2024 marks the 220th anniversary of the birth of Nikita Ivanovich Gorbachevsky (1804 – 1879 or 1880), a famous scientist, archaeographer, source researcher and teacher, who is rightfully considered one of the founders of the Belarusian scientific archival science.
Nikita Ivanovich Gorbachevsky was born in 1804 in Mogilev province in the family of an Orthodox priest. He graduated from the Mogilev Theological Seminary, then from St. Petersburg (1831), receiving a scientific degree of candidate of philosophical and theological sciences.
The level of education allowed N.I. Gorbachevsky to engage in teaching. Until 1852, he lectured on history, philosophy, logic, taught Russian, Greek, Hebrew and other languages at the Zhirovichi Theological Seminary, the Drogichi Noble School, the Noble Institute, the school of Rabbis and the gymnasium in Vilna.
In 1852, the Vilna Central Archive of Ancient Acts was established. Realizing the historical value of such documents and the importance of their preservation, N.I. Gorbachevsky became one of the initiators of the opening of this institution. In 1853, he became the first archivist, and in fact the director of the archive, which collected over 13 million ancient acts. These documents reflected all aspects of the life of Belarusians and other peoples of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (Incl.) for several centuries of their history (up to and including the XVIII century). The scientist made a great contribution to the formation and ordering of the archive and was its first historiographer. The journal "Bulletin of Western Russia" (1869) contains an article by N.I. Gorbachevsky "On the central archive of ancient assembly books of the provinces of Vilna, Grodno, Minsk and Kovno". His practical activity in publishing archive documents is also a merit.
Nikita Ivanovich Gorbachevsky was also the initiator of the organization of the Vilna Archeographic Commission. Together with other scientists, he justified its necessity, and the established commission began working in 1864 (this year it turned 160 years old). For almost fifty years (until 1915), she was engaged in the analysis, systematization, study, preparation for printing and publication of primary sources on the history of Belarus and Lithuania, carried out extensive scientific activities. For a long time, N.I. Gorbachevsky was a member of this commission. Having excellent command of the ancient Belarusian assembly language and knowing Polish, Latin and German very well, he played a leading role in its activities, in which he not only took an active part, but also published several of his works on archaeography and source studies. The first of them were printed in the late 1860s. "Brief tables necessary for history, chronology, in general for all kinds of archaeological research and in particular for the analysis of ancient acts and charters of the Western territory of Russia and the Kingdom of Poland" and "An archaeographic calendar for two thousand years (325 – 2324) according to the Julian reckoning and for seven hundred and forty-two years (1583 – 2324) according to the Gregorian reckoning." In 1872, a new work by the scientist was published: "Catalog of ancient assembly books of the provinces: Vilna, Grodno, Minsk and Kovno, as well as books of some courts of the provinces of Mogilev and Smolensk, now stored in the Central Archive in Vilna."
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2 years later, the "Dictionary of the ancient assembly language of the Northwestern Territory and the Kingdom of Poland" was published, in which N.I. Gorbachevsky explained about 400 Belarusian and more than 5 thousand Latin-Polish legal terms of the XIV-XVII centuries, included the names of all courts that have operated since ancient times in English and Speech The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, posted comparative tables of the exchange rates of Polish-Lithuanian coins and Russian money over several centuries.
The scientific community highly appreciated the work of the archivist scientist. In 1877, N.I. Gorbachevsky was elected an honorary member of the Archaeological Society in Lviv. He is a laureate of the Uvarov Prize of the Imperial St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, awarded two Orders of St. Stanislav II and III degrees, St. Anna II and III degrees, St. Vladimir IV degree.
According to modern researchers, the works of N.I. Gorbachevsky have not lost their scientific significance even today. His "Short Tables ..." and "Dictionary..." are unique and valuable sources of information for researchers working with documents of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
Thus, the words quoted by N.I. Gorbachevsky in the preface to his dictionary: "... I am convinced that this kind of work will be useful not only for those engaged in archaeography of the Northwestern Territory and the Kingdom of Poland, but also in general for those engaged in historical research related to it," turned out to be prophetic.
Information about the scientist and his activities can also be found in the electronic catalog of the National Library of Belarus and the online encyclopedia "Belarus in Persons and Events".
The material was prepared by the Research Department of Bibliography.
