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Birthday anniversary of Fyodor I. Buslayev, philologist and arts critic, academician of St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences
“The word is the most important and most natural instrument of tradition. It is the focus of converge of all the delicate strands of the native antiquity, all the great and holy, all that represents the basis of moral life of the people. "
F. I. Buslayev
13 (25) April 1818, in the city of Kerensk, Penza province (today the village of Vadinsk, Penza region), in the family of the secretary of the district court was born Fyodor I. Buslayev, philologist, folklorist, literary critic, art historian, academician of St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences.
After the death of his father, Fyodor and his mother moved to Penza, where in 1828 he enrolled in the Penza gymnasium. After graduating in 1833, Buslayev studied ancient languages for a year, and in 1834 he entered the verbal department of Philosophy Faculty, Moscow University.
Among university professors, it was the historian and anthropologist Mikhail Pogodin, literary critic S. P. Shevyryov and linguist I. I. Davydov who had the greatest impact on Fyodor. Following their advice, Buslayev studied the history of the study of Russian grammar and the writings of prominent European scientists - V. Humboldt, brothers J. and B. Grimm. For the translation of the "General Grammar" of the French scientist S. Du Sassy, Buslayev was awarded the degree of candidate of philology.
In 1838, Fyodor taught Russian language in Moscow classical schools and gave private lessons. Soon, he went abroad as a private tutor of the children of Count S. G. Stroganov. During the trip, Buslayev visited Germany and Italy, where he studied archeology and the history of European art.
Returning to Russia in 1841, Buslayev resumed the teaching in high school, and in 1842 he was assigned as an assistant to the professors of the University of Moscow, I. I. Davydov and S. P. Shevyryov. Engaged mainly in the methodology of teaching Russian language, in 1844 Fyodor published "On the Teaching of the national language." The book caused a great resonance in academic circles: it provided a scientifically sound methodological system that focused on the conscious assimilation of knowledge and took into account age particularities of students.
At the same time, Buslayev became close friends with a circle of Moscow Slavophiles: A. S. Khomiakov, K. S. Aksakov, I. V. Kireevsky etc. As a permanent employee in the department of bibliography and criticism of the magazine “Moskovityanin” ("Muscovite"), he published there a series of reviews and two articles on "The Tale of Igor's Campaign" edited by Dubensky and about “The General Grammar" by I. I. Davydov.
In 1847, Fyodor lectured at the University of Moscow. After defending his master's thesis "On the influence of Christianity in the Slavic language. Experience of the history of language by the example of the Ostromir Gospels", he became assistant professor in the Department of Russian Language and Literature, and began to deliver lectures on comparative grammar and history of the Church Slavonic and Russian languages. From then on, all subsequent scientific work of Buslaev was related to the University of Moscow.
In 1850 Buslayev was promoted to extraordinary professor, in 1859 – to the ordinary. In 1852, Fyodor became a corresponding member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, from 1860 - an academician.
In 1858, commissioned by the General Administration of military schools, Buslayev wrote "The experience of the historical grammar of the Russian language." Even during his lifetime, the work went through five editions, and eventually became known as a university course on the history of the Russian language. In the book, the author described the comparative-historical method, considered the sound system of the Russian language in its development, morphological and syntactic changes from antiquity to modern times. In 1861, Fyodor compiled a "Historical reader of the Church Slavonic and Old Russian languages" - a collection of ancient Russian literature of the 11th – 17th centuries, which included 135 works, some of which had been prepared for publication in accordance with the texts of manuscripts and published for the first time. The texts in "The Reader" were provided with detailed historical and literary, and linguistic commentaries.
Buslayev is considered the founder of Russian mythological school, the first of many schools of the Russian folklore and literary criticism. Articles of Buslaev dating to 1850s were included in the "Historical Sketches of Russian Folk Literature and Art" (1861), for which the scientist, without defending his thesis, was awarded a doctorate in Russian literature. For 20 years (1861-1881) Fyodor had a chair of history of the Russian language and Russian literature, devoting his efforts mainly to research on ancient and Byzantine art.
The result of the study of ancient Russian icon painting, ornaments and miniatures of illuminated manuscripts was "The code of images of facial Apocalypses in accordance with Russian manuscripts from the 16th to the 19th centuries", published in 1884, which made Buslaev world famous. In the book, the author traced the relationship between the monuments of art, literature and folklore.
In 1886, Fyodor published a collection of his articles written in the period of 1851-1881, titled "My spare time." The following year was issued the collection of "Folk poetry. Historical essays.”
In 1888, Moscow University conferred the degree of Doctor of Theory and History of Art on Buslaev, and many educational institutions and scientific societies elected him an honorary member.
In his later years, Fyodor lost his sight, and being unable to do research, began to dictate his autobiography and memoirs, which were published in the journal "Herald of Europe", and in 1897 came out as the "My memories" book.
July 31 (August 12), 1897 Fyodor Buslayev died and was buried in the village of Lublino, near Moscow.
Lit.: Азадовский М. К. История русской фольклористики. М., 1958; Азбелев С. Н. Ф. И. Буслаев и его ученики об историко-бытовых основах народного эпоса // Русская литература. Л., 1991. № 4; Баландин А. И. Мифологическая школа в русской фольклористике: Ф. И. Буслаев. М., 1988; Буслаев Ф. И. Сочинения. Т. 1-3. СПб.; Л., 1908-1930; Зайцев В. И. Ф. И. Буслаев и «Слово о полку Игореве» // Проблемы художественного метода в русской литературе. М., 1973; Иловайский Д. И. Несколько слов по поводу вопроса о древнейшей русской поэзии // Русское слово. 1859. № 12. Отд. 1; Полевой П. Н. Ф. И. Буслаев (По поводу 50-летия его учёной деятельности)// Исторический вестник. 1888. Т. 34. № 10. С. 202-214; Пыпин А. Н. История русской этнографии. Т. 2. СПб., 1891; Смирнов С. В. Фёдор Иванович Буслаев (1818—1897). М., 1978; Стасов В. В. Критика моих критиков // Вестник Европы. 1870. Т. 1. Кн. 2.
Based on the Presidential Library’s materials:
Буслаев Ф. И. История русского языка и словесности. [М., 1867/8 акад. год]
Буслаев Ф. И. О преподавании отечественного языка. Ч. 1. М., 1844
Буслаев Ф. И. О преподавании отечественного языка. Ч. 2. М., 1844
Буслаев Ф. И. Русский богатырский эпос IV-VII // Русский вестник. Т. 41, сентябрь. М., 1862
Буслаев Ф. И. Русский богатырский эпос VIII-XII // Русский вестник. Т. 41, октябрь. М., 1862