Petr Dmitrievich Boborykin, born on August 15, 1836, in Nizhny Novgorod and died on August 12, 1921, in Lugano, Switzerland, was an outstanding Russian writer, playwright, journalist, publicist, critic, literary historian, theatrical figure, memoirist, and translator.

He received his education at the Nizhny Novgorod Gymnasium and then continued his studies at Kazan and Dorpat universities, preparing to become a chemist and physician. Due to his knowledge of major European languages and travels across Europe, Boborykin was considered one of the most cultured individuals of his time.

Interestingly, it was Boborykin who introduced the concept of "intelligentsia" into Russian culture, actively spreading it through the press. He referred to himself as the "godfather" of this term, imbuing it with a special meaning: intelligentsia as a collective of individuals with high intellectual and ethical culture, rather than merely intellectual workers. In his view, the Russian intelligentsia represented a unique moral-ethical phenomenon uniting representatives of various professions and political views based on a common spiritual and moral platform. With this meaning, the term "intelligentsia" returned to the West, where it came to be perceived as a purely Russian phenomenon (intelligentsia).

Boborykin gained nationwide fame in Russia thanks to his novel "Kitai-Gorod." This work was conceived as a chronicle dedicated to the everyday life and customs of Muscovites of that time. The novel is interesting not only from an artistic perspective but also from a historical one. Boborykin is credited with the creation of the salad "Erundopel," first mentioned in the pages of "Kitai-Gorod." The novel describes with almost scientific precision the details of merchant life, culinary preferences, interiors, daily duties, and habits of merchants and nobles against the backdrop of social and political changes occurring in the narrative. All of this serves the writer's main purpose, justifying the concept of Moscow's historical role in the last third of the 19th century.