy.