March 27, 1744
В Yaroslavl province, was born into a wealthy noble family Alexey Musin-Pushkin — a historian and collector, owner of one of the most famous libraries in Russia. It was he who introduced the legendary monument of Old Russian literature into scholarly circulation — "Word about Igor's regiment".
The more difficulties I encountered in the study of historical antiquities, the more my desire to find their hidden sources became stronger.
After graduating from the elite artillery school, he served as an adjutant at Count Orlov - the all-powerful favorite Catherine IIIn this same position, Musin-Pushkin's military career suddenly ended, since in 1772 his superior fell out of favor with the royal court: the status of favorite passed to the young cornet Semyon Vasilchikov.
Having parted with his military uniform, 28-year-old Musin-Pushkin set off to explore Europe. Over the course of three years, he visited Germany, Italy, Holland, England, France, and Switzerland. There, he became fascinated with "art" and began to assemble his own collection. Along with paintings, it began to expand with "domestic books, coins," rare documents, and letters from famous people.
After returning to his homeland, he served as an official at court. Upon learning of his collection, the Empress made him an honorary member of the Academy of Arts and granted him access to all church archives. A decade later, Musin-Pushkin became President of the Academy.
By the early 19th century, Musin-Pushkin's library contained 1200 handwritten and 3000 printed books. The collector published the works of several chroniclers, ancient maps of Ancient Rus', notes by Peter the Great, and his own research on the Tmutarakan Principality in Taman.
Gained worldwide fame after publication The Tale of Igor's CampaignMusin-Pushkin independently deciphered an ancient manuscript dating back to the 12th century.
Almost his entire library burned down in 1812, when Napoleon's army was stationed in Moscow.
The following year, one of his sons died in the war. This completely undermined Musin-Pushkin's health: he could no longer work and died in 1817, at the age of 72.