The unique Moscow Necropolis reference book presents a chronology of biographical and genealogical facts, documented and rewritten. These are valuable historical materials about the years of life of people buried in the Moscow cemeteries in the 14-20 centuries.
The texture of the book was compiled and systematized in accordance with the procedure for describing both existing and abolished cemeteries in Moscow, including Orthodox and non-Orthodox.
Briefly about the book
"Moscow Necropolis" - reference publication of 1907-1908. The very idea of ​​creating such a reference book belonged to Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich - Uncle Nicholas II. Being a highly educated man, historian and ethnographer, chairman and trustee of the Historical Society and the Society for the Protection and Preservation of Historical and Ancient Monuments, he considered the creation of the Necropolis of Moscow Cemeteries, a kind of chronicle of graveyards, extremely important.
The practical implementation of this brilliant idea took up two well-known figures. One of them was Vladimir Ivanovich Saitov. This is a great historian and bibliographer of his time. Another creator of the directory is Boris Lvovich Modzalevsky. He became famous for his scientific works on the history of Russian literature.
When creating the Moscow Necropolis directory, scientists studied for two years the surviving inscriptions on tombstones and printed archival sources of monasteries and cemeteries.
On the content and principles of compilation
The material was collected by Saitov and Modzalevsky in the summer, free from the main work, during 1904-1906. Finally, from 1907 to 1908, the first edition was published at the printing house of M. M. Stasyulevich, in St. Petersburg.
It should be noted that the Moscow Necropolis includes a list of people of different social and social status and financial status, both well-known and little-known. If information was obtained from any printed documents, this is marked with an asterisk, indicating from which source the information was taken.
The ancestors of the imperial house are allocated in a separate list under the heading of the Romanovs.
Important marks and pointers
Below are the features of reading and some recommendations for the correct perception of information from the Moscow Necropolis directory (many are interested in the contents of this publication):
- In general, the index presents a list of surnames in alphabetical order in three volumes.
- The inscriptions before publication were edited to more accurately convey the essence of the information enclosed in them, in some cases they were published verbatim.
- Slavic figures for publication are replaced by Arabic.
- All dubious inscriptions were given with a mark, as well as records damaged from time to time were marked specially.
- If there were dates from the creation of the world, at the same time dates from the birth of Christ were given.
- There are many notes regarding the burial of namesakes or indicating family ties between people of different surnames.
- Double references were used to indicate the first or maiden names, as well as the designation of worldly monastic names.
The last third volume contained the publication of a large list of amendments and additions to the handbook, which were received during the publication process from the public reading and owning historical information.
Moscow Necropolis: the history of creation and difficulties on the way
As expected, the first volume of the handbook was provided with two forewords: from the Grand Duke and from the compilers.
On the reasons that aroused the idea of ​​compiling a collection, the following is explained in the grand ducal foreword:
Visiting the cemeteries of Moscow and St. Petersburg several times, going down into the gloomy, damp dungeons of the tombs of Moscow monasteries (...), I often dwelt on the idea of ​​publishing the Necropolis of Moscow and St. Petersburg over time, that is, collecting, if possible, tombstones that still survived, as well as new ones, and print them along with the information about the buried, which can be extracted from the relevant literature. ... The publication of gravestone inscriptions will save them forever from extinction and will provide useful material for history and especially for genealogy, giving detailed dates of the lives of various figures, ascertaining their relationship, giving information about their official and social status (...).
However, no one suggested that the idea of ​​organizing lists of burials in Moscow cemeteries would meet opposition, especially from the black clergy, who resisted opening access to the archives of the monasteries and the sacraments of the church.
Then the Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod of that time, Pobedonostsev, intervened, who wrote an open letter to the spiritual authorities of Moscow. In a letter, he asked for assistance to V.I. Saitov in his task of collecting information materials.
When the census reached the convents, this appeal was supported by official permission from the spiritual consistory of Moscow. The negotiating mediator was P. I. Bartenev, publisher of the Russian Archive magazine.
How much, or the cost of compiling a directory
How much did the preparation of materials for future editions cost? The question is not idle, it depended on the speed of preparation for printing, the number of pages and other expenses that you need to know when publishing a book.
V.I. Saitov in February 1905 provided Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich with a general estimate of expenses.
Initially, it was assumed that the Moscow Necropolis would include 60,000 inscriptions, and St. Petersburg - 40,000, in general, the calculation was for 100,000 items.
It turned out that a total of 3,570 pages (56 lines each) or 225 sheets, i.e. 4 volumes of 56 sheets, would be printed.
The fee was 65 rubles per sheet. The amount included the cost of a trip to Moscow, hiring and paying laborers, and other necessary expenses. Thus, 225 sheets cost the treasury 14,625 rubles.
