ABSTRACT
The Russian intelligentsia has been examined from a variety of historical perspectives. It would not be putting the matter too strongly to say that most of the studies of the intelligentsia have been historical in orientation. The specific subjects of these studies range from the origin of the intelligentsia, to the nature of its significance, to the use of the term itself. But the major concern of the literature on the intelligentsia has been the ideas and ideals held by various groups of the intelligentsia, often combined with the life histories of their members. With scarcely an exception, therefore, this literature represents a mixture of intellectual history and biography.
