FROM THE HISTORY OF UKRAINIAN NUMISMATICS OF THE END OF XIX – FIRST QUARTER OF XX CENTURY: CORRESPONDENCE K. V. BOLSUNOVSKY AND M. G. ZAKHAREVYCH-ZAKHARIEVSKY FROM THE SCIENTIFIC ARCHIVES OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE HISTORY OF UKRAINE Cover Image

З ІСТОРІЇ УКРАЇНСЬКОЇ НУМІЗМАТИКИ КІНЦЯ ХІХ – ПЕРШОЇ ЧВЕРТІ ХХ СТ.: ЛИСТУВАННЯ К.В. БОЛСУНОВСЬКОГО ТА М.Г. ЗАХАРЕВИЧА-ЗАХАРІЄВСЬКОГО З НАУКОВОГО АРХІВУ НАЦІОНАЛЬНОГО МУЗЕЮ ІСТОРІЇ УКРАЇНИ
FROM THE HISTORY OF UKRAINIAN NUMISMATICS OF THE END OF XIX – FIRST QUARTER OF XX CENTURY: CORRESPONDENCE K. V. BOLSUNOVSKY AND M. G. ZAKHAREVYCH-ZAKHARIEVSKY FROM THE SCIENTIFIC ARCHIVES OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE HISTORY OF UKRAINE

Author(s): Olena Popelnytska
Subject(s): Museology & Heritage Studies, Pre-WW I & WW I (1900 -1919), Interwar Period (1920 - 1939)
Published by: ДВНЗ Переяслав-Хмельницький державний педагогічний університет імені Григорія Сковороди
Keywords: K. V. Bolsunovsky; M. G. Zakharevych-Zakharievsky; National Museum of the History of Ukraine; numismatics; archives; epistolary heritage;