Saitov proposed to divide this amount into 6 years, during which time the compilers of the guidebook proposed to complete the creation of the Necropolises of Moscow and St. Petersburg. It was proposed to pay 609 rubles 75 kopecks in advance, every 3 months.
This estimate was approved with some amendments: to make calculations three times a year (that is, once every four months), at first it was advances, and then since December 1905 payment was made for the past quarter.
As a result, the reading public received the Moscow Necropolis in 3 volumes, as well as publications on the Petersburg and provincial necropolises.
The principle and method of compilers
In the science of necropolism, there were two approaches to collecting information at the time of the compilation of the handbook.
The first approach used by Saitov and Modzalevsky was used in compiling the necropolises of Moscow, Petersburg, and Russian Provincial.
It consisted in filing inscriptions as they are, using the surviving tombstones and epitaphs.
In the preface from the compilers it is said that
“Moscow Necropolis” is a reference historical index of people who lived in the XIV-XX centuries and buried in Moscow. Compiled mainly on the basis of the surviving gravestone inscriptions, it gives a dry, but valuable in its accuracy biographical, chronological and genealogical material suitable for historical research.
Therefore, information about people with different social statuses was included in the handbook: "For genealogical reasons, the Necropolis allocated a lot of space to the noble element; however, it was not always possible to draw a strict parallel between it and the people of other classes bearing the same name as the nobles."
This approach really allowed for two years to publish the Moscow Necropolis.
Another approach, supported by the historian A.V. Smirnov and the genealogy V.E. Rudkov, was that the inscriptions should be explained, checked and double-checked, and sometimes even give additional material.
It seems that the second method would never have allowed to create a necropolis. By the way, “Vladimir Necropolis” by A.V. Smirnov was never completed due to the large amount of time spent studying historical references and the metrics of the deceased.
The double method of studying cemeteries (necropolism) in this case would be too costly. Successful studies, as amended and supplemented, will be conducted more likely by the heirs of surnames or the information should relate to selectively special figures of the state or the most famous clans and families.
Modzalevsky wrote:
Indeed, it’s a straightforward feat to undertake such work is difficult and, in essence, ungrateful, but undoubtedly useful, as you yourself will see when you see the book, and you only regret that a hundred years ago there were no certain Saitov and Modzalevsky who would then do the same work: a great many valuable material has already perished from time and from the ignorance of our clergy.
"Moscow Necropolis", or where the most famous people in the history of Moscow are buried
Of course, it is impossible to list all the famous people buried in the cemeteries of Moscow. But we will try to tell about the most famous necropolises and people who found their last refuge on their land.
Novodevichy cemetery - is considered the most famous necropolis of Moscow. The first burials appeared here in the 17th century, the date of the opening of the cemetery is considered to be 1904. Novodevichy Convent is included in the list of objects protected by UNESCO, and the necropolis is one of the ten most beautiful burial places in the world.
Here are the graves of Count Alexei Tolstoy, the great Russian writer Mikhail Bulgakov, Nikolay Vasilyevich Gogol was reburied here after the closure of the cemetery of the Holy Danilov Monastery.
Here are the monuments to composer Dmitry Shostakovich, virtuoso violinist Leonid Kogan, Soviet and Russian composer Isaak Dunaevsky, aircraft designer Semyon Lavochkin, writer Vasily Shukshin, soul and revolution poet Vladimir Mayakovsky, fighter king Nikolai Polikarpov, the great Russian composer Alexander Skaryabin Barto, Andrei Voznesensky, a unique opera singer Tatyana Shmyga, popular favorites Lyudmila Gurchenko, Klara Luchko, Andrei Mironov.
Politicians are buried here: Nikita Khrushchev, Boris Yeltsin.
There are many unusual monuments on the territory, in which time seems to have stopped.
Here's how picturesque the monument looks to the great comedian Yuri Nikulin (sculptor A. Rukavishnikov).
The Vagankovskoye cemetery in Moscow contains over 100 thousand graves, many of which are associated with dramatic and tragic events in the country.
Here are the mass graves of the heroes of the war of 1812, monuments to those who died during the Khodynka crush, victims of repression, and the burial place of the 1941 Moscow defenders. Here you can also see and honor the graves of celebrities of our country.
For example, there is a monument to the great Russian poet Sergei Yesenin by sculptor Anatoly Bichukov.
The graves of the poet-bard Bulat Okudzhava, the remarkable writer and playwright Vasily Aksenov, the goalkeeper and legend of Russian football - Lev Yashin.
Burial in the family memorial of the artist of large-scale historical paintings of the great Vasily Surikov. A monument on the grave of the Russian architect Petro Skomoroshenko was allocated as an object of cultural heritage.
