Miller Vsevolod Fedorovich about the werewolf. Leading figure of Ossetian studies
He received his secondary education at the boarding house of Ennes (1859-1865). After graduating from the boarding school in 1865, V.F. Miller entered the Faculty of History and Philology of Moscow University.
In 1870 V.F. Miller was retained at the University to prepare for a professorship in Comparative Linguistics and Sanskrit; taught at the 4th Moscow gymnasium. Miller Vsevolod Fedorovich]. In 1874 he was sent to Germany for a more in-depth study of Sanskrit and ancient history East. In addition, he was in Prague, where he studied Czech. In 1876 he returned to Moscow; on March 5, 1877, he was approved with the rank of associate professor and began teaching in the fall: he taught courses on the history of the East, the history of Russian literature, and taught Sanskrit.
Since 1877 he taught at higher women's courses Guerrier the history of the Russian language and ancient Russian literature. In the same year he published the book "A Look at the Word about Igor's Campaign".
Having become interested in the history and culture of the peoples of the Caucasus, in particular the Ossetians, V.F. Miller made five trips to Ossetia (1879, 1880, 1881, 1883, 1886), which resulted in the publication of 2 volumes of "Ossetian Etudes" (1881-82), which made up his thesis for a doctorate degree. (The 3rd part of "Ossetian Etudes", awarded the Big Gold Medal of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, was published in 1887).
In 1882, VF Miller was approved as an extraordinary professor, and in 1884 - an ordinary professor at Moscow University. From 1897 to 1911 he lectured and headed the Lazarevsky Institute of Oriental Languages.
Since December 5, 1898 - Corresponding Member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences in the Department of the Russian Language and Literature. After being elected on February 5, 1911 as an ordinary academician V.F. Miller moved to live in St. Petersburg. Here, in addition to participating in the work of the Academy, he was a teacher of the history of literature at the Women's Pedagogical Institute.
Study of the Ossetian language and folklore
VF Miller made five trips to Ossetia, during which he studied the language, life and beliefs of the Ossetians, collected folklore. The result of these trips was a series of works "Ossetian Etudes".
The first part, "Ossetian Texts" (Moscow, 1881), contains folklore texts in Ossetian with Russian translations and commentaries. In particular, several Nart tales have been published (“How Batraz was born”, “How Khamyts, Batrazov’s father was killed”, “Exiled and Uryzmag”, etc.).
Part two, "Research" (Moscow, 1882) includes phonetics and a detailed grammar of the Ossetian language, as well as a separate chapter on the religious beliefs of the Ossetians.
Part three, "Research" (Moscow, 1887), dedicated to Ossetian scholar Maxim Kovalevsky, contains the results of historical and ethnographic research. This volume contains, in particular, a description of the territory inhabited by Ossetians, evidence of the northern (steppe) origin of the Ossetians, excursions about the Scythians, Sarmatians and Alans. The book also includes samples of the "South Ossetian dialect", a selection of Digor and Iron proverbs and other materials.
Ossetian texts in the books of the Ossetian Etudes series were published in a special transcription based on the Cyrillic alphabet, but differing from the then used Ossetian alphabet in the direction of greater accuracy.
Monuments and memorable places
- Miller Street in the historical center of Vladikavkaz, runs parallel to Prospekt Mira from the Philharmonic to the Russian Drama Theatre. Former names - Gymnazicheskaya Street and Sovetov Street.
MILLER VSEVOLOD FYODOROVYCH
Miller Vsevolod Fedorovich - one of the best researchers of Russian epic poetry (1846 - 1913), the main representative of the Moscow ethnographic school, the son of the poet F.B. Miller (see); studied at the Ennes boarding school, then at the Faculty of History and Philology of Moscow University, even earlier independently began to study Sanskrit. At the university he studied Italian and the history of Italian painting and classical art. He was left at the university in the department of comparative grammar. In 1871, for the practical study of the Lithuanian language, he, together with F.F. Fortunatov traveled to the Suwalki province, where he recorded more than 100 songs and up to 20 fairy tales (published in 1873 under the Izvestia of Moscow University). During a business trip abroad, he published in Czech: "Arijsky Mitra" (in "Casopis Mus.") and two articles in "Zeitschr." Kuhn "a. Having defended his master's thesis "Asvina-Dioscury" (Moscow, 1876), he read Sanskrit and the ancient history of the East; taught the history of the Russian language and ancient Russian literature at the higher women's courses of Professor Guerrier. In 1877 he published a book: "A look at the Word about Igor's regiment". In 1877 and 1880, Miller, together with M.M. Kovalevsky, published "Critical Review". After a trip to the Caucasus, in 1879, Miller engaged in a comparative grammatical study of the Iranian languages \u200b\u200bof the Caucasus and Caucasian ethnography. Having mastered the Ossetian language , he went to the mountains of Ossetia in 1880 and wrote down Ossetian legends and legends there.The result of the trip was the 1st part of "Ossetian Etudes" (Moscow, 1881), containing texts with Russian translation, and notes.In 1882 he published II part of "Ossetian etudes", containing grammatical studies and a chapter on the religious beliefs of the Ossetians. Both parts amounted to a thesis for a doctorate. In 1883, he made another trip to the Caucasus (a description of the trip in the "Bulletin of Euro py", 1884, ¦ 4). He was the chairman of the ethnographic department of the society of lovers of natural science, then, at one time, the president of the whole society; was the curator of the Dashkovsky ethnographic museum. He published 3 editions of the "Collection of Materials on Ethnography" (1885, 1887 and 1888) and 4 editions of the "Systematic Description of the Collections of the Dashkovo Ethnographic Museum" (1887 - 1895). In 1886, Miller carried out excavations in the Crimea and traveled for archaeological research to Chechnya, Ossetia and the mountain communities of Kabarda; the result of the trip was the 1st issue of "Materials on the archeology of the Caucasus". On the same trip, Miller wrote down texts in the Tat dialect of the Mountain Jews; the texts make up the 1st part of "Jewish-Mountain Etudes", ed. Academy of Sciences under the title: "Materials for the study of the Jewish-Tat language" (1892). In 1887, the third part of "Ossetian Etudes" was published, containing a study on the history of the Ossetians and linguistic notes and materials. In 1892, Miller moved to the Department of Russian Language and Literature, leaving behind the teaching of Sanskrit. Since then, his many independent work revolve mainly in the field of the Russian epic epic. The main works, in addition to the above: "On the comparative method of the author of the Origin of Russian epics" (in "Conversations of the Society of Lovers of Russian Literature", III, Moscow, 1871), "The name of the Dnieper rapids by Konstantin Porphyrogenitus" ("Antiquities of the Moscow Archaeological Society", 1887, vol. V), "On the fierce beast of folk songs" (ibid., vol. VII), "Eastern and Western relatives of one Russian fairy tale" ("Proceedings of the Ethnographic Department of the Society of Natural Science Lovers, etc.", book IV, 1877), "Le role du chien dans kes croyances mytholigiques" ("Atti del VI congresso degli orientalisti", Florensky, II), "Notes on the collection of Verkovich" ("Journal of the Ministry of National Education", 1877, ¦ 10), "On Bulgarian folk Songs of Verkovich" ("Bulletin of Europe", 1877), "About Trajan and Bayan Words about Igor's Campaign" ("Journal of the Ministry of National Education", 1878, ¦ 12), "Echoes of the Finnish epic in Russian" (ibid., h CCVI), "Regarding a Lithuanian Tradition" ("Antiquities", vol. VIII, 1880), "Features of antiquity in the legends and life of Ossetians" ("Journal of the Ministry of National Education", 1882, ¦ 8), "Caucasian legends about giants chained in the mountains" (ibid., 1883, ¦ 1), reviews I - XX issue "Materials for the study of localities and tribes of the Caucasus" (in the "Journal of the Ministry of National Education", 1883 - 1895, etc.), "Russian Shrovetide and Western European Carnival" (Moscow, 1884), "On the Question of the Slavic Alphabet" ("Journal of the Ministry National Education", 1884, ¦ 3), "Remarks on the question of the Huns' people" ("Proceedings of the Ethnographic Department", book VI, 1885), "Caucasian legends" (ibid.), "Epigraphic traces of Iranism in the south of Russia" ( "Journal of the Ministry of Public Education", 1886, ¦ 9), "Archaeological exploration in Alushta and its environs" ("Antiquities", vol. XII, 1889), "Iranian echoes in the folk tales of the Caucasus" ("Ethnographic Review", 1889) , "Caucasian legends about the Cyclopes" ("Ethnographic Review", 1890), "Materials for the history of epic stories" (I - XVI "Ethnographic Review", 1890 - 1896), "On the Sarmatian god Uatafarn" ("Proceedings of the Eastern Committee of the Moscow Archaeological Society", vol. I, 1890), "Excursions into the area of the Russian folk epic sa" (I - VIII, Moscow, 1892); articles on epics in the "Journal of the Ministry of National Education", "Russian Thought" and "Initiation" (these articles, along with some others, were included in Miller's book: "Essays on Russian Folk Poetry", 2 parts): "Funf ossetische Erzahlungen im Digorischem Dialecte ", hsgb. von Ws. Miller u. R.v. Stackelberg (St. Petersburg, 1891, published by the Academy of Sciences). The path that Miller followed, gradually moving from linguistics through ethnography to the study of monuments of folk poetry, cannot but be recognized as extremely rational. His desire to substantiate the conclusions on an accurate critical and philological study of the texts of epics, to determine the degree of participation of specialist singers and to trace the ethnographic and geographical distribution of our national epic led to positive historical and literary results in the study of the material, where until now specialists have revolved in the field of bold assumptions and interesting, but giving few positive conclusions parallels. His works on the study of the Caucasus brought a lot of light to this little developed area. In all, even the most specialized works of Miller, the presentation is distinguished by general accessibility and elegance. As the chief figure in the ethnographic department of a society of lovers of natural science, Miller managed to gather in it many well-trained and energetic young people, mainly from his students, who worked diligently in their offices in the winter, and usually went on expeditions (at their own expense) in the summer, always bringing valuable new material. A. Kirpichnikov (deceased).
