The first Russian historian. Vasily Nikitich Tatishchev. The meaning of Vasily Nikitich Tatishchev in a brief biographical encyclopedia Who is Vasily Nikitich Tatishchev

(1686-1750)

At the end of the 17th - first quarter of the 18th century, during the period of Peter I's reforms, a whole galaxy of remarkable figures arose - “chicks of Peter's nest”, operating in various fields. One of them was Vasily Nikitich Tatishchev, who is rightfully considered the “father of Russian historiography.” Tatishchev left a noticeable mark on the development of history, scientific, cultural and social life of Russia. And not only in our country, but also abroad - books about him have been published in Germany, France, and the USA.

Vasily Nikitich was born on April 19, 1686 in Pskov. The Tatishchevs were related to Tsarina Praskovya Fedorovna Saltykova, the wife of Ivan V, the son of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich from his first marriage to M.I. Miloslavskaya. His service in the army, which lasted 16 years, took place during the harsh years of the Northern War (1700-1721). At the end of 1712, Tatishchev was sent abroad, where he stayed for 2.5 years intermittently. Having begun his military service as an ordinary dragoon, he reached the high rank of privy councilor in the civil service, but his career ended sadly. In 1745, Tatishchev was removed from the post of Astrakhan governor and exiled to his estate - the village of Boldino, Dmitrov district (now Solnechnogorsk district, Moscow region), where he was under house arrest until his death (July 15, 1750).

Before M.V. Lomonosov, it is difficult to name another person in Russia who could be compared with Tatishchev in terms of encyclopedic historical knowledge and range of creative interests. In addition to the first fundamental work on the history of Russia, he owns a remarkable work of Russian socio-political and philosophical thought of the 18th century. - "A conversation between two friends about the benefits of science and schools." A new stage in the study of geography and cartography is associated with his name. He compiled the first encyclopedic dictionary - "Russian Historical, Geographical and Political Lexicon"; discovered for science such monuments as "Russian Truth", "Code of Law" of Ivan the Terrible, "Book of the Great Drawing", collected the richest chronicle materials. Tatishchev did a lot for the development of economic and philosophical thought, law, and a number of auxiliary historical disciplines.

The scientist first expressed an idea that remains true to this day: successful research into the history of Russia is impossible without a widely organized, thoughtful publication of sources, including works by foreign authors, containing information about Russian history. He developed a project for the publication of sources and prepared some of them for publication, accompanying them with notes.

For 30 years, Tatishchev worked on his general work on Russian history - “Russian History”, which became his life’s work.

The "Russian History" outlined the political events that took place in Rus' in chronological order. Tatishchev's work was noticeably different from the works on history of previous authors. In the preface to his main work, he raised the question of the relationship between national history and global history. At the same time, the author emphasized that, first of all, it is necessary to know the history of one’s people, one’s country.

Tatishchev’s concept of Russian history is based on the history of autocracy. General views on the development of the state and forms of government in Russia and other countries were developed by him in the note “Arbitrary and consensual reasoning and opinion of the assembled Russian nobility about state government”, in the philosophical treatise “A conversation between two friends about the benefits of sciences and schools” and the 45th chapter "Russian History".

Tatishchev brought “Russian History” up to 1577.

S. M. Solovyov gives a detailed assessment of Tatishchev’s works. “Tatishchev’s merit lies in this,” noted the great Russian historian, “that he started the business the way it should have been started; he collected materials, subjected them to criticism, compiled chronicle news, provided them with geographical, ethnographic and chronological notes, pointed out many important issues, which served as topics for later research, collected the news of ancient and modern writers about the ancient state of the country, which later received the name Russia, in one fell swoop, showed the way and gave the means to his compatriots to study Russian history."

The scientific activity of V.N. Tatishchev is an example of selfless service to science and education. In his scientific pursuits, he did not seek either his own benefit or personal glory, but viewed them as fulfilling his duty to the Fatherland, the honor and glory of which were above all else for him.

Works by V. N. Tatishchev

Russian history. T. 1-7. M.; L., 1962-1968. In 1994, the Ladomir Scientific Publishing Center began reprinting the text of the 1960s edition. "Russian History" by V. N. Tatishchev.

Selected works. L., 1978.

Notes. Letters 1717-1750 Scientific heritage. T, 14. M., 1990.

Selected works on the geography of Russia. M., 1950.

Encyclopedic YouTube

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✪ Historian Vasily Tatishchev (narrated by Sergei Perevezentsev)

✪ Ukrainians, Russians and VN Tatishchev

✪ Russian version. "Battle for History" (2006) 1(6)

✪ Perm History in the faces of Tatishchev Foundation of the plant and the beginning of Perm 2006

✪ 21 Elder Philotheus

Subtitles

Biography

Vasily Nikitich Tatishchev was born on April 19 (29) on the estate of his father, Nikita Alekseevich Tatishchev (died in 1706), in Pskov district.

