Obolensky, Vasily Ivanovich (philologist)

He received his initial upbringing in the house of his father, a village priest in the Oryol province (there is also an indication that in 1836 he was 42 years old and he had an origin from the clergy of the Moscow province ^[1] ).

After completing the course of the Sevsky Theological Seminary , Obolensky in 1809 entered the Moscow provincial government as an office clerk. In the spring of 1810, Obolensky, with the assistance of M. P. Tretyakov, entered Moscow University, to study ancient languages. During the Napoleonic invasion of 1812, he left for Yaroslavl, but soon returned to Moscow and continued his studies.

In 1814, Obolensky graduated from the university as a candidate of verbal sciences and in January 1816 he was appointed senior Latin teacher at the Tver gymnasium ^[2] . In 1820 he returned to Moscow University and continued his scientific studies. At this time, he taught Latin at the university noble boarding school. In January 1824, Obolensky, having defended his thesis on the topic "De discrimine et ingenio litterarum graecorum et romanorum nec non utilitate ac praestantia studiorum humanitatis", was awarded the degree of master of verbal sciences.

In 1827, Obolensky was appointed senior teacher at the 1st Moscow Gymnasium . Obolensky proved to be a good teacher. In 1828 he was sent to St. Petersburg , - to study the method of mutual learning; returning to Moscow, in January 1829, he opened a peer education school at the Nikitsky College , where he donated his money.

In 1832, V. I. Obolensky was commissioned to deliver lectures on Greek for first-year students. In 1835 he was approved as an adjunct, with the dismissal from the post of teacher of the gymnasium and the Educational House . K. S. Aksakov recalled:

Obolensky was very funny; he was short and with very important tricks; his voice, sometimes low, sometimes turned into very thin notes.

In addition to the duties of a lecturer, Obolensky performed the duties of secretary of the 1st department of the Faculty of Philology and various other assignments of his superiors: he was in charge of publishing Greek classics for students, published the Iliad in the original. In connection with poor eyesight in June 1843, he resigned.

Contemporaries noted the kindness and pedagogical talent of Obolensky. Obolensky was a good lecturer. One of his students noted that he knew how to “ speak a lot of practical and beautiful things , without any preparation and thought-out plan in advance ... He loved to talk and talk, and in conversation he discovered an extraordinary reading. Suddenly, original thoughts were expressed, in which there was a high mind and a noble soul . ” Obolensky kindly treated his students. The poorest of them, he sometimes invited to his apartment and provided them with free use of his desk, room and library. MP Pogodin called him "the kindest being who can be ." Another contemporary, Pekhovsky says that Vassily Ivanovich, being a baby soul, “ had a pure and kind heart, an uncorroborated conscience, soon forgave and forgot resentment, was generous, generous, simple, etc. ”. Another distinctive feature of Obolensky was his extreme originality, bordering on eccentricity. This feature, in connection with its colossal absent-mindedness, often served as food for mockery of Vasily Ivanovich, to which he, however, paid almost no attention.

The literary activity of Obolensky was expressed mainly in translations from the Greek language. In separate editions there are the following works of V. I. Obolensky:

• “The story of Herodian in eight books about the Roman Empire after the death of Marcus Aurelius before the election of the Younger Gordian” trans. from the Greek., M. 1829;
• “ Platonic Talk about Laws ” (Moscow: typ. S. Selivanovsky, 1827. - [8], IV, 555 p.); "Homeri Ilias in usum scholarum" (M. 1829).

In addition, V. I. Obolensky published several works in periodicals:

• “The Annals of Theophanes, From Diocletian to the Kings of Michael and His Son Theophylact .” Per. with Greek ("Readings in the Imp. Society. The East. And Ancient. Russian." Prince. 4th, pp. 1-70);
• "Rules of Life virtuous", from the compo. Plato: "On the Laws"; per. with Greek ("Mosk. Vestn." 1827, Part 2, pp. 348-363).

In addition to translations from the Greek language, Obolensky also wrote a number of original works, which he placed mainly in the journal Athenaeum (1828–1830) and Russian Spectator (1829).

theoretical articles

• On the distinctive qualities of poetry and eloquence // “Athenaeum”, 1828, vol. III, pp. 357–368;
• A comparative look at the high and the beautiful (“Athenaeum”, vol. V, pp. 303-311);
• On the high and funny // “Athenaeum”, vol. VI, pp. 191–199);

fiction

• Arabak // "Athenaeum", 1830, Vol. III, pp. 111-117)
• Klyazma, Moscow and so on. // "Athenaeum", V. IV, pp. 114-126
• Talent and Case // "Athenaeum", 1828, vol. II, pp. 86-96
• The genius of Pavlovsk // “Athenaeum”, vol. VI, pp. 338-343) and others.

Speech Obolensky "On the good direction of the heart," which he read on the act in the gymnasium, was published in the brochure "Speeches and poems, uttered on the solemn day of the act in a Moscow gymnasium in 1829" M. 1829.

• Obolensky, Vasily Ivanovich (philologist) // Russian Biographical Dictionary : in 25 volumes. - SPb. - M. , 1896-1918.