Russian historian, geographer, economist and statesman, founder of Stavropol (now Togliatti), Yekaterinburg and Perm.
Childhood and youth
Vasily Tatishchev was born in Pskov into a noble noble family. The Tatishchevs came from the Rurikovich family, or more precisely, from the younger branch of the Smolensk princes. The family lost its princely title. Since 1678, Vasily Nikitich’s father was listed in the government service as a Moscow “tenant” and at first did not have any land holdings, but in 1680 he managed to obtain the estate of a deceased distant relative in the Pskov district. Both Tatishchev brothers (Ivan and Vasily) served as stewards (the steward was responsible for serving the master's meal) at the tsar's court until his death in 1696. After that, Tatishchev left the court. The documents do not contain evidence of Tatishchev’s studies at school. In 1704, the young man was enlisted in the Azov Dragoon Regiment and served in the army for 16 years, leaving it on the eve of the end of the Northern War with the Swedes. Participated in the capture of Narva, in the Prut campaign of Peter I against the Turks. In 1712-1716. Tatishchev improved his education in Germany. He visited Berlin, Dresden, Breslavl, where he studied mainly engineering and artillery, and kept in touch with General Feldzeichmeister Ya.V. Bruce and carried out his instructions.
Development of the Urals
At the beginning of 1720, Tatishchev received an appointment to the Urals. His task was to identify sites for the construction of iron ore plants. Having explored the indicated places, he settled in the Uktus plant, where he founded the Mining Office, which was later renamed the Siberian Higher Mining Authority. On the Iset River, he laid the foundation for present-day Yekaterinburg, indicated the place for the construction of a copper smelter near the village of Yegoshikha - this was the beginning of the city of Perm. In the region, he launched activities to build schools and libraries, which after his death existed without fundamental changes for 158 years.
Tatishchev had a conflict with an entrepreneur, an expert in mining. He saw the construction and establishment of state-owned factories as an undermining of his activities. To investigate the dispute that arose between Tatishchev and Demidov, military officer and engineer G.V. was sent to the Urals. de Gennin. He found that Tatishchev acted fairly in everything. According to a report sent to Peter I, Tatishchev was acquitted and promoted to advisor to the Berg Collegium.
From 1724 to 1726 Tatishchev spent time in Sweden, where he inspected factories and mines, collected drawings and plans, brought a lapidary to Yekaterinburg, met many local scientists, etc. In 1727, he was appointed a member of the coin office, which then subordinated the mints. Tatishchev began work on a General Geographical Description of all of Siberia, which, due to lack of materials, he left unfinished, writing only 13 chapters and an outline of the book. The conflict with Biron’s proteges and the discontent of local influential persons who took advantage of Tatishchev’s individual abuses of power led to his recall and then putting him on trial. In 1734, Tatishchev was released from trial and again appointed to the Urals as head of state-owned mining factories “for the reproduction of factories.” From July 1737 to March 1739 headed the Orenburg expedition.
In January 1739, Tatishchev arrived in St. Petersburg, where a whole commission was set up to consider complaints against him. He was accused of “attacks and bribes,” failure to perform, etc. The commission arrested Tatishchev in the Peter and Paul Fortress and in September 1740 sentenced him to deprivation of his ranks. The sentence, however, was not carried out. During this difficult year for Tatishchev, he wrote his instructions to his son - the famous “Spiritual”.
Writing "Russian History"
The fall of Biron again brought forward Tatishchev: he was released from punishment and in 1741 he was appointed to Astrakhan to manage the Astrakhan province, mainly to stop the unrest among the Kalmyks. The lack of necessary military forces and the intrigues of the Kalmyk rulers prevented Tatishchev from achieving anything lasting. When she ascended the throne, Tatishchev hoped to free himself from the Kalmyk commission, but he did not succeed: he was left in place until 1745, when he was dismissed from office due to disagreements with the governor. Having arrived in his village of Boldino near Moscow, Tatishchev did not leave her until his death. Here he finished his famous “Russian History”.
Work on writing a work on native history began in the early 1720s. and actually became the main business of life. Having taken up writing the work, Tatishchev set himself several tasks. Firstly, to identify, collect and systematize the material and present it in accordance with the chronicle text. Secondly, explain the meaning of the collected material and establish the causal relationship of events, compare Russian history with Western, Byzantine and Eastern history.