The Tatishchevs came from the Rurikovich family, more precisely, from the younger branch of the Smolensk princes. The family lost its princely title. Since 1678, Vasily Nikitich’s father was listed in the government service as a Moscow “tenant” and at first did not have any land holdings, but in 1680 he managed to obtain the estate of a deceased distant relative in the Pskov district. In 1693, the sons of Nikita Alekseevich, ten-year-old Ivan and seven-year-old Vasily, were granted stolniks and served at the court of Tsar Ivan Alekseevich until his death in 1696. Subsequently, the brothers probably lived on their father's estate until the beginning of 1704. On June 25, 1705, the brothers wrote a fairy tale in the Rank Order, in which they downplayed their ages (Ivan by 4 years, Vasily by 2 years), thanks to which they defended the exemption from service until 1706. In 1706 they were enrolled in the Azov Dragoon Regiment. On August 12, 1706, both brothers, promoted to lieutenant, as part of the newly formed dragoon regiment of Avtonom Ivanov, left Moscow for Ukraine, where they took part in military operations. V.N. Tatishchev also fought in the battle of Poltava, where he was wounded, in his own words, “beside the sovereign.” In 1711, Tatishchev took part in the Prut campaign.

In 1712-1716, like many young nobles, Tatishchev improved his education abroad, but not in France and Holland, like the majority, but in Germany. He visited Berlin, Dresden, Breslau, and acquired many expensive books on all branches of knowledge. It is known that Tatishchev studied primarily in engineering and artillery, maintained contact with General Feldzeichmeister Yakov Vilimovich Bruce and carried out his instructions. In between trips abroad, Tatishchev was involved in the affairs of the estate. In the summer of 1714, he married the young widow Avdotya Vasilievna Andreevskaya.

On April 5, 1716, Tatishchev attended the “general review” of Peter’s army, after which, at the request of Bruce, he was transferred from cavalry to artillery. On May 16, 1716, Tatishchev passed the exam and was promoted to lieutenant engineer of the artillery. In 1717, Tatishchev was in the active army near Königsberg and Danzig, putting in order the rather neglected artillery economy. After the arrival of Peter I near Danzig on September 18, 1717, Tatishchev intervened in the story with an indemnity of 200 thousand rubles, which the local magistrate had not been able to pay for a whole year. Peter I became interested in the painting “The Last Judgment” that was available in the city, which the burgomaster attributed to the brush of the Slavic enlightener Methodius and offered the tsar as an indemnity, valued at 100 thousand rubles. Peter I was ready to accept the painting, valuing it at 50 thousand, but Tatishchev managed to dissuade the king from the unprofitable deal, quite reasonably challenging the authorship of Methodius.

In 1718, Tatishchev participated in organizing negotiations with the Swedes on the Aland Islands. It was Tatishchev who surveyed the islands at the end of January - beginning of February 1718 and chose the village of Vargad to hold a peace congress; here Russian and Swedish diplomats met for the first time on May 10. For a number of reasons, months-long negotiations did not result in the signing of a peace treaty. The Russian delegation left Vargad on September 15, Tatishchev left a little earlier.

Upon returning to St. Petersburg, Tatishchev continued to serve under the command of Bruce, who, with the establishment of the Berg College on December 12, 1718, was placed at the head of this institution. In 1719, Bruce turned to Peter I, justifying the need for “land surveying” of the entire state and compiling a detailed geography of Russia. Tatishchev was to become the executor of this work (in a letter to Cherkasov dated 1725, Tatishchev himself says that he was appointed “to survey the entire state and compose a detailed geography with land maps”). However, at the beginning of 1720, Tatishchev was assigned to the Urals and from that time on he had practically no opportunity to study geography. In addition, already at the preparatory stage for compiling geography, Tatishchev saw the need for historical information, quickly became interested in the new topic and subsequently collected materials not for geography, but for history.

Development of the Urals. Industrialist and economist

In 1720, a new order tore Tatishchev away from his historical and geographical works. He was sent “in the Siberian province on Kungur and in other places where convenient places are found, build factories and smelt silver and copper from ores”. He had to operate in a little-known, uncultured country that had long served as an arena for all sorts of abuses.

Having traveled around the region entrusted to him, on the night of December 29 to 30, 1720, Vasily Nikitich arrived at the Uktus Plant. Tatishchev settled not in Kungur, but in the Uktus plant, where he founded a department, first called the Mining Chancellery, and then the Siberian Higher Mining Authority. During Tatishchev’s first stay at the Ural factories, he managed to do quite a lot: he founded the Yekaterinburg plant on the Iset River and there laid the foundation for the present Yekaterinburg, chose a place for the construction of a copper smelter near the village of Yegoshikha, thereby laying the foundation for the city of Perm, and obtained permission to allow merchants to enter Irbitskaya fair and through Verkhoturye, as well as postal establishments between Vyatka and Kungur.

He opened two elementary schools at the factories, two for teaching mining, secured the establishment of a special judge for the factories, drew up instructions for the protection of forests, paved a new, shorter road from the Uktus plant to the Utkinskaya pier on Chusovaya, etc.

