The Idiot The Idiot The Idiot (pre-reform Russian: ; post-reform ) is a novel by the 19th-century Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. It was first published serially in the journal "The Russian Messenger" in 1868–9. The title is an ironic reference to the central character of the novel, Prince (Knyaz) Lev Nikolayevich Myshkin, a young man whose goodness, open-hearted simplicity and guilelessness lead many of the more worldly characters he encounters to mistakenly assume that he lacks intelligence and insight. In the character of Prince Myshkin, Dostoevsky set himself the task of depicting "the positively good and beautiful man." The novel examines the
Prince Mikhail Cantacuzène of Commerce. Prince (Major General) Mikhail Cantacuzène - Speransky is buried at the Manasota Memorial Park in Sarasota - Bradenton (Manatee County). Cantacuzène was titled and styled HH Prince Mikhail Mikhailovich Cantacuzène. He was a member of the Cantacuzino family, a Russian branch of which is an offshoot of the Moldavian branch. The titles of Prince of Imperial Russia and of Count Speransky (Spiranky, Sperensky) were confirmed to Mikhail's grandfather Prince Rodion Nikolaevich Cantacuzène. in 1865 by Alexander II; the title had formerly been held by Mikhail Speransky (1772–1839), Russian statesman and one-time adviser to Tsar Alexander I. The father