Fedor Andreyevich Buller was a Russian prose writer and historian. He was also known as lawyer and diplomat, active Privy Councilor, head of the Moscow Main Archive. He had numerous publications of articles and original documents about Russian literature and history, the peoples of Russia, etc.
Background
Fedor Andreyevich Buller was born on April 15, 1821, in Manuilovo Manor, Yamburg County, Petersburg Governorate (now Saint Petersburg City, Russian Federation). His closest ancestors, immigrants from Germany, served in the Russian diplomatic service from the beginning of the 18th century and became Russian nobles. Baron Fedor Andreevich Buller spent his childhood in Saint Petersburg. The main leadership in the matter of upbringing and the initial teaching belonged to the mother Alexandra Evstafievna, nee Palmenbach, who was educated at the Smolny Institute (led by her mother, the granddaughter of Biron).
Education
In April 1832, Fedor Andreyevich entered the 2nd Saint Petersburg Gymnasium. There, according to Buller, his "passion for Russian literature began to develop". On March 9, 1835, Emperor Nikolai I visited the gymnasium and Fedor Andreyevich pronounced an ode to him about the "Porfirorodny Youth" and was among the five gymnasiums students whose training was transferred to the public account. At this time, Prince P.G. Oldenburgsky founded the Imperial School of Law and invited the father of Fedor Buller to take his son to a new institution on the same conditions. There he wrote an essay entitled Memoirs of London, which N.A. Polevoy published in his journal Son of the Fatherland (1839). He graduated from college in 1841.
Career
After graduating from the School of Law (1841), Fedor Andreyevich served in the Senate. He spent evenings at social events, where he was introduced by his father, who had significant connections. He got acquainted with A.A. Kraevsky, I.P. Myatlev, V.F. Odoevsky, N.A. Polev, E.P. Rostopchina (later due to the service he would meet P.A. Vyazemsky, A.V. Nikitenko, A.S. Norov, M.P. Pogodin, F.I. Tyutchev). The high-society material formed the basis of Buller’s best work - the story Nothing, dedicated to V.F. Odoyevsky (he edited the story and gave the name) and written under the influence of his secular stories. The observation and accuracy of the language (in the image of the drawing rooms), sometimes the grace of the author’s speech, distinguished Nothing from the general flow of secular tales of the 1840s.
Fedor Andreyevich went on a long trip with I.S. Aksakov in 1844 - the Senate revision of the Astrakhan Governorate. There he became interested in scientific research and practically abandoned art. He wrote extensive historical and ethnographic articles Nomadic and settled foreigners living in the Astrakhan province, Essays on Eastern Siberia. Lamaism and shamanism, where archival materials are widely attracted.
After the resignation (1848-1850), used for a new trip abroad, Fedor Andreyevich decided to serve in the Asian Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Iasi. Then he became the manager of the 3rd newspaper expedition of the special office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1857) and for many years (until 1871) he compiled daily reviews of the foreign press for Alexander II. He anonymously published political articles in the newspaper, Le Nord. Fedor Andreyevich was a member of the Head of the Department of Censorship (1857-1862), where he was in charge of the political departments of all Russian magazines. There, in 1859, he unsuccessfully tried to defend Aksakov’s Sail, which he considered close to him by its worldview.
Since 1873 Fedor Andreyevich lived in Moscow and received the position of director of the Main Archive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in accordance with his mental and spiritual inclinations. From 1838 he collected autographs of writers and statesmen. Over the years, his enthusiasm for historical research has strengthened. He managed the archive until the end of his life, bringing him invaluable benefits (new building, cataloging, the publication of documents) and, most importantly, making his wealth accessible to the scientific community. Fedor Andreyevich handed over his library and manuscript collections (including autographs by A.S. Pushkin and K.N. Batyushkov) to the archive.
