En
Ru
Birthday anniversary of Peter Andreevitch Zaionchkovski
Peter Zaionchkovski, the Russian scientist, Doctor of History, professor, bibliographer, expert of social-economical and political history of Russia of XIX century was born on September 5 (18), 1904.
P. Zaionchkovski, a son of a military physician, was a representative of noble family of Smolensk province related to Nakhimov. In 1914–1918 Peter Zaionchkovski had studied in the first military school of Moscow. In 1918-1919 he studied in a military school of Kiev. In the Soviet age because of his social origin he was forced to work as a fireman, an employee at the railway, a worker at a machine-shop of Moscow. Only in 1937 he managed to take an external degree of Moscow Institute of history, philosophy and literature.
In the beginning of the Great Patriotic War Zaionchkovski volunteered to the army. Knowing German he had been making subversions of the enemy forces on different fronts (under Stalingrad, on Kursk bulge, in the Right-bank Ukraine).
After demobilization due to contusion in 1944-1952, Peter Zaionchkovski headed the Manuscripts Department of the State library n. a. V. Lenin. From 1951 he was a professor of Moscow State University (MSU) and the director of Scientific Library of MSU. 12 doctoral and 50 candidate’s dissertations had been defended under his supervision. Zaionchkovski had a great influence on the American Russian-language school development. Among his trainees were eminent USA scientists, studying Russian history such as Terence Emmons, Alfred Reeber, Daniel Field, Richard Wortman.
Zaionchkovski had written eight monographs on reforms of 1860-1870, on Russian politics of the second half of XIX century, on history of Russian officials and officers. His works are translated into foreign languages (English, Japanese). Under his reduction scientific editions of the diaries of Russian statesmen of XIX century such as D. Milyutin, P. Valuev, A. Polovtsev had been published. The fundamental bibliographic editions ‘Reference book on history of pre-revolutionary Russia: Bibliography’ (M., 1971; 2nd edition, revised and completed, 1978) and multivolume ‘History of pre-revolutionary Russia in diaries and memories: Annotated directory of books and publications in magazines’ (M., 1976-1989) prepared under supervision of Peter Zaionchkovski are still irreplaceable for studying the history of Russia.
Zaionchkovski died on September 30, 1983 while working on volume of the directory ‘History of pre-revolutionary Russia in diaries and memories’.
Lit.: П. А. Зайончковский, 1904-1983 гг.: Статьи, публикации и воспоминания о нём / Московский государственный университет им. М. В. Ломоносова, Исторический факультет. М., 1998; Пётр Андреевич Зайончковский: сборник статей и воспоминаний к столетию историка. М., 2008; Захарова Л. Г. Пётр Андреевич Зайончковский // Портреты историков. Время и судьбы. Т. 1. М.; Иерусалим, 2000; Захарова Л. Г. Пётр Андреевич Зайончковский — учёный и учитель // Вопросы истории. 1994. № 5.
Works: Военные реформы 1860-1870 годов в России. М., 1952; История дореволюционной России в дневниках и воспоминаниях: аннотированный указатель книг и публикаций в журналах / Научное руководство, редакция профессора П. А. Зайончковского. Т. 1—5. М., 1876—1989; Правительственный аппарат самодержавной России в XIX в. М., 1978; Справочники по истории дореволюционной России: Библиографический указатель / Научное руководство, редакция и вступительная статья П. А. Зайончковского. М., 1978.