![Klyuchevsky Museum Penza](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/Klyuchevsky_Museum_Penza.jpg)
Vasily Osipovich Klyuchevsky (russian: Василий Осипович Ключевский; in Voskresnskoye Village,
Penza Governorate
Penza Governorate (russian: Пензенская губерния) was an administrative division (a '' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire and Russian SFSR, located in the Volga Region. It existed from 1796 to 1797 and again from 1801 to 1928; it ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
– ,
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 million ...
) was a leading
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
n Imperial historian of the late imperial period. Also, he addressed the Russian economy in his writings.
Biography
A village priest's son, Klyuchevsky studied at
Moscow University
M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...
under
Sergey Solovyov, to whose chair he succeeded in 1879. His first important publications were an article on economic activities of the
Solovetsky Monastery
The Solovetsky Monastery ( rus, Солове́цкий монасты́рь, p=səlɐˈvʲɛtskʲɪj mənɐˈstɨrʲ) is a fortified monastery located on the Solovetsky Islands in the White Sea in northern Russia. It was one of the largest Chris ...
(1867) and a thesis on medieval Russian
hagiography
A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies migh ...
(1871).
Kluchevsky was one of the first Russian historians to shift attention away from political and social issues to geographical and economical forces. He was particularly interested in the process of Russian peaceful
colonisation
Colonization, or colonisation, constitutes large-scale population movements wherein migrants maintain strong links with their, or their ancestors', former country – by such links, gain advantage over other inhabitants of the territory. When ...
of
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
and the
Far East
The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.
The ter ...
. In 1882, he published his landmark study of the
Boyar Duma
A duma (russian: дума) is a Russian assembly with advisory or legislative functions.
The term ''boyar duma'' is used to refer to advisory councils in Russia from the 10th to 17th centuries. Starting in the 18th century, city dumas were for ...
, whereby he asserted his view of a state as a result of collaboration of diverse classes of society.
In 1889, Klyuchevsky was elected to the
Russian Academy of Sciences
The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; russian: Росси́йская акаде́мия нау́к (РАН) ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across t ...
. Although his lectures were highly popular with the students of
Moscow University
M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...
, only a few of his works were intended for publication, e.g., a handful of biographies of "representative men", including
Andrei Kurbsky
Knyaz (Prince) Andrey Mikhailovich Kurbsky (russian: Андрей Михайлович Курбский, pl, Andriej Michajłowicz Kurbski; 1528–1583) was a Russian political figure, military leader, and political philosopher, known as an intima ...
,
Afanasy Ordin-Nashchokin
Afanasy Lavrentievich Ordin-Nashchokin (russian: Афанасий Лаврентьевич Ордин-Нащокин) (1605–1680) was a Russian statesman of the 17th century. He was the first junior noble to attain the ''boyar'' title and high ...
,
Feodor Rtishchev
Feodor Mikhailovich Rtishchev (russian: Фёдор Миха́йлович Рти́щев; April 16, 1625, Chekalinsky uyezd – July 1, 1673, Moscow) was a boyar and an intimate friend of Alexis I of Russia who was renowned for his piety and alms- ...
,
Vasily Galitzine
Prince Vasily Vasilyevich Golitsyn (russian: Василий Васильевич Голицын, tr. ; 1643–1714) was a Russian aristocrat and statesman of the 17th century. He belonged to the Golitsyn as well as Romodanovsky Muscovite noble ...
, and
Nikolay Novikov
Nikolay Ivanovich Novikov (russian: Никола́й Ива́нович Новико́в) (, Moscow Governorate – . Moscow Governorate) was a Russian writer and philanthropy, philanthropist most representative of his country's Russian Enlighten ...
.
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
)
, newspaper = ''Rech''
, ideology = ConstitutionalismConstitutional monarchismLiberal democracyParliamentarism Political pluralismSocial liberalism
, position = Centre to centre-left
, international =
, colours ...
.
Maxim Gorky
Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (russian: link=no, Алексе́й Макси́мович Пешко́в; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (russian: Макси́м Го́рький, link=no), was a Russian writer and social ...
records the following dictum by
Leo Tolstoy
Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...
:
Karamzin Karamzin (russian: Карамзин) is a Russian masculine surname, its feminine counterpart is Karamzina. It originates from the Tatar surname Kara-Murza, meaning ''black lord'', and may refer to
*Aurora Karamzin (1808–1902), Finnish-Swede phil ...
wrote for the tsar, Solovyov wrote lengthily and tediously, and Klyuchevsky wrote for his own pleasure.
Commemoration
* In the year of the 125th anniversary of V.O. Klyuchevsky's birth, in February 1966, one of
Penza's streets, Popovka Street, where the future historian spent his childhood and youth (1851-1861), was renamed Klyuchevskogo Street;
* By
Minor Planet Center
The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Founded in 1947, it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.