Tatishchev’s measures displeased Demidov, who saw his activities undermined by the establishment of state-owned factories. Was sent to the Urals to investigate disputes G. V. de Gennin, who found that Tatishchev acted fairly in everything. He was acquitted, at the beginning of 1724 he presented himself to Peter, was promoted to advisor to the Berg College and appointed to the Siberian Oberbergamt.

Responses to the instructions largely served as the basis for his work “Introduction to the historical and geographical description of the Great Russian Empire, part one: both the ancient and current state of that great state and the peoples living in it and other circumstances that belong to the jurisdiction, if possible and in the first case, to the composition of the most correct and thorough history has been again collected and described.” Tatishchev sent copies of the answers to the Academy of Sciences, where for a long time they attracted the attention of researchers in history, geography and natural science. Tatishchev’s questionnaire contained the following items:

“Where are the noble and high mountains? What kind of animals and birds are found where? Which types of grain do they sow more, and do they come out fruitful? How many livestock do they keep? What trades do ordinary people have? What kind of factories and ore plants are there in cities or villages? Where are the salts, how many saltworks are there? Along the great rivers and shores and islands of the seas and noble lakes, where there are quitrent fisheries and what kind of fish are caught the most?..”

For the first time, information was collected about the soils: “What kind of nature are those lands, whether they are fertile, like black with sand, or silty, clayey, sandy, rocky, wet and swampy, but this happens that in one district it is not the same, and for this it is possible in places describe, looking at most of that county.” Tatishchev was also interested in fossils: “Are there any fossilized things, or found along rivers, such as: different types of shells, fish, trees and herbs, or special images in stones...”

Executions

Beginning in 1725, assigned soldiers from the Yekaterinburg plant suppressed the uprisings of Kamyshlovskaya, Pyshminskaya and other settlements.

In December 1734, Tatishchev learned about the suspicious behavior of Yegor Stoletov, exiled to Nerchinsk in the case of Prince Dolgorukov, who was once close to Mons: he was reported that, citing ill health, he was not present in the church at the matins on the name day of Empress Anna Ioannovna. Tatishchev saw a political motive in this and diligently began an investigation using torture (hanging on a rack). At first, his zeal was not appreciated (in a report dated August 22, 1735, he himself wrote that he received a decree in which it was written that he “entered the search for important matters that should not be entered into”), but in the end Stoletov was under through torture he confessed to plotting a conspiracy (“I didn’t want to pray just for your [Anna Ioannovna’s] health, or I prayed feignedly, but I didn’t really want it either,” “I wanted and hoped to be the princess (Elizabeth) on the throne”), slandered along with myself many more people, was transferred to the secret chancellery, there he was tortured almost to death and eventually executed.

Tatishchev was also involved in religious affairs. On April 20, 1738, Toigilda Zhulyakov was executed because, having converted to Christianity, he then returned back to Islam [ ] . The text of the sentence read: “According to Her Imperial Majesty and by the determination of His Excellency Privy Councilor Vasily Nikitich Tatishchev, you, Tatar Toygild, were ordered to be sentenced because, having been baptized into the faith of the Greek confession, you accepted the Mahometan law and thereby not only fell into an abominable crime, but as if the dog returned to his vomit and despised his oath promise given at baptism, he inflicted great opposition and abuse on God and his righteous law - for the fear of others, who were brought into the Christian faith out of Mahometanism, at the meeting of all baptized Tatars it was ordered execute by death - burn." V.N. Tatishchev himself was not present at the execution, because he was in Samara at that moment.

Also, for converting back to Islam, Kisyabik Bayryasova (Katerina) was executed by burning at the stake. According to a certificate from the Yekaterinburg police, the first time she fled on September 18, 1737 with the courtyard girl of the widow of the drinking farmer Pyotr Perevalov, the second time - on September 23 of the same year with the courtyard wife of the secretary of the Office of the Main Board of Factories Ivan Zorin. She fled for the third time in September 1738. The Office of the Main Board of Factories issued a ruling on February 8, 1739:

They determined that this Tatar woman had escaped three times and that she, being on the run, had become baptized and had become insane, to inflict the death penalty - to burn her. Just, without doing this, write to Privy Councilor V.N. Tatishchev and wait for a decree to that effect. Make the above representation to Major General Leonty Yakovlevich Soimonov, because from the decrees not received from the Privy Councilor it is clear that he has left for St. Petersburg.

On April 29, 1739, Soimonov’s letter was received in Yekaterinburg. On April 30, the death sentence “by decree of Major General L. Ya. Soimonov” was confirmed in the Chancellery (L. Ugrimov, Lieutenant Vasily Blizhevskoy). On May 1, Ugrimov notified General Soimonov in a letter: “Now, by the power of your Excellency, the order with her on the same April 30th has already been carried out.”

Political activity during the accession of Anna Ioannovna and during her reign

The political crisis of 1730 caught him in this position. Regarding the accession of Anna Ioannovna, Tatishchev drew up a note signed by 300 people. from the nobility. He argued that Russia, as a vast country, is most suited to monarchical government, but that still, “to help” the empress should establish a senate of 21 members and an assembly of 100 members, and elect the highest places by ballot. Here, various measures were proposed to alleviate the situation of different classes of the population.