Brief biographical encyclopedia. 2012
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(1848-1913) Russian folklorist, linguist, ethnographer, archaeologist, academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1911). Professor at Moscow University (since 1884); Director of the Lazarevsky Institute of Oriental Languages ... - MILLER VSEVOLOD FYODOROVYCH in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, TSB:
Vsevolod Fedorovich, Russian philologist, folklorist, linguist, ethnographer and archaeologist, academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences ... - MILLER, VSEVOLOD FYODOROVICH in encyclopedic dictionary Brockhaus and Euphron.
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I.P., inventor of artillery pieces. Russia. Near … - MILLER in the Literary Encyclopedia.
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Fyodor Bogdanovich (1818-1881), translator, poet. Poems for children, incl. textbook "One-two-three-four-five, the bunny went out for a walk" ... - FEDOROVICH in the Big Encyclopedic Dictionary:
(Shaking) Taras Ukrainian hetman, leader of the uprising against Polish domination in 1630. He negotiated in Moscow on the transfer of part of the Ukrainian Cossacks ... - MILLER in the Big Encyclopedic Dictionary:
(Miller) Merton (b. 1923) American economist. Studies in the theory of finance. Nobel Prize(1990 with H. Markowitz and W. … - FEDOROVICH in the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Euphron:
Georg-Friedrich - lawyer, full member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences; studied law abroad, served as chief auditor in the Admiralty. After leaving… - VSEVOLOD in the Modern Encyclopedic Dictionary:
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III BIG NEST (1154 - 1212), Grand Duke Vladimir (since 1176). Son of Yuri Dolgoruky. Successfully fought against the nobility subjugated Kyiv, ... - FEDOROVICH
FEDOROVICH Florian Florianovich (1877-1928), polit. figure. Member since 1901 Party of Socialist Revolutionaries, participant in the Revolution of 1905-07. In 1909-14 in hard labor. AT … - FEDOROVICH in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
FEDOROVICH (Shaking) Taras, Ukrainian. hetman, leader of the uprising against the Polish. dominance in 1630. He negotiated in Moscow on the transfer of part of the Ukrainian. … - MILLER in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
MILLER Orest Fed. (1833-89), literary critic, folklorist. Mythol supporter. schools in the literature. In 1870-87 prof. St. Petersburg. university Op. "Slavism and Europe" ... - MILLER in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
MILLER (Miller) Merton (b. 1923), Amer. economist. Research on the problems of the functioning of finance. markets (portfolio choice theory, issues of corporate financing and ... - MILLER in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
MILLER Il. Sol. (1918-78), Slavic historian, Doctor of History. sciences, prof. Associate Institute of Slavic Studies of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. Tr. on the new history of Poland, Polish. … - MILLER in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
MILLER Evg. Karlovich (1867-1939), soldier. and polit. activist, gen. from the cavalry (1919). During the Civil war one of the hands. White ... - MILLER in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
MILLER (Miller) Glenn (1904-44), amer. trombonist, jazz bandleader, arranger. Orchestra under dir. M. participated in f. "Sun Valley Serenade" (1941). … - MILLER in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
MILLER Gerard Friedrich (1705-83), grew up. historian, supporter of the Norman theory, prof. (since 1730) Petersburg. AN. German by origin. In Russia since… - MILLER in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
MILLER (Miller) Henry (1891-1980), amer. writer. Scandalous for intimate-erotic. nudity novels about "love" as anarchic-individualistic. riot ("Tropic of Cancer", 1934; "Tropic ... - MILLER in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
MILLER Sun. Fed. (1848-1913), folklorist, linguist, ethnographer, archaeologist, acad. Petersburg. AN (1911). Prof. Moscow University (since 1884); dir. Lazarevsky Institute ... - MILLER in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
MILLER (Miller) Arthur (b. 1915), Amer. playwright. Family dramas with a social sound ("Death of a Salesman", 1949) about the fatality of reckless faith in ... - MILLER in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
MILLER Anat. Phil. (1901-73), orientalist, doctor of history. sciences, prof.; an employee of a number of Moscow research institutes and universities. Tr. new and latest... - VSEVOLOD in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
VSEVOLOD MSTISLAVICH (? -1138), Prince of Novgorod (1117-36, intermittently), Pskov (since 1137). He made a number of trips to the Baltic states and the Rostov land. AT … - VSEVOLOD in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
VSEVOLOD III BIG NEST (1154-1212), led. Prince of Vladimir (from 1176), son of Yuri Dolgoruky. In 1173 he reigned in Kyiv. Expanded... - VSEVOLOD in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
VSEVOLOD II OLGOVICH (? -1146), Prince of Chernigov (1127-39), grand. prince of Kyiv (since 1139). Member of princely civil strife. With the abuses of his tiuns, he aroused hatred ... - VSEVOLOD in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
VSEVOLOD I YAROSLAVICH (1030-93), prince of Pereyaslavl (since 1054), Chernigov (since 1077), grand. prince of Kyiv (since 1078), son of Yaroslav the Wise and ... - VSEVOLOD in the dictionary of Synonyms of the Russian language.
