Nikolay Likhachyov
Encyclopedia
Nikolay Petrovich Likhachyov , alternatively spelled Likhachev, (12 April 1862 – 14 April 1936) was the first and foremost Russia
n sigillographer (that is, an expert on seal
s) who also contributed significantly to an array of auxiliary historical disciplines, including palaeography
, epigraphy
, diplomatics
, genealogy
, and numismatics
. He was elected a member of the Soviet Academy of Sciences in 1925.
, a town in the Kazan Governorate
. Among his paternal uncles, Ivan Likhachev was an admiral
and Andrei Likhachev was an avid antiquarian whose collections formed the core of the Kazan City Museum.
Nikolay Likhachev graduated from the Kazan University in 1884 and joined the staff of the Saint Petersburg Archaeological Institute in 1892. His early work shed light on the hierarchy of 16th-century Muscovite clerks, or diaks. His doctor's dissertation was on the subject of Muscovite pulp manufacture and paper mill
s.
In 1902-14 Likhachev filled the office of Assistant Director of the Imperial Public Library in St. Peterbsurg. During these years he brought to light a wealth of medieval papers, as well as many valuable materials concerning coins, watermarks, and hierarchy of medieval Russia. Together with Prince Aleksey Lobanov-Rostovsky he founded (in 1897) the Russian Genealogical Society.
He developed an early interest in medieval icon painting and produced several pioneering studies on the subject, including Materials for a History of Russian Icon Painting (1906, vol. 1-2), Andrei Rublev's Style of Painting (1907), and Historical Meaning of Italo-Greek Icon Painting (1911). The latter was awarded a Gold Uvarov Prize by the Academy of Sciences.
He died at Leningrad
in 1936.
and Nikodim Kondakov
in founding the Russian Assembly
, the country's first monarchist party which later became associated with the Black Hundreds.
Likhachev's proximity to the right wing of the tsarist government, as well as his own considerable fortune and unfailing taste, helped him to amass one of the largest collections of antiquities in the Russian Empire
. It encompassed 15,000 old coins and 1,500 icons, as wells as some 80,000 books, including a selection of manuscripts and incunabulae. His collection of Byzantine and early Russian seals was by far the largest in the world.
The fate of Likhachev's collections was variable. In 1913, Nicholas II bought his holdings of icons on behalf of the Alexander III Museum. In an attempt to save the remaining collections from dispersal in the days of the Russian Revolution, Likhachev conveyed them to the Academy of Sciences, which allowed them to be set up as the Palaeography Museum, of which Likhachev served as director in 1925-1930. His own mansion was given over to the Archaeographic Commission and currently houses its successor, the Russian History Institute.
It was in 1930 that Likhachev, Sergey Platonov
, Yevgeny Tarle
and several other prominent historians were arrested in connection with the Industrial Party Trial
. Likhachev was thrown out of the academy and exiled to Astrakhan
, while his remaining personal collections were nationalized. The Likhachev collection of cuneiform
tablets from Ur
and Lagash
, for instance, is currently divided between the Pushkin Museum
and the Hermitage Museum
.
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 sigillographer (that is, an expert on seal
Seal (device)
A seal can be a figure impressed in wax, clay, or some other medium, or embossed on paper, with the purpose of authenticating a document ; but the term can also mean the device for making such impressions, being essentially a mould with the mirror image of the design carved in sunken- relief or...
s) who also contributed significantly to an array of auxiliary historical disciplines, including palaeography
Palaeography
Palaeography, also spelt paleography is the study of ancient writing. Included in the discipline is the practice of deciphering, reading, and dating historical manuscripts, and the cultural context of writing, including the methods with which writing and books were produced, and the history of...
, epigraphy
Epigraphy
Epigraphy Epigraphy Epigraphy (from the , literally "on-writing", is the study of inscriptions or epigraphs as writing; that is, the science of identifying the graphemes and of classifying their use as to cultural context and date, elucidating their meaning and assessing what conclusions can be...
, diplomatics
Diplomatics
Diplomatics , or Diplomatic , is the study that revolves around documentation. It is a study that focuses on the analysis of document creation, its inner constitutions and form, the means of transmitting information, and the relationship documented facts have with their creator...
, genealogy
Genealogy
Genealogy is the study of families and the tracing of their lineages and history. Genealogists use oral traditions, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinship and pedigrees of its members...
, and numismatics
Numismatics
Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, and related objects. While numismatists are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, the discipline also includes the broader study of money and other payment media used to resolve debts and the...
. He was elected a member of the Soviet Academy of Sciences in 1925.
Scholarly career
A scion of an old noble family, Likhachev was born in ChistopolChistopol
Chistopol is a town in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, located on the left bank of the Kuybyshev Reservoir, on the Kama River. Population: It is served by the Chistopol Airport.-History:It was first mentioned in chronicles at the end of the 17th century...
, a town in the Kazan Governorate
Kazan Governorate
The Kazan Governorate or Government of Kazan was a governorate of Imperial Russia from 1708–1920, with the city of Kazan as its capital.-History:...
. Among his paternal uncles, Ivan Likhachev was an admiral
Admiral
Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet . It is usually abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM"...
and Andrei Likhachev was an avid antiquarian whose collections formed the core of the Kazan City Museum.
