Russian philosopher Vladimir Solovyov (not to be confused with the propagandist of the same name) was a friend of Dostoyevsky’s and inspired one of the characters in The Brothers Karamazov. Unlike Dostoyevsky, though, he wasn’t an anti-Semite. Solovyov was a defender of the rights of the Jews in the Russian empire and even learned Hebrew.
This is how Solovyov (who was a descendant of the famous Ukrainian philosopher Hryhory Skovoroda) described the Russian national character:
Solovyov died in 1900, so it’s not like the crazy behavior we are seeing from the Russians today is new. Ironically, the chief Russian propagandist today has the same name as the philosopher. He dedicated his life to promoting exactly the worldview that his historical namesake described over a century ago.
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