Ivan Perfilevich Elagin by Jean-Louis Voille

Ivan Perfilievich Yelagin (; 1725–94) was a

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

Imperial historian, an amateur poet and translator who acted as unofficial secretary to

Catherine the Great Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter I ...

in the early years of her reign. Yelagin studied in the cadet corps for nobles with

Mikhail Kheraskov Mikhail Matveyevich Kheraskov (; – ) was a Russian poet and playwright. A leading figure of the Russian Enlightenment, Kheraskov was regarded as the most important Russian poet by Catherine the Great and her contemporaries. Kheraskov's father ...

and

Alexander Sumarokov Alexander Petrovich Sumarokov (; , Villmanstrand – ) was a Russian poet and playwright who single-handedly created classical theatre in Russia, thus assisting Mikhail Lomonosov to inaugurate the reign of classicism in Russian literature. L ...

, a popular playwright whose works he alternately praised and derided. He became Catherine's ally when she was Grand Duchess at the court of Empress Elisabeth. In 1758, the Empress banished him from the court for his close ties to the disgraced chancellor Bestuzhev. After Catherine's coming to power in 1762, Yelagin replaced Sumarokov as director of the court theatres. His dominion over the Russian theatre was described as tyrannical: for instance, Yelagin demanded that comedies and other foreign plays were transposed to Russian settings. He also helped Catherine in re-editing her manuscripts: all her literary works survive only in Yelagin's handwritten copies.Lurana Donnels O'Malley. ''The dramatic works of Catherine the Great: theatre and politics in eighteenth-century Russia''. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2006. . Page 23. "There were few social activities in which he did not involve himself", as historians have noted. "With Dr Ely, a converted Jew and a mason, Yelagin studied

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

and Cabbala,

theosophy Theosophy is a religious movement established in the United States in the late 19th century. Founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and based largely on her writings, it draws heavily from both older European philosophies such as Neop ...

, physics and chemistry, Egyptian traditions". He entertained

Count Cagliostro Giuseppe Balsamo (; 2 June 1743 – 26 August 1795), known by the alias Count Alessandro di Cagliostro ( , ), was an Italian occultist and confidence trickster. Cagliostro was an Italian adventurer and self-styled magician. He became a gl ...

in his house and is mentioned in Casanova's memoirs. Yelagin is probably best remembered as a founding father of the Russian freemasonry.Raffaella Faggionato. ''A Rosicrucian utopia in eighteenth-century Russia''. . Page 16. This side of his activities eventually aroused Catherine's suspicions and contributed to his downfall in the early 1780s. Yelagin's sumptuous villa on the eponymous isle to the north of St. Petersburg was later rebuilt into an imperial residence (see

Yelagin Palace Yelagin Palace (Елагин дворец; also ''Yelaginsky'' or ''Yelaginoostrovsky Dvorets'') is a Palladian villa on Yelagin Island in Saint Petersburg, which served as a royal summer palace during the reign of Alexander I. The villa was d ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yelagin Dramatists and playwrights from the Russian Empire Russian male dramatists and playwrights Male poets from the Russian Empire Male writers from the Russian Empire Russian male poets Senators of the Russian Empire Members of the Russian Academy Russian Freemasons 1725 births 1794 deaths 18th-century translators from the Russian Empire Historians from the Russian Empire

See also

References