As a result of absolutist agitation, the guard did not want changes in the state system, and this entire project remained in vain; but the new government, seeing Tatishchev as an enemy of the supreme leaders, treated him favorably: he was the chief master of ceremonies on the day of Anna Ioannovna’s coronation. Having become the chief judge of the coin office, Tatishchev began to actively take care of improving the Russian monetary system.

In 1731, Tatishchev began to have misunderstandings with Biron, which led to him being put on trial on charges of bribery. In 1734, Tatishchev was released from trial and again assigned to the Urals, “to multiply factories.” Personally participated in the torture of prisoners according to “the word and deed of the sovereign.” He was also entrusted with drawing up the mining charter.

While Tatishchev remained at the factories, his activities brought a lot of benefit to both the factories and the region: under him the number of factories increased to 40; New mines were constantly opening, and Tatishchev considered it possible to set up 36 more factories, which opened only a few decades later. Among the new mines, the most important place was occupied by Mount Blagodat, indicated by Tatishchev.

Tatishchev used the right to interfere in the management of private factories very widely, and yet more than once aroused criticism and complaints against himself. In general, he was not a supporter of private factories, not so much out of personal gain, but out of the consciousness that the state needs metals, and that by extracting them itself, it receives more benefits than by entrusting this business to private people.

In 1737, Biron, wanting to remove Tatishchev from mining, appointed him to the Orenburg expedition for the final pacification of Bashkiria (see Bashkir uprisings (1735-1740)) and the control of the Bashkirs. Here he managed to carry out several humane measures: for example, he arranged for the delivery of yasak to be entrusted not to yasachniks and tselovalniks, but to the Bashkir elders.

In January 1739, Tatishchev arrived in St. Petersburg, where a whole commission was set up to consider complaints against him. He was accused of “attacks and bribes,” failure to perform, etc. It is possible to assume that there was some truth in these attacks, but Tatishchev’s position would have been better if he had gotten along with Biron.

The commission arrested Tatishchev in the Peter and Paul Fortress and in September 1740 sentenced him to deprivation of his ranks. The sentence, however, was not carried out. During this difficult year for Tatishchev, he wrote his instructions to his son - the famous “Spiritual”.

Last years. Writing "History"

The fall of Biron again brought forward Tatishchev: he was released from punishment and in 1741 he was appointed to Astrakhan to govern the Astrakhan province, mainly to stop the unrest among the Kalmyks. The lack of necessary military forces and the intrigues of the Kalmyk rulers prevented Tatishchev from achieving anything lasting. When Elizabeth Petrovna ascended the throne, Tatishchev hoped to be freed from the Kalmyk commission, but he did not succeed: he was left in place until 1745, when he was dismissed from office due to disagreements with the governor. Having arrived in his village of Boldino near Moscow, Tatishchev did not leave her until his death. Here he finished his story, which he brought to St. Petersburg in 1732, but for which he did not meet with sympathy. Extensive correspondence has been preserved, which Tatishchev conducted from the village.

On the eve of his death, Tatishchev went to church and ordered the artisans to appear there with shovels. After the liturgy, he went with the priest to the cemetery and ordered to dig a grave for himself near his ancestors. When he left, he asked the priest to come and give him communion the next day. At home he found a courier who brought a decree forgiving him and the Order of Alexander Nevsky. He returned the order, saying that he was dying. The next day, July 15 (26), he took communion, said goodbye to everyone and died. He was buried in the Rozhdestvensky graveyard (modern Solnechnogorsk district).

On the sarcophagus of V. N. Tatishchev, rediscovered in the mid-1970s by E. V. Yastrebov, a geographer and historian, and later in 1985 by G. Z. Blyumin, an inscription was discovered: “Vasily Nikitich Tatishchev was born in 1686... entry into service in 1704..., bergmeister general of factories in 1737. Privy Councilor, and in that rank he was governor in Orenburg and Astrakhan. And in that rank... in Boldino, 1750, he died on July 15th.”

• Evpraksiya Vasilyevna Tatishcheva (-). Spouse- Mikhail Andreevich Rimsky-Korsakov (-), lieutenant of the Life Guards Semyonovsky Regiment, retired since 1733.
  • Maria Mikhailovna Rimskaya-Korsakova (January 9 -August 6). Spouse- Mikhail Petrovich Volkonsky (through Ivan Fedorovich Volkonsky Chermny). In second marriage- for Stepan Andreevich Shepelev.
  • Pyotr Mikhailovich Rimsky-Korsakov (-). Spouse- Pelageya Nikolaevna Shcherbatova (-).
  • Alexander Mikhailovich Rimsky-Korsakov (-25 May), infantry general, member of the State Council.
• Evgraf Vasilievich Tatishchev (-), actual state councilor. He was brought up at home, where he received his initial education under the guidance of his father. In 1732 he was accepted as a cadet into the Land Noble Corps, and in 1736 he was released into the army as a soldier. He first served in the Perm Dragoon Regiment, in 1741 he was promoted to second major and transferred to the Lower Regiments with an assignment to the Kalmyk expedition, which was under the command of his father. Since 1751, he was in the Narva Infantry Regiment with the rank of prime major, and since 1758 - lieutenant colonel of the Rostov Infantry Regiment. On December 18, 1758 he was promoted to colonel, and on December 25, 1764 he was transferred to the civil service and renamed state councilors. He soon retired and settled in Moscow. , Spouse- Praskovya Mikhailovna Zinovieva. Second wife- Natalya Ivanovna Cherkasova. Third wife- Agrafena Fedotovna Kamenskaya (-)

