LEONT'EV, KONSTANTIN NIKOLAEVIĆ. - Russian writer and thinker, b. at Kudinovo on 25 Jan. 1831, d. at the Monastery of the Trinity at Černigov (Moscow) on 24 Nov. 1891.
A brilliant and paradoxical journalist, bitter and aggressive, he fought, in the name of “Orthodox” Christianity and the Byzantine tradition, against the liberal, democratic, and socialist currents that were increasingly gaining ground in the world of Russian culture. A fervent opponent of the “commonplaces” of Westernism, he also polemicized against the “commonplaces” of the Slavophiles, rejecting every racist myth and seeing Russia’s greatness in the particular form of its spirituality. After a period in journalism, he entered a monastery. Among his writings, the following should be remembered: Vostok, Rossija i slavjanstvo (East, Russia, and the Slavic World) and Nati novye christjane (Our New Christians).