Nikolai Fyodorov (philosopher)

Nikolai Fyodorovich Fyodorov (Russian: Николай Фёдорович Фёдоров; 9 June 1829 – 28 December 1903), known in his family as Nikolai Pavlovich Gagarin, was a Russian Orthodox Christian philosopher, religious thinker and futurologist, library science figure and an innovative educator. He started the movement of Russian cosmism which was a precursor of transhumanism.

Fyodorov advocated radical life extension, physical immortality and even resurrection of the dead, using scientific methods.

He was called the "Socrates of Moscow." He was referred to with respect and admiration by Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoevsky, and V. S. Solovyov. His ideas influenced a diverse group of people, from early rocket scientists like Konstantin Tsiolkovsky to artists and composers, including Alexander Scriabin. He dreamed of resurrecting people, not wanting to be reconciled to the death of even one person. With the help of science, he intended to gather scattered molecules and atoms to "put them into the bodies of the fathers".

Fyodorov gave science a place next to art and religion in the Common Task of uniting humanity, including the dead, who must in the future be reunited with the living. He held that "we can become immortal and godlike through rational efforts and that our moral obligation is to create a heaven to be shared by all who ever lived."