At the Vagankovskoye cemetery, the Russian architect, modernist architect Fedor Shekhtel was buried. It is noteworthy that the architect completed the burial project and the family memorial during his lifetime.
The theater, film and pop artist, beloved Andrei Mironov, is buried next to his mother.
It was on Vagankovsky that the singer of the national soul, actor, poet Vladimir Vysotsky was buried, the monument was made by the sculptor A. Rukavishnikov.
Necropolises of Moscow Troekurovskoe, Kuntsevskoe and Vostryakovskoe
Troekurovsky churchyard is a branch of the Novodevichy cemetery. By tradition, it has become the site of more modern graves of those people who have distinguished themselves by special merits. State, public and cultural figures rest here.
Troekurovsky cemetery was organized in the seventies of the last century. The territory has its own morgue, a chapel. Here are the graves of such famous actors as Natalya Gundareva, Alexander Barykin, Semyon Farada, Vladislav Galkin, Lyubov Polishchuk, Nikolai Karachentsov.
Kuntsevo cemetery was founded in the 17th century as a rural Spasskoye-Manukhino. At first in the twenties it became part of the city of Kuntsevo and was renamed, and then, in the 1960s, it became part of Moscow. Here you can visit the graves of celebrities such as Evgeny Morgunov, Nonna Mordyukova, the world-famous clown Pencil. The graves of the director of Soviet comedy Leonid Gaidai, theater and film actor Boris Khmelnitsky, Nikolai Nosov and many other famous people often visit the graves.
The Vostryakovsky necropolis was founded in the 19-20 centuries and was at first a rural graveyard, in the thirties a new Jewish cemetery was opened next to it, and many of the remains were reburied in Vostryakovo. Here are the graves of the brilliant Wolf Messing, world-famous scientist and human rights activist Andrei Sakharov. Famous theater and film actors were buried: satirical artist Yan Arlazorov, magician Yuri Longo.
This is just a small list of famous people who have found the last refuge in Moscow necropolises. This information sheds light on the importance of remembering our predecessors, the forerunners who glorified not only their names, but also our country.
Merit of the publication
As the Moscow Necropolis directory was created, the following goals were achieved:
- extensive historical and archaeological material, previously scattered throughout Moscow, has been prepared and put together. Covered not only metropolitan, but also suburban and monastic graveyards.
- Many inscriptions were not only translated from ancient script with explanation of abbreviations, but also cleaned, restored, washed with special permissions.
The delicate and cautious work carried out by scientific researchers Saitov and Modzalevsky will serve to preserve Russian history in the future. This is the great merit of the publication.
Over time, under the influence of various factors, man-made monuments may disappear from the face of the earth, but the manuscript edition will remain, because it can be reprinted, restored, supplemented.
This brings the three-volume “Moscow Necropolis” to the category of works testifying to time, events and documents, about the most diverse events of Russian history from ancient times to the present day.
Reprint dictated by time
In society, the appearance of the "Moscow necropolis" caused a great resonance, attention and sympathy.
Here is what A.I. Gozdavo-Golombievsky, a specialist in the history of the Saratov Territory, wrote to V.I. Saitov:
Just returned from Moscow. From the "Necropolis" delighted; they searched for passes - who is grandmother, who is grandfather, I.E. Zabelin - his wife.
Commendable notes were published in the magazines Vestnik Evropy, Russian Antiquity, and responses in the newspapers Moskovskiye Vedomosti and Russky Disabled.
However, the sale of the directory did not have commercial success. So, at a real cost of 2.8 rubles, the selling price of the publication was 2.5 rubles. For bookstores that sold the publication, a thirty percent discount was offered. Those who wrote the directory by mail were exempted from paying for correspondence. But nevertheless, by the beginning of 1913 a total of 400 copies were sold.
Apparently, the cost affected. In these years, you could buy a bag of potatoes for 1 ruble, chicken (1 piece) cost 40-65 kopecks, a goose with giblets 1 ruble 25 kopecks, a pound (a little less than half a kilo) of beef cost 45 kopecks. A total of 2.5 rubles, even taking into account the subsidies, not everyone could spend on an unusual publication, which was the directory.
Therefore, the book was mainly distributed to private libraries of wealthy people or scholars-specialists of archives, history and literature.
Nowadays, when the issue of personal identification and the search for historical roots is particularly acute, the issue of reprinting the guidebook has arisen with renewed vigor.
The three-volume "Moscow Necropolis", which was reprinted in 2006, was published with the participation of the Library of the Russian Academy of Sciences.The publication is issued in various binding options: in soft and hard, as well as in a cover made of genuine leather. The publishing house "Alpharet" was engaged in the publication of the directory.