Владимир Назимов и Виленская временная археологическая комиссия

ENThe aim of the research is to describe in general terms the personality of Vladimir Nazimov (Владимир Иванович Назимов, 1802-1874) and his activity in the Vilnius Museum of Antiquities and the Vilnius Temporary Archaeological Commission. Already before his appointment as the Military Governor and Civil Administrator of Vilnius, the Governor General of Grodno, Kaunas and Minsk, and the head of the Vilnius military district in December 1855, Nazimov was related to this city. From 1840 to 1841, he was a member of a special interrogation committee, in which he earned himself the title of a liberator of the country from repressions. His closeness to Emperor Alexander II had a great importance for Nazimov’s reputation and image. From 1849 to 1855Г he was a curator of the Moscow educational district and, thus, had some experience in the field of science and education. Nazimov also embodied the new politics in the North Western Region. An obvious demonstration and a means of this politics was his links with the Vilnius Museum of Antiquities and the Vilnius Temporary Archaeological Commission - the most distinct public initiatives in the country at that time. He participated in the opening ceremony of the Vilnius Museum of Antiquities, was elected a member of the Vilnius Temporary Archaeological Commission, attended several of its sessions and made donations to the museum. However, mainly they were not personal gifts. Often Nazimov disposed of artefacts that were under his control or used the power his position.According to memoirists, his closeness to the local community was determined by Nazimovs personal qualities - openness and hospitability, particularly during well-attended events held at the Governor General’s palace each week, as well as the participation of the Nazimov family in the balls and receptions of the local aristocracy, masquerades, outings and amateur performances. E.g., in February i860, a charity event was held at the Governor General’s palace, in which was performed a comedy in Polish and displayed “tableaux vivants”. In the spectacle, Eustachy Tyszkiewicz (1814-1873) also played a part, and Nazimovs daughters and local aristocrats enacted “animated flowers”. Nazimovs aide-de-camp and head of the Special Department for Political Affairs, Aleksandr Pavlov (Александр Спиридонович Павлова, 1823-1909), asserted that the Governor General had regular conversations with Tyszkiewicz and other members of the Vilnius Temporary Archaeological Commission. In those conversations, he acquired “significant knowledge” about the country that he was entrusted to rule and its residents. If not for the benevolent attitude of the country’s chief governor, the heir to the throne, Duke Nicholas (Николай Александрович, 1843-1865), would hardly have become a patron of the Vilnius Museum of Antiquities and the Vilnius Temporary Archaeological Commission in 1858. Besides, the visits of Emperor Alexander II, other members of the imperial family and other high-standing guests to the Vilnius Museum of Antiquities would hardly have taken place. All that raised the status of the Vilnius Museum of Antiquities and the Vilnius Temporary Archaeological Commission.Documents show that it was not without Nazimov’s testimony about his works and “scientific deeds” that the chairman of the Vilnius Temporary Archaeological Commission and patron of the Vilnius Museum of Antiquities, Tyszkiewicz, was conferred the 2nd Class Order of Saint Anna in i860. It was only thanks to the resolution of the Governor General that from 1861, the state assigned an annual subsidy to the Vilnius Museum of Antiquities and the Vilnius Temporary Archaeological Commission. Thus, the activity of the Vilnius Museum of Antiquities and the Vilnius Temporary Archaeological Commission and the Vilnius period of Nazimov’s life and career not only coincided chronologically, but also were more deeply connected. As is known, when Nazimov was removed from the position of the Vilnius Military Governor and the Governor General of Grodno, Kaunas and Minsk in May 1863, the activity of the Vilnius Temporary Archaeological Commission was suspended in the summer of that year, and at the end of 1864 entered a new stage of liquidation, which was completed in 1865. [From the publication]