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Vsevolod, (Vsevolodovich, ... - FEDOROVICH
(Shaking) Taras, Ukrainian hetman, leader of the uprising against Polish domination in 1630. He negotiated in Moscow on the transfer of part of the Ukrainian ... - MILLER in Modern explanatory dictionary, TSB:
Anatoly Filippovich (1901-73), Russian orientalist, doctor historical sciences, Professor. Proceedings on the new and recent history countries of the Middle and Wed. … - FRANTOV STEPAN FEDOROVICH
Open Orthodox Encyclopedia "TREE". Frantov Stepan Fedorovich (1877 - 1938), psalmist and regent, martyr. Memory 22... - MIKHAIL FEDOROVICH in the Orthodox Encyclopedia Tree:
Open Orthodox Encyclopedia "TREE". Mikhail Fedorovich (+ 1645), Russian tsar, from the boyar family of the Romanovs, founder of the royal-imperial dynasty of the Romanovs. Father … - VSEVOLOD PSKOVSKY in the Orthodox Encyclopedia Tree:
Open Orthodox Encyclopedia "TREE". Vsevolod of Pskov (1092 - 1138), in holy baptism Gabriel, holy noble prince. Memory … - VSEVOLOD MSTISLAVICH in the Orthodox Encyclopedia Tree:
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Open Orthodox Encyclopedia "TREE". Vsevolod (Kolomiytsev-Maidansky) (1927 - 2007), Archbishop of Skopelos, head of the Western diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox ... - BAYANOV DMITRY FYODOROVYCH in the Orthodox Encyclopedia Tree:
Open Orthodox Encyclopedia "TREE". Bayanov Dmitry Fedorovich (1885 - 1937), archpriest, church composer. Born February 15, 1885 ... - PETER III FEDOROVICH
Peter III Fedorovich (Peter-Ulrich) - Emperor of All Russia, son of the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp Karl-Friedrich, son of the sister of Charles XII of Sweden, and Anna Petrovna, ... - MILLER FEDOR BOGDANOVICH in the Brief Biographical Encyclopedia:
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Miller Orest Fedorovich - famous historian Russian literature. Born on August 4, 1833 in Gapsala, in a German family, and was ... - MILLER GERARD-FRIDRICH (FEDOR IVANOVICH) in the Brief Biographical Encyclopedia:
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Vsevolod Svyatoslavich, nicknamed Chermny - Prince of Chernigov, son of Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich. In 1206, he takes part in the campaign ...
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The outstanding Russian scientist Vsevolod Fedorovich Miller (1848-1913) was distinguished by a wide range of scientific interests (Sanskritist, mythologist, Iranianist, Ossetian, Caucasian, ethnographer-folklorist), based on a solid educational foundation. He received his secondary education at the Ennes boarding school, after which in 1865 he entered the Faculty of History and Philology of Moscow University. At the University of V.F. Miller specialized in the history of the peoples of the East and Eastern folklore, thoroughly studied Greek and Latin, Sanskrit. Among his teachers and lecturers were famous scientists: orientalist P.Ya. Popov (1814-1875), philologist F.I. Buslaev (1818-1897), historians S.M. Solovyov (1820-1879) and V.I. Guerrier (1837-1919).
The first scientific work of V.F. Miller was a student test essay written under the guidance of F.I. Buslaev "Eastern and Western Relatives of a Russian Fairy Tale", in which he tried to investigate the reasons for the similarity of Slavic and a number of Eastern fairy tales. After graduating from the university V.F. Miller wrote research work"Essays on Aryan Mythology (Aswins-Dioscuri)", which he published in 1876 in Moscow and defended as a master's thesis. The path that Miller followed, gradually moving from linguistics through ethnography to the study of monuments of folk poetry, was predetermined by his desire to substantiate his research conclusions with an accurate critical-philological study of folklore texts, correlated with the ethnographic-geographical distribution of epic works.
The logic of the development of research thought led him to the search for a link between the Slavic Indo-European and Indo-Iranian folklore layers. It was then that the scientist became interested in the history and culture of the peoples of the Caucasus, in particular the Ossetians. To collect field scientific material, V.F. Miller made five trips to Ossetia (in 1879, 1880, 1881, 1883, 1886). He mastered the language so well that in all the Ossetian villages V.F. Miller talked to people on their mother tongue, both dialects of which he was completely fluent.
The trips resulted in the publication of two volumes of "Ossetian Etudes" (1881 - 1882), which were presented as a dissertation for a doctorate in comparative linguistics. The third part of Ossetian Studies, awarded the Grand Gold Medal of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, was published in 1887. Describing the content of this work, V.F. Miller writes: “What fate drove the Ossetians to the current places of their settlement, what memories did they keep about their past. what is the structure of their life, what are their religious views, what is the place of their language in the group of Iranian languages., what are the works Ossetian poetry- here are the questions. to which we tried, as far as possible, to answer” [Miller 1881 - 1882, vol. 1, p. 3]. It should be said that the scientist gave brilliant answers to all these questions at the highest scientific level. Moreover, V.F. Miller covered with his research many issues of the ethno-cultural heritage of neighboring peoples. And even the travel essays of the scientist contain a lot of valuable information on the history, ethnography, religion, folklore of the Kabardians, Balkars, Chechens. It is he who owns the definition of the Nart epic as a common affiliation of a number of peoples North Caucasus.
The scientist carried out all the above work without interrupting his main academic activity. With the name of V.F. Miller is associated with the opening of the first Russian ethnographic journal "Ethnographic Review" in 1889, of which he was editor for a long time. In addition, from 1884 to 1897 V.F. Miller was the curator of the Dashkovo Ethnographic Museum, whose collections he brought back into a systematic order. In 1881 V.F. Miller was elected chairman of the Ethnographic Department of the Society of Naturalists, Anthropologists and Ethnographers (OLEAE), leading ethnographic research in the capital and locally, mainly in the Caucasus, for more than thirty years. Vsevolod Fedorovich wrote about this region: “An ethnographer can observe here a number of peoples of various origins, standing at different levels of culture. In a word, everywhere amazing variety in concepts and beliefs, everywhere a mixture of ancient, obsolete forms of life with new ones” [Proceedings 1887, p. XXXV].
Caucasian works occupy special place in the scientific heritage of the scientist: at the turn of the XIX - XX centuries. V.F. Miller became the founder of a new and fruitful stage in the history of Russian academic Caucasian studies. Numerous Caucasian works by V.F. Miller are devoted to the most important problems of history, archeology, ethnography, religion, epigraphy, linguistics and oral folk poetry of the peoples of the North Caucasus. With this work, he captivated his students, as well as the staff of the OLEAE Ethnographic Department: an analysis of the scientific work of the department shows that “.three quarters total number reports are devoted to precisely those issues that Vsevolod Fedorovich himself was most interested in, that is, the epic epic and the Caucasus” [Maksimov 1913, p. 152].
It was V.F. Miller interested M.M. Kovalevsky, Associate Professor of the Law Faculty of Moscow University, with material on the customary law of the mountaineers of the Caucasus. After visiting a people's court session in the Digorsky Gorge during a trip to Ossetia in 1880, the scientist wrote: “I was curious the next morning to look into the book judgments ruled by customary law (adat). Not being a lawyer myself, I can assure people who practiced customary law that they would find a lot of interesting material in these books, which are kept at every rural government” [Miller 1993, p. 87]. In 1883 and 1885, together with V.F. Miller M.M. Kovalevsky made a trip to Ossetia, collecting field ethnographic material, which became the basis of his two-volume work Modern Custom and Ancient Law. This study, perceived by contemporaries as a major event in the legal literature, was dedicated by the author to V.F. Miller. “V.F. I am indebted to Miller not only for many indications that allowed me to expand the circle of my readings, but also for my first acquaintance with the life of the Caucasian highlanders. In his company, I made trips to the Ossetians...” [Kovalevsky 1910, p. 182].
The members of the musical ethnographic commission, established in 1885 at the Ethnographic Department, were also involved in the collection of Caucasian field materials, which published three volumes of works devoted to folk musical creativity. In particular, the famous composer S.I. Taneyev, who made a trip to the Caucasus with V.F. Miller and M.M. Kovalevsky, gave a description of local musical instruments, noting the similarity between those of the Balkars and Ossetians [Taneev 1886, p. 96].
Much work on the collection of ethnographic material on the Caucasus, in particular Ossetia, was carried out by the Dashkovsky ethnographic museum, headed by V.F. Miller for thirteen years. During this time, the museum's storerooms have replenished with more than forty items of Ossetian life (utensils, harp, cloth, armchair, national costumes, scythe, yoke, etc.). An overview of Ossetian ethnographic collections was given in the second issue of a series of descriptions of objects of material culture of the Dashkovo Ethnographic Museum.
