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Osip PervolfSlavist
Country:
 Czech |
Content:
- Biography of Osip Pervolf
- Contributions to Slavic Studies
- Major Works
- Contributions to Slavic Reciprocity
- Works on Slavic Antiquities
- Contributions to Eastern and Austro-Slavic Studies
Biography of Osip Pervolf
Osip Osipovich Pervolf (1841-1891) was a renowned scholar, Slavist, philologist, ethnographer, and educator. He was of Czech origin and studied at the University of Prague. Pervolf's early journal works already showed his interest in Russia, as he wrote about the history of Little Russia, the origins of Rus, and the Cossacks. He also participated in editing "Fontes rerum Bohemicarum". His service at the Czech museum brought him closer to Russian scholars visiting Prague and strengthened his interest in Russia.
Contributions to Slavic Studies
In his article "Snemy v nekdyzi Rusi" ("Cas. Cesk. Mus.", 1867-68), Pervolf acquainted his compatriots with the phenomena of ancient Russian social life such as veche, zemskiy sobor, duma, Cossack circles, and councils (based on the works of Solovyov, Kostomarov, K. Aksakov, Chicherin, and others). In "Vyvin idey vzajemnosti un narodov slovanskych" (1867), he observed historical manifestations of reciprocity in the political and cultural life of the Slavic people, advocating for this reciprocity in the present. The idea of Slavic reciprocity became the dominant concept in Pervolf's further scholarly activities.
Major Works
Pervolf's "Slovane, historicky nastin" (1869) was the first and still unmatched attempt at a general history of Slavic people (with the participation of Vozelya and Erben). In 1871, at the suggestion of P.A. Lavrovsky, Pervolf assumed the chair of Slavic philology at the University of Warsaw, where he taught Slavic antiquities, historical ethnography, and the characteristics of Slavic dialects. He received a master's degree from St. Petersburg University in 1874 for his dissertation on Slavic reciprocity (in the "Journal of the Ministry of National Education"), and in 1876, he obtained a doctorate from the University of Warsaw for his book "The Germanization of Baltic Slavs" (St. Petersburg, 1876).
His extensive work "Slavjane, ich vzajemne vztahy a spoje" (1886) consisted of four volumes. The first volume focused on the political history and way of life of Slavic tribes, the second explored Slavic ideas in literature until the 18th century, and the third volume (part 1) covered Western Slavs. Unfortunately, the remaining volume on the revival of Slavs was left unfinished as raw material after the author's death. While Pervolf's work provided a wealth of facts, it suffered from imperfect planning and organization.
Contributions to Slavic Reciprocity
Pervolf also dedicated several articles to the topic of Slavic reciprocity, such as "Chehi i russkie" ("Beseda", 1872), "Chehi i polyaki v XV i XVI vekakh" ("Osveta", 1873 and "Cas. C. Mus.", 1880), "Aleksandr I i slavyane" ("Drevnyaya i Novaya Rossiya", 1879), "Slavyanskoe dvizhenie u polyakov 1800-1830 gg." ("Osveta", 1879), "Slavyanskaya ideya v Rossii" ("Osveta", 1879), and "Polyaki i rusiny" ("Osveta", 1891).
Works on Slavic Antiquities
Pervolf's notable works on Slavic antiquities include "Variagi - Rus' i baltiyskie slavyane" (refuting Gedeonov and Zabelin's Baltic theory, in the "Journal of the Ministry of National Education", 1877), "Slavische Volkernamen" and "Polen, Liachen, Wanden" ("Archiv" by Jagich), "Staroslovahcke rady a obyceje" ("Slov. Sbornik" by Elinek, 1884), and "Slovenskiy yazyk i ego sud'by u narodov slavyanskikh" ("Mefodiyskiy Sbornik", Warsaw, 1885).
Contributions to Eastern and Austro-Slavic Studies
Pervolf also delved into Eastern and Austro-Slavic topics with works like "Uhry a vychodni otazka" ("Cas. Cesk. Mus.", 1869; revised in "Madyary i vostochnyy vopros", "Vestnik Evropy", 1877), "Vostochnyy vopros - slavyanskiy vopros" ("Osveta", 1878), "Die Slavischorientalische Frage" (1878), "Slavyanskoe dvizhenie v Avstrii 1800-1848 gg." ("Russkaya Rech'", 1879), "Slavyanskoe dvizhenie 1848 goda i avstriyskie slavyane 1848-1849 gg." ("Vestnik Evropy", 1879), and more.
Pervolf's contributions to Slavic studies were highly regarded, and his work laid the foundation for further research in the field.
