Baron August von Haxthausen

Baron August von Haxthausen (1792-1866) was an agricultural scientist, lawyer, writer, and economist. As a young man, Haxthausen joined the War of the Sixth Coalition against Napoleonic France. A conservative reformer, he opposed French-style revolution and believed in cooperation, not conflict, between the classes. He is best known for his celebrated study of Russia, which he wrote in 1843 and published in three volumes from 1847 and 1852. His work extolled the Russian peasant commune, fueling contemporary Russian intellectual debates. An opponent of bureaucracy, Haxthausen was a staunch supporter for the abolition of serfdom in the Russian Empire.