Dimitrie Cantemir | |
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![]() Portrait from the first edition of the Descriptio Moldaviae, 1716 | |
Prince of Moldavia | |
Reign | March 1693–April 1693 (first reign) January 1710–August 1711 (second reign) |
Predecessor | Constantin Cantemir (first reign) Nicholas Mavrocordatos (second reign) |
Successor | Constantin Duca (first reign) Lupu Costachi (second reign) |
Born | 26 October 1673 Silișteni (now Dimitrie Cantemir), Vaslui County, Principality of Moldavia |
Died | 21 August 1723 (aged 49) Dmitrovsk, Oryol Oblast, Russian Empire |
Burial | |
Spouse | Casandra Cantacuzino Anastasiya Trubetskaya |
Issue | Matei Șerban Maria Cantemir Constantin Antiochus Kantemir Ekaterina Golitsyna |
House | Cantemirești |
Father | Constantin Cantemir |
Mother | Ana Bantaș |
Dimitrie or Demetrius[1] Cantemir (Romanian pronunciation: [diˈmitri.e kanteˈmir] ⓘ, Russian: Дмитрий Кантемир; 26 October 1673 – 21 August 1723), also known by other spellings, was a Moldavian prince, statesman, and man of letters.[2][3] He twice served as voivode of Moldavia (March–April 1693 and 1710–1711). During his second term he allied his state with Russia in a war against Moldavia's Ottoman overlords; Russia's defeat forced Cantemir's family into exile and the replacement of the native voivodes by Greek phanariots. Cantemir was also a prolific writer, variously a philosopher, historian, composer, musicologist, linguist, ethnographer, and geographer. His son Antioch, Russia's ambassador to Great Britain and France and a friend of Montesquieu and Voltaire, would become known as "the father of Russian poetry".