Demetrius Cantemir

Demetrius Cantemir was a Moldavian prince, statesman, and man of letters, regarded as one of the most significant early Enlightenment figures. He twice served as voivode of Moldavia. During his second term he allied his state with Russia in a war against Moldavia's Ottoman overlords; Russia's defeat forced Cantemir's family into exile and the replacement of the native voivodes by Greek phanariots. Cantemir was also a prolific writer, variously a philosopher, historian, composer, musicologist, linguist, ethnographer, and geographer.