Function
...
of the
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (USA), a small planet No. 4560, discovered in 1991, was named after V.O. Klyuchevsky as it was the year of the 150th anniversary of his birth;
* On the occasion of the 150th birthday of the historian in 1991, in Penza, at Klyuchevskogo Street 66, the V.O. Klyuchevsky
House Museum
A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that has been transformed into a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a v ...
was opened. The museum is housed in two one-story wooden houses. It includes a memorial house in which V.O. Klyuchevsky lived from 1851 to 1861, and the house of his neighbors, the Shevirevs, which was in close proximity to the first. Both houses were connected by an internal passage, which allowed to create a single museum exposition. The museum exposition displays the life of the Klyuchevsky family during the years of their life in
Penza
Penza ( rus, Пе́нза, p=ˈpʲɛnzə) is the largest city and administrative center of Penza Oblast, Russia. It is located on the Sura River, southeast of Moscow. As of the 2010 Census, Penza had a population of 517,311, making it the 38th-l ...
;
* On the 150th anniversary of the birth of V. O. Klyuchevsky in 1991, in his native village of Voskresenovka, Penza District, Penza Oblast, a bust and a
memorial plaque
A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other ...
were opened on the territory of a rural school;
* Since 1994 the
Presidium
A presidium or praesidium is a council of executive officers in some political assemblies that collectively administers its business, either alongside an individual president or in place of one.
Communist states
In Communist states the presidi ...
of the
Russian Academy of Sciences awards
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
established the Prize of V.O. Klyuchevsky for works in the field of Russian history;
* On October 11, 2008, a monument to V.O. Klyuchevsky was erected in
Penza
Penza ( rus, Пе́нза, p=ˈpʲɛnzə) is the largest city and administrative center of Penza Oblast, Russia. It is located on the Sura River, southeast of Moscow. As of the 2010 Census, Penza had a population of 517,311, making it the 38th-l ...
(by the sculptor V.Yu. Kuznetsov). The monument is a bronze statue mounted on a precast pedestal;
* On the 175th anniversary of V.O. Klyuchevsky, on December 16, 2016, the
Legislative Assembly of Penza Oblast decided to assign the name of V.O. Klyuchevsky to Penza Secondary School No. 28;
* On November 14, 2018, in Penza, on the building of the former theological school, in which V.O. Klyuchevsky studied at the Penza Theological Seminary (the seminary was temporarily located in this building after the fire of 1858) and which is now turned into the Dentistry Department of
Penza State University
Penza State University (russian: Пензенский государственный университет) is a state university
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic deg ...
, there is a memorial plaque dedicated to him (by the sculptor V. Yu. Kuznetsov);
* On the 150th anniversary of his birth, in 1991 in the
USSR
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
postage stamp dedicated to Klyuchevsky was issued;
* On the occasion of the 170th birthday of V.O. Klyuchevsky in 2011, the Russian Post issued a postcard depicting the monument to V.O. Klyuchevsky by sculptor V. Yu. Kuznetsov in Penza and a postal envelope depicting Klyuchevsky’s house-museum in Penza, as well as a special postmark;
* On the occasion of the 175th anniversary of the birth of V.O. Klyuchevsky, in 2016 the Russian post issued a postage stamp and a postal envelope, as well as three special postmarks.
References
English translations
*''A History of Russia'', (5 Volumes), J.M. Dent/E.P. Dutton, London/NY, 1911
from Archive.org*''Peter the Great'', Beacon Press, Boston, 1984.
*''Rise of the Romanovs'', Barnes & Noble, 1993.
* Two samples of his prose can be found in
Crimean-Nogai Raids#Historians on the Tatar Raids
Further reading
* Cracraft, James. "Kliuchevskii on Peter the Great." ''Canadian-American Slavic Studies'' 20.4 (1986): 367-381.
*Mazour, Anatole G. "V.O. Kliuchevsky: The Making of a Historian", ''
Russian Review
''The Russian Review'' is an independent peer-reviewed multi-disciplinary academic journal devoted to the history, literature, culture, fine arts, cinema, society, and politics of the Russian Federation, former Soviet Union and former Russian Empir ...
'', Vol. 31, No. 4. (Oct., 1972), pp. 345–359.
*Mazour, Anatole G. "V.O. Kliuchevsky: The Scholar and Teacher", ''
Russian Review
''The Russian Review'' is an independent peer-reviewed multi-disciplinary academic journal devoted to the history, literature, culture, fine arts, cinema, society, and politics of the Russian Federation, former Soviet Union and former Russian Empir ...
'', Vol. 32, No. 1. (Jan., 1973), pp. 15–27.
*Vasily Klyuchevsky. "The course of the Russian history",
В.О. Ключевский. Курс русской истории. Оглавление(in Russian)
*Vlasov V.A., Vishnyovskiy K.D., "Encyclopedia of Penza", . (2001), pp. 240–241. (in Russian)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Klyuchevsky, Vasily
1841 births
1911 deaths
Historians from the Russian Empire
Full members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences
Honorary members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences
Historians of Russia
Mordvin people
Privy Councillor (Russian Empire)
Professorships at the Imperial Moscow University