About Konstantin Leontiev
Konstantin Nikolayevich Leontiev, monastic name: Clement (Russian: Константи́н Никола́евич Лео́нтьев; 25 January 1831 – 24 November 1891) was a conservative tsarist and imperial monarchist Russian philosopher who advocated closer cultural ties between Russia and the East against what he believed to be the West's catastrophic egalitarian, utilitarian and revolutionary influences. He also advocated Russia's cultural and territorial expansion eastward to India, Tibet and China. == Life == Leontiev was born and grew up on his father's estate in Kudinovo, Kaluga Governorate. His father, a nobleman, was a military officer but was discharged for "riotous behaviour". Still, the intervention of the Russian empress in behalf of the Leontiev brothers made him able to enter the Imperial Corps of Pages. He was engaged at 23 but broke off the relationship for the sake of "freedom and art" – a decision that made things difficult for him. After completing medical school in Moscow, Leontiev saw service as a doctor during the Crimean War. In 1861, he carried off a local Crimean girl, the daughter of a Greek merchant, from Feodosiya, eventually marrying her. He later lived in various Ottoman towns as a Russian consular agent, devoting his leisure time to writing oriental fiction on many themes, some of which included a condemnation of anti-homosexuality and implied that he may have been bisexual. In the summer of 1871, after praying to the Virgin Mary, he was cured of cholera and dysentery and promised her he would take monastic vows.
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