Nikolay Albertovich Kun (, 21 May 1877 – 28 October 1940) was a Russian historian, writer, and educator. He is best known for his book ''Greek Myths and Legends'' (Legendy i Mify Drevnei Gretsii), which was extremely popular with readers in the Soviet Union. First published in 1914,Google books
/ref> it has been republished many times since and translated into a number of European languages.

Biography

After graduating from

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 ...

in 1903, he worked in a women's

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

Tver Tver (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative centre of Tver Oblast, Russia. It is situated at the confluence of the Volga and Tvertsa rivers. Tver is located northwest of Moscow. Population: The city is ...

, went to Germany in 1905 where he worked for one year in the

Berlin University The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humboldt ...

, then came back to Tver to give lectures on the history of culture in the Tver People's University. Since 1908 he taught history in Moscow high schools and lectured in several Moscow universities. He spent 1911 and 1912 in Rome making excursions to museums for Russian teachers and giving lectures on the arts of ancient

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

and

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. In 1915 he was appointed professor of history at the Moscow City People's University, and professor of social science at the Moscow University in 1920. Since 1933 he was one of the editors of the

Great Soviet Encyclopedia The ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (GSE; , ''BSE'') is one of the largest Russian-language encyclopedias, published in the Soviet Union from 1926 to 1990. After 2002, the encyclopedia's data was partially included into the later ''Great Russian Enc ...

and the

Small Soviet Encyclopedia The ''Small Soviet Encyclopedia'' (Russian: Малая советская энциклопедия) was a general encyclopedia published in the Soviet Union. The encyclopedia was published in three editions: * 1st edition, 10 volumes (between ...

. He died in 1940.

Sources

Nikolay Kun
(in Russian).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kun, Nikolay 19th-century historians from the Russian Empire Writers from Moscow 1877 births 1940 deaths Moscow State University alumni Academic staff of Tver State University