Alexey Nikolayevich Olenin (Aleksey Nikolaevich Olenin, russian: Алексей Николаевич Оленин; in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

– in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

) was a Russian archaeologist, most notable for being a director of the

Imperial Public Library The National Library of Russia (NLR, russian: Российская национальная библиотека}), located in Saint Petersburg, is the first, and one of three national public libraries in Russia. The NLR is currently ranked amo ...

between 1811 and 1843 and the sixth president of the

Imperial Academy of Arts The Russian Academy of Arts, informally known as the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts, was an art academy in Saint Petersburg, founded in 1757 by the founder of the Imperial Moscow University Ivan Shuvalov under the name ''Academy of the T ...

between 1817 and 1843.

Early life

Olenin was born into a noble family in Moscow. He received his initial education at home. Then in 1774, as was customary at the time among Russian aristocracy, he was enrolled in the

Corps of Pages The Page Corps (russian: Пажеский корпус; french: Corps des Pages) was a military academy in Imperial Russia, which prepared sons of the nobility and of senior officers for military service. Similarly, the Imperial School of Jurisprud ...

. In 1780 he was sent to study history and art history in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

Career

In 1785 Olenin returned to Russia to start a military career. In parallel he was writing a dictionary of military quotations and in 1786 he was elected to the St Petersburg Academy of Sciences, even though the dictionary had not yet been published. In December 1786 Olenin quit military service, but in 1789 he rejoined the army. He was sent to Pskov and subsequently, in 1789—1790, participated in the

Russo-Swedish war Wars between Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and ...

. In 1795 he was promoted to the rank of

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

and retired from military service for good. After 1795 Olenin was employed on a variety of civil positions, including director of the

Saint Petersburg Mint Saint Petersburg Mint (russian: Санкт-Петербу́ргский моне́тный двор) is one of the world's largest mints. It was founded by Peter the Great in 1724 on the territory of Peter and Paul Fortress, so it is one of the ...

(1799). In 1811 he was appointed director of the

. From 1794 he took a keen interest in art, in particular, produced a number of graphic works, and formed a large collection of antiquities, which he later (in 1829) donated to the Academy of Arts. He went on to illustrate a number of books, including the selected works of

Gavrila Derzhavin Gavriil (Gavrila) Romanovich Derzhavin ( rus, Гаврии́л (Гаври́ла) Рома́нович Держа́вин, p=ɡɐˈvrilə rɐˈmanəvʲɪtɕ dʲɪrˈʐavʲɪn, a=Gavrila Romanovich Dyerzhavin.ru.vorb.oga; 14 July 1743 – 20 ...

and a book of fables by

Ivan Khemnitser Ivan Ivanovitch Chemnitzer or Khemnitzer (russian: Ива́н Ива́нович Хемни́цер; 17451784) was a Russian fabulist, born at Yenotayevsk, Astrakhan Governorate, the son of a German physician of Chemnitz, who had served in the R ...

. In 1804 he was elected a member of the Academy of Arts. In 1806 Olenin published his first scholarly paper, ''A letter to Prince Musin-Pushkin on the stone of Tmutarakan found at the island of Taman in 1792'', in which he deciphered the inscription on the stone. Because of this paper, Olenin is regarded as a founder of Russian

palaeography Palaeography ( UK) or paleography ( US; ultimately from grc-gre, , ''palaiós'', "old", and , ''gráphein'', "to write") is the study of historic writing systems and the deciphering and dating of historical manuscripts, including the analysi ...

. He is also notable for being the host of one of the most fashionable salons in Saint Petersburg, which attracted many authors, artists, musicians, and actors.

Alexander Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...

, considered to be the most famous Russian poet, was romantically involved with Anna Olenina, Alexey Olenin's youngest daughter. He wrote a number of poems to her, and even proposed to her in 1828, but was rejected outright. Anna Olenina did not marry until 1840.

Death

Alexey Olenin died in Saint Petersburg in 1843, still in office, and was buried in the

Alexander Nevsky Lavra Saint Alexander Nevsky Lavra or Saint Alexander Nevsky Monastery was founded by Peter I of Russia in 1710 at the eastern end of the Nevsky Prospekt in Saint Petersburg, in the belief that this was the site of the Neva Battle in 1240 when Alex ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olenin, Alexey 1763 births 1843 deaths Archaeologists from Saint Petersburg Full members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences Burials at Tikhvin Cemetery