Fedor Ivanovich Buslaev (; April 25, 1818 – August 12, 1898) was a Russian

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 strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...

art historian Art history is the study of artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Traditionally, the ...

, and folklorist who represented the

Mythological school Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

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

and

linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

. He was profoundly influenced by

Jacob Grimm Jacob Ludwig Karl Grimm (4 January 1785 – 20 September 1863), also known as Ludwig Karl, was a German author, linguist, philologist, jurist, and folklorist. He formulated Grimm's law of linguistics, and was the co-author of the ''Deutsch ...

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 Gött ...

Biography

Buslaev was educated at

Penza Penza (, ) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Penza Oblast, Russia. It is located on the Sura (river), Sura River, southeast of Moscow. As of the 2010 Russian census, 2010 Census, Penza had ...

and

Moscow University Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, and six branches. Al ...

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

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, 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, its Russian diaspora, émigrés, and to Russian language, Russian-language literature. Major contributors to Russian literature, as well as English for instance, are authors of different e ...

at the

University of Moscow Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, and six branches. Al ...

. A study of

's great dictionary had already directed the attention of the young professor to the historical development of the

Russian language Russian is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language belonging to the Balto-Slavic languages, Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. It is one of the four extant East Slavic languages, and is ...

, and the fruit of his studies was the book ''On the Teaching of the National Language'' (

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 ...

, 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 Earl ...

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

Cyril and Methodius Cyril (; born Constantine, 826–869) and Methodius (; born Michael, 815–885) were brothers, Population of the Byzantine Empire, Byzantine Christian theologians and Christian missionaries, missionaries. For their work evangelizing the Slavs ...

the Slavonic languages had been subject to

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

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 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 ...

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 ( rus, Культура России, Kul'tura Rossii, kʊlʲˈturə rɐˈsʲiɪ) has been formed by the nation's history, its geographical location and its vast expanse, religious and social traditions, and both Eastern cultu ...

. 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 on 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 () ( in Moscow – in St. Petersburg) was a leading Russian literary theorist who laid the groundwork for comparative literary studies. Life and work A general's son, Veselovsky studied privately with Fy ...

Works

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(2020).

References

Bibliography

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