Musin-Pushkin Alexey Ivanovich: biography, activity

Musin-Pushkin AI (1744-1818 gg.) - a well-known collector and collector of ancient Russian documents and ancient manuscripts, as well as material monuments of antiquity. His work had a great influence on the development of Russian historical science in the second half of the 18th century, when Russian scientists and researchers aroused serious interest in scientific research on the past of our country.

The activities of the graph in the context of the era

Alexei Musin-Pushkin was a typical representative of the Catherine's epoch, when in the circles of the intelligentsia there arose interest in collecting, publishing ancient Russian manuscripts. In addition to the earl, many other scientists also took a great interest in collecting monuments of antiquity. The reign of Catherine II is a period of enlightenment in our country, when among the educated circles the conviction about the need to study the past of Russia spread.

Very many of the intelligentsia were dissatisfied with the dominance of foreign ideas, the fascination of a considerable part of scientists with Western European science and the fashion to imitate all foreign things. As a contrast, a belief among many lovers of antiquity arose that it is necessary to carefully study and, most importantly, to popularize national antiquity in the eyes of the population in order to instill in readers the idea of the originality and national identity of Russian history. The domination of these ideas predetermined the Count's fascination with the collection of ancient documents and manuscripts.

Briefly about the life of the graph

The biography of Musin-Pushkin is interesting in that it clearly shows how he, without being a professional historian, nevertheless made a significant contribution to the development of this science. He was born in the family of the Captain of the Guard, he graduated from the artillery school, which he absolutely did not prepare for studies on Russian history. He served as adjutant to G. Orlov, and when he retired, he went on a trip abroad, during which he visited a number of European countries. Upon his return to Russia, he took the post of the master of ceremonies. In different years he served in a variety of state institutions, including the Chief Procurator of the Synod. In the last years of his life he lived in Moscow, where he continued his fruitful work on collecting antiquities.

Features of scientific research

Musin-Pushkin was fond of ancient monuments and manuscripts. In this respect, his activities should be considered alongside the publishing activities of other prominent prominent and prominent archivists such as Bantysh-Kamensky, Novikov, Rumyantsev, and so on. All of them sought to maximally popularize Russian antiquity and counterpose it to Western European influence, which then prevailed in the scientific sphere and scientific works. In their view, only the study of ancient sources could contribute to understanding the originality of the historical process in Russia, and also helped to understand the differences of its path from the countries of Western Europe.

Musin-Pushkin, acting quite in the spirit of his time, paid much attention to collecting manuscripts. His goal was purely enlightening: to acquaint the scientific community and simply reading the public with monuments of antiquity. The peculiarity of his scientific research was that he collected everything that in one way or another had to do with antiquity, realizing that any source can have great significance for patriotic upbringing.

Collecting old documents

Without exaggeration, we can say that Musin-Pushkin acted on a grand scale. The fact is that the high office he occupied in different years gave him ample opportunities to collect and store valuable monuments. Of particular importance was the time when he was the chief procurator of the Synod. At his insistence, Catherine II in 1792 issued a special decree providing for the removal of ancient chronicles, their lists and old literary monuments from the monastic archives.

So they found unique in their value manuscripts: the oldest list of the Primary Chronicle of Lavrentievsky, one of the original lists of the Russian Truth and other valuable documents. In the provinces Musin-Pushkin had special agents for the purchase of ancient papers. In addition, many bibliophiles, knowing the Count's passion for collecting manuscripts, began to give him copies of it; Aside, even Catherine II herself, who also gave him part of her manuscripts, did not remain.

The most significant discoveries

Count Musin-Pushkin is primarily known for the fact that it is he who owns the honor of the discovery of the ancient Russian monument "The Lay of Igor's Host". It is in connection with the latter circumstance that his name is probably known to every schoolboy. Sam collector immediately realized the significance of his findings and hastened to publish this unique source. Fortunately, in this way this monument was preserved and became available to the general public. This was a very timely measure, since the unique collection of the archivist was burnt during the Moscow fire in 1812 with the invasion of Napoleon. Many other valuable monuments of antiquity perished in the fire.

Musin-Pushkin Alexey Ivanovich discovered for researchers such unique sources as the Royal Book and the Nikon Chronicle. This was a very important discovery, because just at this time many domestic historians turned to writing fundamental works on the history of Russia, and many of them used the materials of the graph.

Publishing Activities

Lovers of Russian antiquity were not only searched, but also published their original findings. Their goal was, as mentioned above, to acquaint the reading public with ancient Russian history. Therefore, the publication of monuments was of fundamental importance in their educational activities.

A rigorous scientific study of the annals and manuscripts was not their task, but when the sources were published, the compilers of the collections accompanied certain sources with valuable comments and remarks that did not lose their significance even today. Characteristic is the fact that Musin-Pushkin, as well as other publishers, did not principally put their authorship in the compilation of collections, thus seeking to concentrate the reader's attention entirely on the document.

In these publications, the purpose of publishing is clearly discernible. Musin-Pushkin often complains in his remarks to the published annals that the intelligentsia is over-enthusiastic about foreign scientific achievements and neglects the ancient national history.

Other activities

In addition to collecting ancient sources, Alexey Ivanovich was engaged in scientific and administrative activities. He was a full member of the Academy of Sciences and took part in the work on compiling a dictionary. But one of the most fruitful of his work was the work of the Academy of Arts. He collected works of European masters, with his assistance a class was opened on engraving of the landscape. He attracted to this institution many famous people, such as Shubin, Kozlovsky and others.

Musin-Pushkin maintained contacts with such famous and important scientists of his time as Bantysh-Kamensky, Karamzin, Boltin, Dubrovsky. They readily used his manuscripts to write their works.

The significance of the works of the graph in the development of Russian historiography

The activities of Aleksei Ivanovich should be considered in the context of the era. At this time, as mentioned above, many scientists seriously engaged in the publication of ancient Russian sources. In this respect, the name of the graph can be put on a par with such important experts in archival affairs as Bantysh-Kamensky and Novikov.

His findings are invaluable for studying the history of the past of the country, which is proved by the fact that the greatest historians used his findings in compiling his fundamental works. Photo by Musin-Pushkin shows us that it was not only a very influential grandee of his time, but also a very clever, intelligent and educated person.