Tatishchev’s work on writing “Russian History” proceeded rather slowly. Having begun to study and collect materials in 1721, the scientist in November 1739 presented to the Academy of Sciences “An Introduction to Russian Histories,” written in an ancient dialect. Arriving in St. Petersburg in 1739, Tatishchev showed his “Russian History” to many, but the work did not meet with approval. Resistance was provided by the clergy and foreign scientists. He was accused of freethinking. Then Tatishchev sent his “Russian History” to the Novgorod Archbishop Ambrose, asking him “to read and correct it.” The archbishop did not find “anything contrary to the truth” in Tatishchev’s work, but asked him to reduce controversial issues. Discouraged by attacks from the church and not feeling support from the Academy of Sciences, Tatishchev did not dare to protest openly. Not only the questions of church history that he raised served as a reason for rejecting the work, but also the dominance in the Academy of Sciences of foreign scientists, mainly Germans by origin.
V.N. Tatishchev turned to P.I. for help. Rychkov, a prominent historian, geographer, and economist of that time. Rychkov reacted with great interest to the work of Vasily Nikitich. Having retired to his Boldino estate after numerous wanderings and exiles, Tatishchev continues to work purposefully on writing “Russian History”. By the end of the 1740s. refers to Tatishchev’s decision to begin negotiations with the Academy of Sciences about the publication of his work. The majority of members of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences were favorably disposed. This is explained by the change in the general situation in the country. Elizaveta Petrovna came to power. National science in her person gained state support. His work was first published during the reign of Catherine II.
Structure and summary of “Russian History”
“Russian History” by Tatishchev consists of five books, which include four parts. Tatishchev's first book is divided into two parts. The first part is entirely devoted to the characteristics and history of the various peoples who inhabited the East European Plain in ancient times. The second part of the book is devoted to the ancient history of Rus'. Its scope covers 860-1238. Particular attention is paid to the issue of the role of Varangian influence on the development and formation of the ancient Russian state. In the second, third and fourth parts of “Russian History” Tatishchev conducts his narrative in chronological order. The second part of the work has the most finished appearance. The fact is that Tatishchev not only wrote it in an ancient dialect, but also translated it into his contemporary language. This, unfortunately, was not done with subsequent material. This part is also significant because in addition to it, Tatishchev compiled notes, where he gives comments on the text, which make up approximately a fifth of what was written. Tatishchev never brought the fourth part of his work to the planned time frame (1613), finishing the narrative in 1577. Although materials about later events were found in Tatishchev’s personal archive, for example, about the reign of Fyodor Ioanovich, Vasily Ioanovich Shuisky, Alexei Mikhailovich and etc.
Source base of “Russian History”
Tatishchev collected and kept the manuscripts he needed for his work. This is “The History of Kurbsky about the Kazan Campaign...; Popov, Archimandrite of the Trinity Monastery, from the reign of Tsar John II to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich; About Pozharsky and Minin, about 54 Polish times...; Siberian history...; Stories written in Tatar”, etc. The scientist had many sources, not in a single copy or version (in particular, Tatishchev had the story of the Kazan campaign not only under the authorship of A. Kurbsky, but also as a work by an unknown author). Tatishchev did not copy and rewrite ancient sources, but strived for their critical understanding. Many documents used by Tatishchev in his work on “Russian History” did not reach subsequent generations of scientists and, most likely, were forever lost to science. Tatishchev processed the works of foreign authors containing information on Russian history. in his classification of historical sources used by Tatishchev in his work, he singled out chronicles, ancient legends, writings of various historical figures, biographies, as well as “marriages and coronations.”
Other writings
In addition to the main work of V.N. Tatishchev left a large number of works of a journalistic nature: “Spiritual”, “Reminder on the sent schedule of high and low state and zemstvo governments”, “Discussion on the universal audit” and others. “Spiritual” (ed. 1775) gives detailed instructions covering the entire life and activity of a person (landowner). She treats about upbringing, about different types of service, about relationships with superiors and subordinates, about family life, estate and household management, and the like. The “Reminder” sets out Tatishchev’s views on state law, and the “Discourse,” written on the occasion of the 1742 audit, indicates measures to increase state revenues.
An unfinished explanatory dictionary (up to the word “Klyuchnik”) “Lexicon of Russian Historical, Geographical, Political and Civil” (1744-1746) covers a wide range of concepts: geographical names, military affairs and navy, administrative and management system, religious issues and the church , science and education, the peoples of Russia, legislation and court, classes and estates, trade and means of production, industry, construction and architecture, money and monetary circulation. First published in 1793 (M.: Mining School, 1793. Parts 1-3).
