This term is used to describe the scientific, literary, artistic and other intellectual members of society It is of Russian revolutionary origin, separating this group from the middle class (merchants, tradesmen, bankers, lawyers etc ) and the workers and peasants
The intelligentsia in a country or community are the most educated people there, especially those interested in the arts, philosophy, and politics. the intelligentsia the people in a society who are most highly educated and who are most interested in new ideas, especially in art, literature, or politics (intelligentsiya, from intelligentia )
[in teli jent sEE uh, -gent-] Russian term denoting articulate intellectuals as a class; 19th century group bent on radical change in Russian political and social system; often wished to maintain a Russian culture distinct from that of the West (p 815)