Strashkevich, Kondraty Fedorovich

Kondraty Fedorovich Strashkevich (1815 or 1816 - 1868 ) - Russian philologist , numismatist , teacher , scientific writer, graduate and associate professor of the University of St.. Vladimir

Born in the Volyn province , where his father served as a petty official. He received his secondary education in the Zhytomyr gymnasium and already there showed an ability to languages. In 1835 he entered the Kiev University of St. Vladimir , he studied at the Faculty of History and Philology. In 1838, while still a student, due to his success, he took the place of a non-staff Greek teacher in the 2nd Kiev Gymnasium . Almost did not have a livelihood, therefore, in Zhytomyr , and in Kiev was forced to earn money by tutoring. Awarded a gold medal for his thesis in Latin "De Dorum et Jonum ingenio diversa, deque litterarum, quae indefate, apud utramque stirpem descrepantia", at the end of the university course in 1839 he was appointed senior Latin teacher in Vinnytsia gymnasium.

Already in 1840 he returned to Kiev, to the 2nd gymnasium - a full-time teacher of the Greek language. At the same time, he was elected by the Kiev University Council as an adjunct in the department of Greek and Roman literature. In 1843, in addition to his direct duties, he was secretary of the Faculty of History and Philology and during the 1846/1847 school year - teacher of the Czech language; in addition, he gave lessons in new languages ​​and in some secondary schools in Kiev - except for the 2nd male gymnasium, he taught at the institute of noble maidens and at Fundukleyev female gymnasium . In 1845 he received a master 's degree in classical literature after presenting and defending the thesis “De historia Thucididea”.

He had great language skills: besides Latin and Ancient Greek, he knew Serbian, Czech, Bulgarian, Polish, Modern Greek, Italian, English, German, French and Swedish at different levels; He studied Slavic languages ​​in conversations with Slavic students who attended lectures at Kiev University. Among the professors enjoyed great prestige; studied in the original almost all of the most significant classical works of European peoples, some of them knew by heart.

Until 1864, he never traveled abroad, learning languages, history and geography of Slavic countries from books, but at the same time he often surprised visiting Slavic students with his knowledge. For most of his life, he remained an adjunct of Greek and Latin; in 1864 he received the rank of full-time assistant professor .

In order to facilitate students in the Czech language in 1847, he compiled the “Czech Grammar”, published under this title in 1852 with a brief anthology and vocabulary. The result of Strashkevich's work on Greek philology and archeology was an extensive (468 pages) and in many respects original research - “Sketches of Greek Antiquities”, published in “Kiev University News” (1863–1864), 10 years later with the addition of descriptions and maps of ancient Athens published in the second edition (Kiev, 1874) and, in this form, recommended by the Scientific Committee of the Ministry of Public Education “as an extremely useful tool for teaching the Greek language in gymnasiums, as well as for student and fundamental libraries iotek.

In 1865, Strashkevich was entrusted with the management of the university münz cabinet, after which he began to study, analyze and systematize collections of coins and medals. This work was completed in the same year, and the numismatic cabinet was open to all interested in it. Having compiled a detailed catalog of all cash items of the museum, Strashkevich at the same time became interested in the inspection protocols he had found at the university to identify various antiquities, and on the basis of these documents made a description under the title “Treasures reviewed in the mints office of the St. Vladimir from 1838 to 1866 ”(“ Kiev University News ”. - 1866. - № 10—12). He investigated the university of antiquity personally and at the end of each year gave detailed reports on it published in the “University news” (1865–1867): the most famous of them are “On the occasion of the reception of a university mints cabinet and a numismatic analysis of 2 recently discovered treasures "(1865. - № 7) and" Treasures, considered in the mints-cabinet in 1866 "(1867. - № 10). Preemptive attention in his studies of numismatics he paid antiquity. In 1867, he undertook an extensive research in this area and decided to explore the best numismatic cabinets in Western Europe for an exhaustive acquaintance with the coins of ancient Greece and Rome. Even before that, in 1864, he went to Greece with the aim of acquainting himself with the ruins and ruins of antiquity. The result of this trip were two articles: the first - “A Letter on a Trip through Odessa and Constantinople to Athens” (“University News”. - 1864. - No. 8), containing a description of travel impressions, and the second - “Athens in relation to the locality and art monuments "(1873. - № 7, 8), printed after the death of Strashkevich and entered later in the second edition of his" Outlines of Greek Antiquities ". The trip to Western Europe did not take place, since on the road there he fell ill and had to return to Kiev, where he soon died. Among his other famous works is “Thoughts on the new year of the second millennium of Russia” ( Kiev , 1863).