As long-term practice shows, folk traditions by themselves are not preserved. With the change of generations, the experience of ancestors is gradually lost, and the grandson no longer knows about how his grandfather lived. Indistinct traces of the past centuries remain in museums and archives. But in order to decipher them, you need to possess certain knowledge and skills. Dmitry Sergeevich Likhachev studied the cultural history of the Russian people throughout his adult life.
The youth of the patriarch
According to the metric book, Dmitry Likhachev was born on November 28, 1906 in the family of an engineer. The parents lived in St. Petersburg and tried to introduce the child to the treasury of cultural values. According to all the signs and rules, Dmitry's biography should have developed within the framework of the class discourse. The boy studied well at the gymnasium and did not fully imagine how his peers live on the outskirts of the capital city. The war, and then the revolution that broke out, radically changed the existing way of life.
In 1923, Likhachev entered the Petrograd University at the department of linguistics and literature. The circle of interests of the young man included the Romano-Germanic and Slavic languages. He paid special attention to the study of old literary works. Being a sociable person, Dmitry actively participated in the activities of student sections and circles. One of the amateur structures was called the "Space Academy of Sciences". At the meeting of this "academy" the student prepared and made a report on the old Russian spelling.
Having received a specialized education, Likhachev did not have time to start working in his specialty. In February 1928, he was arrested and charged with counter-revolutionary activities. The basis for the arrest was the same report on the spelling rules in Russian. From the height of the past years, we can say that fate favored the young scientist. A scientific career took shape in places of incarceration. He took an interest in and systematized the card games that were popular with the camp inmates.
Scientific activity
At a certain stage in his life, Dmitry Likhachev will note that the period spent in the camp became his second university. The famous scientist was not cunning at all. He observed people in extreme conditions with his own eyes. Studied their behavior, language, motives of actions. The convict, released early in 1932, could not get a job in his main specialty for a long time. In doing so, he worked and published his materials in the accessible media. Through the efforts of colleagues in 1938, all charges and convictions were dropped from him.
Dmitry Sergeevich was not called up to the front, for medical reasons. He spent the first blockade winter in Leningrad. With the onset of warmth, the whole family was evacuated to Kazan. After the war, Likhachev continued his scientific activities. He gave a course of lectures at the Leningrad State University. In the early 50s he received the Stalin Prize for his fundamental work "History of Culture of Ancient Rus". In 1970 he became a full member of the Academy of Sciences of the Union.
In his personal life, Dmitry Likhachev was happy. He met his wife shortly after his release from the camp. Husband and wife supported each other in all turns of life. Raised and raised two daughters.