Historical significance of the works
Vasily Tatishchev is rightly called one of the fathers of Russian historical science; he is the author of the first “Russian History from Ancient Times,” which is one of the most significant works for the entire existence of Russian historiography.
Tatishchev used “Russian History” as the basis for his works, I.N. Boltin and others. Thanks to Tatishchev, such historical sources as “Russian Truth”, Code of Laws of 1550, and “State Book” have reached us. They were published after Tatishchev's death thanks to Miller's efforts. With his research, Tatishchev laid the foundation for the formation of historical geography, ethnography, cartography and a number of other auxiliary historical disciplines. In the course of his scientific and practical activities, Tatishchev became increasingly aware of the need for historical knowledge for the development of Russia and sought to convince “the powers that be” of this. According to N.L. Rubinstein, “Russian History” by V.N. Tatishcheva “summed up the previous period of Russian historiography... for a whole century ahead.”
We present to the reader's attention one of the most important works of Russian historiography of the second quarter of the 18th century, a major work by the Russian Vasily Nikitich Tatishchev, on which the historian worked for 15-20 years. Tatishchev came to the main work of his life due to the confluence of a number of circumstances. Realizing the harm caused by the lack of a detailed geography of Russia and seeing the connection between geography and history, he found it necessary to first collect and consider all historical information about Russia. Since foreign manuals turned out to be full of errors, the historian turned to primary sources, studied chronicles and other materials. The book is addressed to a wide range of readers interested in the history of Russia.
Contents
- Book one. Part one
- Book one. Part two
- Book two
- Book three
- Book Four
- Book five, or according to the author, part four of the ancient Russian chronicle
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(1686 – 1750), Russian statesman, historian. He graduated from the Engineering and Artillery School in Moscow. He took part in the Northern War of 1700-21, carried out various military and diplomatic assignments of Tsar Peter I. In 1720-22 and 1734-37 he managed state-owned factories in the Urals, founded Yekaterinburg; in 1741-45 - Astrakhan governor. In 1730 he actively opposed the supreme leaders (Supreme Privy Council). Tatishchev prepared the first Russian publication of historical sources, introducing into scientific circulation the texts of Russian Pravda and Code of Laws of 1550 with a detailed commentary, and laid the foundation for the development of ethnography and source studies in Russia. Compiled the first Russian encyclopedic dictionary (“Russian Lexicon”). He created a general work on Russian history, written on the basis of numerous Russian and foreign sources, “” (books 1-5, M., 1768-1848).
“” Tatishchev is one of the most significant works in the entire history of Russian historiography. Monumental, brilliantly and accessiblely written, this book covers the history of our country from ancient times - and right up to the reign of Fyodor Mikhailovich Romanov. The special value of Tatishchev’s work is that the history of Russia is presented here IN ITS COMPLETENESS - in aspects not only military-political, but religious, cultural and everyday!
Adaptation from Late Slavic - O. Kolesnikov (2000-2002)
Russian History (Russian doref. Russian History; full title of the first edition: “Russian History from the most ancient times, with tireless labor thirty years later, collected and described by the late Privy Councilor and Astrakhan Governor Vasily Nikitich Tatishchev”) - a major historical work of the Russian historian Vasily Tatishchev , one of the most important works of Russian historiography of the second quarter of the 18th century, a significant stage in its transition from the medieval chronicle to the critical style of narration.
The “History” consists of four parts; some sketches on the history of the 17th century have also been preserved.
Only parts are relatively completed by V. N. Tatishchev and include a significant number of notes. In the first part, the notes are distributed among the chapters; the second, in its final edition, contains 650 notes. There are no notes in any part, except for the chapters on the Time of Troubles, which contain some references to sources.
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] Author: Vasily Nikitich Tatishchev. Popular science publication.
(Moscow: AST Publishing House; JSC NPP Ermak, 2005. - Series “Classical Thought”)
Scan, processing, Djv format: Timofey Marchenko, 2011
- CONTENT:
RUSSIAN HISTORY
PART ONE
Pre-notification about general and Russian history (5).
Chapter 1. On the antiquity of the writing of the Slavs (29).
Chapter 2. About the former idolatry (35).
Chapter 3. About the baptism of the Slavs and Rus' (44).
Chapter 4. About the history of Joachim, Bishop of Novgorod (51).
