Dmitrij Min – perevodčik i kommentator "Božesvennoj Komedii" Dante [Dmitrij Min traduttore e commentatore della "Divina Commedia" di Dante]

The present article explores the translation of Dante’s “Commedia” prepared by Dmitry Min between 1855 and 1885 and published as a whole in 1902–1904. My investigation is based on the theoretical principles of Translation Studies that consider a literary translation (including its metatexts such as commentaries, prefaces etc.), as a cultural phenomenon that is valuable in itself and that constitutes an indipendent object of culturological, historical and literary analysis regardless of the level of conformity to the original. Min’s translation is interesting, especially considering that it is the first complete Russian translation of the “Commedia” to be supplied with a rich commentary that still remains unsurpassed in terms of its philosophical and theological content. The purpose of this paper is to show the scholarly value of Min’s commentary for his epoch and to highlight the influences of Russian spiritual poetry on the translation’s text by locating it in its historical context.