Vladimir Semyonovich Golenishchev (; 29 January 1856 – 5 August 1947), formerly also known as Wladimir or Woldemar Golenischeff, was one of the first and one of the most accomplished Russian Egyptologists. He was one of the founders of the Cairo School of Egyptology and one of the most recognized authorities of the schools of Assyriology and Egyptology in Russia.

Early life and education

Golenishchev, the son of a well-to-do merchant was born in St. Petersburg. Golenishchev's father, Semyon Vasilyevich Golenishchev (1821–1858), owned a sizable weaving and paper-spinning enterprise on the Obvodny Canal. Additionally, Semyon had part ownership of a trading house that imported American cotton through the port of St. Petersburg. After Semyon's unexpected death, the newly widowed Sofya Gavrilovna passed the management of the businesses to a relative and spent her time raising her children Vladimir and Nadezhda. From these transactions, Golenishchev inherited capital and significant real estate in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

. Golenishchev also received an adequate home education where he found interest in oriental studies, particularly in Egyptology. Golenishchev graduated from the 1st St. Petersburg Gymnasium in 1875 and continued his education at

Saint Petersburg University Saint Petersburg State University (SPBGU; ) is a public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter the Great, the university from the be ...

from 1875 to 1879. However, at that time, the institution provided minimal resources for the study of Egyptology. The mostly self-taught Egyptologist found his first ancient Egyptian monument at the age of 14 and published his first article about papyrus in 1874 at the age of eighteen. In addition to his study of Egyptology, Golenishchev became proficient in more than a dozen languages including Russian, French, German, and English.

Egyptological career

In 1884–85 he organized and financed excavations in

Wadi Hammamat Wadi Hammamat (, ) is a dry river bed in Egypt's Eastern Desert, about halfway between Al-Qusayr and Qena. It was a major mining region and trade route east from the Nile Valley in ancient times, and three thousand years of rock carvings and ...

, followed by the research at

Tell el-Maskhuta Pithom (; ; or , and ) was an ancient city of Egypt. References in the Hebrew Bible and ancient Greek and Roman sources exist for this city, but its exact location remains somewhat uncertain. Some scholars identified it as the later archaeol ...

in 1888–89. In the course of the following two decades, he traveled to

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

more than sixty times and brought back an enormous collection of more than 6,000 ancient Egyptian antiquities, including such priceless relics as the

Moscow Mathematical Papyrus The Moscow Mathematical Papyrus, also named the Golenishchev Mathematical Papyrus after its first non-Egyptian owner, Egyptologist Vladimir Golenishchev, is an ancient Egyptian mathematical papyrus containing several problems in arithmetic, ge ...

, the

Story of Wenamun The Story of Wenamun (alternately known as the Report of Wenamun, The Misadventures of Wenamun, Voyage of Unamūn, or nformallyas just Wenamun) is a literary text written in hieratic in the Late Egyptian language. It is only known from one incom ...

, the

Alexandrian World Chronicle The ''Alexandrian World Chronicle'' or ''Chronographia Golenischevensis'' is an anonymous Greek chronicle compiled in Alexandria, recording history from Creation until the year 392 AD. The chronicle survives in the fragments of a papyrus named ...

, and various Fayum portraits, the Teaching of King Merikare, and the Prophecy of the Priest Nefer-rehu. The most well-known document he discovered was the Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor''.'' He also published the so-called Hermitage papyri, including the

Prophecy of Neferti The ''Prophecy of Neferti'' is one of the few surviving literary texts from ancient Egypt. The story is set in the Old Kingdom, under the reign of King Sneferu. However, the text should be attributed to an individual named Neferyt, who most likely ...

, now stored in the

Hermitage Museum The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and holds the large ...

. Golenishchev created a firm foundation for Russian Egyptology and paved the way for future Egyptologists. Golenishchev had many pupils in the time he spent at the

University of Cairo Cairo University () is Egypt's premier public university. Its main campus is in Giza, immediately across the Nile from Cairo. It was founded on 21 December 1908;"Brief history and development of Cairo University." Cairo University Faculty of En ...

. One notable student, Boris Alexandrovitch Turaev, learned much from Golenishchev and went on to train the next generation of Russian Egyptologists. Alexandrovitch Turaev also persuaded Golenishchev to sell his collection of Egyptian statuary to the Moscow Museum of Fine Arts.

Contributions to hieroglyphic decipherment

In 1874, Golenischev published his first article and in 1877 he published valuable work on

Metternich Stela The Metternich Stela is a magico-medical Horus on the Crocodiles stele that is part of the Egyptian collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. It dates to the Thirtieth Dynasty of Egypt around 380–342 B.C. during the re ...

. Additionally, he made crucial contributions to the study of cuneiform, publishing ''Vingt-quatre tablettes cappadociennes'' in 1891''.'' He was also employed by the

Egyptian Museum The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, commonly known as the Egyptian Museum (, Egyptian Arabic: ) (also called the Cairo Museum), located in Cairo, Egypt, houses the largest collection of Ancient Egypt, Egyptian antiquities in the world. It hou ...

in Cairo, where he cataloged

hieratic Hieratic (; ) is the name given to a cursive writing system used for Ancient Egyptian and the principal script used to write that language from its development in the third millennium BCE until the rise of Demotic in the mid-first millennium BCE ...

papyri Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, ''Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'' or ''papyruses'') can ...

. In 1890, Golenishchev purchased a trove of papyri from a dealer that had been deliberately torn apart and sold in pieces and reconstructed them in Cairo. These papyri are invaluable for language studies and include the

, recounting the tribulations and humiliations of an Egyptian emissary to Byblos in the New Kingdom's degraded, waning days. Later, this work included a word list that became known as the Golenischeff Onomasticon. Gradually, Golenishchev's financial situation declined and led to the auctioning of his abundant collection. Golenishchev received offers from many foreign museums. Golenishchev, acting patriotically, sold his collection to the

Moscow Museum of Fine Arts The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (, abbreviated as , ''GMII'') is the largest museum of European art in Moscow. It is located in Volkhonka street, just opposite the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. The International musical festival Sviatos ...

in 1909. Following the sale of his collection, Golenishchev settled in Egypt. Following the

Russian Revolution of 1917 The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

, he never returned to Russia, residing in

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

. In Egypt, he established and held the chair in

Egyptology Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Ancient Greek, Greek , ''wiktionary:-logia, -logia''; ) is the scientific study of ancient Egypt. The topics studied include ancient Egyptian History of Egypt, history, Egyptian language, language, Ancient Egypt ...

at the

from 1924 to 1929.

Legacy

In 1947, Golenishchev died in Nice at the age of 91. In 2006 on the 150th anniversary of his birth, a monument was erected for Golenishchev at the Cairo Egyptian Museum, adding him to the memorial of some of the great Egyptologists of the world. His papers are held at the

Pushkin Museum The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (, abbreviated as , ''GMII'') is the largest museum of European art in Moscow. It is located in Volkhonka street, just opposite the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. The International musical festival Sviatos ...

, at the Centre Wladimir Golenischeff in

Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, and also at the

Griffith Institute The Griffith Institute is an Egyptological institution based in the Griffith Wing of the Sackler Library and is part of the Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford, England. It was founded for the advancement of Egyptology and Ancient ...

Oxford, England Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

. Golenishchev remains considered the first and most accomplished Russian Egyptologist and is revered for his dedicated work restoring, cataloging, and researching ancient Egyptian monuments.

References

External links