Chapter 5. About Nestor and his chronicle (71).
Chapter 6. About the chroniclers who followed Nestor (75).
Chapter 7. About the lists or manuscripts used for this collection (78).
Chapter 8. About the calculation of time and the beginning of the year (82).
Chapter 9. On the origin, division and mixing of peoples (86).
Chapter 10. Reasons for the difference in the names of peoples (89).
Chapter 11. Scythian name and habitat (92).
Chapter 12. The tale of Herodotus of Heliokarnassus about the Scythians, Sarmatians and others (101).
Chapter 13. Strabo's tale from his seventh book (124).
Chapter 14. The Legend of Pliny Secundus the Elder (145).
Chapter 15. The legend of Claudius Ptolemy of Alexandria (169).
Chapter 16. From Constantine Porphyrogenitus about Russia and the borders and peoples close to it, selected by Sigfried Bayer (183).
Chapter 17. From the books of northern writers, composed by Sigfried Bayer (224).
Chapter 18. Remains of the Scythians, Turks and Tatars (265).
Chapter 19. Differences between the Scythians and Sarmatians (281).
Chapter 20. Sarmatov name, origin and habitat (285).
Chapter 21. Sarmatians according to Russian and Polish histories (292).
Chapter 22. The remaining Sarmatians (296).
Chapter 23. About the Getae, Goths and Gepids (304).
Chapter 24. About the Cimbri, or Cymbrians, and Kimmers (310).
Chapter 25. About the Bulgarians and the Khvalis, who among the ancients were Argypeans and Issedons (324).
Chapter 26. About the Pechenegs, Cumans and Torques (332).
Chapter 27. Ugrians and Obras, according to foreign Huns and Avars, among the ancient Essedons (336).
Chapter 28. Alans, Roxalans, Raclalans, Alanors and Litalans (344).
Chapter 29. Byarms, or Perms, Gordoriki, Ostergardi, Hunigardi, Ulmiogardia and Golmogardia (347).
Chapter 30. Rus', Rutens, Roxania, Roxalania and Russia (352).
Chapter 31. Varangians, what kind of people and where they were (358).
Chapter 32. The author of Theophilus Sigefr Bayer about the Varangians (363).
Chapter 33. The Slavs are named from what, where and when (393).
Chapter 34. About the residence in antiquity and the transition of the Slavs under different names (402).
Chapter 35. Ienets, or Genets, Getae, Dacians, Istrians (411).
Chapter 36. About the Bulgarians and Kazars (422).
Chapter 37. Eastern Slavs (427).
Chapter 38. Southern Slavs (429).
Chapter 39. Western Slavs (437).
Chapter 40. Northern Slavs (445).
Chapter 41. Slavic language and differences in dialects (449).
Chapter 42. On the increase and decrease of the Slavs and the language (452).
Chapter 43. About geography in general and about Russian (455).
Chapter 44. Ancient division of Russia (468).
Chapter 45. About the ancient Russian government and others as an example (480).
Chapter 46. On the genealogy of Russian sovereigns (500).
Chapter 47. About hierarchy (511).
Chapter 48. About the rituals and superstitions of the ancients (522).
Notes (540).
Publisher's abstract:“Russian History” by Tatishchev is one of the most significant works in the entire history of Russian historiography. Monumentally, brilliantly and accessiblely written, this book covers the history of our country from ancient times - and right up to the reign of Fyodor Mikhailovich Romanov. The special value of Tatishchev’s work is that the history of Russia is presented here IN ALL ITS COMPLETENESS - in aspects not only military-political, but religious, cultural and everyday!
Vasily Tatishchevis rightfully called one of the fathers of Russian historical science; he is the author of the first “Russian History from Ancient Times,” which is one of the most significant works for the entire existence of Russian historiography. Monumental, brilliantly and accessiblely written, this book is aboutcovers the history of our country from ancient times - and right up to the reign of Fyodor Mikhailovich Romanov. The special value of Tatishchev’s work is that the history of Russia is presented in itin its entirety, and not onlyVmilitary-politicalaspects, but also in religious, cultural, everyday. The personality of Vasily Nikitich is one of the most gigantic in Russian history. Statesman, diplomat, economist, mining engineer, geographer, naturalist, ethnographer, historian, collector of antiquities, archaeologist, linguist, publicist, philosopher, educator.
