En
Ru
Anniversary of Pyotr Butkov, Russian historian, privy councilor, senator, member of St. Petersburg Academy of Science
17 (28) December, 1775 in the village of Osinov, Starobelsk uyezd (district) of Kharkov Province was born Pyotr Grigorievich Butko, Russian historian, military man and statesman, privy councillor, senator, academician of the Petersburg Academy of Sciences.
In his early youth Butkov enlisted in the Vladimir Dragoons Regiment and at the age of 16 already participated in the campaign to Anapa (1791). In 1794 he was appointed adjutant of Major-General S. A. Bulgakov, under the command of which in 1796 participated in the Persian War. It was in Caucasus that his historical and literary activities began. There Butkov started to collect materials for his future scientific work.
In September 1796 Butkov began his service in the Office of the Commander in Chief for revision of ministry affairs" and in 1797 he was appointed adjutant of inspector in the inspection of the Caucasian. From 1801 to 1803, during the era of annexation of Georgia to Russia, he ran the office of the Commander in Chief Lieutenant-General K. F. Knorring and during this service period collected the “Papers on annexation of Georgia to Russia in the reign of Emperor Paul I and Alexander I». In 1803 Butkov resigned and went to St. Petersburg, where he continued his studies for the Exploration of the history of Georgia.
In 1805, Pyotr Grigorievich began once more the public service in the Department of Heraldry, and in 1809 was appointed the auditor-lieutenant-general under the Commander in Chief of the Moldovan army Prince A. A. Prozorovsky. Two years later Butkov retired until 1820, when he was appointed Director of Colleges of Voronezh Province under the Department of the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Public Education. In 1823 he became a counselor in audit Department of the General Staff, and was soon appointed officer on special assignments for the Finnish Governor-General Count A. A. Zakrevsky. In 1825, remaining in that office, Butkov was attached to the Ministry of Finance; three years later he was appointed a member of the Council of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and, in the absence of the minister, twice ran the Ministry.
In 1841 Butkov was elected a member of the Academy of Sciences in the department of Russian Language and Literature; in 1849 he was elevated to the rank of senator. In 1865 he was appointed a member of the State Council and a member of the Committee of Ministers, and in 1869 - a senior member of the Committee of distinguished civil servants.
Extensive scientific work of Butkov was devoted to the study of the Russian history origins. Among his published works, a list of which was published by the Academy of Sciences in 1858, especially known was the "Russian Primary Chronicle defense from skeptics’ slander". Relying on a good knowledge of historical sources, he was the first to grasp the impact of Byzantium on Russia, pointed to the cultural significance of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery, where concentrated the news from different areas of Russia. Butkov defended also other Russian monuments of antiquity: the treaties with Greeks, hagiographies and legends. In his book the scientist defined the source of the Chronicle, solved the issue of Russians and Varangians, of Novgorod foundation and its trade. His investigations were especially valuable for understanding of the cultural state of Russia in 12th century when the first chronicle appeared. The essay by Butkov represents a coherent system: he had managed to divide the main topic into a number of special issues. First he described them the way they were understood by skeptics, and then disproved them. And although the "Russian Primary Chronicle defense from skeptics’ slander" by Butkov chronologically appeared after the work of M. P. Pogodin "Nestor," but in his work the author quite independently broke many of the objections and arguments of the skeptics and paved the way for future defenders of the identity of the initial Russian chronicles and ancient Russian culture.
Butkov had a multilateral and a sound knowledge of Russian history, observing the progress of the Russian historical literature, and studying all of its major researches and testing them in accordance with the originals. In his printed works he had declared himself as an honest researcher and quite strict and careful critic.
Peter G. Butkov died on 12 (24) December, 1857 in St. Petersburg.
Lit.: Бутков П. Г. Три древние договора руссов с норвежцами и шведами // Журнал Министерства внутренних дел. СПб., 1837. Ч. 23. С. 325–365; Бутков П. Г. Оборона летописи Русской Несторовой от навета скептиков. СПб., 1840; То же [Электронный ресурс]. URL: ссылка; Бутков П. Г. О финских словах в русском языке и о словах русских и финских, имеющих одинаковое знаменование. СПб., 1842; Бутков П. Г. Разбор трёх древних памятников русской духовной литературы. СПб., 1852; Бутков П. Г. Материалы для Новой Истории Кавказа с 1722 по 1803 г.: В 3-х ч. СПб., 1869; То же [Электронный ресурс]. URL: ссылка; Бутков П. Г. Астраханский календарь на 1884 г. (високосный): год 1-й. Астрахань, 1884; Список печатных сочинений и рукописных трудов П. Г. Буткова // Известия Академии Наук. Отделение русского языка и словесности. Т. 7. СПб., 1858.
Based on the Presidential Library’s materials:
Бутков Пётр Григорьевич // Брокгауз Ф. А., Ефрон И. А. Энциклопедический словарь Т. 5. СПб., 1891.