Christian Friedrich von Völkner (26 July 1728 – 3 October 1796) was a German
translator and
historian who worked in Russia (1747–1796).
[Фелькнер, Федор Христианович (Christian Friedr. Völkner). Russian Biographical Dictionary, vol. 21, 1901, p. 46., Wikisource][Фелькнер (Федор Христианович, Christian-Friedr. Völkner, 1722—1796). In: ]Brockhaus-Efron
The ''Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopaedic Dictionary'' (Russian: Энциклопедический словарь Брокгауза и Ефрона, abbr. ЭСБЕ, tr. ; 35 volumes, small; 86 volumes, large) is a comprehensive multi-volume ...
. vol. 35, 1902, p. 446., Wikisource
Life
Völkner was born in
Halle Halle may refer to:
Places Germany
* Halle (Saale), also called Halle an der Saale, a city in Saxony-Anhalt
** Halle (region), a former administrative region in Saxony-Anhalt
** Bezirk Halle, a former administrative division of East Germany
** Hall ...
as the son of
draftsman August Völkner. He was orphaned early and was taken into the care of the
Francke Foundations
The Francke Foundations (Franckesche Stiftungen), also known as Glauchasche Anstalten were founded in 1695 in Halle, Germany as a Christian, social and educational work by August Hermann Francke
The Francke Foundations are today a non-profit e ...
.
In 1747 he came to
Saint Petersburg in
Russia and worked in the
Russian Academy of Sciences, the
Governing Senate, the
Imperial Academy of Arts and the
Mining School. Völkner achieved the rank of a
Collegiate Councillor
Collegiate Councillor (Russian: колле́жский сове́тник, kollezhskii sovetnik) was a civil rank of 6th class in the Russian Empire, according to the Table of Ranks introduced by Peter the Great in 1722. It was equal to those of C ...
and thus the hereditary
Russian nobility. As a result, he and his descendants carried the nobility predicate "von" in their names. He died in Saint Petersburg in 1796.
Works
Völkner's best-known writings and translations include:
* ''Message from the
Ayukish Kalmyks
The Kalmyks ( Kalmyk: Хальмгуд, ''Xaľmgud'', Mongolian: Халимагууд, ''Halimaguud''; russian: Калмыки, translit=Kalmyki, archaically anglicised as ''Calmucks'') are a Mongolic ethnic group living mainly in Russia, w ...
'' (translated from
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
, published in
Gerhard Friedrich Müller's ''Collection of Russian History'', Volume IV, No. 4, 1760)
* ''Speech at the funeral of
Ambrose of Moscow'' (murdered during the
Moscow plague riots); held at the
Donskoy Monastery, October 4, 1771 (translated from
Russian, St. Petersburg, 1771)
* ''Historical drama based on Shakespear's pattern, without retaining the usual art rules of the theatre, from
Rurik's life; 2nd Russian edition with annotations by Major General Boltin'' (translated from Russian, St. Petersburg, 1792)
* ''Sketch of the first and second epoch of a history of the Russians'' (excerpts from the introduction were published in the ''Allgemeiner Litterarischer Anzeiger'' in 1796 (No. 41) and 1797 (No. 72–74))
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:von Völkner, Christian Friedrich
1728 births
1796 deaths
People from Halle (Saale)
German emigrants to the Russian Empire
18th-century German historians
18th-century German translators
German–Russian translators
Historians of Russia