Moskovskie Vedomosti

(Moscow Gazette), a newspaper published in Moscow from 1756 to 1917. Until 1842 it was published twice a week, and then three times a week. It became a daily in 1859, and it was owned by Moscow University until 1909.

Moskovskie vedomosti was the most widely circulated newspaper in Russia until the mid-19th century. From 1779 to 1789 it was leased by N. I. Novikov. During that period the newspaper published articles on literature, art, and science, statistical information, and bibliographies, as well as articles on domestic and foreign news. It also published supplements. In 1840, under the editorial direction of E. F. Korsh, Moskovskie vedomosti became an important literary and social publication.

After 1863, however, under the editorship of M. N. Katkov (until 1887) and P. M. Leont’ev (until 1875), the newspaper became reactionary and was very influential among the bureaucratic elite. The government publically supported Moskovskie vedomosti, which demanded “firm power,” defended the interests of the nobility, opposed the Polish liberation movement and any manifestation of progressive thought, attacked the reforms of the 1860’s, and criticized the government’s pro-German foreign policy.

Under Katkov’s successors, including V. A. Gringmut and L. A. Tikhomirov, Moskovskie vedomosti became a Black Hundred newspaper that advocated pogroms and the persecution of workers and the revolutionary intelligentsia. Moskovskie vedomosti was closed after the October Revolution, on Oct. 27 (Nov. 9), 1917.