Nikolay Likhachev graduated from the Kazan University in 1884 and joined the staff of the Saint Petersburg Archaeological Institute in 1892. His early work shed light on the hierarchy of 16th-century Muscovite clerks, or diaks. His doctor's dissertation was on the subject of Muscovite pulp manufacture and paper mill
Paper mill
A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags and other ingredients using a Fourdrinier machine or other type of paper machine.- History :...
s.
In 1902-14 Likhachev filled the office of Assistant Director of the Imperial Public Library in St. Peterbsurg. During these years he brought to light a wealth of medieval papers, as well as many valuable materials concerning coins, watermarks, and hierarchy of medieval Russia. Together with Prince Aleksey Lobanov-Rostovsky he founded (in 1897) the Russian Genealogical Society.
He developed an early interest in medieval icon painting and produced several pioneering studies on the subject, including Materials for a History of Russian Icon Painting (1906, vol. 1-2), Andrei Rublev's Style of Painting (1907), and Historical Meaning of Italo-Greek Icon Painting (1911). The latter was awarded a Gold Uvarov Prize by the Academy of Sciences.
He died at Leningrad
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
in 1936.
Likhachev collections
Likachev's political views were decidedly nationalistic. In 1911 he joined Aleksey SuvorinAleksey Suvorin
Aleksei Sergeevich Suvorin was an immensely rich newspaper and book publisher and journalist whose publishing empire wielded considerable influence during the last decades of the Russian Empire.He set out as a liberal journalist but, as many of his...
and Nikodim Kondakov
Nikodim Kondakov
Nikodim Pavlovich Kondakov , 1844, village of Khalan, Kursk Governorate, Russian Empire–February 17, 1925, Prague, Czechoslovakia), was a Russian historian, specialist in history of Byzantine art. Attended Moscow University under Fedor Buslaev in 1861–1865. Taught in the Moscow Art School...
in founding the Russian Assembly
Russian Assembly
Russian Assembly was Russian loyalist right-wing monarchist political group . Founded in Petersburg in October — November 1900, dismissed in 1917.-Leaders:...
, the country's first monarchist party which later became associated with the Black Hundreds.
Likhachev's proximity to the right wing of the tsarist government, as well as his own considerable fortune and unfailing taste, helped him to amass one of the largest collections of antiquities in the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
. It encompassed 15,000 old coins and 1,500 icons, as wells as some 80,000 books, including a selection of manuscripts and incunabulae. His collection of Byzantine and early Russian seals was by far the largest in the world.
The fate of Likhachev's collections was variable. In 1913, Nicholas II bought his holdings of icons on behalf of the Alexander III Museum. In an attempt to save the remaining collections from dispersal in the days of the Russian Revolution, Likhachev conveyed them to the Academy of Sciences, which allowed them to be set up as the Palaeography Museum, of which Likhachev served as director in 1925-1930. His own mansion was given over to the Archaeographic Commission and currently houses its successor, the Russian History Institute.
It was in 1930 that Likhachev, 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...
, Yevgeny Tarle
Yevgeny Tarle
Yevgeny Viktorovich Tarle was a Soviet historian and academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He is known for his books about Napoleon's invasion of Russia and on the Crimean War, and many other works...
and several other prominent historians were arrested in connection with the Industrial Party Trial
Industrial Party Trial
The Industrial Party Trial was a show trial in which several Soviet scientists and economists were accused and convicted of plotting a coup against the government of the Soviet Union....
. Likhachev was thrown out of the academy and exiled to Astrakhan
Astrakhan
Astrakhan is a major city in southern European Russia and the administrative center of Astrakhan Oblast. The city lies on the left bank of the Volga River, close to where it discharges into the Caspian Sea at an altitude of below the sea level. Population:...
, while his remaining personal collections were nationalized. The Likhachev collection of cuneiform
Cuneiform
Cuneiform can refer to:*Cuneiform script, an ancient writing system originating in Mesopotamia in the 4th millennium BC*Cuneiform , three bones in the human foot*Cuneiform Records, a music record label...
tablets from Ur
Ur
Ur was an important city-state in ancient Sumer located at the site of modern Tell el-Muqayyar in Iraq's Dhi Qar Governorate...
and Lagash
Lagash
Lagash is located northwest of the junction of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers and east of Uruk, about east of the modern town of Ash Shatrah. Lagash was one of the oldest cities of the Ancient Near East...
, for instance, is currently divided between the Pushkin Museum
Pushkin Museum
The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts is the largest museum of European art in Moscow, located in Volkhonka street, just opposite the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour....
and the Hermitage Museum
Hermitage Museum
The State Hermitage is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. One of the largest and oldest museums of the world, it was founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great and has been opened to the public since 1852. Its collections, of which only a small part is on permanent display,...
.
Further reading
- Простоволосова Л. Н. Н. П. Лихачев: судьба и книги: Библиогр. указ. [N.P. Likhachev: The Fate and Books]. St. Petersburg, 2002.
- Вспомогательные исторические дисциплины. Т. 26: К 60-летию со дня смерти акад. Н. П. Лихачева. St. Petersburg, 1998.