Ivan Egorevich’s father died when he was 7, and the impoverished lad later very fortuitously found a job at the Moscow Armoury. Stroev and others there inspited his love for antiquity; he was always engaged in the professioanlization of archeology. His doctorate from St. Vladimir’s is honorary. D. I. Bagalei of Kharkov University named him the founder of “historical archeology.” He designated his daughter Maria and The Historical Museum as his only heirs, to receive his collections.
Institution: Armoury
His father a celebrated painter and his mother the niece of prominent Slavophile Ivan Aksakov, Vladimir Konstantinovich became a numismatist and Orientalist, studying eastern languages, specializing in Arabic, at the Lazaervskii Institute. He held numerous positions of importance, the most important being custodian of the Armoury. At the IMAO, he held the post of secretary from 1888 and chair of the East Commission from 1911. He was also secretary of numerous Congresses, and sat on the organizing committee of all, beginning with the 7th in Iaroslavl, through the 16th in Pskov, which never came to pass.
Fedor Grigorevich Solntsev, who lived for more than 90 years, has a remarkably eclectic biography. Though born on the estate of Prince A. I. Musin-Pushkin, his serf-father worked as a theatre cashier in St. Petersburg. The enormously talented F. G. entered the Academy of Arts, where Director Alexei Olenin became his mentor. A draftsman and watercolorist with as keen an eye for detail as there ever was one, Solntsev created the visual style of Russian romantic nationalism with his six volumes of Antiquities of the Russian State, published 1849-53. Among the many architectural ruins he helped to restore, the Kremlin’s Terem Palace stands out. Despite having no formal education, he became an Acamedician.
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.