The Presidential Library’s video lecture introduced the oeuvre of the famous historian Nikolai Kostomarov

On June 10, 2022 the Presidential Library, as part of the cultural and educational project Knowledge of Russia, hosted a video lecture "The Personality and Oeuvre of Nikolai Kostomarov", marking the 205th anniversary of the birth of the famous scientist, writer, educator and public figure.

Nikolai Ivanovich Kostomarov (1817–1885) went to knowledge in a difficult way. The father of the future Corresponding Member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences was the landowner Ivan Kostomarov, his mother was the serf Tatyana Melnikova. Parents later got married, but a child who appeared before marriage was considered a serf of his father.

They tried to give the boy a good education and sent him to study at a Moscow boarding school. There, the young pupil demonstrated abilities in various sciences and even received the nickname "wonder child". But when Nikolai was 11 years old, his father died, and the serf boy was inherited by relatives. However, after some time, the mother begged her son for "free" - in exchange for a widow's share of the inheritance, and transferred him to the Voronezh boarding school, and then to the Voronezh provincial gymnasium. In 1833, Nikolai Kostomarov became a student of the historical and philological faculty of Kharkov University.

After graduating from the university, Kostomarov lectured, collected folklore, studied archival documents, and did a lot of scientific work. He owns the works Russian history in the biographies of its main figures, which contains biographies of princes, tsars and emperors from the 10th to the 18th centuries, The Time of Troubles of the Muscovite State at the beginning of the 17th century, numerous historical monographs and studies, etc. The copies of these rare publications are available on the Presidential Library’s portal in the collection of documents Scientists which includes materials about Nikolai Kostomarov himself as well as the historian's personal collections.

In 1870 Kostomarov was awarded the rank of real state councilor with the right to inherit the title of nobility. In 1876 he was elected a corresponding member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences.

Andrey Dvornichenko, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, Head of the Department of Russian History from Ancient Times to the 20th Century at the Institute of History of St. Petersburg University, told video lecture participants about the Kostomarov phenomenon and interesting facts about his life. He also examined the main works and views of the scientist.

Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor of the Department of History of Russia from Ancient Times to the Beginning of the XΙX Century, the Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia Natalia Eilbart shared her experience of dealing with materials from Kostomarov personal collections in the Russian State Historical Archive.

The event is available on the institution’s Rutube-channel.

Interactive lessons and video lectures are regularly held in the Presidential Library. The detailed information is available on the institution's portal in the Multimedia Lessons section and in the Video lecture for school section which features records of lectures and open lessons held in the Presidential Library.