The history of Lithuania in the national historiography of the second half of the 19th — early 20th century
- Pages
- 68-76
Abstract
The article discusses developing pre-revolutionary national academic schools which studied of the history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In the 18th — the first half of the 19th century the history of Lithuania was perceived by Russian scholars as “alien” and did not receive much interest. The situation changed after the “January Insurrection” (1863—1864): the attention of politicians to Lithuanian history predetermined the establishment of pre-revolutionary lithuanistic research centers at the universities of Kiev, Moscow and St. Petersburg. Due to the efforts of such historians as Nikolay Ivanishev, Mikhail Vladimirsky-Budanov, Fyodor Leontovich, Vladimir Antonovich, Konstantin Bestuzhev-Ryumin et al., Lithuanian history became a specific research area, naturally inscribed in the context of pre-revolutionary national historiography. The works of Matvey Lyubavsky and Alexander Presnyakov, whose conclusions in many aspects are still relevant, achieved the paramount importance in Lithuanian historical studies.