Philosophical views

All of Tatishchev’s literary activities, including works on history and geography, pursued journalistic objectives: the benefit of society was his main goal. Tatishchev was a conscious utilitarian. His worldview is set out in his “Conversation between two friends about the benefits of sciences and schools.” The main idea of ​​this worldview was the idea of ​​natural law, natural morality, natural religion, fashionable at that time, borrowed by Tatishchev from Pufendorf and Walch. The highest goal, or “true well-being,” according to this view, lies in the complete balance of mental forces, in “peace of soul and conscience,” achieved through the development of the mind through “useful” science. Tatishchev included medicine, economics, law and philosophy among the latter.

At the same time, skeptics (Peshtic, Lurie, Tolochko) emphasize that this does not indicate scientific dishonesty (in Tatishchev’s time there were no concepts of scientific ethics and rules for writing historical research) or a conscious mystification of the reader, but rather reflects precisely the outstanding independent research , is by no means the “unsophisticated chronicle” activity of a historian: additional “news” are, as a rule, logical links missing from the sources, reconstructed by the author, illustrations of his historiographical and philosophical concepts, etc. The discussion around “Tatishchev’s news” continues.

In 2005, A. P. Tolochko published a voluminous monograph dedicated to the famous historical work of V. N. Tatishchev. Here, the reliability of all, without exception, “Tatishchev’s news”, which does not have a correspondence in the chronicles that have survived to this day, is rejected. It is proven that even Tatishchev’s references to sources are consistently mystified. From the point of view of A.P. Tolochko, all the sources actually used by Tatishchev have been preserved and are well known to modern researchers.

Other writings

In addition to the main work and the above-mentioned conversation, he left a large number of works of a journalistic nature: “Spiritual”, “Reminder on the sent schedule of high and low state and zemstvo governments”, “Discourse on the universal audit” and others.

“Spiritual” (ed. 1775) gives detailed instructions covering the entire life and activity of a person (landowner). She treats about upbringing, about different types of service, about relationships with superiors and subordinates, about family life, estate and household management, and the like.

The “Reminder” sets out Tatishchev’s views on state law, and the “Discourse,” written on the occasion of the 1742 audit, indicates measures to increase state revenues.

The unfinished explanatory dictionary (up to the word “Klyuchnik”) “Lexicon of Russian Historical, Geographical, Political and Civil” (1744-1746) covers a wide range of concepts: geographical names, military affairs and navy, administrative and management system, religious issues and the church, science and education, the peoples of Russia, legislation and court, classes and estates, trade and means of production, industry, construction and architecture, money and monetary circulation. First published in 1793. (M.: Mining School, 1793. Parts 1-3).

Editions of works

• Tatishchev V. N. Selected works on the geography of Russia / Edited, with an introductory article and comments by A. I. Andreev; Design by artist V.V. Osokin. - M.: Geographgiz, 1950. - 248, p. - 10,000 copies.(in translation)

Perpetuation of memory

Settlements

• Tatishchev’s name is immortalized in the names of several settlements in the Orenburg, Samara, and Saratov regions.

Streets

• There is Tatishcheva Street in Astrakhan, Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk, Moscow, Kaliningrad, Buribay.
• Tatishchev Boulevard in Tolyatti.

Monuments

• In September 2003, a monument to V.N. Tatishchev was erected in front of the building of the Solnechnogorsk Museum of Local Lore - a bust on a polished granite column.
• A monument to V. Tatishchev and V. de Gennin was erected in Yekaterinburg.
• A monument to Tatishchev was erected in Tolyatti.
• On the occasion of the 280th anniversary of Perm in 2003, a monument to V. N. Tatishchev, the founder of the city, was erected in a historical place (Razgulyaisky Square - now Tatishchev Square).
• In the lobby of the Volga University named after Tatishchev (Tolyatti) there is a sculptor by V. N. Tatishchev.

