Sergei Mikhailovich Goriainov (1849-1918) was a Russian historian, journalist, and Imperial Archivist at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
His publications, primarily essays and articles, are based on his research in diplomatic archives and address issues of Russian history and foreign policy. His best-known work, The Bosphore and the Dardanelles, is a historical study of the Straits Question, based on diplomatic correspondence preserved in the St. Petersburg archives.
Since the revolutionary events in Russia made documents from the archives of the Russian Foreign Ministry accessible to scholars, dating back much more recently than had been customary until then, Goriainov, as a former archivist of that ministry and later a senator, decided in 1918 to prepare for the American Historical Review, precisely on the basis of confidential materials discovered in those archives, the essay that we offer our readers today: The End of the Alliance of the Emperors.
Some have speculated that his death, which occurred shortly after the publication of these shocking revelations, was not due to natural causes.