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Among Western European thinkers whose works were translated into Russian in the 19th century, John Stuart Mill (1806–1873) was one of the most influential and controversial figures. As an economist with socialist sympathies and an advocate of women’s rights, Mill enjoyed special popularity among the left intelligentsia in Russia. Ironically, Mill’s reputation proved higher and more long-lasting in Russia than in Mill’s home country. This essay examines the Russian reception of Mill’s Autobiography, the last of his works to be translated into Russian. It illustrates significant differences in the Russian and British treatments of Mill’s legacy.

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This essay explores the publication and reception of John Stuart Mill's Principles of Political Economy in late imperial Russia. First published during the era of the Great Reform, Mill's Principles was discussed within the context of the Russian debate on capitalism and land reform. It became popular not only among economists and university students but also the intelligentsia who dominated the debate on capitalism in Russia until the last decade of the century. In reading the Principles, they focused primarily on Mill's discussion of social questions and the ethics of capitalism rather than on the theoretical subjects of economics. In Russia, as in England, the reception of Mill's ideas was not uniform, reflecting the readers’ diverging political views and assumptions. In Russia, however, the tendency towards selective reading was more pronounced and the labels attached to Mill were more extreme.