The Russian Age of Enlightenment is a period in the eighteenth century in which the government begins to actively encourage the proliferation of arts and sciences, which has a profound impact on Russian culture.

During this time, the first Russian university is founded, a library, a theater, a public museum, as well as relatively independent press.

Catherine the Great, Like other enlightened despots, plays a key role in fostering the arts, sciences, and education.

The national Enlightenment in the Russian Empire differs from its Western European counterpart in that it promotes further modernization of all aspects of Russian life and is concerned with abolishing the institution of serfdom in Russia.

The Pugachev Rebellion and French Revolution may have shattered the illusions of rapid political change, but the intellectual climate in Russia is altered irrevocably.

Russia's place in the world is debated by Denis Fonvizin, Mikhail Shcherbatov, Andrey Bolotov, Ivan Boltin, and Alexander Radishchev; these discussions precipitate the divide between the radical, western, conservative and Slavophile traditions of Russian thought.