M. F. Taube — St. Petersburg Slavophile

The article is devoted to the life and work of Mikhail Ferdinandovich Taube (1855–1924), a famous mathematician, logician, philosopher, jurist, religious scholar, publicist, geopolitician, right–wing politician, and teetotaller. It is noted that he was a man of encyclopedic knowledge, manifested himself in completely different fields of science. The author analyzes the Slavophile views of the thinker, and concludes that the scientist’s worldview was largely shaped by the influence of A. S. Khomyakov, whom he considered his immediate predecessor. Being one of the active members of the oldest legal monarchical organization of Tsarist Russia, Russian Assembly, M. F. Taube took an active part in the work of this organization, as well as in the activities of the Union of the Russian People, supporting N. E. Markov during its split. M. F. Taube’s scientific and journalistic works characterize him as a staunch conservative, a deeply religious Orthodox man, and an opponent of theosophy, occultism, Freemasonry. The thinker’s works are filled with positive characteristics of the Russian Orthodox tsars. The conclusions of M. F. Taube about the dualism of Russia and the West, about the beneficial Byzantine influence on the Slavs are also deeply meaningful. The article concludes that many of the ideas expressed by the thinker at the time do not lose their relevance today. These are the protection of traditional values, the denial of the Western civilization′s lack of spirituality, and the intransigence towards destructive religious movements. M. F. Taube, despite the difficult internal political situation after the 1917 revolution, remained in Soviet Russia and continued to defend his ideals until his death.