The son of a poor priest, Trediakovsky became the first Russian commoner to receive a
humanistic education abroad, at the
Sorbonne in
Paris (1727–1730) where he studied philosophy, linguistics and mathematics. In 1748, his
A Conversation on Orthography () appeared, which was the first study of the phonetic structure of the
Russian language. He continued his advocacy of poetic reform in
On Ancient, Middle, and New Russian Poetry () in 1752. Trediakovsky was also a prolific translator of classical authors,
medieval philosophers, and
French literature. His translations frequently aroused the ire of the censors, and he fell into disfavour with his Academy superiors and conservative court circles. In 1759, he was dismissed from the Academy. His last major work was a translation of
François Fénelon's (1766; ), which he rendered in Russian
hexameters. His works marked the transition from
syllabic versification to
metric verse, more suited to the sound of the Russian tongue. == See also ==