The son of a regimental priest. He was educated at the Gymnasium of the St Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1765) and Moscow University (1767), then remained at the Academy of Sciences as translator for the Gazetteer Department (“Vedomostnaia ekspeditsiia”). Collegiate translator (1776), titular councilor (1778). For the "Collection, aiming to translate foreign books" (“Sobranie staraiushcheesia o perevode inostrannykh knig”) he translated the classic work by Johann Heinrich Gottlob von Justi "The Foundation of power and welfare of kingdoms" (“Osnovanie sily i blagosostoianiia tsarstv”) (1772-1778). He was also the translator of the anti-Russian story of Johann Gottlob Benjamin Pfeil "The adventures of a wild American" (“Pokhozhdeniia dikogo amerikantsa”) (1773), which was highly praised by Nikolai Novikov.
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