Ivan Ivanovich Golikov

Born 1735; died Mar. 12 (24), 1801. Russian historian. Kursk merchant. A deputy to the Legislative Commission convened by Empress Elizabeth.

Golikov had been convicted of abuse of the liquor franchise, but he was pardoned on the occasion of the unveiling of the monument to Peter 1 in St. Petersburg in 1782. He collected manuscripts relating to the time of Peter I and wrote an extensive work, The Deeds of Peter the Great, published in 1788–89, with Addenda following in 1790–97. This work is valuable mainly for its large number of documents and more than 2,000 letters of Peter I. It is one of the first manifestations of Russian bourgeois historiography. Golikov placed high value on Peter I’s economic policies, in particular, his measures to develop trade and industry and his concern for the merchant class. He credited Peter with displaying “love of work,” “economy,” and disdain for luxury. Up until the middle of the I9th century, The Deeds of Peter the Great was the basic work on the era of Peter and the basic collection of documents from that era; A. S. Pushkin and V. G. Belinskii made a careful study of it.