Is it worth believing the common thesis that in the noble environment in Russia of the 18th-19th centuries, the French language prevailed over Russian? What role did bilingualism and elite biculturalism play in the process of national self-determination? And how did this feature of noble life affect the formation of Russian society? To find answers to these questions, the authors of the book use the tools of social and cultural history, as well as historical sociolinguistics. The result of their collective work was a book that offers the reader the most complete study of the use of the French language by the social elite of the Russian Empire in the 18th and 19th centuries. It discusses the main topics of Russian thought and literature and offers a new look at the influence and consequences of bilingualism on Russian society, on politics, culture and literature in the Russian Empire for a long period.