Other

Notes

1. ID BNF: Open Data Platform - 2011.
2. Korsakova V.// Russian biographical dictionary: in 25 volumes. - St. Petersburg. - M., 1896-1918.
3. Zakharov A.V. Opening new pages about the youth of V.N. Tatishchev (according to documents of the Rank Order) // Proceedings of the State Hermitage. T. 43. St. Petersburg, 2008. pp. 122-127. (A fairy tale from 1705 was also published there)
4. Vernadsky V.I. Works on the history of science in Russia. M.: Nauka, 1988. 464 p.
5. Gnucheva V.F. Geographical Department of the Academy of Sciences of the 18th century // Proceedings of the Archive of the USSR Academy of Sciences. - M.; L.: Publishing House of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 1946. - Issue. 6. - P. 446.
6. Fradkin N.G. Academician I.I. Lepekhin and his travels around Russia in 1768-1773. - M.: Geogiz, 1953. - 221 p.
7. Egor Stoletov, 1716-1736: A story from the history of the Secret Chancellery // Russian antiquity. T. 8. St. Petersburg, 1873. pp. 1-27. - http://do1917.info/node/55, http://do1917.info/sites/default/files/user11/pdf/1873russtarina8%281%29.pdf
8. Loginov Oleg. Ural crime. The first robbers in the Middle Urals.//“Vedomosti: Ural June 2011.
9. Rakitin A.I."Mysterious crimes of the past." - 2001.
10. Shakinko I.M. Vasily Tatishchev. M., 1986. pp. 185-186.

Vasily Tatishchev deservedly took an honorable place among the great minds of Russia. It's simply too much to call him mediocre. He founded the cities of Togliatti, Yekaterinburg and Perm, and supervised the development of the Urals. Over the 64 years of his life, he wrote several works, the main one of which is “Russian History”. The importance of his books is evidenced by the fact that they are still published today. He was a man of his time, leaving behind a rich legacy.

Early years

Tatishchev was born on April 29, 1686 on the family estate in the Pskov district. His family descended from the Rurikovichs. But this relationship was distant, they were not entitled to the princely title. His father was not a rich man, and the estate went to him after the death of a distant relative. The Tatishchev family constantly served the state, and Vasily was no exception. With his brother Ivan, at the age of seven, he was sent to serve in the court of Tsar Ivan Alekseevich as a stolnik (a servant whose main duty was serving at the table during meals). About the early years of Tatishchev, G. Z. Yulumin wrote the book “Tatishchev’s Youth”

Historians do not have a clear opinion about what exactly he did after the death of the Tsar in 1696. It is known for certain that in 1706 both brothers entered military service and took part in military operations in Ukraine with the rank of lieutenants in a dragoon regiment. Subsequently, Tatishchev took part in the battle of Poltava and the Prut campaign.

Carrying out the king's orders

Peter the Great noticed an intelligent and energetic young man. He instructed Tatishchev to go abroad to study engineering and artillery sciences. In addition to the main mission of travel, Tatishchev carried out secret orders from Peter the Great and Jacob Bruce. These people had a great influence on Vasily’s life and were similar to him in their education and broad outlook. Tatishchev visited Berlin, Dresden and Bereslavl. He brought to Russia many books on engineering and artillery, which were very difficult to obtain at that time. In 1714, he married Avdotya Vasilievna, whose marriage ended in 1728, but brought two children - a son, Efgraf, and a daughter, Eupropaxia. Through his daughter, he became the great-great-grandfather of the poet Fyodor Tyutchev.

His trips abroad ceased in 1716. At the behest of Bruce, he transferred to the artillery troops. A few weeks later he passed the exam and became a lieutenant engineer. The year 1717 passed for him in the army fighting near Königsberg and Danzig. His main responsibilities were repairs and maintenance of artillery facilities. After unsuccessful negotiations with the Swedes in 1718, among the organizers of which Tatishchev was, he returned to Russia.

Jacob Bruce in 1719 proved to Peter the Great that it was necessary to compile a detailed geographical description of Russian territory. This responsibility was assigned to Tatishchev. It was during this period that he actively became interested in the history of Russia. It was not possible to finish compiling maps; already in 1720 he received a new assignment.

Management of the development of the Urals

The Russian state required a large amount of metal. Tatishchev, with his experience, knowledge and hard work, was suitable for the role of manager of all Ural factories like no one else. On the spot, they developed vigorous activity in mineral exploration, building new factories or moving old ones to a more suitable location. He also founded the first schools in the Urals and wrote job descriptions on the procedure for deforestation. At that time, they did not think about the safety of trees, and this once again speaks of his foresight. It was at this time that he founded Yekaterinburg and a plant near the village of Yegoshikha, which served as the beginning for the city of Perm.

Not everyone liked the changes in the region. The most ardent hater was Akinfiy Demidov, the owner of many private factories. He did not want to follow the rules established for everyone and saw state-owned factories as a threat to his business. He did not even pay tax to the state in the form of tithes. At the same time, he was on good terms with Peter the Great, so he counted on concessions. His subordinates interfered with the work of civil servants in every possible way. Disputes with Demidov took a lot of time and nerves. In the end, because of the Demidovs’ slander, William de Gennin arrived from Moscow, who figured out the situation and honestly reported everything to Peter the Great. The confrontation ended with the recovery of 6,000 rubles from Demidov for false slander.

Monument to Tatishchev and de Gennin in Yekaterinburg (Tatishchev on the right)

Death of Peter

In 1723, Tatishchev was sent to Sweden to collect information about mining. In addition, he was entrusted with hiring craftsmen for Russia and finding places for training students. And the matter could not have happened without secret instructions; he was ordered to collect all information that might concern Russia. The death of Peter the Great found him abroad and seriously unsettled him. He lost his patron, which affected his future career. Funding for his trips was seriously reduced, despite reports indicating what exactly he could purchase for the state. Upon returning home, he pointed out the need for changes in the coin business, which determined his immediate future.