Fruitful Ossetian work was carried out by V.F. Miller and in the Moscow Archaeological Society. In particular, he took an active part in organizing and holding an archaeological congress in Tiflis in 1881, at which he made presentations “On the Ossetian language and its place in the group of Iranian languages”, “On the Caucasian Prometheus”, “Program for collecting material on Ossetian language”, in which he used rich ethnographic material.
The scientist widely used ethnographic material in the study of related scientific disciplines. So, in order to study tower structures, burial grounds and crypts, medieval churches in Ossetia, he organized a large archaeological expedition, during which he simultaneously recorded folk traditions in the Kurtatinsky, Alagirsky and Digorsky gorges, and also collected valuable material here about the religious beliefs of the Ossetians. In the article "Echoes of Caucasian beliefs on grave monuments" V.F. Miller, based on an examination of Ossetian funeral rites (in particular, the rite of initiation of a horse), deciphered the symbolism of the figures depicted on grave monuments dating back to the 15th-16th centuries. ( detailed analysis these works by V.F. Miller, see: [Kaloev 1999, p. 354]). All these materials, as well as descriptions of structures of cult significance, were included in the authoritative publication Materials on the Archeology of the Caucasus [Miller 1888].
It should be noted that numerous works on the ethnography of Ossetia by V.F. Miller wrote based on his own expeditionary materials collected in almost all the gorges of Ossetia. The scientist spoke with the Ossetians in their native language, both dialects of which he was fluent in. The scientist's handwritten notes made by him in Ossetia are still kept in the central and local archives. It was his own recordings of ethnographic material in mountainous Ossetia, begun during the first expeditionary trip in 1880, that formed the basis of his Ossetian Etudes.
The information on the issues of Ossetian ethnography, presented by the scientist, is very diverse, it covers almost all aspects of ethnographic science, never being limited to purely descriptive purposes. Especially carefully ethnographic materials were analyzed by scientists in the aspect of studying archeology, language and ethnogenesis of the Ossetians. In this regard, such articles of the scientist as “Echoes of Caucasian beliefs on grave monuments”, “On some ancient funeral rites in the Caucasus”, “Features of antiquity in the legends and life of Ossetians”, which give a deeply competent analysis of the spiritual culture of the Ossetians, in particular their religious beliefs and funeral rituals. In the last of these articles, V.F. Miller was one of the first scientific literature states the striking similarity of a number of Ossetian archaic funeral rites with the Scythian ones (dedication of a horse to the deceased, cutting of a widow’s scythe, mourning, large-scale commemoration, etc.): recorded by Herodotus” [Miller 1883, p. 206]. One of the oldest Ossetian rites, the scientist considered the burial of the deceased in the tomb (dzaeppaz), which was widespread in the past in Ossetia.
Special coverage of the origin of the Ossetians, supported by ethnographic data, is reflected in the third part of the Ossetian Etudes, which is not only a study on the ethnic history and ethnography of the Ossetians, but also contains valuable information about the southern region of our country before the appearance of Slavic tribes there. The undoubted discovery of the scientist is the definition of the ancient territory of Ossetia - Alania, which, in his opinion, based on scientific (ethnographic, toponymic, linguistic) study of the problem, extended from the current mountainous Digoria to the upper reaches of the Kuban.
In particular, the study of local legends failed V.F. Miller to conclusions regarding the dynamics of the Balkar settlement of their current territories. The entire territory up to Elbrus and further to the west, according to the scientist, was occupied by Digor Ossetians, who were driven out from there by Turkic-speaking tribes. The Balkars, pushed back into the mountains by the Mongols, successively occupied this territory from east to west. Their earliest settlement here, according to V.F. Miller, it was on the river. Cherek, and from here the settlement of the upper Chegem and Baksan was already taking place: “Until now, in all these places there are many rivers, gorges, passes, villages, mountains, caves, etc. bear slightly distorted Ossetian names" [Miller, Kovalevsky 1884, p. 551]. It is also noted here that, having mixed with the Ossetians-Digorians (some Digor families even moved to Balkaria), the Balkars adopted from them a two-decimal count, and among the Turkic-speaking alien tribes a new anthropological type appeared, similar to the Ossetian: often the Balkars and Digorians entered into family ties.
This article also notes that one of the ancient elements of material culture, preserved by the Ossetians, is such a type of defensive structures as towers, which were built here long before the Mongol invasion. And describing the towers in the Cherek gorge, the scientist notes that they resemble the towers seen in mountainous Ossetia, concluding that they were built here long before the appearance of the Balkars.
It was Miller who in the article “Terek Region: Archaeological Tour” first reported that the Svans still call the territory from Elbrus to Digoria Ossetia, and the Ossetians-Digors themselves call the Balkars who settled in this place with the Alanian ethnic term asiag - i.e. from the country of aces (Ossetians). Irrefutably testify, according to the scientist, to the presence of Ossetians in the Middle Ages in the upper reaches of the Kuban, the ruins of a large medieval Alanian city [Miller 1893, p. 80).
V.F. Miller was engaged not only in the study of the settlement of modern Ossetia, exploring the monuments of material culture (residential and defensive towers, Christian churches, tombstones, pagan sanctuaries, etc.), he collected rich material on family and gorge legends about the ancestors of the Digor Badelites, O Tagaur -tsakh, alagirtsakh, kurtatins. The scientist paid special attention to the recording and analysis of materials on the religious beliefs of the Ossetians. He visited the feast in honor of the Rekom sanctuary in the Tsei Gorge, described a number of other sanctuaries, noting that he had not seen either hypocrisy or religious fanaticism in Ossetia. “Ossetian, whether he calls himself a Christian or a Muslim, is in essence a pagan. His religion boils down to the fact that on certain days one should slaughter a ram, or a bull, go to a well-known "holy place" to sing praise in honor of the local dzuar - then his debts to heaven are paid" [Miller 2008, p. 801], - the scientist writes, noting that the main religion of the Ossetians was ethnic pagan beliefs. The scientist systematized his notes, observations and generalizations on this subject in the work “Ossetian Religious Beliefs”, which made up the second volume of his “Ossetian Etudes”.
This work, consisting of an introduction and five chapters, describes Ossetian deities and dzuars, religious holidays and rituals. Based on a large amount of factual material, Miller summarizes that the Ossetians have an idea of a single god - khuytsau, who rules the world, being in heaven, but in Everyday life the fate and happiness of people depend on forces subordinate to God and patronizing various areas of natural and social phenomena. “The harvest of bread depends on one of these spirits, the abundance and health of livestock depends on the other, the third manages wild animals and gives good luck in hunting, the fourth sends the harvest to honey, etc. Among the spirits there are those who send illnesses, such as smallpox...” [Miller 1882, p. 239].
According to the observations of V.F. Miller, neither Christianity nor Islam were deeply rooted among the Ossetians, touching them only superficially. According to the scientist, Islam penetrated into Ossetia from Kabarda and was practiced by part of the Digor Badelites and the Tagauri Aldars. And Christianity penetrated into Ossetia in the Middle Ages, spreading to western part region from Byzantium through Abkhazia, and to the east - from Georgia. Numerous ruins of Christian churches testify to this. places of worship: chapels, churches, temples on the territory of mountainous Ossetia and in the upper reaches of the Kuban; some of them are described in some detail by V.F. Miller (the sanctuary of Rekom, the chapel in Nuzal, etc.).
A lot of ethnographic information contains such works by V.F. Miller, as "In the mountains of Ossetia" and "Archaeological excursion". They provide a detailed description of a number of monuments of the material culture of Ossetia, a description of the settlements and types of Ossetian dwellings, characterize their economic activities, social and family life, and also provide numerous historical legends about Ossetian clans and surnames, works of various genres of Ossetian folklore. Along with this, “In the mountains of Ossetia” describes the contemporary life of the workers of the Alagir lead-zinc plant and the Sadon mines [Miller 1882, p. 63].
