Dmitry Likhachev

Dmitry Sergeyevich Likhachov (Russian: Дми́трий Серге́евич Лихачёв, also Dmitri Likhachev or Likhachyov; 28 November [O.S. 15 November] 1906 in St. Petersburg – 30 September 1999 in St. Petersburg) was an outstanding Russian Medievalist, Linguist, and concentration camp survivor. During his lifetime, Likhachov was considered the world's foremost scholar of the Old Russian language and its literature.

He was revered as "the last of old St Petersburgers", and as, "a guardian of national culture". Due to his high profile as a Soviet dissident during his later life, Likhachov was often referred to as, "Russia's conscience".

Dmitry Likhachov was born in Saint Petersburg. From his early childhood he had a passion for literature, even though his parents did not approve of this interest.

In a 1987 interview with David Remnick, Likhachov recalled how he had, "watched the February and October Revolutions from his window."

In 1923, at only 16 years old, Likhachov entered the Department of Linguistics and Literature of Leningrad State University. He attended the Roman-Germanic and Slavic-Russian sections at the same time, undertaking two diplomas. At the university the young Likhachov met many outstanding scientists and developed his own way of thinking. In 1928, at the end of his studies, Likhachyov was arrested and accused of being a member of what Remnick called, "a students' literary group called the Cosmic Academy of Sciences", which "posed aboutas great a threat to the Kremlin as the Harvard Lampoon does to the White House."

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