Summary/Abstract: The aim of the study is introduction to scientific circulation correspondence between K. Bolsunovsky and M. Zakharevich-Zakharievsky for 1894–1923 which stored in the fund 4 ‘Materials, documents and scientific works of the famous collector and numismatist of Bolsunovsky Karl Vasyliovych (1838–1924)’ in the archives of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine (NMHU) and is an important historical source for studying the formation of Ukrainian numismatics and museum industry. The specified letters contain information on the activities of the Kyiv Art, Industry and Science Museum, the functioning of the market of antiques of the Russian Empire in general and the Ukrainian in particular. Also in the letters there is a lot of interesting information about personal and business relations of the Kyiv scientific intelligentsia of the end of the XIX – beginning of the XX century, details of everyday life at that time, etc. The names of K. Bolsunovsky and M. Zakharevich-Zakharievsky are now known only to a narrow circle of researchers, studying the history of Ukrainian museology. Although at one time they were well known in Kyiv and abroad numismatists and collectors of antiquities. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the reconstruction according to written sources of the biography of the Kyiv numismatist and archaeologist Mykola Gavrilovich Zakharevych-Zakharievsky (1870–1931), who was interested in numismatics from a young age. At the age of 10-13 he was a member of the Kyiv circle of numismatists, which included well-known and experienced collectors. Rich numismatic collection of M. Zakharevich-Zakharievsky (which in 1901 numbered about 15,000 coins) consisted of coins of ancient Greece and Rome, as well as Russian coins. Numismatist came from the Belarusian noble family. In the second half of the XIX century representatives of this family lost their noble status (probably after the Polish uprising of 1863) and became rich Kyiv merchants, owners of city real estate. M. Zakharevich-Zakharievsky studied at the University of Kiev, in the late 19th – early 20th century collaborated with the Kyiv Museum of Antiquities and Arts, the Church Archaeological Museum at the Kyiv Theological Academy, and the Numismatic Cabinet of the Kyiv University. After 1917, M. Zakharevich-Zakharievsky received a certificate of protection for his numismatic collection from the Soviet authorities. In the 1920's, M. Zakharevich-Zakharievsky probably took part in the expeditions of the famous archaeologist M. Makarenko. From 1928 M. Zakharevich-Zakharievsky participated in the creation of the numismatic catalog of the Museum of Cults and Everyday Life of the All-Ukrainian Museum Small Town in Kiev. On December 20, 1930, M. Zakharevich-Zakharievsky was arrested on a denunciation. On February 26, 1931, he was sentenced to five years in a labor camp. His valuable collection was apparently confiscated. At the end of 1931, M. Zakharevich-Zakharievsky died in prison. The second of the authors of these letters, Karl Vasyliovych Bolsunovsky (1838–1924) came from a noble Polish family. From the end of 1870 he was a member of the Kiev numismatic circle and collaborated with V. Antonovych, who headed the Numismatic Cabinet of the University of Kiev. Retiring in 1884, K. Bolsunovsky was engaged in scientific studies in the field of numismatics. In 1899 he prepared for the participants of the XI Archaeological Congress (which took place in Kyiv) sphragistic exhibition. Catalog of this exhibition (with the autograph of the famous historian V. Lyaskoronsky) is stored in the library of NMHU. The NMHU library also has an album of photographs of participants of the Kyiv Archaeological Forum in 1899, among which is a portrait of K. Bolsunovsky. K. Bolsunovsky was acquainted with the famous Kiev archaeologist V. Khvoyka and with the Director of the Kyiv Art, Industry and Science Museum M. Bilyashivsky, collaborated with the Archaeological Museum at the Kyiv Higher Women's Courses and K. Skarzhynska’s Museum in Lubny, and Kyiv Museum of Antiquities and Arts, in 1904 renamed the Kiev Art, Industry and Science Museum. K. Bolsunovsky bought for them numismatic finds and archaeological artifacts. The work of K. Bolsunovsky ‘Autonomous coin of Galician Russia of the XIV–XV centuries’ is stored in the library of NMHU. In this book there is a gift inscription of the author to the famous numismatist S. Bodylevsky. In the NMHU library is kept a numismatic catalog belonging to K. Bolsunovsky. Tnto the catalog is pasted a letter dated March 30, 1910 from the B. Kopylov – compiler of this catalog, a well-known numismatist, publisher and editor of the St. Petersburg magazine ‘Staraya Moneta’. In 1902–1908 K. Bolsunovsky took care of the numismatic collection of the Kyiv Art, Industry and Science Museum on a voluntary basis. The friendly tone of their correspondence testifies to the friendly relations between K. Bolsunovsky and M. Zakharevych-Zakharievsky. The men was discussed the sale of coins for profit, the purchase of collectible coins and their examination, work at the Kyiv Art, Industry and Science Museum, and more. They were also interested in caring for bees, terms of renting apartments in their apartment buildings etc. K. Bolsunovsky also repeatedly helped M. Zakharevich-Zakharievsky find a job during difficult times, involving his own connections. In his letters M. Zakharevich-Zakharievsky demonstrates a high awareness of the attribution of coins, including counterfeit and his style of writing letters impresses with his intelligence and literacy. Research methodology – principles of science, historicism, objectivity, methods of analysis, classification, generalization, historical-genetic and historical-typological. The main results of the study are the reconstruction of the biography of M. Zakharevich-Zakharievsky on the basis of mentions contained in the letters of K. Bolsunovsky to M. Zakharevich-Zakharievsky, as well as to the famous collector S. Drozdov. Both researchers was interest of a number of scientific, practical and theoretical questions to were also clarified: examination of coins to determine their originality; establishing contacts with numismatists-collectors for the exchange of coins and information about them; establishing contacts with collectors to exchange coins and information about them; establishing contacts with sellers of coins and numismatic catalogs, in particular from Siberia and Western Europe; monitoring of finds of coin treasures on the territory of Kyiv and Kyiv region and their acquisition; creation of scientific numismatic studies; creation of the numismatic department of the Kyiv Art, Industry and Science Museum. A number of people (numismatists, museum workers, archaeologists, collectors, patrons, antique dealers, publishers from Kyiv, Bila Tserkva, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Minusinsk, Munich) were also identified, with whom K. V. Bolsunovsky contacted in his scientific activity: V. Antonovych, M. Bilyashivsky, S. Drozdov, B. Kopylov, S. Kulzhinsky, M. Makarenko, O. Merder, M. Petrov, J. Prove, O. Temnytsky, I.Tovstin, B. Khanenko, V. Hvoyka, O.Helbing, I. Kholodkovsky, D. Shcherbakovsky. Prospects for further research are to continue the study of correspondence K. Bolsunovsky, which is stored in the archives of NMHU, to identify new information that would supplement and clarify the obtained. The practical significance of the achieved results is that the obtained research results and published written sources can be used in writing scientific articles and monographs, construction of museum expositions and temporary exhibitions, creation of popular science publications, TV programs and videos, etc. The originality of the study lies in the fact that for the first time unpublished epistolary sources are introduced into scientific circulation, containing information about the scientific life, business relations and life of representatives of the scientific intelligentsia of Kyiv and Kyiv region of the late XIX – first quarter of the XX century.

  • Issue Year: 2022
  • Issue No: 6
  • Page Range: 331-352
  • Page Count: 22
  • Language: Ukrainian