VASILY TATISHCHEV - Russian historian and statesman - was born on April 29, 1686 in Pskov into a noble noble family. At the age of seven, he was promoted to steward and taken to the court of Tsar Ivan Alekseevich, with whose wife Praskovya Fedorovna (née Saltykova) the Tatishchevs were related. The court “service” continued until the death of Tsar Ivan Alekseevich in 1696, after which Tatishchev left the court. The documents do not contain evidence of Tatishchev’s studies at school. In 1704, the young man was enlisted in the Azov Dragoon Regiment and served in the army for 16 years, leaving it on the eve of the end of the Northern War with the Swedes. He took part in the capture of Narva, the Battle of Poltava, and the Prut campaign of Peter I against the Turks.
Autograph of Vasily Nikitich Tatishchev.
At the end of 1712 Tatishchev was sent to Germany, where he stayed for 2.5 years intermittently, studying fortification and artillery, optics, geometry and geology. In the spring of 1716 he returned to Russia and was transferred to an artillery regiment, carrying out special assignments from the chief of artillery of the Russian army, Bruce, and Peter I himself.
In 1720 he was sent to the Urals, where he was involved in organizing the mining industry. The names of Tatishchev and the prominent metallurgical engineer Genin are associated with the founding of Yekaterinburg and the Yagoshikha plant, which laid the foundation for the city of Perm, and the geological and geographical study of the Urals. In 1724-1726 he was in Sweden, where he supervised the training of Russian youths in mining and studied economics and finance. Upon his return, Tatishchev was appointed a member, then the head of the Coin Office (1727-1733), which was engaged in the minting of gold, silver and copper money (paper money - banknotes appeared in Russia in 1769).
In notes and submissions addressed to Empress Catherine I, Tatishchev advocated the introduction of a decimal system of weights and measures in Russia, streamlining monetary circulation, increasing treasury revenues through the development of industry, foreign trade, growth of exports, and not the excessive exploitation of monetary regalia. At the same time he wrote the socio-political and philosophical work A Conversation between Two Friends about the Benefits of Sciences and Schools (1733). In 1734-1737, he was sent for the second time to manage the metallurgical industry of the Urals, started the construction of new iron and copper smelting plants, setting a goal to increase iron production by one third. In Yekaterinburg, he began work on a General Geographical Description of All Siberia, which, due to lack of materials, he left unfinished, writing only 13 chapters and an outline of the book. The conflict with Biron’s proteges and the discontent of local influential persons who took advantage of Tatishchev’s individual abuses of power led to his recall and then putting him on trial.
In the last years of his life, Tatishchev was the head of the Orenburg and Kalmyk commissions and the Astrakhan governor. In 1745, due to financial irregularities in his previous work revealed by an audit, he was removed from the post of governor and exiled to his estate - the village of Boldino, Dmitrov district, Moscow province, where he was under house arrest until his death.
The Boldinsky period of Tatishchev’s life is the most fruitful in scientific terms. Here he managed to finish the first Russian encyclopedic dictionary, the Russian Historical, Geographical and Political Lexicon, and to a large extent complete Russian History, which he began working on when he was the head of the Coinage Office (published from a manuscript by Miller in the 1760-1780s). While working on Russian History, Tatishchev discovered for science such documentary monuments as Russian Truth, Code of Law of Ivan the Terrible, Book of the Big Drawing, and collected the richest chronicle materials.
Tatishchev's work resembled a chronicle in form, in which the events of Russian history from ancient times to 1577 were presented in chronological order. The autocracy was given a central place in the presentation. Periods of economic prosperity and power of Russia, the author argued, always coincided with “unique rule.” The transition to aristocracy and feudal strife during the appanage period led to the subordination of Rus' to the Mongols, and the limitation of royal power in the early 17th century. - to the ruin of the state and the seizure of significant territories by the Swedes and Poles. Tatishchev’s main conclusion: “Everyone can see how much more useful monarchical rule is for our state than others, through which the wealth, strength and glory of the state is multiplied, and through which it is diminished and destroyed.”
http://tatischev.lit-info.ru/r…
Vasily TatishchevHe managed mining factories in the Urals and is considered the founder of Perm.
The monument was cast in Nizhny Tagil according to the design of the Perm sculptor Anatoly Uralsky. Uestablished in Perm in June 2003.Since 2004, the tradition of a wreath-laying ceremony for Tatishchev’s birthday began.
Monument to Vasily Nikitich Tatishchev in the fortified city of Stavropol (now the city of Tolyatti) founded by him. Sculptor - Rukavishnikov Alexander