Konstantin Bestuzhev-Ryumin
Encyclopedia
Konstantin Nikolayevich Bestuzhev-Ryumin (Константин Николаевич Бестужев-Рюмин; 1829–1897) was one of the most popular Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...

s of the 19th century. He held a chair in Russian History at the University of St. Petersburg (1864–85) and was elected into the Petersburg Academy of Sciences in 1890. In 1878 he founded and gave his name to the Bestuzhev Courses
Bestuzhev Courses
The Bestuzhev Courses were the largest and most prominent women's higher education institution in Imperial Russia.The institute opened its doors in 1878. It was named after Konstantin Bestuzhev-Ryumin, the first director. Other professors included Baudouin de Courtenay, Alexander Borodin, Faddei...

, "the largest and most prominent women's higher education institution in Russia".

Bestuzhev was born into one of Russia's oldest families; Mikhail Bestuzhev-Ryumin
Mikhail Bestuzhev-Ryumin
Mikhail Pavlovich Bestuzhev-Ryumin was a Russian officer, one of the organizers of the Decembrist revolt. He was the youngest of the five hanged Decembrists.-Biography:...

 was his uncle. He started out as a journalist, helping Andrey Krayevsky to edit the literary journal Otechestvennye Zapiski
Otechestvennye Zapiski
Otechestvennye Zapiski was a Russian literary magazine published in St Petersburg on a monthly basis between 1818 and 1884. The journal served liberal-minded readers, known as the intelligentsia...

where he published numerous reviews of historical and ethnographic works. He was drawn to a moderate wing of the Slavophile
Slavophile
Slavophilia was an intellectual movement originating from 19th century that wanted the Russian Empire to be developed upon values and institutions derived from its early history. Slavophiles were especially opposed to the influences of Western Europe in Russia. There were also similar movements in...

 movement and welcomed Nikolai Danilevsky's theories. His pupils include Alexander III of Russia
Alexander III of Russia
Alexander Alexandrovich Romanov , historically remembered as Alexander III or Alexander the Peacemaker reigned as Emperor of Russia from until his death on .-Disposition:...

, several Grand Dukes from the Romanov family, and historian Sergey Platonov
Sergey Platonov
Sergey Fyodorovich Platonov was a Russian historian who led the official St Petersburg school of imperial historiography before and after the Russian Revolution.Platonov was born in Chernigov and attended a private gymnasium in St...

.

Among Bestuzhev's works are a set of popular books on Russia's history, several monographs on medieval paleography, and the two volumes of Russian History. The latter work is considered his magnum opus
Magnum opus
Magnum opus , from the Latin meaning "great work", refers to the largest, and perhaps the best, greatest, most popular, or most renowned achievement of a writer, artist, or composer.-Related terms:Sometimes the term magnum opus is used to refer to simply "a great work" rather than "the...

. Bestuzhev was known for carefully detailing the views of other historians whilst carefully withholding his own opinions.

Sources

General
  • Киреева Р. А. Бестужев-Рюмин и историческая наука второй половины XIX века. М., 1990.
  • Киреева Р.А. Бестужев-Рюмин К. Н. // Историки России: Биографии / Под ред. А.А. Чернобаева. М., 2001.
  • Малинов А. В. К. Н. Бестужев-Рюмин: Очерк теоретико-исторических и философских взглядов. СПб., 2005.

Inline
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK