A male-line descendant of the 9th-century prince Rurik, Tatischev was born near Pskov on April 19, 1686. Having graduated from the Engineering school in Moscow, he took part in the 1700-1721Great Northern War with Sweden. In the service of Peter the Great he gained a prominent post in the Foreign Office, which he used to oppose the policies of the Supreme Privy Council and support Anna's ascension to the Russian throne in 1730.
He was entrusted by Anna with a lucrative office of the management of Ural factories. At that post he founded the cities of Perm and Yekaterinburg, which have since grown into the veritable capitals of Ural. A monument to him was opened in Perm in 2003. Tatischev finished his official career as a governor of Astrakhan (1741-44). He died at the Boldino estate near Moscow on July 15, 1750.
Having retired from active service, the elderly statesman dedicated himself to scholarly pursuits. Feeling that the Russian historiography had been neglected, he discovered and published several legal monuments of great interest, e.g., Russkaya Pravda and Sudebnik of 1550. His magnum opus was the first sketch of Russian history, entitled Russian History Dating Back to the Most Ancient Times and published in 5 volumes after his death. He also compiled the first encyclopedic dictionary of the Russian language.
Scientific merits of Tatischev's work have been disputed even in the 18th century. It is true that he used some chronicles that have since been lost, but most of them (notably the Ioachim Chronicle) were of dubious authenticity. It is also true that he could never tell a genuine work from a fake, and some incidents inserted in his history could have been products of his own fancy. Throughout his history, he entertains his favourite idea that autocracy is the perfect form of government for Russia.
References
Popov N.: Tatischev and His Time. Moscow, 1861.
Deutch G. M.: Vasily Nikitich Tatischev. Sverdlovsk, 1962.
Peshtich S. L.: Russian historiography of the 18th century, vol. 1-2. Leningrad, 1961, 1965.
External links
Russian biography with a portrait (http://www.imwerden.de/pdf/tatishchev_biografie.pdf)
During the construction of Volga Hydroelectrical Plant in the 1950s, old settlement fell into the flooding zone of the Kuybyshev dam on the Volga River and was completely rebuilt on a new site.
One of the most notable events was opening of VasilyTatishchev monument near the Volga.
Tatishchev University of Volga (Russian: Волжский университет имени В.
His successors (the Rurik Dynasty), however, moved the capital to Kiev and founded the state of Kievan Rus, which persisted until 1240, the time of Mongol invasion.
A number of extant princely families are patrilineally descended from Rurik, although the last Rurikid to rule Russia, Vasily IV, died in 1612.
This theory is based on the information of the first modern historian of Russia, VasilyTatishchev (a Rurikid himself), who claimed that Rurik was of Wendish extraction.
Feeds |
Contact