Moscovie ou Russie ? Regard de Joseph-Nicolas Delisle et des savants français sur les États de Pierre le Grand

• Published in: Dix-huitième Siècle
• Main Author: Marie-Anne Chabin
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: French
• Published: Paris : Presses Universitaires de France 1996
• Subjects: Kamchatka
• Online Access: http://www.persee.fr/doc/dhs_0070-6760_1996_num_28_1_2091; https://doi.org/10.3406/dhs.1996.2091

Marie-Anne Chabin : Muscovy or Russia ? The activity of the Delisle family. 17th-century geographical works showed Muscovy, about which very little was known, next to Tartary, Persia or China by the end of the 18th Century, Catherine II' s Russia had become a European power. Thus in a century the perception of the country of the Tsars had totally changed, in both the political and the intellectual sphere. This article studies this evolution through the Delisle family of Parisian scholars, who contributed to the development of knowledge about Russia in France. The father, Claude, a historian, interviewed the Tsar's ambassador William, the eldest son, discussed with Peter the Great the geography of his states Joseph-Nicolas set up the Saint Petersburg observatory and worked for 25 years in Russia on the great Russian atlas Louis died in Kamchatka on Bering's second expedition. J. -N. Delisle' s rich archives show both how Russia replaced Muscovy and what this change symbolized. Chabin Marie-Anne. Moscovie ou Russie ? Regard de Joseph-Nicolas Delisle et des savants français sur les États de Pierre le Grand. In: Dix-huitième Siècle, n°28, 1996. L'Orient. pp. 43-56.