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Birthday of Vasily Andreyevich Dashkov, an ethnographer, writer, local historian, prominent cultural figure of Russia
Vasily Andreyevich Dashkov, an ethnographer, writer, local historian, and a prominent cultural figure of Russia was born on May 2 (14), 1819 in Ryazan Governorate.
Vasily Dashkov belonged to an ancient Russian noble family; he received home education and completed the course at Moscow University.
In 1836 - early 1837 Vasily Dashkov and his father Andrei Vasilyevich Dashkov, who served as a governor of Olonets Governorate (from 1836 to 1840) arrived in Petrozavodsk.
From 1837 to 1839 the young man studied in the Petrozavodsk gymnasium.
Interest in the history of the region, culture and everyday life of its inhabitants inspired Vasily Dashkov to take up travelling. In 1837 he took the route Petrozavodsk - Povenets - Sumsky Posad - Solovetsky Monastery - Kem - Rugozero - Padany - Povenets - Petrozavodsk. The impressions of this trip led him to write his first article about Karelia, which was published in the newspaper Literary Supplement to Russkiy Invalid in 1838.
In 1839-1840 Vasily Dashkov’s articles, dedicated to the customs and folklore of Olonets region were published in magazines, such as Otechestvennye Zapiski, Mayak, Nevsky Albom almanac and other St. Petersburg publications.
The result of Vasily Dashkov’s local history research was The Historical, Statistical and Ethnographic Description of Olonets Governorate, which was published for the first time in Zhurnal Ministerstva Vnutrennikh Del (The Journal of the Ministry of Internal Affairs) of 1841. This work came out as a book in Saint Petersburg in 1842. The book included materials on geography, natural resources, history and ethnography of the region. It contained a lot of factual materials and figures. The author compiled the descriptions of the towns of Olonets Governorate - Petrozavodsk, Olonets, Pudozh, Povenets, Kargopol, Lodeynoye Pole, Vytegra. It also highlighted the history of local metallurgical state-owned and private plants, and featured the materials about Marcial Waters. Vasily Dashkov also wrote down a story told by a local resident about a visit of Russian commander A. V. Suvorov to the Alexander plant in Petrozavodsk. This unique local story was first published in this book.
Publication of the work by Vasily Dashkov aroused great public interest. Olonetskiye Gubernskiye Vedomosti newspaper of 1842-1845 contained over 20 excerpts from the book, which had a considerable influence on future generations of researchers of Olonets Governorate such as Ye. V. Barsov, I. I. Blagoveshchensky and others. The Historical, Statistical and Ethnographic Description of Olonets Governorate by Dashkov is one of the most significant sources on the history of Karelia of the first half of the 19th century.
From 1841 Vasily Dashkov served in Moscow as an assistant to the head of the Moscow educational district (1860-1867).
In 1865 he organized the National Ethnographic Exhibition, and donated 40,000 roubles and his own collection, which he had amassed in Karelia. In 1867 all the exhibits of the collection served as a basis for foundation of the Museum of Russian Ethnography in Moscow (today known as the Dashkov Museum of Russian Ethnography).
From 1867 to 1896 Vasily Dashkov headed the Moscow Public Museum and the Rumyantsev Museum.
In 1881 he received the highest civil rank – Actual Privy Counselor.
In 1882 Dashkov donated his gallery of portraits of prominent compatriots made by celebrated artists such as I. N. Kramskoy, I. Ye. Repin, V. M. Vasnetsov, N. P. Zagorsky, and others to the Rumyantsev Museum. There were 243 portraits in the collection.
Vasily Dashkov was an honorary member of the Academy of Arts and many scientific societies and commissions. He was awarded Russian and foreign orders.
Vasily Dashkov died in Moscow in 1896.
Lit.: Каратыгина Т. Ф. У истоков Российской государственной библиотеки // Библиография. 2009. № 5. С. 117-119; Кораблев Н. А. Олонецкие губернаторы и генерал-губернаторы : биогр. справ. Петрозаводск, 2012. Из содерж.: В. А. Дашков. С. 61; Кутьков Н. П. Дашков Василий Андреевич // Карелия : энциклопедия. Т.1. А-Й. Петрозаводск, 2007. С. 289; Пашков А. М. «Описание Олонецкой губернии» В. А. Дашкова как исторический источник // Актуальные проблемы развития общественных наук на современном этапе. Петрозаводск, 1986. С. 60-62; Пашков А. М. Историческое краеведение в Олонецкой губернии в первой половине XIX века // Историография дореволюционной Карелии : итоги и перспективы изучения. Петрозаводск, 1988. С. 65-80; Пименов В. В. Карелия глазами путешественников и исследователей XVIII и XIX веков. Петрозаводск, 1969. Из содерж.: В. А. Дашков. С. 140-145.
Based on the Presidential Library’s materials:
The materials were provided by the National Library of the Republic of Karelia