Mikhail Stepanovich Znamensky (, 26 May 1833,

Kurgan A kurgan is a type of tumulus (burial mound) constructed over a grave, often characterized by containing a single human body along with grave vessels, weapons, and horses. Originally in use on the Pontic–Caspian steppe, kurgans spread into mu ...

Imperial Russia Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor/empress, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * ...

—15 March 1892,

Tobolsk Tobolsk (, ) is a town in Tyumen Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Tobol and Irtysh rivers. Founded in 1587, Tobolsk is the second-oldest Russian settlement east of the Ural Mountains in Asian Russia, and was the historic capita ...

, Imperial Russia) was a

Russian writer Russian literature refers to the literature of Russia, its émigrés, and to Russian-language literature. Major contributors to Russian literature, as well as English for instance, are authors of different ethnic origins, including bilingual ...

memoirist A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether non-fictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travel literature, travelogue, etc.) ...

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

caricaturist A caricaturist is an artist who specializes in drawing caricatures. List of caricaturists * Abed Abdi (born 1942) * Abril Lamarque (1904–1999) * Al Hirschfeld (1903–2003) * Alex Gard (1900–1948) * Alexander Saroukhan (1898–1977) * Alfre ...

archeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes. Archaeol ...

and

ethnographer Ethnography is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. It explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject of the study. Ethnography is also a type of social research that involves examining ...

. Znamensky, who knew many of the

Decembrist The Decembrist revolt () was a failed coup d'état led by Liberalism, liberal military and political dissidents against the Russian Empire. It took place in Saint Petersburg on , following the death of Alexander I of Russia, Emperor Alexander ...

s personally through his father,

protoiereus A ''protoiereus'' (from , "first priest", Modern Greek: πρωθιερέας), or protopriest in the Eastern Orthodox Church, is a priest usually coordinating the activity of other subordinate priests in a larger church. The title is roughly equiv ...

Stepan Znamensky (who was canonized by

Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

in 1984, as Stefan Omsky), is credited with having authored the first ever Russian novel on the Decemberists, ''The Vanished Men'' (Исчезнувшие люди, 1872). Part two, ''Tobolsk of the Forties'' (Тобольск сороковых годов, 1884), was serialized by the newspaper ''Vostochnoye obozreniye'' (Восточное обозрение, The Eastern Review). Part three, ''The Fifties in Tobolsk'' (Пятидесятые годы в Тобольске) remained unfinished. Znamensky left numerous drawings and paintings which include the portraits of the Decembrists he had known, as well as the illustrations to the works by Pyotr Yershov,

Ivan Goncharov Ivan Aleksandrovich Goncharov ( , ; rus, Ива́н Алекса́ндрович Гончаро́в, r=Iván Aleksándrovich Goncharóv, p=ɪˈvan ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪdʑ ɡənʲtɕɪˈrof; – ) was a Russian novelist best known for his n ...

and

Kondraty Ryleyev Kondraty Fyodorovich Ryleyev (, , – ) was a Russians, Russian poet, publisher, and a leader of the Decembrist Revolt, which attempted to overthrow the Russian monarchy in 1825. Early life Ryleyev was born in the village of Gatchinsky Distric ...

, among many others. ''

Iskra ''Iskra'' (, , ''the Spark'') was a fortnightly political newspaper of Russian socialist emigrants established as the official organ of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP). History ''Iskra'' was published in exile and then smuggl ...

'' published more than 300 of his caricatures, most of them depicting the life of Siberian provinces. Znamensky left important memoirs on Pyotr Yershov, Matvey Muravyov-Apostol,

Ivan Pushchin Ivan Ivanovich Pushchin (Russian:Иван Иванович Пущин; 15 May 1798, Moscow — 15 April 1859, Bronnitsky Uyezd) was a Russian civil servant and Decembrist. In school, he became a close friend of the writer, Alexander Pushkin, due to ...

, Vasily Tisengausen and

Ivan Yakushkin Ivan Dmitrievich Yakushkin (Russian:Иван Дмитриевич Якушкин; 9 January 1793, Safonovsky District - 23 August 1857, Moscow) was a Russian military officer, Decembrist, and educator. Biography He was born into a noble family, ...

, and authored several ethnographical works, mostly on Tobolsk and its surroundings. Two streets, one in Tobolsk, another in

Khanty-Mansiysk Khanty-Mansiysk (, lit. ''Khanty-Mansi Town''; Khanty: , ''Jomvoćś''; Mansi: , ''Abga'') is a city in west-central Russia. Technically, it is situated on the eastern bank of the Irtysh River, from its confluence with the Ob, in the oil-ri ...

, bear his name.Platonova, I.F. M.S. Znamensky, the Tobolsk Enlightener // Платонова И. Ф. Тобольский просветитель М. С. Знаменский. Русские старожилы: Материалы Третьего Сибирского симпозиума «Культурное наследие народов Западной Сибири». – Тобольск, 2000.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Znamensky, Mikhail 1833 births 1892 deaths People from Kurgan, Kurgan Oblast People from Kurgansky Uyezd Ethnographers from the Russian Empire 19th-century writers from the Russian Empire 19th-century painters from the Russian Empire