Knowing both dialects of the Ossetian language perfectly well, V.F. Miller, at the same time, noted that “... without the Ossetians themselves, without the zealous participation of the Ossetian youth, not only in the collection of monuments of language and verbal creativity, but also in active consultation through letters and personal conversations, he would never have been able to bring his work to desired end” (Quoted from: [Kaloev 1999, p. 354]).
The scientist was closely acquainted with many representatives of the Ossetian intelligentsia, supporting the development of local history science in the region. He received scientific information from Ossetian teachers M. Gardanov, A. Kaitmazov, A. Kanukov, S. Kokiev, who worked in the most remote corners of Ossetia. He assessed their information as the most original ethnographic material and considered it necessary to publish their correspondence in the "Collection of materials for describing the localities and tribes of the Caucasus." Undoubtedly, the merit of academician Miller is that not only his works, but, above all, his very personality as a scientist and person contributed to the awakening of interest among representatives of the Ossetian intelligentsia in the study of their native language, history, and ethnography of their people.
Educated Ossetians not only helped the academician in his work during his scientific travels, undertaken by him for archaeological, linguistic and folklore purposes, but they themselves became serious researchers of the culture of their people. V.F. Miller was not only the coordinator and publisher of the Ossetian works of young Ossetian researchers, he provided scientific guidance to a whole generation of young Ossetian scientists in the institutions in which he worked (Moscow University, Lazarev Institute of Oriental Languages, Eastern Commission of the Moscow Archaeological Society, Dashkovo Ethnographic Museum and etc.).
Thus, with the publication of the works of V.F. Miller on the ethnography of Ossetia, which widely used field material for theoretical and methodological conclusions and scientific conclusions, began to form in the region scientific school local history, ethnographic works began to appear, carried out on the basis of scientific analysis and provided with relevant conclusions and summaries. Until the beginning of this period, ethnographic works (there were more than fifty) by Russian ethnographers and local lovers of antiquity were predominantly descriptive.
One of the important factors in the formation of ethnographic Ossetian studies was the reviews of V.F. Miller on the articles of the "Collection of materials for the description of localities and tribes of the Caucasus" (SMOMPC), the first issue of which took place in 1881. The scientist analyzed in great detail and in detail all the issues of the SMOMPC that came out during his lifetime (No. 1-22), placing analytical materials in the Journal of the Ministry of Public Education. In these reviews, the scientist not only conveyed the content of the analyzed materials, noting scientifically valuable findings, pointing out the fallacy of individual judgments, but also noted what and why one should be interested in, which seemed relevant for further study of the problem. Unlike SMOMPK, the "Journal of the Ministry of National Education" was more accessible to a wide range of readers, so the review activities of V.F. Miller also had an educational and educational character.
In the autumn of 1906, the 25th anniversary was celebrated scientific activity V.F. Miller. The address of the Ossetian intelligentsia to the scientist said: “In 1881, you published the first volume of Ossetian Etudes, which laid a solid foundation for the scientific study of our language, history, religious beliefs, and, mainly, works of folk art. Before the Ossetian intelligentsia, you opened up a vast field for spiritual work, awakened in it national self-consciousness and people's creative forces. From the banks of the stormy Terek to the gorges of the sacred Rekom, in the country of the stormy Liyakhva and the Gudzheret Highlands, a great sigh of relief was heard - the enlightenment of the ancient historical people began to the sound of the native printed word. And if in the heart of the Caucasus the descendants of the ancient Alans-Oss are destined to become a cultured people, then they owe this to a large extent to your scientific works. Thanks to your work, many other scientists became interested in our people and gave a number of fundamental works on the study of our archeology, customary law and history ”(Central State Archive of the Republic of North Ossetia - Alania, fol. 17).
The extent to which V.F. Miller was deeply touched by this address, as can be seen from his letter to G. Baev dated December 23, 1906, in which, in particular, he wrote that he was very pleased with the attention paid to him and “rewarded a hundredfold for his labors in the scientific study of the language, folk art of historical the past of a capable and hardworking people, an ancient member of the Indo-European family. Having become interested in the Ossetians at first only from the historical and ethnographic side, as the descendants of the Alans and Sarmatians, I got the most encouraging impressions from personal relations with them during my trips around Ossetia. I saw in front of me a people alive, capable, intelligent, cheerful, despite the often difficult conditions of existence, striving for enlightenment" [TsGA RSO - Alania, l. 21]
"Ossetian studies" brought the scientist great fame and fame as an Iranian-Ossetian scholar. The scientist himself repeatedly stated that this work was carried out with the help of the Ossetian intelligentsia. In collecting information of interest to the scientist, he was actively assisted by G.V. Baev, mayor of Vladikavkaz. In a letter (dated November 2, 1891) V.F. Miller, addressed to G. Baev, says: “I am always pleased when representatives of the Caucasian people contact me, which I study with particular interest and among whom I have many friends.” Regarding field materials, he informed him in the same place: “The collected material on ethnography, published by me at the Dashkovo Ethnographic Museum, ceased at the 3rd issue of this year. We founded a special ethnographic journal (4 books per year) under the title "Ethnographic Review". It has existed for the 3rd year and is probably in the library of the Novorossiysk University. Materials collected by you, i.e. fairy tales in Russian translation, if they are not very numerous, could be placed in our journal, but if there are many, then we could also publish Ossetian texts with translation in the works of the ethnographic Emperor. Society of Anthropology and Ethnography. In this letter, the scientist reports on his hard work on compiling the Ossetian-Russian-German dictionary: “The materials were collected earlier (up to 8000 words), and now it remains to put them in order. Unfortunately, I can work on it this summer, and therefore the dictionary is moving slowly. The letter ends with Ossetian well-desire - vira tsgr! Recommie Horzah da wad! (live a lot! Rekoma (sanctuaries) blessing be on you!) ”[TsGA RSO - Alania, l. twenty].
Question about the dictionary V.F. Miller also puts in his other letter (dated October 4, 1895), addressed to G. Baev: “For the dictionary, I have collected significant material on cards, selected in alphabetical order. The letter a and a are even rewritten; but still I do not dare to start the publication, because I feel the need for the help of the Ossetians to accumulate a dictionary and solve various perplexities, and here in Moscow I also have no assistants. If you managed to organize groups of dictionaries in Vladikavkaz, then I would find a suitable job for everyone and things would go forward!” [TsGA North Ossetia - Alania, l. 22].
V.F. Miller, who repeatedly and for a long time visited Ossetia, became so close to the region that, feeling comfortable here, he even planned to combine work and leisure here. In one of his letters to G. Baev (dated February 27, 1900), he writes: “I have one project, the implementation of which partly depends on your courtesy. I would like to spend part of the summer in the Caucasus and specifically on the territory of the Irons. For this purpose, I need to find a place in advance, even a very modest one, for example, in Alagir (now the city of Alagir. - Z.Ts.). I heard that country life is already beginning to emerge there, but I don’t know any details - I need a small house with a garden for me and a family consisting of a wife and 3 adult sons. Here he writes about the continuation of his long-begun study of the Scythian-Sarmatian epigraphic and archaeological sites of the northern Black Sea region.
However, in the next letter to G. Baev (dated May 20, 1900) V.F. Miller writes that "due to family circumstances, I was forced to refuse to come to Vladikavkaz in August." However, he points out that “all my hours and leisure, which, unfortunately, I have very little” gives to the compilation of the Ossetian-Russian-German dictionary: “The material collected is very extensive, and I constantly fill it from printed books, including from permanent publications. I.T. Sobiev gave me up to 7,000 of his Digor words, of which up to 1,000 were new to me. I finished the dictionary, I hope to have it printed either in a publication of the Academy of Sciences or at the Lazarev Institute of Oriental Languages” (Ibid.). Unfortunately, an untimely death prevented him from fulfilling his intended; Ossetian-Russian-German Dictionary V.F. Miller with significant revision was published in the 1920s in three volumes by the publishing house of the Academy of Sciences.
