- Vasily Klyuchevsky
Vasily Osipovich Klyuchevsky ( _ru. Василий Осипович Ключевский; OldStyleDate|January 28|1841|January 16 in Voskresnskoye Village,
Penza Governorate ,Russia – OldStyleDate|May 25|1911|12 May,Moscow ) dominated Russian historiography at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. He is still regarded as one of three most reputableRussia n historians, alongsideNikolay Karamzin andSergey Solovyov .A village priest's son, Klyuchevsky, of
Mordvinian ethnicity, studied in theMoscow University underSergey Solovyov , to whose chair he succeeded in 1879. His first important publications were an article on economic activities of theSolovetsky Monastery near the old Russian town ofBelozersk (1867) and a thesis on medieval Russianhagiography (1871).Kluchevsky was the first historian to shift attention from political and social issues to geographical and economical forces and agencies. He was particularly interested in the process of Russian peaceful
colonisation ofEurope ,Siberia , andFar East . In 1882, he published his landmark study of theBoyar Duma , whereby he asserted his view of state as a result of collaboration of diverse classes of society.In 1889, Klyuchevsky was elected to the
Russian Academy of Sciences . Although his lectures were highly popular, he published but a handful of biographies of "representative men", includingAndrei Kurbsky ,Afanasy Ordin-Nashchokin ,Feodor Rtishchev ,Vasily Galitzine , andNikolay Novikov .The last decade of his life was spent preparing the printed version of his lectures. He also became interested in politics, and joined the
Constitutional Democratic party .Further reading
*Mazour, Anatole G. "V.O. Kliuchevsky: The Making of a Historian", "
Russian Review ", Vol. 31, No. 4. (Oct., 1972), pp. 345–359.
*Mazour, Anatole G. "V.O. Kliuchevsky: The Scholar and Teacher", "Russian Review ", Vol. 32, No. 1. (Jan., 1973), pp. 15–27.
*Vasily Klyuchevsky. "The course of the Russian history", ISBN 5-244-00072-1, [http://www.kulichki.com/inkwell/text/special/history/kluch/kluchlec.htm] (in Russian)
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