Sergei Nikolaevich Trubetskoy

Prince Sergei Nikolaevich Trubetskoy (1863–1905) was a Russian religious philosopher. He was the son of Prince Nikolai Petrovitch Trubetskoy, co-founder of the Moscow Conservatory, and Sophia Alekseievna Lopouchina. His mother was a big influence on his religious thought. He and his brother, Evgenii Nikolaevitch Troubetzkoy (1863-1920), continued Vladimir Solovyov's work on developing a modern Christian philosophy of the world. He was a Professor of Philosophy at Moscow University.

He was also a founding members Beseda.

As a teenager S. N. Trubetskoy was an adherent of the British Positivists, Herbert Spencer and John Stuart Mill. Later he became disappointed with both and turned to Schopenhauer. Study of his philosophy led Trubetskoy to a conclusion that Schopenhauer's pessimism was the result of denial of God. Trubetskoy himself described this dilemma the following way: "Either God exists or life is not worth living". He became an Orthodox Christian, and also an adherent of the Slavophiles: his beliefs at that time were influenced by the writings of Aleksey Khomyakov.

In 1885 Trubetskoy graduated from Moscow University; but he continued to work there until his death, lecturing in philosophy.

In 1886 he became acquainted with the philosopher Vladimir Solovyov, who held largely the same views about religion as Trubetskoy and became his close friend.

In 1890 Trubetskoy became Professor of Philosophy in Moscow University. Later he played a significant role in the Russian liberal movement; he was a founding member of Beseda.

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