Research by V.F. Miller played an outstanding role in the development of Ossetian studies; generations of Ossetian intelligentsia were brought up on them. IN AND. Abaev determined for himself the path to science even in the gymnasium, after he read "Ossetian Etudes" by V.F. Miller. At the suggestion of V.I. Abaev and the famous Caucasian scholar, researcher of the scientific heritage V.F. Miller B.A. Kaloev, and with the support of the Government of North Ossetia-Alania, one of the streets in the center of Vladikavkaz was named after V.F. Miller. However, there is still work to be done on cataloging the scientific heritage of the scientist. B.A. Kaloev, who has been studying the scientific heritage of the scientist for many years, noted that the manuscripts of V.F. Miller and various information about him are stored not in one archive, but in many metropolitan and local Caucasian archives, which confronts researchers creative heritage scientist difficult task of their generalization and description. In his opinion, the long-term correspondence of V.F. Miller with representatives of the Caucasian intelligentsia.
Being a pioneer in academic Ossetian studies, V.F. Miller did a lot of work as a coordinator and leader of contemporary research on the ethnography of Ossetia, he did a lot of work on reviewing works; in the Ethnographic Review, Proceedings of the Ethnographic Department, Proceedings in Oriental Studies, his reviews of research were regularly published, dedicated to history, folklore, ethnography of Ossetia. It is difficult to imagine a modern Ossetian study that would not be based to one degree or another on the classical works of V.F. Miller.
Literature and sources
Kaloev B.A. Ossetian historical and ethnographic studies. Moscow: Nauka, 1999.
Kovalevsky M.M. Moscow University in the late 70s and 80s of the last century // Bulletin of Europe. 1910. No. 5. Taneev S.I. A note on music, dances and songs of the Urusbievites // Bulletin of Europe. 1886. No. 1.
Proceedings of the V Archaeological Congress in Tiflis in 1881. M., 1887.
Kharuzin N. In the mountains of the North Caucasus: Travel notes // Bulletin of Europe. M., 1888. T. 22.
TsGA RSO-Alania (Central State Archive of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania). F. 56. Op. one.
TsALLAGOVA Zarifa Borisovna - Leading Researcher, Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor pedagogical sciences, Professor.
Vsevolod Fedorovich Miller
Miller Vsevolod Fedorovich (7.IV.1848 - 5.XI.1913) - Russian folklorist, linguist, ethnographer and archaeologist. Professor of Moscow University since 1884, director of the Lazarev Institute of Oriental Languages in 1897-1911, academician since 1911. He wrote about 200 scientific papers. In 1879-1886 he conducted a number of expeditions to the Caucasus. The main scientific researches are devoted to Iranian studies and Russian epos. Miller was one of the most prominent representatives of the so-called historical school in Russian folklore and a supporter of the theory of the retinue and urban origin of the epic epic, created by professional storytellers.
Soviet historical encyclopedia. In 16 volumes. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1973-1982. Volume 9. MALTA - NAKHIMOV. 1966.
Compositions: Ossetian studies, c. 1-3, M., 1881-87; Archaeological excursions in the Tersk region, MAK, c. 1, M., 1888; Systematic description of the collections of Dashkovsky ethnographic. museum, c. 1-4, M., 1887-95; Ossetian-Russian-German Dictionary, vols. 1-3, M., 1927-1934; Essays on Russian folk literature, vols. 1-3, Moscow, 1897, 1910-24.
Literature: Kaloev B. A., V. F. Miller - Caucasian scholar, Ordzhonikidze, 1963; Materials for biographical. Dictionary of full members of the Academy of Sciences, part 2, P., 1917 (a complete list of M.'s works and bibl. is given).
Miller, Vsevolod Fedorovich - Russian philologist, head of the historical school, orientalist. Academician (since 1911). Graduated from Moscow University in 1870. Student F.I. Buslaeva. Professor at Moscow University, director of the Lazarev Institute of Oriental Languages. In 1884-1897 he was the curator of the Dashkovsky Ethnographic Museum. Developed issues of folk art, ancient Russian literature, mythology, comparative linguistics; in the 70-80s he studied ethnography, folklore, language and archeology of the Ossetians and other Iranian peoples of the Caucasus, which resulted in the fundamental work "Ossetian Etudes" (parts 1-3, M., 1881-1887).
Since the 90s the main subject scientific research Miller becomes the history of the Russian epic epic. Following the migration theory, Miller revealed the influence of Iranian legends, assuming their penetration into South Russia through the Caucasus and through the Polovtsians (“Excursions into the region of the Russian folk epic”, 1892). Then he turned to the search for the foundations of epics in specific historical reality, developed a method of timing epic stories to certain events, and the heroes of epics to historical figures. In this direction, M. studied almost all the plots of the Russian epic and an attempt was made to summarize its history (“Essays on Russian Folk Literature”, vols. 1-3, M., 1897-1924). Miller had many followers who continued his search. In Soviet times, Miller's methodology, methodology, and specific work were subjected to serious criticism. The arbitrariness of the convergence of names, geographical names, episodes in epics and chronicles was noted, and the ideological and artistic content of the epic was ignored. Miller's position on the origin of the bygone epic in the highest social circles was also rejected. Ancient Russia and about its “corruption” by peasant storytellers. However, Miller's contribution to the study of epics is very significant. He collected a lot of factual material, raised a lot important issues. His role is also significant as an organizer of scientific research, editor of the journal "Ethnographic Review", etc.
Brief literary encyclopedia in 9 volumes. State scientific publishing house " Soviet Encyclopedia", v.4, M., 1967.
Read further:
Miller Fedor Bogdanovich (1818-1881), poet, publisher-editor, father of Vsevolod Fedorovich.
Compositions:
Essays on Aryan mythology (Aswins - Dioscuri), M., 1876;
A look at the "Word of Igor's Campaign", M., 1877;
Systematic description of the collections of the Dashkovo Ethnographic Museum, c. 1-4, M., 1887-1895;
Guide to the study of Sanskrit. Grammar, M., 1891;
Russian epics of old and new records, M., 1894;
Epics of a new and recent record from different localities of Russia, M., 1908;
Historical songs of the Russian people of the XVI-XVII centuries, M., 1915.
Literature:
Pypin A.N., History of Russian ethnography, vol. 2, St. Petersburg, 1891, p. 317-321;
"Ethnographic Review", 1913, No. 3-4 (The volume is dedicated to the memory of V.F. Miller);
Sokolov B., Vs.F. Miller as a researcher of the Russian epic epic, "Living Antiquity", 1913, c. four;
Shakhmatov A.A., V.F. Miller, Izvestiya AN, 1914, v. 8;
Speransky M., V.F. Miller, M., 1914 (List of scientific works of V.F. Miller);
Materials for the biographical dictionary of full members of the Academy of Sciences, part 2, P., 1914 (List of works by V.F. Miller);
Markov A.V., Review of the works of V.F. Miller on folk literature, P., 1916 (Reprint from Izvestia ORYaS, vol. XIX-XX);
Skaftymov A.P., Poetics and genesis of epics, Saratov, 1924;
Soymonov A.D., Issues of studying classical folklore in Russian science at the end of the 19th century, in the book: Russian folklore. Materials and research, vol. 4, M.-L., 1959;
Azadovsky M.K., History of Russian folklore, v. 2, M., 1963, p. 269-306;
Kaloev B.A., V.F. Miller-Caucasian, Ordzhonikidze, 1963.
Page 3
Introduction…………………………………………………………………….3
- Brief biography……………………………………………………...4
- Works of an outstanding folklorist…………………………………...6
- The study of the Ossetian language and folklore…………………………..10
Conclusion………………………………………………………………..11
List of used literature……………………………………12
Introduction
The outstanding Russian scientist Vsevolod Fedorovich Miller (1848-1913) was distinguished by a wide range of scientific interests (Sanskritist, mythologist, Iranianist, Ossetian, Caucasian, ethnographer-folklorist), based on a solid educational foundation.
