Fedor Ivanovich Buslaev (russian: Фёдор Ива́нович Бусла́ев; April 25, 1818 – August 12, 1898) was a

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as ...

, art historian, and folklorist who represented the

Mythological school Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrati ...

comparative literature Comparative literature is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across linguistic, national, geographic, and disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role similar to that of the study ...

and

linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Lingu ...

. He was profoundly influenced by Jacob Grimm and

Theodor Benfey :''This is about the German philologist. For Theodor Benfey (born 1925) who developed a spiral periodic table of the elements in 1964, see Otto Theodor Benfey.'' Theodor Benfey (; 28 January 1809, in Nörten near Göttingen26 June 1881, in Götti ...

Biography

Buslaev was educated at

Penza Penza ( rus, Пе́нза, p=ˈpʲɛnzə) is the largest city and administrative center of Penza Oblast, Russia. It is located on the Sura River, southeast of Moscow. As of the 2010 Census, Penza had a population of 517,311, making it the 38th-l ...

and

Moscow University M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...

. At the end of his academical course, 1838, he accompanied the family of Count S.G. Stroganov on a tour through

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

, occupying himself principally with the study of classical antiquities. On his return he was appointed assistant professor of

Russian literature Russian literature refers to the literature of Russia and its émigrés and to Russian-language literature. The roots of Russian literature can be traced to the Middle Ages, when epics and chronicles in Old East Slavic were composed. By the Ag ...

at the

University of Moscow M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...

. A study of Jacob Grimm's great dictionary had already directed the attention of the young professor to the historical development of the Russian language, and the fruit of his studies was the book ''On the Teaching of the National Language'' (

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, 1844 and 1867), which even now has its value. In 1848 he produced his work ''On the Influence of Christianity on the Slavonic Language'', which was considered a milestone in the study of the development of the

Slavonic language The Slavic languages, also known as the Slavonic languages, are Indo-European languages spoken primarily by the Slavic peoples and their descendants. They are thought to descend from a proto-language called Proto-Slavic, spoken during the Ear ...

s. In this work Buslaev proves that long before the age of

Cyril and Methodius Cyril (born Constantine, 826–869) and Methodius (815–885) were two brothers and Byzantine Christian theologians and missionaries. For their work evangelizing the Slavs, they are known as the "Apostles to the Slavs". They are credited w ...

the Slavonic languages had been subject to

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

influences. In 1855 he published ''Palaeographical and Philological Materials for the History of the Slavonic Alphabets'', and in 1858 ''Essay Towards an Historical Grammar of the Russian Tongue'', abounding with rich material for students, carefully collected from an immense quantity of ancient records and monuments. In close connection with this work in his ''Historical Chrestomathy of the Church-Slavonic and Old Russian Tongues'' (Moscow, 1861). He was elected a member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences in 1860. Buslaev also interested himself in Russian popular poetry and old Russian art, and the result of his labors is enshrined in ''Historical Sketches of Russian Folk Literature and Art'' (St. Petersburg, 1861), a very valuable collection of articles and monographs, in which the author shows himself a worthy and faithful disciple of Grimm. His ''Folk Poetry'' (St. Petersburg, 1887) is a valuable supplement to the ''Sketches''. In 1881 he was appointed professor of Russian literature at Moscow, and three years later published his ''Annotated Apocalypse'' with an atlas of 400 plates, illustrative of ancient

Russian art Russian culture (russian: Культура России, Kul'tura Rossii) has been formed by the nation's history, its geographical location and its vast expanse, religious and social traditions, and Western influence. Russian writers and phi ...

. In his advanced age Buslaev was to a large degree incapacitated by blindness and passed his time in dictating his

memoirs A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobio ...

to a secretary. Buslaev's work in the field of

was continued by his numerous students, notably

Alexander Veselovsky Alexander Nikolayevich Veselovsky (russian: Алекса́ндр Никола́евич Весело́вский) ( in Moscow – in St. Petersburg) was a leading Russian literary theorist who laid the groundwork for comparative literary stu ...

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Buslaev, Fedor Ivanovich Folklorists Philologists from the Russian Empire Comparative mythology Mythographers 1818 births 1898 deaths Comparative mythologists Moscow State University faculty Full members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences Historians from the Russian Empire Blind academics Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery Professorships at the Imperial Moscow University Imperial Moscow University alumni Russian art historians Privy Councillor (Russian Empire)