In 1727 he received membership in the mint office, which supervised all mints. Three years later, after the death of Peter II, he became its chairman. But soon a bribery case was opened against him and he was suspended from work. This is associated with the machinations of Biron, who at that time was the favorite of Empress Anna Ioannovna. During this period, Tatishchev did not give up, continuing to work on “Russian History” and other works, studying science.

Latest appointments

The investigation ended unexpectedly in 1734, when he was appointed to his usual role as head of all state-owned mining factories in the Urals. During the three years that he spent in this post, new factories, several cities and roads appeared. But Biron, who conceived a scam with the privatization of state factories, helped ensure that in 1737 Tatishchev was appointed head of the Orenburg expedition.

Its goal was to establish ties with the peoples of Central Asia with the aim of joining them to Russia. But even in such a difficult matter, Vasily Nikitich showed himself only from the best side. He brought order among his subordinates, punishing people who abused their powers. In addition, he founded several schools, a hospital and created a large library. But after his dismissal of Baron Shemberg and the confrontation with Biron over Mount Grace, a lot of accusations rained down on him. This led to Vasily Nikitich being removed from all affairs and being placed under house arrest. According to some sources, he was imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress.

The arrest continued until 1740, when, after the death of Empress Anna Ivanovna, Biron lost his position. Tatishchev initially headed the Kalmyk Commission, intended to reconcile the Kazakh peoples. And then he became the governor of Astrakhan. Despite the complexity of his tasks, he received very little financial or military support. This led to a serious deterioration in health. Despite all efforts, the appointment ended as usual. That is, a trial due to a large number of charges and excommunication in 1745.

He spent his last days on his estate, completely devoting himself to science. There is a story that Tatishchev realized in advance that he was dying. Two days before his death, he ordered the craftsmen to dig a grave and asked the priest to come for communion. Then a messenger galloped up to him with an acquittal for all matters and the Order of Alexander Nevsky, which he returned, saying that he no longer needed it. And only after the communion ceremony, saying goodbye to his family, he died. Despite its beauty, this story, attributed to the grandson of Vasily Nikitich, is most likely fiction.

It is impossible to retell the biography of Vasily Tatishchev in one article. Many books have been written about his life, and his persona itself is ambiguous and controversial. It is impossible to label him as simply an official or an engineer. If you collect everything he did, the list will be very large. It was he who became the first real Russian historian and did this not as directed by his superiors, but at the behest of his soul.

Tatishchev Vasily Nikitich - (1686-1750), Russian historian and statesman. Born on April 19, 1686 in Pskov into a noble noble family. At the age of seven, he was promoted to steward and taken to the court of Tsar Ivan Alekseevich, with whose wife Praskovya Fedorovna (née Saltykova) the Tatishchevs were related.

The court “service” continued until the death of Tsar Ivan Alekseevich in 1696, after which Tatishchev left the court. The documents do not contain evidence of Tatishchev’s studies at school. In 1704, the young man was enlisted in the Azov Dragoon Regiment and served in the army for 16 years, leaving it on the eve of the end of the Northern War with the Swedes. He took part in the capture of Narva, the Battle of Poltava, and the Prut campaign of Peter I against the Turks.

At the end of 1712 Tatishchev was sent to Germany, where he stayed intermittently for 2.5 years, studying fortification and artillery, optics, geometry and geology. In the spring of 1716 he returned to Russia and was transferred to an artillery regiment, carrying out special assignments from the chief of artillery of the Russian army, J.V. Bruce, and Peter I himself.

In 1720 he was sent to the Urals, where he was involved in organizing the mining industry. The names of Tatishchev and the prominent metallurgical engineer V.I. Genin are associated with the founding of Yekaterinburg and the Yagoshikha plant, which laid the foundation for the city of Perm, and the geological and geographical study of the Urals. In 1724-1726 he was in Sweden, where he supervised the training of Russian youths in mining and studied economics and finance. Upon his return, Tatishchev was appointed a member, then the head of the Coin Office (1727-1733), which was engaged in the minting of gold, silver and copper money (paper money - banknotes appeared in Russia in 1769).

In his notes and submissions addressed to Empress Catherine I, he advocated the introduction of a decimal system of weights and measures in Russia, streamlining monetary circulation, increasing treasury revenues through the development of industry, foreign trade, growth of exports, and not the excessive exploitation of monetary regalia. At the same time he wrote the socio-political and philosophical work A Conversation between Two Friends about the Benefits of Sciences and Schools (1733). In 1734-1737, he was sent for the second time to manage the metallurgical industry of the Urals, started the construction of new iron and copper smelting plants, setting a goal to increase iron production by one third. In Yekaterinburg, he began work on a General Geographical Description of All Siberia, which, due to lack of materials, he left unfinished, writing only 13 chapters and an outline of the book. The conflict with Biron’s proteges and the discontent of local influential persons who took advantage of Tatishchev’s individual abuses of power led to his recall and then putting him on trial.

