Alexey Nikolayevich Olenin (Aleksey Nikolaevich Olenin, ; in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

– in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

) was a Russian

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

, most notable for being a director of the

Imperial Public Library The National Library of Russia (NLR, , ''РНБ''), located in Saint Petersburg, is the first, and one of three national public libraries in Russia. The NLR is currently ranked among the world's major libraries. It has the second biggest libr ...

between 1811 and 1843 and the sixth president of the

Imperial Academy of Arts The Imperial Academy of Arts, informally known as the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts, was an art academy in Saint Petersburg, founded in 1757 by Ivan Shuvalov, the founder of the Imperial Moscow University, under the name ''Academy of th ...

between 1817 and 1843.

Early life

Olenin was born into a noble family in Moscow. He received his initial education at home. Then in 1774, as was customary at the time among Russian aristocracy, he was enrolled in the

Corps of Pages The Page Corps (; ) was a military academy in Imperial Russia, which prepared sons of the nobility and of senior officers for military service. Similarly, the Imperial School of Jurisprudence prepared boys for civil service. The present-day equiv ...

. In 1780 he was sent to study history and art history in

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

Career

In 1785 Olenin returned to Russia to start a military career. In parallel he was writing a dictionary of military quotations and in 1786 he was elected to the

St Petersburg Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation; and additional scientific and social units such ...

, even though the dictionary had not yet been published. In December 1786 Olenin quit military service, but in 1789 he rejoined the army. He was sent to

Pskov Pskov ( rus, Псков, a=Ru-Псков.oga, p=psˈkof; see also Names of Pskov in different languages, names in other languages) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in northwestern Russia and the administrative center of Pskov O ...

and subsequently, in 1789—1790, participated in the Russo-Swedish war. In 1795 he was promoted to the rank of

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

and retired from military service for good. After 1795 Olenin was employed on a variety of civil positions, including director of the

Saint Petersburg Mint Saint Petersburg Mint () is one of the world's largest mints. It was founded by Peter the Great in 1724 on the territory of Peter and Paul Fortress, so it is one of the oldest industrial enterprises in Saint Petersburg. It is a part of the Go ...

(1799). In 1811 he was appointed director of the

. From 1794 he took a keen interest in art, in particular, produced a number of graphic works, and formed a large collection of antiquities, which he later (in 1829) donated to the Academy of Arts. He went on to illustrate a number of books, including the selected works of

Gavrila Derzhavin Gavriil (Gavrila) Romanovich Derzhavin (, ; 14 July 1743 – 20 July 1816) was one of the most highly esteemed Russian poets before Alexander Pushkin, as well as a statesman. Although his works are traditionally considered literary classicis ...

and a book of fables by

Ivan Khemnitser Ivan Ivanovitch Chemnitzer or Khemnitzer (; 17451784) was a German Russian fabulist, born at Yenotayevsk, Astrakhan Governorate, the son of a German physician of Chemnitz, who had served in the Russian army under Peter the Great. He participate ...

. In 1804 he was elected a member of the Academy of Arts. In 1806 Olenin published his first scholarly paper, ''A letter to Prince Musin-Pushkin on the stone of Tmutarakan found at the island of Taman in 1792'', in which he deciphered the inscription on the stone. Because of this paper, Olenin is regarded as a founder of Russian

palaeography Palaeography (American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, UK) or paleography (American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, US) (ultimately from , , 'old', and , , 'to write') is the study and academic disciplin ...

. He is also notable for being the host of one of the most fashionable salons in Saint Petersburg, which attracted many authors, artists, musicians, and actors.

Alexander Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin () was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era.Basker, Michael. Pushkin and Romanticism. In Ferber, Michael, ed., ''A Companion to European Romanticism''. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005. He is consid ...

, considered to be the most famous Russian poet, was romantically involved with

Anna Olenina Anna Alekseyevna "Annette" Olenina (; August 1808 – December 1888) was a Russian noblewoman and writer, who is the author of unpublished diaries and memoirs about Alexander Pushkin.

, Alexey Olenin's youngest daughter. He wrote a number of poems to her, and even proposed to her in 1828, but was rejected outright. Anna Olenina did not marry until 1840.

Death

Alexey Olenin died in Saint Petersburg in 1843, still in office, and was buried in the

Alexander Nevsky Lavra Saint Alexander Nevsky Lavra or Saint Alexander Nevsky Monastery was founded by Peter I of Russia in 1710 at the eastern end of the Nevsky Prospekt in Saint Petersburg, in the belief that this was the site of the Neva Battle in 1240 when Alexa ...

Early life

Career

Death

References

Further reading