Zabelin, I. E.

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.

Zaretskii, I. A.

Ivan’s brother Andrei was a well known painter, and both specialized in their native province of Poltava. An amateur archeologist, Ivan excavated clay pots and other products at the same time that he was helping to revitalize such production in Poltava as the “king of kustar,” or “artisan products.” Involved in multiple aspects of the Poltava local government, he was especially active in ethnographic works and the museums. He arranged the Poltava display at the All-Russian Kustar Exhibition in 1901, and also presented on his archeological finds at regional conferences.

Uvarova, P. S.

Her biographies tend to emphasize that she had inspired Lev Tolstoi’s Kitty Shcherbatskaia in “Anna Karenina,” but play down her role as the most formidable female scientist in Imperial Russia. To be fair, she always subjugated herself to her husband, Alexei, even for the 30 years following his death in which she organized the congresses, published the essays from them, developed the Caucasus Museum, and fought to open locally based museums of antiquities throughout the empire. She excavated and published extensively, and her first love were the Christian artefacts in the Caucasus. Professionalism in Russian archeology is unimaginable without her.

Uvarov, A. S.

The “father of Russian archeology,” Alexei Sergeevich was being educated by his father, the Minister of Education and President of the Academy of Sciences, for a diplomatic posting. Scions of the Razumovskii family, a favorite of Tsaritsa Elizabeth I, the Uvarovs had all the necessary social connections. All Alexei needed was one visit to Pompeii, and he switched careers immediately. An avid numismatist, he wanted to collect more artefacts than just the coins. A founding member of the Russian Archeological Association in St. Petersburg, following a break with Sergei Stroganov of the IAK, he moved to Moscow and formed a rival society. It was Uvarov’s Moscow-based Society that organized the 15 successful archeological congresses, the only sustained academic symposia in Imperial Russia.

Shcherbatov, N. S.

Praskovia’s brother, Nikolai enjoyed an easy path to his job at the Historical Museum. As an archeologist, he stayed in Moscow, studying the Kremlin with Zabelin and looking unsuccessfully for the storied library of Ivan the Terrible. He participated in a number of local organizations: the Society for Naturalists, Anthropology and Ethnography, the Society for the Zealots of Russian Historical Education, and with Savelov, the Historical-Genealogical Society and the committee for the 1812 Museum. He served as chairman of the Moscow Automobile Society. A monarchist like his sister, he spent a few post-revolutionary months in prison, but eventually retired to a cell at the Novodevichy Monastery, where he died in 1929. His two children emigrated to France, where his daughter was a performer and one of popular actor Henri Garat’s four wives.

Sizov, V. I.

Sizov worked closely with both Uvarovs in several fields. First, he with Alexei he dug in kurgans all around the empire, and he helped them to establish the Historical Museum. His most important finds were in the Gnezdovo kurgans in the NW, around Smolensk, where he found evidence of Slavs and Varangians living peacably together; from this he postulated that the Varangians were the aristocracy in the region. Later he participated with Praskovia on her Materials of the Archeology of the Caucasus. He served on the Commission for the Preservation of Ancient Monuments, but also found time to work with the Imperial theatres.

Samokvasov, D. Ia.

A lightning rod for many issues, Samokvasov levied his influence at a number of the archeological congresses. He combined his positions as director of the Archive of the Moscow Ministry of Justice with that of law professor at the University of Warsaw, and one of the most creative archeologists of the Stone Age. A devoted monarchist, he belonged to the ultra-conservative Union of Russian People after 1905.

Oreshnikov, A. V.

The son of an ambitious merchant, Oreshnikov loved only the coin aspect of trade and became an extraordinary numismatist, earning both the Uvarov Prize and and a gold medal from the IRAO. Family wealth gave him the opportunity to live as the first generation of noble numismatists had, including the Uvarovs. He left behind diaries of his postrevolutionary life.

Kavraiskii, F. F.

An ichtheologist, like his mentor Bogdanov, Kavraiskii was also drawn to archeology, and he mapped the kurgans of Moscow Province. Outside of archeology, he held a mosaic of positions at the Zoological Museum of Moscow University, the Ministry of Imperial Domains, the Zoological Lab of Tiflis Sericulture Plant, the Russian consulate in Leipzig, and the Astrakhan Ichthyological Laboratory. He donated some of his finds to the Historical Museum.

Gorodtsov, V. A.

Gorodtsov combined two careers; he served in the Imperial Army, 1880-1906, and became one of the foremost archeologists of both the Stone and Bronze Ages. His primary headquarters were in Iaroslavl, where he also served on the Archival Commission. He wrote the textbook on prehistory for the Moscow Archeological Institute. he was also a member of the Riazan and Iaroslavl Archival Commissions. After 1917 he was a leading member of the Insititute of Material Culture, which was the transformed Imperial Archeological Commission.