Saint Peter's School
Nikolaev Cavalry School
Saint Peter's School
Nikolaev Cavalry School
Kornilii Aleksandrovich Borozdin was born on March 21 (March 9) 1828 in the village of Nestyagino, Opochetsk district, Pskov governorate (now Pskov, Russian Federation) in the family of a nobleman. He spent all his childhood in his family estate in Pskov as well as in Arkhangelsk and Simbirsk governorates, where his father served in the Imperial Estates Administration.
In 1840, Kornilii Aleksandrovich entered Saint Peter's School, then he studies at Nikolaev Cavalry School. From 1845 to 1849 he studies at the Law Faculty of Moscow University.
After university graduation, Kornilii Aleksandrovich served as an official of special assignments under Yaroslavl and Simbirsk governors. In 1853-1856, he served as a teacher for dukes of Mingrelia under the Caucasian governor-general. In 1856-1861 he was chief of Senaki district and in 1861-1865 – chief of Telav district. In 1865-1867 - a member of the provincial peasant affairs presence.
Having retired, Kornilii Aleksandrovich settled in Moscow and became a lawyer. In 1870, he moved to Petersburg; passion for a card game brought him to a debt prison (1873) and forgery of monetary documents. He was convicted, sentenced to exile (did not serve his sentence).
Kornilii Aleksandrovich got a reputation of an expert on the Caucasus due to his long-term studies, knowledge of oriental languages, Russian and foreign literature about this region. Memoirs (the first publication - The Abolition of Two Autonomies (1885)) opened up a world of Mingrelia and Svaneti tp readers. This world was full of poetic charm and national originality. He emphasized the progressive role of the voluntary entry of these principalities into Russia. Some inaccuracies in the memoir book Transcaucasian Memories (1885) caused critical reviews on the correlation of personal observations and historical authenticity in the memoirs.
Kornilii Aleksandrovich devoted numerous of his works to the Caucasus: Colonization of the Caucasus (1885), Alazani Valley (1886), Three Centennial Elders (1888), Lezgi Uprising in Kakheti in 1863, From the Stories of the Old Circassian (1892), From the Past of Mingrelia (1897).
n addition to the Historical Vestnik, Kornilii Aleksandrovich also collaborated in Saint Petersburg Vestnik, Citizens, Military Collection, Niva. His works were published through the mediation of Shubinsky even in New Time. In 1892-1896, Kornilii Aleksandrovich, using a subsidy from the Ministry of Education, opened his own local printing house.
Kornilii Borozdin was a member of the conspiratorial aristocratic anti-revolutionary organization Sacred Squad as an informant about the mood of Saint Petersburg youth.
Kornilii Borozdin was the father of a Russian literary critic and historian of literature, freemason, memoirist Alexander Borozdin.