In the last years of his life, Tatishchev was the head of the Orenburg and Kalmyk commissions and the Astrakhan governor. In 1745, due to financial irregularities in his previous work revealed by an audit, he was removed from the post of governor and exiled to his estate - the village of Boldino, Dmitrov district, Moscow province, where he was under house arrest until his death.

The Boldinsky period of Tatishchev’s life is the most fruitful in scientific terms. Here he managed to finish the first Russian encyclopedic dictionary, the Russian Historical, Geographical and Political Lexicon, and to a large extent complete Russian History, which he began working on when he was the head of the Coinage Office (published from a manuscript by G.F. Miller in the 1760s-1780s ). While working on Russian History, Tatishchev discovered for science such documentary monuments as Russian Truth, Code of Law of Ivan the Terrible, Book of the Big Drawing, and collected the richest chronicle materials.

Tatishchev's work resembled a chronicle in form, in which the events of Russian history from ancient times to 1577 were presented in chronological order. The autocracy was given a central place in the presentation. Periods of economic prosperity and power of Russia, the author argued, always coincided with “unique rule.” The transition to aristocracy and feudal strife during the appanage period led to the subordination of Rus' to the Mongols, and the limitation of royal power in the early 17th century. - to the ruin of the state and the seizure of significant territories by the Swedes and Poles. Tatishchev’s main conclusion: “...Everyone can see how much more useful monarchical rule is for our state than others, through which the wealth, strength and glory of the state is multiplied, and through other things it is diminished and destroyed.”

Obviously, there is some kind of life-giving, blessed force in a picturesque corner of the Moscow region, the village of Boldino, which gave refuge to many Russian husbands in the days of disgrace. Among them, Vasily Nikitich Tatishchev is a Russian statesman, historian, geographer, economist, and industrialist. Although his name is best known as the author of the first monumental work on the history of Russia.

Brief biography of Tatishchev

Vasily Nikitich was born on April 19, 1686 in the Pskov district, on his father’s estate. The Tatishchev family descended from the younger branch of the Smolensk princes, and were considered, although seedy, to be Rurikovichs. Starting from the age of seven, he served as a steward at the court of Tsar Ivan Alekseevich, co-ruler of Tsar Peter I. After enlisting in military service with the rank of lieutenant, he participated in the battle of Poltava.

From 1712 to 1716 he went to Germany to improve his education and studied engineering. Thanks to his trusting relationship with Jacob Bruce, he carries out his personal assignments and falls into the circle of nobles close to Peter I. After the end of the Northern War, he serves in St. Petersburg under the command of Bruce. In 1714, Tatishchev married Avdotya Vasilievna Andreevskaya.

Tatishchev - industrialist and economist

Tatishchev dreams of taking up cartography of Russian lands, but instead he is sent to the Siberian provinces to find convenient places for the construction of ore processing plants. Vasily Nikitich approached the appointment thoroughly and conscientiously. Thanks to him, the cities of Yekaterinburg and Perm were founded, and mail was organized between Vyatka and Kungur.

At the factories, he opened schools for teaching literacy and mining, drew up instructions for preserving forests, and paved a new road from the factory to the pier on Chusovaya. In his activities, he acted as a zealous statesman, which caused the displeasure of the owners of Siberia - the Demidovs.

In 1724, Peter sent Tatishchev to Sweden. For two years he studies new products in mining, finds a lapidary master, studies the work of the Stockholm port, the coin system, and becomes close to many scientists. Tatishchev returned to Russia with an extensive baggage of scientific and practical materials. In 1827 he was appointed a member of the coin commission.

Tatishchev historian

But in addition to his main activities in the public service, Tatishchev begins to do what his descendants will honor and remember him for. He begins to write a grandiose historical work, “Russian History.” This was the first experience of writing national history. This idea was prompted by his pursuit of geographical research. Tatishchev led a very active life.

During his public service, he had to visit many territories; he had a mentality that was not only inquisitive, but also scientific. I was always inclined to understand the task at hand thoroughly. Obviously close relations with Bruce, an associate of Tsar Peter, gave him the idea to systematize the available information about the history of Russia.

His work was first published during the reign of Catherine II. “Russian History”, in the form of presentation of the material, resembles a chronicle. A strict chronology of events from ancient times to 1577 is observed. The system of division by periods is used for the first time. The author's main idea is that for the good of Russian society, for economic and political prosperity, Russia needs autocracy. The author makes this conclusion by analyzing historical materials. Economic prosperity always coincided with autocracy.

• Tatishchev’s merit is that he opened for domestic science, describing in his work such documentary evidence as “Russian Truth”, “Code of Law” of Ivan the Terrible, “Book of the Big Drawing”.
• Due to misunderstandings with Biron, he was deprived of his rank and awards. Literally before his death, a courier brought him to Boldino a decree for his forgiveness and the Order of Alexander Nevsky, which Tatishchev returned, saying that he was dying. The next day, July 15, 1750, Tatishchev passed away.