On the basis of the archival sources and memoirs of the contemporaries, the authors of the article reconstruct the university career of an outstanding Russian Slavic scholar V. I. Lamansky (1833-1914): from the period when he served as an officer in the administration of St. Petersburg Governorate to the time when he made a decision to resign from the university in protest against the government's actions during the 1899 student unrest. It is noted that the foundations of Lamansky's scholarly methodology was formed by Slavophile philosophy, since we can consider Lamansky the representative of the movement of so called academic Slavophilism. Lamansky' orientation towards philosophical approach with regard to Slavic history and culture enabled him to become a founder of an independent historiographical school, with which a number of renowned Russian scholars can be associated. The authors underline that Lamansky realized himself more as a political thinker and philosopher of history than a researcher; however, this fact did not prevent him from contributing to Russian Slavic studies as an independent discipline with its own subject and method. Exploring Lamansky's correspondence, the authors analyze Lamansky's perception of 1884 University regulations and 1899 student unrest. It enables to demonstrate the specificity of Lamansky's political views and some features of his personality. Therefore, contrary to the accepted viewpoint, prevalent in historiography since the Soviet period, according to which Lamansky was inclined to political conservatism and reactionary movement, we can argue that Lamansky's political position was of liberal nature.
The article deals with the attitude of the largest Russian Slavist Vladimir Ivanovich Lamansky (1833-1914) to the history and cultural heritage of Byzantium. It is noted that although the term "Byzantism" characterises the philosophical-historical doctrine of K.N. Leontiev, a number of statements developed in K.N. Leontiev's concept were expressed earlier by V.I. Lamansky. It is suggested that Lamansky had an influence on Leontiev's views, especially on Byzantium. The development of Lamansky's views on Byzantium from his first monograph "On the Slavs in Asia Minor, Africa and Spain" up to his last unfinished book "The Slavonic Hagiography of St. Cyril as a Religious Epic and a Historical Source" is shown. The article points out the similarity between V.I. Lamansky's doctrine on the difference of ages of peoples and cultures and the organiccist conceptions of N.Y. Danilevsky and K.N. Leontiev. Lamansky's interpretation of the mutual relations between Slavs and Greeks, and the relationship between Slavs and the Eastern Roman Empire is considered. It is noted that the main influence of Byzantium was connected to the development of state conceptions of the Slavs and acceptance of Orthodoxy. The special significance of Orthodoxy lay in the recognition of the rights of national languages (divine service in native languages and the development of writing systems), which led to a better acquaintance of Orthodox peoples with Christian doctrine. V.I. Lamansky's opinion on the causes of the fall of the Eastern Roman Empire is given: oblivion of the universal meaning of Christianity, Hellenization, and spread of nationalism. V. I. Lamansky's understanding of the meaning of the empire, i.e. the united Christian kingdom which Russia is heir to, is revealed. The article concludes that Lamansky's interest in the study of Byzantium resulted from his own historiosophic doctrine of three civilizational worlds (Romano-Germanic, Greek-Slavic and Asian).
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