Background
Dmitriy Ivanovich Velyashev-Volyntsev was born on June 3, 1774, in Moscow City, Russian Federation. He was a son of a major general.
Dmitriy Ivanovich Velyashev-Volyntsev was born on June 3, 1774, in Moscow City, Russian Federation. He was a son of a major general.
Being raised in noble family distinguished by wide cultural interests, Dmitriy Ivanovich early showed his talent in literature: when he was a boy, he translated a playful French comedy by J.F.P. de Saint-Foix Sylph (1782), Reconciled Enemies (1787) by Bruet de Loirelle, the stories of J. Cazot The precocious Lord (1789), etc.
Dmitriy Ivanovich studied at the Blagorodny boarding school of Moscow University and during that time was a member of a friendly society of lovers of literature. Graduating the boarding school he gained a rank of lifeguard sergeant of Preobrazhenskiy regiment (1785), rittmeister of Horse-Grenadier military Order Regiment (1795); later he served in the 1st Kanonirsky, 2nd Fusilerny, and other Regiments. In 1797 he was ranked as a major. In 1800 he retired with the rank of colonel and engaged himself entirely with the literature and academic activities; in 1805-1807 the leader of the nobility Uglich in Yaroslav Governorate.
The diverse interests of Dmitriy Ivanovich manifested in the writing of his Dictionary of mathematical and military sciences (1808) – one of the first reference and encyclopedic publications in Russia. He also translated from French and german lots of plays, mostly comedies (the action of some of them took place in Russia), that had success at Moscow and Petersburg scenes. His translations of Deforge, A. Pigot-Lebrun, A.V. Iffland, and others were partially collected in Taliya (1810-1812). His poems, mainly fables, were published in almost all volumes of Works of Society of Lovers of Russian Literature. In recent years of life, he was interested in history.