Historian Konstantin Bestuzhev-Ryumin was portrayed at the Presidential Library’s video lecture

On June 9, 2023 the Presidential Library as part of the Knowledge of Russia project hosted a video lecture dedicated to Konstantin Bestuzhev-Ryumin, Academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, publicist, founder of the Higher Courses for Women in St. Petersburg.

Konstantin Bestuzhev-Ryumin (1829–1897) is one of the brightest public and scientific figures in Russia in the 19th century. He was the editor of Moskovskoe Obozrenie magazine, assistant editor of Moskovskie Vedomosti, a member of the Archeographic Commission, chairman of the Slavic charitable society, head of the Higher Women's Courses, which later became known by his last name - Bestuzhevsky. He also taught history to the royal family.

Konstantin Bestuzhev-Ryumin was one the authors of books for popular reading, such as About Christianizations of Rus', About Vladimir Monomakh and His Descendants, About the Evil Times of the Tatar Region, etc. At the same time, he was actively engaged in academic activities, taught at St. Petersburg University and at the Historical and Philological Institute.

The main contribution of Bestuzhev-Ryumin to science was the critical development of the problems of source study and historiography. His main work Russian History is a collection of the most important sources and their latest interpretations, compiled according to the principle of "scientific objectivity".

Andrei Kuznetsov, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor of the Department of Culture and Psychology of Entrepreneurship at the Institute of Economics and Entrepreneurship of the Lobachevsky Nizhny Novgorod State University focused on the biographical circumstances that contributed to the formation of Konstantin Bestuzhev-Ryumin as a historian at the Presidential Library’s video lecture.

Bestuzhev-Ryumin made a significant contribution to the study of Russian chronicle writing, which covers the period from antiquity to the 14th century. Varvara Vovina, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Leading Research Fellow of the St. Petersburg Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, addressed this side of his activity.

The video lecture was continued the cycle Outstanding Historians of the 19th-20th Centuries, which the Presidential Library holds jointly with the St. Petersburg Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences. In 2019, the first joint series of lectures, dedicated to the territories of Russia as part of the Russian Empire was held. The lectures are available on the Presidential Library’s portal.

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

Video lectures are regularly held at the Presidential Library. More information is available on the institution's portal under the heading Video lectures.