Many sources report a ridiculous and funny error that once crept into the popular French encyclopedia. We checked whether this actually happened.

This is what is reported on a popular Russian website "The World of Encyclopedias" in an article devoted to errors in publications of this kind: “One of the funniest mistakes, which has already turned into a historical joke, occurred with the famous encyclopedic dictionary published in France by the Larousse publishing house (Les Éditions Larousse). The 1903 edition published an article about Ivan IV, in which his famous nickname the Terrible was interpreted somewhat differently. It said: “Ivan the Fourth, Tsar of all Rus', nicknamed Vasilyevich for his cruelty.”

State Duma deputy and expert Anatoly Wasserman clarifies, that this textbook example of a reference error is about a dictionary called Petit Larousse. The authors of the book also cite a case biography of Ivan the Terrible (Rulers series), portals Science And "SchoolLife.ru", writer Alexander Genis and many other sources.

French philologist and publisher Pierre Larousse (1817–1875) was born into the family of a simple blacksmith, but became the creator of one of the most comprehensive and authoritative encyclopedias of his time. His "Big universal dictionary of the 19th century" has been published in parts since 1866, and the last, 15th volume (not counting two additional ones) was published in 1876, a year after the author’s death. And although this, so early, edition is not mentioned in the legend, just in case it’s easy make sure, that the article about the Russian Tsar Ivan IV begins quite correctly: it is indicated that Grozny is his nickname. At the same time, the adjective le Menaçant was used to translate the nickname, although nowadays generally accepted is synonymous with le Terrible:

There is nothing about Ivan Vasilyevich and additional volume encyclopedias.

As for Petit Larousse, its prototype appeared even earlier than the large edition (usually the other way around), in 1856. This work was called "New dictionary of the French language", and in 1860 articles on proper names were added to the publication. Nevertheless, the dictionary was not yet a full-fledged encyclopedia - this can be seen from more later editions, where there can be no talk of any articles about a king named Ivan. Actually, "Small [illustrated] Larousse" began to appear only in 1905 (and not in 1903) and was much larger similar to the encyclopedia, but in it, too, you can’t find any articles about Ivan, or even a mention of this name.

The situation could have been saved by the company’s third product - “New Illustrated Larousse”, which was published in volumes precisely in the range of interest to us (1897–1904). However, in it we again see a completely correct article about the Russian Tsar, and even with a modern translation of the nickname:

It turns out that at least the Larousse publishing house was not mistaken regarding Ivan the Terrible. Where then do the legs of this story come from? It is not known for certain, but the story already existed in the 19th century. So, in 1899, a book by Boris Fitingof-Shel was published in Russia "World Celebrities", in which about the famous writer Alexandre Dumas the father was said: “In describing his imaginary travels, which he made without leaving his office, he allowed himself jokes like that he was resting under the shade of a cranberry tree or that Ivan the Terrible was such a tyrant that he received the nickname Vasilyevich for his cruelty.” We have already told you that the expression “spreading cranberries” has nothing to do with Dumas the Father told. Since Dumas did not write such things about Ivan the Terrible, most likely the Frenchman was unfairly defamed twice at once in one phrase.

But even earlier, in 1895, another number “Bulletin of Russian financial statistics and legislation” in French. One of his articles, entitled “Museum of Horrors,” talked about what ridiculous mistakes the authors of the famous French magazine “Review of the Old and New World” make when they write about Russia. In particular, the incorrect translation of the statement of commander Suvorov in August issue this magazine, and it was also said: “The times have passed when an outstanding Slavist in the “Review of the Old and New World” wrote with impunity: “Ivan IV, nicknamed Vasilyevich for his cruelty.”

The name of the Slavist and the number in which the incident occurred were not indicated. But since there are no serious grounds to assert that this did not happen (to refute it, you need to study all the archival issues of this magazine for the years 1829–1895), we can only state for now that such authoritative publications as encyclopedias are not involved here. But the incident itself, quite likely, still took place.