“Oriental” August Ludwig Schlӧzer: The Travel to the East that did not Happen

The forms of interest in the East of the famous historian, political scientist, source scholar of the Age of Enlightenment August Ludwig Schlözer, who was called the "German Voltaire", are revealed. As a student at Göttingen University, he prepared for a long trip to the Middle East, Persia, and India. It was to be realized in the 1760s, for which the ambitious young man studied Eastern languages, customs and history of many Asian countries. But such plans were not destined to come true due to an invitation to the capital of the Russian Empire. Here Schlözer, not abandoning his youthful dream, immersed himself in the world of Russian chronicles, became a well-known specialist in this field, but he was not allowed to travel to the East. During his stay in St. Petersburg, later in Göttingen, the scientist resolved various problems of Sinology, Ottoman studies, Mongol studies, and published works on such subjects. These were studies of world history, oriental source studies, linguistics, etc. He considered the history of the East as an important part of world history, which was reflected in his German publications. Interests in Oriental studies, despite the fact that they were not realized through travel, became a significant part of the scientific heritage of the famous scholar. It can be argued that oriental interests fully fit into the format of his activity as a "mediator of the world".