Vasily Grigorievich Vasilievsky (also spelled ''Vasiljevskij'' and ''Wasiliewski''; russian: Васи́лий Григо́рьевич Василье́вский) was a Russian historian who founded the

St. 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 ...

school of medieval studies and was a major force in

Byzantine studies Byzantine studies is an interdisciplinary branch of the humanities that addresses the history, culture, demography, dress, religion/theology, art, literature/epigraphy, music, science, economy, coinage and politics of the Eastern Roman Empire. T ...

during the second half of the 19th century. The son of a rural priest, Vasilievsky was born on 2 February 1838. Graduating with honours from the

University of St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg State University (SPBU; russian: Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет) is a public university, public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in 1724 by a de ...

in 1860, he was appointed professor there and was elected into 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 ...

in 1890. Vasilievsky edited the Journal of the Ministry of Education before founding, in 1894, the '' Vizantiyskiy Vremennik'', which remains the chief organ for Byzantine studies in Russia to this day. He was the first to publish many medieval Greek sources relating to Russian history (''Byzantium and the

Pechenegs The Pechenegs () or Patzinaks tr, Peçenek(ler), Middle Turkic: , ro, Pecenegi, russian: Печенег(и), uk, Печеніг(и), hu, Besenyő(k), gr, Πατζινάκοι, Πετσενέγοι, Πατζινακίται, ka, პა� ...

'', 1872). He was also the first to research the agrarian history of Byzantium and its tax system (''Iconoclast Legislation'', 1878). Vasilievsky died in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

on 25 May 1899. His collected works were published in four volumes between 1908 and 1930. The

Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary 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 ...

(1890-1906) noted that "almost every modern Byzantinist is Vasilievsky's disciple". The foremost among his pupils was Alexander Vasiliev (1867-1953).

References

*Litavrin G.G
Василий Григорьевич Васильевский - основатель санкт-петербургского центра византиноведения (1838-1899)
// Vizantiyskiy Vremennik. Moscow, 1994. Volume 55, part 1, pages 5–21. {{DEFAULTSORT:Vasilievsky Historians from the Russian Empire Byzantinists from the Russian Empire Saint Petersburg State University alumni Full members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences 1838 births 1899 deaths Privy Councillor (Russian Empire) Scholars of Byzantine history Journal of the Ministry of Education editors