Polikarpov-Orlov, Fedor

Polikarpov-Orlov, Fedor Polikarpovich 

Born late 1660’s or early 1670’s; died Jan. 12 (23), 1731, in Moscow. Russian writer, translator, and publisher.

Polikarpov-Orlov studied at the Slavonic-Greek-Latin Academy in Moscow and later taught grammar, rhetoric, and poetic theory in the academy. Between 1698 and 1722 he was first a proofreader at the Pechatnyi Dvor (State Printing House) and then the establishment’s director. From 1726 to 1731 he was director of the Synodal Printing House in Moscow. Polikarpov-Orlov’s best-known works are his Primer (1701), the Slavonic-Greek-Latin Lexicon (1704), Historical Information on the Moscow Academy (1726), an appendix to The Grammar Book of Melentii Smotritskii (1721), and the first essay on the history of Russian printing. He also helped edit the first Russian newspaper, Vedomosti. Among works translated by Polikarpov-Orlov, the translation of B. Varenius’ World Geography is well known.

REFERENCES

Brailovskii, S. N. “F. P. Polikarpov-Orlov—direktor Moskovskoi tipografii.” Zhurnal Ministerstva narodnogo prosveshcheniia, 1894, nos. 9–11.
Fursenko, V. V. “Polikarpov-Orlov.” In Russkii biograficheskii slovar’ [vol. 14]. St. Petersburg, 1905.
Luppov, S. P. Kniga v Rossii v I-i chetv. 18 v. Leningrad, 1973.