Pyotr Ivanovich Bartenev (Пётр Ива́нович Барте́нев; 13 October 1829 – 4 November 1912) was a Russian historian and collector of unpublished memoirs. Of noble birth, Bartenev attended the Moscow University. In 1856, he undertook the first publication of the correspondence of Tsar Alexis, which brought him to the attention of the leading Slavophiles. These connections helped him secure the post of director at the Chertkov Library, then the only public library 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 ...

. At this position he consulted

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using Reforms of Russian orthography#The post-revolution re ...

on the details of the

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. Tolstoy, then at work on '' War and Peace'', said that "turning to Bartenev with a research query was like turning on the tap of a samovar". In 1863, Bartenev founded '' The Russian Archive'', the first history journal in Russia. Like its rival, '' Old Times in Russia'', Bartenev's journal brought to light scores of unknown documents and memoirs from the 18th and early 19th centuries. Prince Vorontsov's entire family archive was published in 40 volumes as a supplement to this periodical. Bartenev is perhaps best remembered today as the founder of the Pushkin studies. He collected numerous testimonials relating to Alexander Pushkin, from his relatives and friends. Bartenev and Pavel Annenkov represent the first generation of amateur Pushkinists.Brian Horowitz. ''The Myth of A.S. Pushkin in Russia's Silver Age''. Northwestern University Press, 1996. Page 21.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bartenev 1829 births 1912 deaths People from Gryazinsky District People from Tambov Governorate Slavophiles Historians from the Russian Empire Male writers from the Russian Empire Russian literary historians Publishers (people) from the Russian Empire Librarians from the Russian Empire