Antsiferov N.P. (1889-1958), historian and regional ethnographer

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ANTSIFEROV Nikolay Pavlovich (1889-1958), historian, regional ethnographer and public figure. He moved to St. Petersburg in 1908. Antsiferov graduated from the Department of History and Philology of Petrograd University (1915), a student of I.M. Grevs. In 1910, he took part in the foundation of the Hermitage Group, involved in training of guides. Antsiferov taught history at Yavorskaya's Gymnasium for Women, A.S. Chernyaev's Applied Training School, at the school attached to former Tenishev's Training School, at the homeless children’s boarding-school in Krasnaya Slavyanka, at Nekrasov 2nd Pedagogical Institute (1919-26), and at the College of Art History (1925-29). Since 1919 Antsiferov worked at the tour section of the Museum Department of Petrograd Art and Scientific Institutions Administration Board by People's Commissariat of Education, in 1921-24 he was employed at Petrograd Scientific Research Excursion Institute, and in 1925-29 at Petrograd (Leningrad) Department of the Central Regional Study Bureau. In 1921 he was appointed a member of Old Petersburg Society where he was at the head of the seminar of sightseeing study of the city. In 1918-25 he attended the meetings of A.A. Meyer's Voskresenie (Resurrection) Religious and Philosophic Society, and was banished to Solovetsky Islands prison camp in 1929 under the sentence of Joint State Political Administration Board Collegium. In 1930 he was conveyed to Leningrad and put on trial in connection with the "case of Fellows of the Academy". In the late 1931 he was sent to the BelBaltLag (White Sea - Baltic Canal Camp). After his release in 1934, he lived and worked in Moscow. Antsiferov authored works on St. Petersburg history, methods and organisation of sightseeing tours; he was also a founder of the comprehensive method in urban environment study. In 1908-12, he lived at 25 Bolshoy Avenue of Petrogradskaya Side, in 1912-14, at 9b Bolshaya Spasskaya Street (present-day Krasnogo Kursanta Street), in1924 he moved to Detskoe Selo where he lived at 14 Revolutsii Street (present-day Malaya Street) (not preserved). His memoirs From the Thoughts Of The Past (1992) represent a valuable source of information on history of St. Petersburg and Leningrad cultural and scientific life. In 1989 Antsiferov Readings were held in Leningrad, and in 1995 the Antsiferov Award for the best modern research project on St. Petersburg history was instituted.

Works: City as an Exponent of Rotatory Cultures: Images and Descriptions. (Leningrad, 1926); Methods of the Study of a City as a Social Organism: A comprehensive approach attempt. (2nd edition revised and edited. Leningrad, 1926). The Incomprehensible City...: The Soul of Petersburg. The Petersburg of Dostoevsky. The Petersburg of Pushkin. St. Petersburg, 1991).

References: Добкин А. И. Н. П. Анциферов: Материалы к биобиблиогр. // Анциферовские чтения: Материалы и тез. конф. Л., 1989. С. 9-23; Конечный А. М. Н. П. Анциферов - исследователь Петербурга // Петербург и губерния: Ист.-этногр. исслед. Л., 1989. С. 154-161; Марголис А. Д. Петербургские адреса Н. П. Анциферова // Невский архив: Ист.-краевед. сб. СПб., 2001. Вып. 5. С. 213-231.

A. D. Margolis. Antsiferov Nikolay Pavlovich
Chernyaev A.S.
Dobkin Alexander Iosifovich
Grevs Ivan Mikhailovich
Margolis Alexander Davidovich
Meyer Alexander Alexandrovich
Nekrasov Nikolay Alexeevich
Yavorskaya N.N.
Bolshoy Ave of Petrograskaya Storona/Saint Petersburg, city, house 25
Krasnogo Kursanta St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 9, litera л. Б
Malaya Street/Pushkin, town, house 14
Добкин А. И. Н. П. Анциферов: Материалы к биобиблиогр. // Анциферовские чтения: Материалы и тез. конф. Л., 1989
Марголис А. Д. Петербургские адреса Н. П. Анциферова // Невский архив: Ист.-краевед. сб. СПб., 2001
Конечный А. М. Н. П. Анциферов - исследователь Петербурга // Петербург и губерния: Ист.-этногр. исслед. Л., 1989
Город как выразитель сменяющихся культур: Картины и характеристики. Л., 1926
Пути изучения города как социального организма: Опыт комплексного подхода. 2-е изд., испр. и доп. Л., 1926
"Непостижимый город...": Душа Петербурга. Петербург Достоевского. Петербург Пушкина. Л., 1991 Old Petersburg, Society
Academics' Case
Antsiferov Award
1922