The son of a priest from Vologda Province, Pavel Ivanovich finished his Master’s in 1837 at the St. Petersburg Spiritual Academy, on Ancient Jewish Synogogues. Discovered by historian Mikhail Pogodin, Savvaitov enjoyed a splendid career as a teacher of Russian libterature in both military and commercial schools. His most famous work was a hermeneutical study of the Bible, and his best known contribution to archeology was Description of ancient royal utensils, clothes, weapons, military armor, based on the collection in the Moscow Armoury. He also wrote Travels of the Novgorod Archbishop Anthony to Constantinople at the end of the 12th century and published copiously on the monasteries of his native Vologda. He also published on Finno-Ugric (Zyrian) linguistics.
Prospect