He received his secondary education at the Ennes boarding school, after which in 1865 he entered the Faculty of History and Philology of Moscow University. At the University of V.F. Miller specialized in the history of the peoples of the East and Eastern folklore, thoroughly studied Greek and Latin, Sanskrit. Among his teachers and lecturers were famous scientists: orientalist P.Ya. Popov (1814-1875), philologist F.I. Buslaev (1818-1897), historians S.M. Solovyov (1820-1879) and V.I. Guerrier (1837-1919).
Among his many works, the most famous are: “Echoes of the Apocrypha in Caucasian folk tales”; "Abstract on the origin of the Caucasian Jews"; "Materials for the study of the Jewish-Tat language" texts, a dictionary with an introduction about the history and origin of the Mountain Jews, general characteristics their spoken language (Tat) and determining its place among the New Persian dialects.
The purpose of the work to explore the contribution of the outstanding folklorist V.F. Miller to domestic science.
To achieve this goal, it is necessary to solve a number of tasks:
- Explore short biography scientist.
- Briefly consider the works of an outstanding folklorist.
- To explore the features of his study of the Ossetian language and folklore.
The work used the works of V.F. Miller, S.I. Taneeva, M.M. Kovalevsky, B.A. Kaloeva and others.
- short biography
The famous Russian linguist and V.F. Miller, a Christian who was the director of the Lazarev Institute of Oriental Languages in Moscow, an academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, has been a professor and academician since 1911.
He received his secondary education at the Ennes boarding house (18591865) after graduating from the boarding school, passing exams at the Faculty of History and Philology of Moscow University.
In 1870, W. F. Miller was left at the University to prepare for a professorship in the department of comparative linguistics and Sanskrit; at the same time he taught Latin at the 4th Moscow gymnasium.
In 1874 he was sent to Germany for a more in-depth study of Sanskrit and the ancient history of the East. He was in Tübingen, Paris, and also in Prague, where he studied the Czech language. In 1876 he returned to Moscow.
As a master's thesis, he defended in 1877 the monograph Essays on Aryan Mythology in Connection with Ancient Culture. T. 1: Aswins Dioscuri ”and in the fall began to read courses on the history of the East at the Department of Comparative Linguistics; taught Sanskrit. From 1877 he also taught atGuerrier Women's Higher Courseshistory of the Russian language and ancient Russian literature. In the same year he published the book "A Look at the Word about Igor's Campaign".
Having become interested in the history and culture of the peoples of the Caucasus, in particular the Ossetians, V.F. Miller made five trips to Ossetia (1879, 1880, 1881, 1883, 1886), which resulted in the publication of 2 volumes of "Ossetian Etudes" ("Ossetian Etudes. Part 1-2" M., 18811882), which made up his dissertation for the degree the doctors; The 3rd part of "Ossetian Etudes" was published in 1887 and was awarded the Big Gold MedalImperial Russian Geographical Society.
Since 1872, V.F. Miller has been a member ofSociety of Lovers of Russian Literature. Since 1881 he has been the chairman of the Ethnographic DepartmentSociety of Lovers of Natural Science, Anthropology and Ethnography, editor of the journal "Ethnographic Review". In 1889 he was elected president of the entire society, but relinquished this position in 1891 to focus his activities solely on ethnography.
In 18841897 curator of the Dashkovo Ethnographic Museum in Moscow, where he introduced an ethnographic (instead of the previous geographical) distribution of collections; published 4 editions of the Museum's "Systematic Description of Collections" (M., 18871895) and 3 editions of the "Collection of Materials on Ethnography" (M., 18851888).
From 1897 to 1911 he lectured and headedLazarevsky Institute of Oriental Languages. Since 1892 he has been a professor at the Department of Russian Language and Literature at Moscow University, since 1903 he has been an honored professor. From 1897 he was chairman of the Eastern Commission of the Moscow Archaeological Society. From 1900 to 1911, Miller taught at the renewed Higher Courses for Women in Moscow.
Since December 5, 1898 - Corresponding MemberImperial Academy of SciencesDepartment of Russian Language and Literature. After being elected on February 5, 1911 as an ordinary academician V.F. Miller moved to live in St. Petersburg. Here, in addition to participating in the work of the Academy, he was a teacher of the history of literature at the Women's Pedagogical Institute.
Thus, V.F. Miller was distinguished by the diversity and breadth of his scientific interests: he was a linguist, orientalist, ethnographer and folklorist. However, Miller's main scientific interests revolved around questions of folklore. The first trip of the outstanding domestic linguist and folklorist V.F. Miller to Ossetia took place in 1879, when the researcher was 31 years old. The result of intensive field work was the fundamental "Ossetian Etudes" in three parts and many other works on Ossetian themes.
- Works of an outstanding folklorist
The first scientific work of V.F. Miller was a student test essay written under the guidance of F.I. Buslaev "Eastern and Western Relatives of a Russian Fairy Tale", in which he tried to investigate the reasons for the similarity of Slavic and a number of Eastern fairy tales. After graduating from the university V.F. Miller wrote a research paper "Essays on Aryan Mythology (Aswins-Dioscuri)", which he published in Moscow in 1876 and defended as a master's thesis. The path that Miller followed, gradually moving from linguistics through ethnography to the study of monuments of folk poetry, was predetermined by his desire to substantiate his research conclusions with an accurate critical-philological study of folklore texts, correlated with the ethnographic-geographical distribution of epic works.
The logic of the development of research thought led him to the search for a link between the Slavic Indo-European and Indo-Iranian folklore layers. It was then that the scientist became interested in the history and culture of the peoples of the Caucasus, in particular the Ossetians. To collect field scientific material, V.F. Miller made five trips to Ossetia (in 1879, 1880, 1881, 1883, 1886). He mastered the language so well that in all the Ossetian villages V.F. Miller spoke to people in their native language, both dialects of which he was completely fluent.
The trips resulted in the publication of two volumes of "Ossetian Etudes" (1881 - 1882), which were presented as a dissertation for a doctorate in comparative linguistics. The third part of Ossetian Etudes, awarded the Grand Gold Medal of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, was published in 1887.
Describing the content of this work, V.F. Miller writes: “What fate drove the Ossetians to the current places of their settlement, what memories did they keep about their past, what is the way of their life, what are their religious views, what place does their language take in the group of Iranian languages, what are the works of Ossetian poetry - these are the questions, to which we tried our best to answer.
It should be said that the scientist gave brilliant answers to all these questions at the highest scientific level. Moreover, V.F. Miller covered with his research many issues of the ethno-cultural heritage of neighboring peoples. And even the travel essays of the scientist contain a lot of valuable information on the history, ethnography, religion, folklore of the Kabardians, Balkars, Chechens. It was he who defined the Nart epic as a common affiliation of a number of peoples of the North Caucasus.
The scientist carried out all the above work without interrupting his main academic activity. With the name of V.F. Miller is associated with the opening of the first Russian ethnographic journal "Ethnographic Review" in 1889, of which he was editor for a long time. In addition, from 1884 to 1897
V.F. Miller was the curator of the Dashkovsky Ethnographic Museum, whose collections he brought back into a systematic order. In 1881 V.F. Miller was elected chairman of the Ethnographic Department of the Society of Naturalists, Anthropologists and Ethnographers (OLEAE), leading ethnographic research in the capital and locally, mainly in the Caucasus, for more than thirty years.
Vsevolod Fedorovich wrote about this region: “An ethnographer can observe here a number of peoples of various origins, standing at different levels of culture. In a word, everywhere there is an amazing diversity in concepts and beliefs, everywhere there is a mixture of ancient, obsolete forms of life with new ones.
Caucasian works occupy a special place in the scientific heritage of the scientist: at the turn of the XIX - XX centuries. V.F. Miller became the founder of a new and fruitful stage in the history of Russian academic Caucasian studies.
