- Semyon Desnitsky
Semyon Efimovich Desnitsky (1740 — 1789) was a disciple of
Adam Smith who introduced his ideas to theRussia n public. He was also the first academic to deliver his lectures inRussian language rather than in Latin.Of Ukrainian extraction, he was born in
Nezhin and, after a brief spell in theTrinity Lavra seminary, attended theMoscow University , starting in 1759. He went to continue his education at theUniversity of Glasgow , in which he studied with Adam Smith. Having been made doctor of laws, he returned to read lectures at the Moscow University.Desnitsky was the first Russian professor to question the authority of
Samuel von Pufendorf on legal matters and the first to introduce the doctrines of Adam Smith andDavid Hume to Russian students. He also translated the works of SirWilliam Blackstone and advocated equality of the sexes infamily law .Desnitsky pioneered the comparative approach to the study of law and regarded
property as a cornerstone of every legal system. There was a great outcry over his rejection of Latin as the sole language of instruction; butCatherine II of Russia personally settled the issue in his favour.
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.