Vasily Osipovich Klyuchevsky (1841-1911) - Russian historian, tenured professor of Moscow University, honored professor of Moscow University; ordinary academician of the Imperial St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences on Russian history and antiquities, chairman of the Imperial Society of Russian history and antiquities at Moscow University, privy councilor.
There are many interesting facts in the biography of Klyuchevsky, which we will discuss in this article.
So, before you is a short biography of Vasily Klyuchevsky.
Biography of Klyuchevsky
Vasily Klyuchevsky was born on January 16 (28), 1841 in the village of Voskresenovka (Penza province). He grew up and was brought up in the family of a poor priest Osip Vasilyevich. The historian had 2 sisters.
Childhood and youth
When Vasily was about 9 years old, his father suffered a tragic death. Returning home, the head of the family fell under a severe thunderstorm. Horses frightened by thunder and lightning overturned the cart, after which the man lost consciousness and drowned in streams of water.
It is worth noting that it was Vasily who was the first to discover the dead father. The boy experienced such a deep shock that he suffered from stuttering for many years.
After the loss of the breadwinner, the Klyuchevsky family settled in Penza, being in the care of the local diocese. One of the acquaintances of the deceased Osip Vasilyevich provided them with a small house where orphans and a widow settled.
Vasily received his primary education in a theological school, but due to stuttering he could not fully master the curriculum. They even wanted to exclude the young man from him due to his incompetence, but his mother was able to settle everything.
The woman persuaded one of the students to study with her son. As a result, Vasily Klyuchevsky managed not only to get rid of the disease, but also to become an excellent speaker. After graduating from college, he entered the theological seminary.
Klyuchevsky was to become a clergyman, since he was supported by the diocese. But since he did not want to associate his life with spiritual service, he decided to use a trick.
Vasily dropped out of school, citing "poor health". In fact, he just wanted to get a history education. In 1861, the young man successfully passed the exams at Moscow University, choosing the Faculty of History and Philology.
History
After 4 years of study at the university, Vasily Klyuchevsky was offered to stay at the department of Russian history to prepare for a professorship. He chose the theme for his master's thesis - "Old Russian Lives of Saints as a Historical Source."
The guy worked on the work for about 5 years. During this time, he studied almost a thousand biographies, and also conducted 6 scientific studies. As a result, in 1871, the historian was able to confidently defend and obtain the right to teach in higher educational institutions.
Initially, Klyuchevsky worked at the Alexander Military School, where he taught general history. At the same time, he lectured at the local theological academy. In 1879 he began to teach Russian history at his native university.
As a talented speaker, Vasily Osipovich had a large army of fans. Students literally queued up to listen to the historian's lectures. In his speeches, he cited interesting facts, questioned established points of view and skillfully answered students' questions.
Also in the classroom, Klyuchevsky vividly described various Russian rulers. It is curious that he was the first who began to speak of monarchs as ordinary people subject to human vices.
In 1882 Vasily Klyuchevsky defended his doctoral dissertation "Boyar Duma of Ancient Rus" and became a professor at 4 universities. Having gained great popularity in society, as a deep connoisseur of history, the teacher, by order of Alexander III, taught general history to his third son George.
At that time, biographies Klyuchevsky published a number of serious historical works, including "Russian ruble 16-18 centuries. in his relation to the present "(1884) and" The origin of serfdom in Russia "(1885).
In 1900 the man was elected a Corresponding Member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences. A few years later, Vasily Klyuchevsky's fundamental work "The Course of Russian History", consisting of 5 parts, was published. It took the author over 30 years to create this work.
In 1906 the professor left the Theological Academy, where he worked for 36 years, despite the protests of students. After that, he teaches at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, where many art workers become his students.
Vasily Osipovich has raised many leading historians, including Valery Lyaskovsky, Alexander Khakhanov, Alexei Yakovlev, Yuri Gauthier and others.
Personal life
At the end of the 1860s, Klyuchevsky tried to court Anna Borodina, the sister of his student, but the girl did not reciprocate. Then, unexpectedly for everyone, in 1869 he married Anna's older sister, Anisya.
In this marriage, a boy Boris was born, who in the future received a history and law education. In addition, the professor's niece, Elizaveta Korneva, was raised as a daughter in the Klyuchevsky family.
Death
In 1909, Klyuchevsky's wife died. Anisya was brought home from the church, where she lost consciousness and died overnight.
The man suffered the death of his wife hard, never recovering from her death. Vasily Klyuchevsky died on May 12 (25), 1911 at the age of 70, due to a long illness.
Photos of Klyuchevsky
