Pavel Nikolayevich Rybnikov (Павел Николаевич Рыбников, 6 December 1831,

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 ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

, – 29 November 1885,

Kalisz (The oldest city of Poland) , image_skyline = , image_caption = ''Top:'' Town Hall, Former "Calisia" Piano Factory''Middle:'' Courthouse, "Gołębnik" tenement''Bottom:'' Aerial view of the Kalisz Old Town , image_flag = POL Kalisz flag.svg ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

, then part of the Russian Empire) was a Russian

ethnographer Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...

folklorist Folklore studies, less often known as folkloristics, and occasionally tradition studies or folk life studies in the United Kingdom, is the branch of anthropology devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currenc ...

and

literary historian The history of literature is the historical development of writings in prose or poetry that attempt to provide entertainment, enlightenment, or instruction to the reader/listener/observer, as well as the development of the literary techniques ...

, credited with the discovery of the previously unknown culture of

bylina A ( rus, были́на, p=bɨˈlʲinə; pl. ) is an Old Russian oral epic poem. Byliny narratives are loosely based on historical fact, but greatly embellished with fantasy or hyperbole. The word derives from the past tense of the verb '' ...

and

epos The point of sale (POS) or point of purchase (POP) is the time and place at which a retail transaction is completed. At the point of sale, the merchant calculates the amount owed by the customer, indicates that amount, may prepare an invoice ...

poetry of the

Olonets Olonets (russian: Оло́нец; krl, Anus, olo, Anuksenlinnu; fi, Aunus, Aunuksenkaupunki or Aunuksenlinna) is a town and the administrative center of Olonetsky District of the Republic of Karelia, Russia, located on the Olonka River to th ...

and

Arkhangelsk Arkhangelsk (, ; rus, Арха́нгельск, p=ɐrˈxanɡʲɪlʲsk), also known in English as Archangel and Archangelsk, is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies o ...

regions of North-European Russia. He spent the second half of his life in Kalisz, where he was the vice-governor of the Kalisz Guberniya, and contributed to the development of local science and culture.

Biography

Pavel Nikolayevich Rybnikov was born in Moscow to a family of staroobryadtsy merchants. After graduating from 3rd Moscow Gymnasium with a silver medal in 1850, he enrolled into

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 ...

's History and Philology faculty. It was at that time that he got close to the Moscow

Slavophiles Slavophilia (russian: Славянофильство) was an intellectual movement originating from the 19th century that wanted the Russian Empire to be developed on the basis of values and institutions derived from Russia's early history. Slavoph ...

' circle, notably

Aleksey Khomyakov Aleksey Stepanovich Khomyakov (russian: Алексе́й Степа́нович Хомяко́в; May 13 ( O.S. May 1) 1804, Moscow – October 5 (O.S. September 23), 1860, Moscow) was a Russian theologian, philosopher, poet and amateur artist. H ...

and

Konstantin Aksakov Konstantin Sergeyevich Aksakov (russian: Константи́н Серге́евич Акса́ков) (10 April 1817 – 19 December 1860) was a Russian critic and writer, one of the earliest and most notable Slavophiles. He wrote plays, social ...

.Pavel Nikolayevich Rybnikov. The Biography.
– Kenozerje (the regional Northern site). In 1859, Rybnikov was arrested in

Chernigov Chernihiv ( uk, Черні́гів, , russian: Черни́гов, ; pl, Czernihów, ; la, Czernihovia), is a List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in northern Ukraine, which serves as the administrative ...

for contacts with the local

Old Believers Old Believers or Old Ritualists, ''starovery'' or ''staroobryadtsy'' are Eastern Orthodox Christians who maintain the liturgical and ritual practices of the Russian Orthodox Church as they were before the reforms of Patriarch Nikon of Moscow bet ...

community (where he went to study the local history and literature, on Khomyakov's recommendation). Rybnikov was pronounced "a revolutionary", a fact scathingly commented upon by

Alexander Hertzen Alexander Ivanovich Herzen (russian: Алекса́ндр Ива́нович Ге́рцен, translit=Alexándr Ivánovich Gértsen; ) was a Russian writer and thinker known as the "father of Russian socialism" and one of the main fathers of agra ...

in ''

Kolokol Kolokol is Russian word which means bell. It may refer to: * ''Kolokol'' (newspaper), a newspaper edited by Alexander Herzen and Nikolay Ogarev *Kolokol Group, a group of somma volcanoes located in the Kuril Islands, Russia *Tsar Bell, also referre ...

'') and deported to

Petrozavodsk Petrozavodsk (russian: Петрозаводск, p=pʲɪtrəzɐˈvotsk; Karelian, Vepsian and fi, Petroskoi) is the capital city of the Republic of Karelia, Russia, which stretches along the western shore of Lake Onega for some . The population ...

. There he started the extensive study of the Northern Russia's folklore, culture and history. ''The Songs Collected by P.N.Rybnikov'', published in 4 volumes in 1861—1867 made Rybnikov a well-known author both in Russia and abroad. After Rybnikov was granted two major awards - the Russian Geographical Society's Gold medal and the

Demidov Prize The Demidov Prize (russian: Демидовская премия) is a national scientific prize in Russia awarded annually to the members of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Originally awarded from 1832 to 1866 in the Russian Empire, it was reviv ...

, both in 1864, the Russian authorities were motivated to 'pardon' Rybnikov. Relieved of the status of an 'exile' and granted the permission to move to either of Russia's major cities, Rybnikov instead married a Polish woman and settled in the city of

where he remained until his death. After the recreation of the Kalisz Guberniya in 1857 Rybnikov was appointed to the position of vice-governor of the Guberniya. He supported the creation of the regional newspaper, '' Kaliszanin'', and was its censor for sixteen years. Despite being a Russian official administering a territory in a

Russian partition The Russian Partition ( pl, zabór rosyjski), sometimes called Russian Poland, constituted the former territories of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that were annexed by the Russian Empire in the course of late-18th-century Partitions of Po ...

, he is remembered in Poland as especially sympathetic towards the Polish people and Polish culture.

Biography

References

Further reading