The problems of intelligentsia are, in the author’s opinion, an integral element of ideas of historical experience and fate - key constituents of Russian identity. Discussions on intelligentsia of 1909-1910, 1923-25, 1985-1991 and of the beginning of the new millennium which are considered by the author as a mode of its self-identification, are characterized in the article. It is relations with the authorities and with society, unique nature of Russian intelligentsia, its mission and predestination, that were and remain crucial questions of the discussions.