The article presented to the attention of readers is a sketch of the biography of the greatest scientist, one of the founders of modern statistics in Russia, Pyotr Petrovich Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky (1827—1914). The factors that shaped the scientist’s personality and his views as a statesman are described. His role in the formation of the traditions of the general population census is highlighted, and his educational activities are characterized. The role of Tyan-Shansky in the history of Russia as a collector and philanthropist is revealed. The author's vision of the biographical portrait of the greatest scientist-statistician is a recognition of the scale of the personality of one of the founders of Russian statistics. The author invites you to carefully study Tyan-Shansky’s contribution to the development of socio-economic statistics in Russia from the perspective of modernity, the role of the scientist’s personality in the progress of scientific knowledge and national culture. The presented material does not at all pretend to be an original biographical study; its purpose is to popularize the significant figure of Russian history and Russian science P.P. Semenov-Tyan-Shansky.
