Matvey Schaum ( German: Matthias Schaum ) is a participant in the Swedish invasion of Russia, a writer of the 17th century, the author of several works on Russian political history [1] .
Biography
Matvey Schaum was born in Germany , for several years he served in the Swedish army under the command of "Field Marshal in Russia" G. Eberhardt Gorn. Schaum participated in the Swedish campaigns against Russia , was captured by Novgorod by the Swedes and, apparently, revolved among people who were aware of the military and political affairs of Sweden , Russia and Poland . On behalf of the Swedish government, he wrote a treatise on the Russian army . This essay, undertaken after the meeting of Gorn with King Gustavus Adolphus , was completely prepared for publication under the title: β Militia Rhutenica β, but due to travel and β other obstacles β that were not caused by Schaum, were not made public [2] [3 ] ] .
Upon his dismissal from Sweden in 1613, Schaum traveled around Germany and France on his personal affairs and often heard β strange and purely worthless β judgments about Russia and the wars taking place in it. To β notify β the true state of affairs in Russia, which were then of interest to Europe, and at the request of some famous people, Schaum wrote a book entitled: β Tragedia Demetrio-Moscovitica β (finished on April 8, 1614). The true story of the miraculous and memorable events that happened with False Dmitry , the Great Prince of Moscow, from beginning to end, also about what happened in the Swedish army during the capture of Veliky Novgorod [2] .
The value of the work of Schaum is that it was written by a person who lived in Sweden for a long time, who knew her affairs, was aware of her war and treaties with the Russians, and presented the course of Russian history during the time of turmoil from the point of view of the enemy of the Pope and Poles. Like other foreigners, Schaum judges Russia and its inhabitants by the first impression, not taking into account the history of the country, its local conditions and the customs of the people. The picture of Russian life is presented to them in gloomy colors and inspires disgust for them [2] .
His book was translated into Russian on behalf of Count N. P. Rumyantsev and entered the Moscow Main Archive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Empire ; was published in 1847 [2] .
Notes
- β Shaum Matvey // Great Soviet Encyclopedia : [in 30 vol.] / Ch. ed. A.M. Prokhorov . - 3rd ed. - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1969-1978.
- β 1 2 3 4 Shaum, Matvey // Russian Biographical Dictionary : in 25 volumes. - SPb. , 1905. - T. 22: Chaadaev - Shvitkov. - S. 551β552.
- β Shaum, Matvey // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1907. - T. add. IIa. - S. 878.
Literature
- Foreign writings and acts relating to Russia, collected by Prince. M. Obolensky, No. 1
- Schaum, Moscow, University Printing House, 1847. Ed. Imp. Total Stories and Ancient Russian;
- "The Inventory of the Manuscripts of the Rumyantsev Museum" by A. Vostokov, No. UDPLXIX, p. 794.
- Shaum M. History of memorable incidents that occurred with False Dmitry and On the capture of Veliky Novgorod by the Swedes. The work of Matvey Shaum, 1614. // Readings in the imperial society of Russian history and antiquities. No. 2. M. 1847. - Under the heading: Tragoedia Demetrio-Moscovitica