Pyotr Karlovich Shchebalsky (, 1810 – 20 March 1886) was a

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

literary critic A genre of arts criticism, literary criticism or literary studies is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical analysis of literature' ...

and historian, author of comprehensive studies on the history of Russian literature, later editor of the ''Varshavsky Dnevnik'' (The Warsaw Diary) magazine.

Biography

Pyotr Shchebalsky was born in 1810 into a noble

Pskov Pskov ( rus, Псков, a=Ru-Псков.oga, p=psˈkof; see also Names of Pskov in different languages, names in other languages) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in northwestern Russia and the administrative center of Pskov O ...

ian family. In 1829 he joined the Artillery college, in 1830 became a

junker Junker (, , , , , , ka, იუნკერი, ) is a noble honorific, derived from Middle High German , meaning 'young nobleman'Duden; Meaning of Junker, in German/ref> or otherwise 'young lord' (derivation of and ). The term is traditionally ...

and after the graduation in 1834 remained at the college in the rank of

praporshchik (, , ) is a rank used by the Russian Armed Forces and a number of former communist states. The rank is a non-commissioned officer's and is equivalent to in the corresponding navies. It is usually equivalent to warrant officer class 1 or serge ...

to receive the extended course of studies. In 1836–1842 he served in the Guards artillery, then, on 17 July 1842, for taking part in a duel was lowered in rank to a

cannoneer "Cannoneer" as a term for an artilleryman dates from the 16th century. the United States Army uses as titles for such a soldier: "13B" (thirteen bravo) M.O.S. (military occupational specialty code), a "cannon crewmember" or "cannoneer" for short ...

and got transferred to the field artillery unit of the

Caucasian Caucasian may refer to: Common meanings *Anything from the Caucasus region or related to it ** Ethnic groups in the Caucasus ** ''Caucasian Exarchate'' (1917–1920), an ecclesiastical exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Caucasus re ...

grenadiers' brigade. Schebalsky took part in several major operations in

Chechnya Chechnya, officially the Chechen Republic, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia. It is situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, between the Caspian Sea and Black Sea. The republic forms a part of the North Caucasian Federa ...

and

Dagestan Dagestan ( ; ; ), officially the Republic of Dagestan, is a republic of Russia situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, along the Caspian Sea. It is located north of the Greater Caucasus, and is a part of the North Caucasian Fede ...

and was rewarded the soldier's

Order of St. George The Order of Saint George () is the highest military decoration of the Russian Federation. It was originally established on 26 November 1769 Julian (7 December 1769 Gregorian) as the highest military decoration of the Russian Empire for commiss ...

. After six years of the service in the Caucasus he was reinstated in ranks and in January 1848 was returned to the Guards to join in December of the same year the Emperor's battery of His Majesty Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich. At the same time he took the posts of the head of the Division's school of artillery and the special class of

Don Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name * Don, Benin, a town in Benin * Don, Dang, a village and hill station in Dang district, Gu ...

's uryadniks' tutor. In 1854 for financial reasons Shchebalsky retired from the military service and was appointed the chief of Moscow police. In 1858, now the Ministry of Education official, Shchebalsky started his career as a critic and literary historian. As the Ministry's special envoy, in the course of 4 years he was compiling the comprehensive Russian press reviews for the Tsar. At the same time, by the then Minister of Education's request, he wrote his major treatise, ''The History of Censorship in Russia''. In those four years time Shchebalsky also wrote the series of essays that were published under the title ''Readings from the Russian History from the XVII Century Onwards''. All the while his works on the history of Russian literature were being published in ''Zarya'', ''Russky Arkhiv'', but mostly in ''

The Russian Messenger The ''Russian Messenger'' or ''Russian Herald'' (, Pre-reform Russian: Русскій Вѣстникъ) has been the title of three magazines published in Russia during the 19th century and early 20th century. ''Russian Messenger'' period I and ...

''. The last 15 years of his life Shchebalsky spent in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, first as a head of educational directories - first of

Suwałki Suwałki (; ; or סוּוואַלק) is a city in northeastern Poland with a population of 69,206 (2021). It is the capital of Suwałki County and one of the most important centers of commerce in the Podlaskie Voivodeship. A relatively young ci ...

(from 1871), then of

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

(from 1875). After retirement he became the editor of ''Varshavsky Dnevnik'' (The Warsaw Diary), the only Russian newspaper in

which during years of his leadership became a prominent publication, both allies and opponents praising Shchebalsky's objectivity and literary talent. Pyotr Shchebalsky died in Warsaw on 20 March 1886.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schebalsky, Pyotr Karlovich Editors from the Russian Empire Literary critics from the Russian Empire 19th-century historians from the Russian Empire Writers from Moscow 1810 births 1886 deaths 19th-century journalists from the Russian Empire Russian male journalists 19th-century male writers from the Russian Empire