Medievalist Ivan Mikhailovich Grevs (1860—1941) in addition to teaching medieval history in higher and secondary educational institutions of St. Petersburg-Petrograd-Leningrad and a significant contribution to theoretical and practical excursion studies and historical local history, perfectly mastered classical, new European languages and was engaged in translations. In historiography, dedicated to the person and the activities of the scientist (works of E. Ch. Skrzhinskaya, V. P. Buzeskul, M. E. Sergeenko, M. A. Alpatov, V. I. Rutenburg, E. D. Frolov, S. N. Valk, B. S. Kaganovich, O. B. Vrasskaya, F. F. Perchenko, A. V. Kreutzer, A. I. Dobkin, K. V. Gersh, A. V. Sveshnikov and others), there are practically no studies analyzing his translated works.This article is intended to contribute to the history of the study of the biography of I. M. Grevs important changes. It was created on the basis of the publication of the unfinished manuscript of the professor and the commentary of the author of 2017 (I. M. Grevs. The Personality and Case of Romain Rolland. Experience in the interpretation of the soul), timed to the 100th anniversary of its writing.Ivan Mikhailovich received his first translation literary experience in the Circle of Literary Evenings in the gymnasium period (1872—1879). His attentive mentor was a teacher of literature and subsequently a friend of Grevs, V. P. Ostrogorsky. The circle was visited by members of the Oldenburg Circle (brothers F. F. and S. F. Oldenburg, D. I. Shakhovskоy, A. A. Kornilov, L. A. Obolyaninov, N. G. Ushinskiy, A. N. Krasnov, N .V. Kharlamov and V. I. Vernadskiy — who later called themselves members of the university, Priyutinsky fraternity). I. M. Grevs translated the play The Venetian Merchant; it was published and became his first print work. (Grevs I. M. The Merchant of Venice (by Shakespeare) // Child Reading / edited by V. P. Ostrogorsky. T. XXV. 1880. P. 1—39). The gymnasium has grown into a professional occupation. Evidence of this are the translations of works by Romain Rolland, still unknown to the Russian public. For the Gorky publishing house, Grevs made several more literary translations of works by foreign authors, but they also did not see the light: Goethe’s political drama Rebellious, Abelard's “History of my calamities”.I. M. Grevs was an unsurpassed author of biographies, which made a significant contribution to the development of the science of “biographies”. He was always attracted by large individuals, geniuses (Tacitus, Augustine, Francis of Assisi, Dante, Rolland, and others), he called such — “exemplary carriers”, “spiritually meaningful figures”, “seekers of truth” and “creative engines” of culture. Moreover, the interest of the historian was caused by those personalities, which reflected the contradictory nature of transitional periods.Turning to the image and texts of the great French writer Romain Rolland (1866—1944), he wanted to enrich the Slavic culture with the “Latin genius”. The structure of the historian’s manuscript resembles a study that allows its author to improvise in many respects on the theme of R. Rolland’s literary work in combination with his biography. This form of presentation of the material shows what Rolland is “good and great”, and the historian reveals himself as a deep explorer of culture. Opening the "world of Rolland", Grevs did not argue with him and did not engage in criticism, he followed closely with the "word of Rolland", giving an assessment of the work and instrument of the great Frenchman.