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Birthday anniversary of Mikhail N. Pokrovsky, historian
17 (29) August 1868 in the family of the customs official was born Mikhail Pokrovsky, historian, Soviet politician; academician of the Academy of Sciences of Belarus (1928) and of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union (1929).
After graduating from high school with a gold medal, Mikhail entered History & Philology Faculty of the Moscow Imperial University, where his teachers were outstanding Russian historian V. O. Klyuchevsky and P. G. Vinogradov. During his studies at the university he published his first works in the "Russkaya Mysl" magazine - a few reviews of new books on the domestic and foreign history. After graduating, Pokrovsky stayed at the university "to prepare for an academic career" at two departments simultaneously – of Russian History and the World History.
From 1891, Pokrovsky taught in secondary schools in Moscow, and lectured for Women's Moscow pedagogical courses; worked in educational institutions and prepared his master's thesis. However, he had not defended his thesis for political reasons, and in 1902 he was forbidden to lecture. The first historical works by Pokrovsky - "Reflection of economic life in the" Russkaya Pravda "(1898)," The economic life of Western Europe in the late Middle Ages "(1899)," Local Government in Ancient Russia "(1903) - were influenced by "legal Marxism."
On the eve of the first Russian revolution of 1905-1907, Pokrovsky met and became ideologically friendly with social democrats, A. A. Bogdanov, A. V. Lunacharsky, I. I. Skvortsov-Stepanov, who rallied round the magazine "Pravda." Disappointed in the views of liberals, in April 1905, the historian became a member of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP). In the summer of 1905, in Geneva, he first met with the leader of the Bolsheviks, V. I. Lenin.
Having returned from Switzerland Pokrovsky was elected lecturer of the Moscow Committee of the RSDLP. And soon became one of the leaders of the group, as well as of the revolutionary publishing "Kolokol" (Russian: bell) and chief editor of Bolshevik newspaper, "Bor’ba" (Russian: struggle). The historian began to actively spread propaganda. After the participation in the December armed uprising in Moscow, Pokrovsky was arrested, and in 1906, he emigrated to France.
During the emigration Pokrovsky wrote his most important work, "Russian History From Ancient Times" in 5 volumes (1910-1913.), and "Essay on the History of Russian Culture" (1915-1918.). The main subject of his research was the history of Russia from the primitive age to the early 20th century. Significant place in Pokrovsky’s scientific work occupied controversy with historians of non-Marxist views – V. O. Klyuchevsky, B. N. Chicherin, V. M. Soloviev, S. F. Platonov.
The cornerstone of Pokrovsky’s historical views was the theory of "commercial capital". According to the historian, "commercial capital" was the main driving force of Russian history in the 16th – 19th centuries. Its development and function stipulated all aspects of domestic and foreign policy of the Russian state, war and conquest of new territories and peoples, formation of the vast empire.
In August 1917, Pokrovsky returned to Russia. During the October Revolution, the scientist drafted the regulations and decrees of the Moscow Military Revolutionary Committee (MRC) and the appeal to the people of the city. He also wrote such articles as "Democratic Peace", "Europe and the Second Revolution", "Moscow", "Successes of the Revolutionary Forces," published in "Bulletin of the Moscow Military Revolutionary Committee" where he analyzed the course of the revolutionary events in Moscow and the international assessment of the Russian Revolution.
In May 1918, Pokrovsky was appointed Deputy People's Commissar of Education of the RSFSR; he developed the points that determined the future policy in the sphere of science and education of the new state. The scientist was one of the organizers of the Socialist Academy, the State Academic Council, the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, the Institute of Red Professors, the chairman of the Society of Marxist Historians, and led a number of other organizations. In addition, he was a member of the editorial board of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia and editor of the historical journals, "Red Archives", "Marxist Historian", "Class Struggle." In 1929, the scientist was elected a full member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR.
In 1929, Mikhail Pokrovsky was seriously ill and, three years later, April 10, 1932 he died. Historian buried on Red Square near the Kremlin Wall.
A few years after Pokrovsky’s death, due to the large official campaign for the revision of Soviet ideology, the struggle against the ideas of the scientist and his followers began. His views were declared to be "anti-Marxist", the historian was accused of anti-patriotism, and his works were removed from libraries.
Lit.: Артизов А. Н. М. Н. Покровский: финал карьеры — успех или поражение? // Отечественная история. 1998. № 1. С. 77—96, № 2. С. 124—143; Библиография опубликованных произведений академика М. Н. Покровского. Томск, 1993; Говорков А. А. М. Н. Покровский о предмете исторической науки. Томск, 1976; Кривошеина Е. Михаил Николаевич Покровский (к 60-летию дня рождения) // Новый мир. 1928. № 11,; Памяти М. Н. Покровского (1868-1932). М., 1932; Покровский М. Н. Избранные произведения. Т. 1-4. М., 1965-1967; Он же. Империалистская война. М., 1928; Соколов О. Д. М. Н. Покровский и советская историческая наука. М., 1970; Чернобаев А. А. М. Н. Покровский — «президент Москвы» // Гусевские чтения. М., 2005. С. 138—158; Он же. «Профессор с пикой», или Три жизни историка М. Н. Покровского. М., 1992; Юшков С. В. М. Н. Покровский как историк русского феодализма. Л., 1927.
Based on the Presidential Library’s materials:
Покровский М. Н. Империалист[иче]ская война : сборник статей. М., 1934;
Покровский М. Н. Царская Россия и война. М., 1924;
Покровский М. Н. Крестьянская реформа. Харьков, 1926;
Русская история с древнейших времён. М., 1933. Т. 1;
Русская история с древнейших времён. М., 1933. Т. 2;