Uspenskii, F. I.

The oldest of four brothers, all of whom had tangential associations with archeology, Fedor was a Byzantinist, best known as the director of the Russian Archeological Institute in Constantinople, which opened in 1894. Uspenskii was particularly interested in studying the Slavic lands of the Ottoman Empire via the Institute, especially their Orthodox artefacts. Although the guns of August, 1914, forced the closure of the Institute, Uspenskii took his archeological ambitions to the Russian Army on the Caucasian front, where it was enjoying success against the Turkish forces. Planning for a Russian victory, he dreamed of a Russian liturgy being prayed in the Hagia Sophia.

Markevich, A. I.

Markevich described himself as self-taught, but gadfly seems the more appropriate adjective. He bounced around in and out of several provincial gymnasia, then got a degree in history from New Russia University, where he then taught for several years. Forced to quit for unexplained reasons in 1895, he became active in public affairs. He participated in numerous congresses, having spent times in archives rather than excavations.

Nikitskii, A. V.

Nikitskii was yet another priest’s son who received his education in the seminary, but was sent to St. Petersburg to train for a career as a teacher. His talents at Greek would have been wasted at a gymnasium, and he became a respected scholar of Greek epigraphy. He also taught at the St. Petersburg Women’s Pedagogical Institute. At the Odessa Congress, he argued that Novgorod had already opened a Window on the West via trade through the Neva, so Muscovite conquest was detrimental.

Linnichenko, I. A.

Linnichenko was that rare Ukrainian archeologist who eschewed separatism and even after 1917 maintained that Little Russia was a part of the larger Russian empire. He recognized their languages and cultures to be related, but not different. He also popularized archeology with articles in Kievskaia starina.

Modestov, V. I.

The son of a village priest in Novgorod Province, Modestov trained initially at the Petersburg Pedagogical Institute to become a teacher. Instead, he became one of the leading figures in the history of Rome, beginning with the Neolithic Age in Italy. After retiring from New Russia University, he moved to Rome. Perhaps surprisingly for a leading classicist scholar, he opposed the reforms of Minister of Education Dmitrii Tolstoi, who in the 1870s returned the university curriculum to emphasize the ancient languages over history or philosophy. He also translated Tacitus into Russian.

Kondakov, N. P.

A student of Buslaev’s at Moscow University, Kondakov trained in art history which transformed him into an archeologist. A member of the Imperial Archeological Commission from 1876 to 1891, he became a world renowned expert on Byzantium, and his pioneering methodology in iconography still retains value. With I. I. Tolstoi, he published six volumes of “Russian Antiquities in Monuments of Art” (Русские древности в памятниках искусства, 1889-1899). D. V. Ainalov, S. A. Zhebelev, M. I. Rostovtsev, E. I. Redin, and Ia. I. Smirnov counted among his students. Moreover, he was also helpful in establishing the Institute in Constantinople. Exiled to Prague after 1917, he established the Seminarium Kondakovianum, an important intellectual exchange for emigrants, and which for a few years maintained ties with archeologists left behind.

Grigorovich, V. I.

Grigorevich was an important collector of early Christian manuscripts, collecting them in the Balkans in the 1840s.

Kirpichnikov, A. I.

Kirpichnikov specialized in iconography, especially that of the Theotokos.

Brun, F. K.

Brun found himself appointed to teach at the Richelieu Lyceum in 1832, where he developed a keep interest in archeology as a member of the Odessa Society. The Archeological Commission appointed him to work on Herodotus’s Scythia, and he ultimately earned th Uvarov Prize for his studies of the Black Sea. He had a position at one time in the Ministry of Finance, and also at the Vitebsk and Dinaburg Gymnasia.

Fon Shtern, E. R.

Fon Shtern was a Pribaltika German, and wrote in both languages, who specialized in the Greek colony at Berezan. He acquired an international reputation when he exposed a falsification at the Louvre, from a paper given originally at the 10th Congress in Riga. The Russian Revolution returned him to Halle-Wittenberg Unversity in Germany, where he served as rector until his death. He was also a director of the Odessa Archeological Museum.