Family and childhood

Alexey Alexandrovich Shakhmatov is a Russian philologist, linguist and historian, the founder of the historical study of the Russian language, ancient Russian chronicles and literature. Academician of the Petersburg Academy of Sciences, member of the Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society. Since January 1, 1901 - a valid state adviser. Born June 17, 1864 in Narva, Russian Empire, in the noble family of the Shakhmatov. The Shakhmatov family is quite ancient. The ancestors of Aleksey Aleksandrovich Shakhmatov made a military career or served as officials of state institutions.

The father of the future linguist, Alexander Alekseevich Shakhmatov (1828-1871) received a brilliant education at the St. Petersburg Law School, was a participant in the Russian-Turkish wars, an official, governor-general, senator and secret adviser. In the service, he established himself as a noble, honest, incorruptible and fair person. Alexey inherited interest in languages ​​and literature from his mother, Maria Fedorovna Kosen (1838 - 1870). She was a highly educated woman, perfectly knew European languages.

In 1870, when Alexey was not yet 6 years old, his mother unexpectedly died of consumption, and his father died of a nervous blow in 1871, leaving three of his minor children orphans, Eugene, Alexey and Olga, orphans. Brother and sisters were brought up by an uncle - father’s brother Alexey Alekseevich Shakhmatov.

In 1874-1878 he studied at the Kreiman gymnasium, then moved to the 5th grade of the 4th Moscow gymnasium. As early as 1878, as a gymnasium student, he wrote an article on the origin of Indo-European words and presented it to Moscow University professors V.F. Miller, N.I. Storozhenko and F.F. Fortunatov. It was Fortunatov who invited Shakhmatov in 1882 to defend A. I. Sobolevsky with a master's thesis on the system of phonemes of the Pre-Slavic language, where Shakhmatov made a convincing criticism of some important provisions of the report.

The beginning of the way

After graduating from high school with a silver medal, in 1883 he entered the historical and philological faculty of Imperial Moscow University. In 1884, the first article was published in Studies on the Russian Language: Studies on the Language of Novgorod Letters of the 13th and 14th Centuries. By the time he graduated from the university, in 1887, he prepared a final candidate's essay.

The youngest academician

In the spring of 1887, the Council of Moscow University, noting the brilliant abilities of Shakhmatov and the high value of his work, awarded the outstanding graduate the title of candidate and recommended that the study be continued. In 1890, having passed the master's exam, he received the title of privat-docent and began to give a course in the history of the Russian language at Moscow University. The Council of Moscow University unanimously awarded the degree of Doctor of Russian. At that time he was only 29 years old. In 1897 he headed the work on the academic dictionary of the Russian language.

Library of the Academy of Sciences

In 1899, A.A. Shakhmatov was appointed director of the I department of the Library of the Academy of Sciences. The new director looked at the book, first of all, as the main instrument of enlightenment of the masses. Therefore, he immediately removes all privileges in using the library funds. Now the Academic Library can be visited not only by scientists, but also gymnasium teachers and even students. Shakhmatov made an opening at the library of a special reading room for students. In 1900, Shakhmatov succeeded in creating a special manuscript department at the library. It is known that Academician A.A. Shakhmatov was transferred to the needs of the library: the purchase of new books, the equipment of reading rooms, archaeographic expeditions, etc.

Russian language reformer

In February 1904, a special commission of the Academy of Sciences began work on the preparation of the reform of Russian spelling. Together with other famous linguists, Aleksei Aleksandrovich Shakhmatov also entered it. Initially, this group of linguists was headed by F.F. Fortunatov, and after his death academician Shakhmatov became the head of the commission.

Practical scientists even then proposed abolishing double letters and greatly simplifying Russian spelling, making it more accessible to the widest sections of the population. Unfortunately, this project was rejected by conservative officials and some scientists who opposed innovation. The Commission continued to improve the draft spelling reform until 1912, but even after the revision, the proposed option was not accepted.

