Stassov, Vladimir Vassilevich (1824-1906)

Russian scholar and art critic. He was the first champion of the Russian nationalist school of composers, writing on César Cui, Mikhail Glinka, Alexsandr Borodin, and Modest Mussorgsky and coining the phrase ‘Moguchaya Kuchka’ (‘Mighty Handful’).

Educated at the School of Jurisprudence, he joined the Imperial Public Library in 1845. He studied in Italy from 1851 to 1854, after which he returned to the Library and in 1872 became director of the department of fine arts there.