Numerous Caucasian works by V.F. Miller are devoted to the most important problems of history, archeology, ethnography, religion, epigraphy, linguistics and oral folk poetry of the peoples of the North Caucasus. With this work, he captivated his students, as well as the staff of the Ethnographic Department of the OLEAE: an analysis of the scientific work of the department shows that "three-quarters of the total number of reports are devoted to precisely those issues that Vsevolod Fedorovich himself was most interested in, that is, the epic epic and the Caucasus" .
It was V.F. Miller interested M.M. Kovalevsky, Associate Professor of the Law Faculty of Moscow University, with material on the customary law of the mountaineers of the Caucasus. After visiting a people's court session in the Digorsky Gorge during a trip to Ossetia in 1880, the scientist wrote: “The next morning I was curious to look into the book of court decisions decided according to customary law (adat). Not being a lawyer myself, I can assure people who practiced customary law that they would find a lot of interesting material in these books, which are kept at every rural government.
In 1883 and 1885, together with V.F. Miller M.M. Kovalevsky made a trip to Ossetia, collecting field ethnographic material, which became the basis of his two-volume work Modern Custom and Ancient Law. This study, perceived by contemporaries as a major event in the legal literature, was dedicated by the author to V.F. Miller. “V.F. I am indebted to Miller not only for many indications that allowed me to expand the circle of my readings, but also for my first acquaintance with the life of the Caucasian highlanders. In his company, I made trips to the Ossetians ... ".
The members of the musical ethnographic commission, established in 1885 at the Ethnographic Department, were also involved in the collection of Caucasian field materials, which published three volumes of works devoted to folk musical creativity. In particular, the famous composer S.I. Taneyev, who made a trip to the Caucasus with V.F. Miller and M.M. Kovalevsky, gave a description of local musical instruments, noting the similarity between those of the Balkars and Ossetians.
Much work on the collection of ethnographic material on the Caucasus, in particular Ossetia, was carried out by the Dashkovsky ethnographic museum, headed by V.F. Miller for thirteen years. During this time, the museum's storerooms have replenished with more than forty items of Ossetian life (utensils, harp, cloth, armchair, national costumes, scythe, yoke, etc.). An overview of Ossetian ethnographic collections was given in the second issue of a series of descriptions of objects of material culture of the Dashkovo Ethnographic Museum.
Fruitful Ossetian work was carried out by V.F. Miller and in the Moscow Archaeological Society. In particular, he took an active part in organizing and holding an archaeological congress in Tiflis in 1881, at which he made presentations “On the Ossetian language and its place in the group of Iranian languages”, “On the Caucasian Prometheus”, “Program for collecting material on Ossetian language”, in which he used rich ethnographic material.
The scientist widely used ethnographic material in the study of related scientific disciplines. So, in order to study tower structures, burial grounds and crypts, medieval churches in Ossetia, he organized a large archaeological expedition, during which he simultaneously recorded folk traditions in the Kurtatinsky, Alagirsky and Digorsky gorges, and also collected valuable material here about the religious beliefs of the Ossetians.
In the article "Echoes of Caucasian beliefs on grave monuments" V.F. Miller, based on an examination of Ossetian funeral rites (in particular, the rite of initiation of a horse), deciphered the symbolism of the figures depicted on grave monuments dating back to the 15th-16th centuries. (for a detailed analysis of these works by V.F. Miller, see:). All these materials, as well as a description of buildings of religious significance, were included in the authoritative publication Materials on the Archeology of the Caucasus.
Thus, it was his own recordings of ethnographic material in mountainous Ossetia, begun during the first expeditionary trip in 1880, that formed the basis of his Ossetian Etudes.
3. Studying the Ossetian language and folklore
W. F. Miller made five trips to Ossetia , during which he studied the language, life and beliefs Ossetian collected folklore. The result of these trips was a series of works "Ossetian Etudes".
The first part, "Ossetian texts" ( Moscow, 1881 ), contains folklore texts inOssetianwith Russian translations and commentary. In particular, severalNart legends(“How Batraz was born”, “How they killed Khamytsa , Batrazov's father", " Soslan and Uryzmag "and others).
Part two, "Research" (Moscow, 1882 ) includes phonetics and a detailed grammar of the Ossetian language, as well as a separate chapter on the religious beliefs of the Ossetians.
Part three, "Research" (Moscow, 1887 ), dedicated to the OssetianMaxim Kovalevsky, contains the results of historical and ethnographic research. This volume contains, in particular, a description of the territory inhabited by Ossetians, evidence of the northern (steppe) origin of the Ossetians, excursions about Scythians, Sarmatians and Alans . The book also includes samples of the "South Ossetian dialect", a selection of Digor and Iron proverbs and other materials.
Thus, the Ossetian texts in the books of the Ossetian Etudes series were published in a special transcription based on the Cyrillic alphabet, but different from the then usedOssetian alphabettowards greater accuracy.
Conclusion
Miller, Vsevolod Fedorovich an outstanding researcher of the Russian epic epic, the head of the so-called "historical school" in Russian folklore.
V. F. Miller is the author of more than 200 published works, most of which belong to the classical heritage of Russian folklore, influencing world science. The significance of Miller's works was quite clear not only to his students, but also to his contemporary colleagues at the Academy of Sciences.
Numerous works on the ethnography of Ossetia V.F. Miller wrote based on his own expeditionary materials collected in almost all the gorges of Ossetia. The scientist conducted conversations with the Ossetians in their native language, both dialects of which he was fluent in. The scientist's handwritten notes made by him in Ossetia are still kept in the central and local archives.
The indisputable merit of V.F. Miller is the search for more solid real historical foundations in comparison with the purely comparative school, to which Miller himself paid tribute in his time. This does not relieve, however, the method of V.F. Miller from a number of important organic deficiencies.
In the field of causality, he does not go further than the theory of "environment", not only not taking steps forward in comparison with the cultural-historical school, but also retreating in comparison with it to the position of self-sufficing historicism.It is in this spirit that he establishes the conditionality of plot schemes by one or another historical fact.
V.F. Miller as an outstanding representative of folklore of the late XIX early XX centuries. in his scientific research movement, he went through and clearly reflected in his works the two most important stages of science in pre-revolutionary Russia - the comparative and historical schools, which were indicators (in this ideological sector) of the growth and strengthening of the Russian industrial bourgeoisie.
List of used literature
- Kaloev B.A. Ossetian historical and ethnographic studies. M.: Nauka, 1999. 392 p.
- Kovalevsky M.M. Moscow University in the late 70s and 80s of the last century // Bulletin of Europe. 1910. No. 5. P.179 -182.
- Maksimov A.V. V.F. Miller // Ethnographic Review. 1913. No. 3-4. С.85-152.
- Miller V. In the mountains of Ossetia // Miller V.F. Folklore of the peoples of the North Caucasus. M.: Nauka, 2008. 421 p.
- Miller V.F. Ossetian studies. M., 1882, part 2. S. 3-5.
- Miller V. Terek region: Archaeological excursion // Materials on the archeology of the Caucasus. - Issue. 1. - M.: 1888. S. 237-244.
- Miller V.F. Terek region: Archaeological excursion // Materials on the archeology of the Caucasus. - Issue. 2. - M.: 1893. S. 241 252.
- Miller V.F. Features of antiquity in the legends and life of Ossetians // Materials on the archeology of the Caucasus. - Issue. 3. - M.: 1883. S. 231-235.
- Miller V.F., Kovalevsky M.M. In the mountain communities of Kabarda // Bulletin of Europe. Book. 4 (Apr). 1884. 210 p.
- Taneev S.I. A note on music, dances and songs of the Urusbievites // Bulletin of Europe. 1886. No. 1. P.95-105.
- Proceedings of the V Archaeological Congress in Tiflis in 1881. M.: 1887. S. 31-36.
- Kharuzin N. In the mountains of the North Caucasus: Travel notes // Bulletin of Europe. M.: 1888. T. 22.