Ivan Ivanovich Orlovsky, a local historian and indefatigable researcher, made a huge contribution to the creation of the historical and archaeological appearance of the Smolensk region. He was one of the first public figures who was able to draw public attention to the great mission of Smolensk in the history of Russia, to popularize the study of his native land among young people.
Biography and career
I. I. Orlovsky was born on June 29, 1869 in the family of a priest, in the village. Danilovichi of the Elninsky district, now the Roslavl district. Thanks to a good education at home, the study of Latin and the ancient Greek language, he easily entered a theological school and became one of the best students. After graduation, Ivan studied at the Smolensk Theological Seminary, and then at the Moscow Theological Academy, at the Faculty of History.
One of his teachers, the dissertation supervisor P. O. Klyuchevsky, a well-known researcher of Russian history and geography, had a huge influence on the young man. In 1894 I. I. Orlovsky was assigned to the Smolensk Diocesan Women's School, a teacher of geography, history and physics.
Personal life
The personal life of the historian was going well. In 1989, he married Anna Semyonovna Vorobyova, a teacher of the diocesan school. After the wedding, she left teaching, and for many years her work became a family, she gave birth to Ivan Ivanovich five children - Nikolai, Elena, Ivan, Zina and Alexander.
The great historian died on June 17, 1909, a little before his 40th birthday. Heart paralysis was listed as the cause of death in the metric book, but some researchers believe diabetes was the real cause. In less than forty years of his life, he managed to create more than 20 books and brochures, many articles, stories and poems about his native land.
Creation
All his life I. I. Orlovsky devoted to the study of the history and geography of his native land. Despite the constant workload in the seminary, he found time for research, actively collaborated with newspapers and magazines, incl. of all-Russian significance. As an employee of the Historical and Archaeological Museum, he compiled the first catalog of exhibits, which helped even an ignorant person to understand and navigate.
Ivan Ivanovich managed to organize a real research activity - the priests of many parishes of the Smolensk province sent him materials about the past of their parishes. Local lore activity included careful study and preservation of any written information, archaeological finds. As a result, a "Brief Geography of the Smolensk Province" was created, in which the researcher was able to collect information about the population, economy, geography, and natural conditions of the province. At present, all sources of this information are not available, therefore the book is the most valuable source of information about the life of the Smolensk region in the late XX - early XXI century.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the printing activity of the provincial statistical committee began to develop actively. Orlovsky took part in the work of the commission for the protection of the Smolensk fortress wall, his work “Smolensk wall. 1602 - 1902 . He actively studied all-Russian events, the life of the Romanov royal family in the context of his native land, helping to reconsider the attitude towards the land in a historical perspective.
