Background
Alexander Kornilievich Borozdin was born on April 4 (March 23) 1863 in Saint Petersburg City, Russian Federation.
historian of literature literary critic memoirist
Alexander Kornilievich Borozdin was born on April 4 (March 23) 1863 in Saint Petersburg City, Russian Federation.
Alexander Kornilievich graduated from the 2nd gymnasium in Saint Petersburg (1874-1881), then he studied and successfully graduated from the historical-philological faculty of Saint Petersburg University (1881-1885), where he was one of the founders of the Student Scientific Literary Society.
After graduating from university, Alexander Kornilievich served in the Ministry of State Property (in the archive of Mining), in 1888 - in the Administration of the Mountainous Part of the Caucasus Region, and from 1891 - in the Caucasus Statistical Committee. He was the editor of the Compendium of Materials for Describing the Locations and Tribes of the Caucasus and News of the Caucasus branch of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society.
In 1891-1894 Alexander Kornilievich taught history and Russian literature at the Tiflis women's educational institution of St. Nina. In 1895-1918, he taught the history of Russian literature in the early 19th century at the University of Saint Petersburg (he became a freelance university lecturer from 1896). Starting from 1901 he was an extraordinary (from 1913 - ordinary) professor at the Institute of Philology.
During 12 years of scientific research, Alexander Kornilievich examined the manuscript repositories in Saint Petersburg, Moscow, Kazan, and Kyiv. He became close to the Old Believers, publishing a number of previously unknown materials. In 1900, he defended his master's thesis on the topic Protopop Avvakum. Essay on the history of the mental life of Russian society in the 17th century.
In 1905 the world saw another Borozdin's book Essays on Russian religious dissent which combined all the essays on the Old Believers and sectarianism. He introduced the newest Old Believer literature into scientific circles.
Alexander Kornilievich cooperated with Evgeny Anichkov and Dmitriy Ovsyaniko-Kulikovskiy to lead the work on The History of Russian literature (1908). After 1900 he stopped his scientific activities. He only gave several public lectures, prepared canonical writers publications, wrote articles for encyclopedias. He published his own lectures and articles, wrote the Educational book on the history of Russian literature (1914) for 5-8 classes of grammar schools, which was characterized as concise and carefully prepared. In September 1917, Alexander Kornilievich became a member of the Extraordinary Commission of Inquiry to investigate the crimes of the tsarist government.
Being a student, Alexander Kornilievich strongly criticized populist ideas. Later he revised his views and changed his mind. Moreover, he had a vivid interest in the Old Ritualists throughout his life.
Alexander Kornilievich was one of the founders of the Student Scientific Literary Society. From a young age, he was a member of the Istorichesky Vestnik - a union of historians and writers. In September 1917, he became a member of the Extraordinary Commission of Inquiry to investigate the crimes of the tsarist government.
