Russian autocrats on the pages of S. S. Tatishchev's works

Despite the fact that the “Russian direction” was often characterized by antiaristocratic pathos, a prominent representative of it was a native of a glorious noble family Sergey Spiridonovich Tatishchev. Having left the diplomatic field, he served for some time in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but after the fall of N. P. Ignatiev he left the service in the 1880s and devoted himself to “literary activities,” including not only artistic creativity and journalism, but mainly historical research, which were made to restore his underturning reputation after scandalous. He did not abandon attempts to return to diplomatic activity, which also did not always cause the understanding of contemporaries. The image of Tatishchev was interesting, which was reflected in the General A. V. Bogdanovich’s diaries. The opposite was the characteristic of Yu. S. Kartsov, who saw the “Russian Alcibiad” in Tatishchev and was aesthetically attracted by the charm of strong autocratic power. Preaching the conception of “national egoism,” Tatishchev believed that for Russia republican France was closer than monarchical France, and urged to be guided not only by monarchical solidarity, but exclusively by Russian interests. He considered the exponents as the latter Russian autocrats, with the exception of those who came under the influence of the “foreign” intrigue emanating from the foreign ministry.