Vladimir Vasilievich Stasov (born 14 January 1824, Saint Petersburg; died 23 October 1906, Saint Petersburg) was a Russian art and music critic. He wrote a lot about art and music in journals, newspapers and in letters to the press. He lived at a time when classical music and other forms of culture were quite new in Russia. Russian artists were imitating European art, but Stasov encouraged them to create a culture which was typically Russian, showing its own nationalism. People saw him as the champion of the new Russian school in all the Russian arts. He knew most of the great Russian writers, artists and composers of his day, and he wrote many letters including letters to the press in which he stated his views very forcefully.