Sergei Ivanovich Radtsig

Born May 5(17), 1882, in Moscow; died there Oct. 4, 1968. Soviet Russian philologist.

Radtsig graduated from the faculty of history and philology of Moscow University in 1904. He became a professor at Moscow State University in 1936. Radtsig examined the links between ancient mythology and the creative work related to religion and mythology that is produced by modern peoples. He also did research on the origin and development of mythological figures and on the distinction between myth and its literary versions (Classical Mythology, 1939). He wrote the textbook A History of Ancient Greek Literature (1940; 3rd ed., 1969). In the collective work A History of Greek Literature (vol. 1, 1946), he attempted to resolve problems concerning the influence of ancient literature on Russian literature and the links between the latter and the creative work of other peoples. Radtsig made Russian translations of Aeschylus’ Agamemnon (1913), Aristotle’s Athenian Constitution (1936), and Demosthenes’ orations (1954). He was awarded the Order of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, and various medals.