Osip Ivanovich Senkovsky | |
|---|---|
Осип Иванович Сенковский | |
 | |
| Born | Józef Julian Sękowski 31 March [O.S. 19 March] 1800 Antagonka |
| Died | 16 March [O.S. 4 March] 1858 |
| Occupation(s) | Orientalist, journalist, entertainer |
Osip Ivanovich Senkovsky (Russian:О́сип Ива́нович Сенко́вский; 31 March [O.S. 19 March] 1800 – 16 March [O.S. 4 March] 1858), bornJózef-Julian Sękowski, was a Polish-Russianorientalist, journalist and entertainer.
Senkovsky was born on his mother's estate in Antagotony, located some 30 miles away from Vilna (Vilnius in modern-day Lithuania, then in the Russian Empire).[1] He was born into an old family ofLithuanian nobility. During his study in theUniversity of Vilna he became fascinated with all things oriental. Having mastered the Arabic, Persian, Turkish, and Hebrew languages, he was assigned to the Russian mission inConstantinople, which occupation gave him ample opportunities to travel inSyria,Nubia, and Egypt. In 1821 he returned to the Russian capital, where he got the chair in oriental languages at theUniversity of Saint Petersburg.
In the 1820s, Senkovsky started publishing in the popular periodicals ofKondraty Ryleyev andFaddei Bulgarin. He is best remembered for having edited the first Russian "thick journal,"Biblioteka Dlya Chteniya (Library for Reading, 1833–1856), whose lively and humorous style (asNikolai Gogol put it) attracted to literary journals even those people who had never held a book in their hands.
Senkovsky encouraged new writers. He had a strong influence onYelena Hahn[2] and onElizaveta Akhmatova. In the latter case he not only developed a writer but she regarded him as a parent, Akhmatova would eventually publish her own magazines and in time her own memoir of Senkowsky.[3]
A very prolific writer, Senkovsky contributed articles on a wide range of topics, from mathematics to medicine. Under the pen-name ofBaron Brambeus he published a series offantastic voyages, including one to the center of the Earth (The Sentimental Journey to Mount Etna) and another to an antediluvian Egyptian civilization flourishing on the now-frozenSiberian plain (The Scientific Journey to Bear Island).
As a literary critic he had few principles, his motto being "easy reading and less thought". One day he would pronounce his friendNestor Kukolnik to be Gogol's superior, only to place Gogol higher thanHomer the very next day. He dismissedThe Tale of Igor's Campaign as a clumsy fake, derogatedAlexander Pushkin as a second-hand imitator, and declared theTale of Bygone Years to be written in Polish.
During his last years, Senkovsky turned from literature to music. He claimed to have invented a five-stringed violin and a new type of oven. He also published pioneering studies of Chinese,Mongolian, andTibetan languages.
He has been referred to as the founder ofLitvinism.[4]
