TRUBETSKOI, EVGENII (1863–1920), Russian Orthodox philosopher. Evgenii Nikolaevich Trubetskoi, a brother of Sergei, was professor of philosophy at the University of Moscow from 1905 to 1918. He developed his philosophical views within the same general context as did Vladimir Solov'ev and was the author of a major study on him, Mirosozertsanie Solov'eva (Solov'ev's Worldview, 2 vols., Moscow, 1913). A theoretical disagreement with Solov'ev, which did not stand in the way of their friendship, led Trubetskoi to study Western theocratic ideas. In his two-volume Religiozno-obshchestvennyi ideal zapadnogo khristianstva (The Religio-Social Ideal of Western Christianity, Moscow, 1892; Kiev, 1897), which focused on Augustine and the medieval papacy, he concluded that a religious institution's primary responsibilities were incompatible with that institution's exercise of political power.

In his philosophy, Trubetskoi blended philosophical idealism, traditional Orthodoxy, and a voluntaristic-exhortative creed that shaded off into political activism. His posthumously published Smysl zhizni (Meaning of Life) was popular among the...