The reform of Russian spelling, which made Russian spelling easier for learning and application, was carried out only in 1917-1918.

Shakhmatov and Russian annals

In addition to linguistic and philological research, A.A. Shakhmatov did a tremendous and, one might say, unprecedented work in the field of the study of ancient Russian chronicles. It was he who laid the foundations of their textual research and thereby determined the foundation of textology as a science. He was the first to establish the time of creation and sources of the oldest chronicles (XI - XVI centuries), in particular, "Tales of Bygone Years", completely revising all the ideas that existed before him about the history of Russian chronicles.

Shakhmatov owns the work of restoring the annals that preceded the PVL. Before him, it was believed that the author of the PVL Nestor was a monk of the Kiev Pechersky Monastery, the first Russian chronicler, and the “Tale of Bygone Years” created by him was the first Russian chronicle, whose creation dates back to the XI-XII centuries.

Studying the lists of the Novgorod First Annals, Shakhmatov came to the conclusion that fragments of an older annals were preserved in it than the PVL itself. Significant discrepancies are noted between the Novgorod First Chronicle and The Tale of Bygone Years. Shakhmatov

explains these discrepancies by the fact that the text underlying the Novgorod First Annals is much older than the PVL text. The chronicler, who composed the "Tale of Bygone Years," expanded the collection with new materials, various written and oral sources, documents (treaties with the Greeks), extracts from Greek chronicles, and brought the exposition to its time.

A.A. Shakhmatov did a tremendous job, trying to restore the vault underlying both the Tale of Bygone Years and the Novgorod First Annals. The researcher called it "Beginner", suggesting that it was with him that the Russian annals began.

Shakhmatov was in opposition to the authorities on those issues that outraged the public at that time. In particular, he condemned the imperial policy towards foreigners and the use of languages ​​of national suburbs, the attack on freedom of speech, the oppression of students and various public organizations. During the revolution of 1905-1907, Shakhmatov was signed under various collective appeals of the academic public to the authorities.

A.A.Shakhmatov from 1908 to 1919 taught at the University of St. Petersburg the history of the Russian language, Church Slavonic, Russian dialectology. He was one of the most respected and respected university professors.

Last years

The book "Syntax of the Russian language" turned out to be his last work, remaining unfinished forever. The winter of 1919-1920 was the last for Academician Shakhmatov. In the cramped office rooms of the Academic Library, the temperature often stood at 5 degrees below zero, in storage the frost reached 10 degrees. There is no electricity: it has long been replaced by kerosene lamps. The houses were the same. Every evening, a half-starved academician carried heavy logs of firewood to his third floor, sawed and chopped them so as not to stiffen, to continue work.

In mid-December 1919, Aunt Olga Nikolaevna Shakhmatova, who became a mother for Shakhmatov and his sisters, dies in Petrograd. On February 11, less than two months after the death of her aunt, Olga Alexandrovna, the younger sister of the academician, dies.

Having lost dear and close people, Shakhmatov goes to work. He personally manages the transportation of book treasures from the looted home libraries of famous Petrograd scholars to the Academy of Sciences, saves many monuments of Russian culture from death, unloads carts with his own hands, carries incredibly heavy books on his shoulders.

On July 30, 1920, A.A. Shakhmatov transported the Sobolevsky library to the Academy of Sciences, and this was the limit of the physical capabilities of an already exhausted, tired person.

Ten days later, doctors diagnosed Shakhmatov with intestinal invagination. An operation was performed, but the body of a 55-year-old scientist was so exhausted that he was no longer able to fight for life. On August 16, 1920, Aleksey Aleksandrovich Shakhmatov passed away. He was buried at the Volkov Cemetery in St. Petersburg.

Список интернет-ресурсов

https://fonetica.philol.msu.ru/bibl/shah.htm

http://ptiburdukov.ru/

http://yarus.asu.edu.ru/?id=48

https://biblioclub.ru/index.php?page=author_red&id=12814

https://www.multitran.com/

https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com

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