Alexei Boldyrev

Alexei Boldyrev
Алексей Васильевич Болдырев
Rector of Moscow University
In office 1833–1836
Preceded by	Ivan Dvigubsky
Succeeded by	Mikhail Kachenovsky
Personal details
Born	16 (27) March 1784 Poltava, Yekaterinoslav Viceroyalty, Russian Empire
Died	17 (29) August 1842 Moscow, Russian Empire
Education	Moscow University (1805); University of Göttingen (1806)
Occupation	Orientalist, philologist
Awards	Order of St. Anna, 2nd class (1831)

Alexei Vasilyevich Boldyrev (Алексей Васильевич Болдырев; 16 [O.S. 27] March 1784 – 17 [O.S. 29] August 1842) was a Russian orientalist and philologist who founded the study of Arabic and other Oriental languages at Moscow University, where he served as an ordinary professor, dean of the department of verbal sciences, and rector from 1833 to 1836.

Early life and education

Boldyrev, the son of a military physician, was born on 16 (27) March 1784 in Poltava. In 1798 he was enrolled at the university gymnasium in Moscow, and in 1800 he was awarded a silver medal by Moscow University. He went on to graduate from both the philosophy faculty and the law faculty of Moscow University in 1805, and in 1806 undertook further study at the University of Göttingen, the same year being confirmed as a master of philosophy and the liberal arts. He subsequently taught Russian literature at the Catherine Institute in Moscow until August 1818, when he was confirmed as an ordinary professor at Moscow University.

Academic career

Boldyrev became an extraordinary professor in 1815 and, from 1818 to 1836, held the university's chair of Oriental languages as ordinary professor, having laid the foundations for the systematic study of Arabic, Hebrew, Persian and other ancient Oriental languages at the university. He was dean of the department of verbal sciences from 1828 to 1832. His scholarly interests centred on the language, literature and history of Eastern countries; in 1816 he delivered an address to the university's ceremonial assembly on the benefit of language in general, and of its relation to the enlightenment and welfare of peoples. He taught Arabic and was the author of an Arabic chrestomathy (1824) and of the first concise Arabic grammar published in Russian, presented in tabular form (1827).

Rector of Moscow University

Boldyrev served as rector of Moscow University from 1833 to 1836. His tenure was marked by tightening government control over the university: a decree of 1 May 1834 introduced the posts of student inspector and five assistant inspectors, and students were required to wear uniform. During this period, the future writers Nikolai Ogarev and Alexander Herzen were arrested. Under his rectorship, construction was completed on the architectural ensemble of the university's Auditorium Building and its house church, and the former oprichnina courtyard of Ivan the Terrible was rebuilt as a residential building.

In 1836, while simultaneously serving as a censor, Boldyrev approved for publication in the journal Teleskop (no. 15) Pyotr Chaadaev's "Philosophical Letter," for which he was dismissed from his post as rector. According to one account, he was also removed as censor and subjected to a year's confinement, after which he lived in retirement until his death.

Awards

Boldyrev was awarded the Order of St. Anna, second class, in 1831.

Death

Boldyrev died in Moscow on 17 (29) August 1842.

References

This article "Alexei Boldyrev" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Alexei Boldyrev. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

📰 Article(s) of the same category(ies)

• Wolfgang Mückenheim
• Mikhail Priklonsky
• Leonid Lakhtin
• Huang Jinling
• Noor Muhammad
• Alexander Okhotin

---