Donald Ostrowski

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Donald "Don" Gary Ostrowski [1] [2] (born 1945 [1] ) is an American historian, and a lecturer in history at Harvard Extension School. [3] He specialises in the political and social history Kievan Rus' and Muscovy (early modern Russia). [4]

Contents

Biography

Ostrowski received his PhD in history from Pennsylvania State University in 1977. [1] [4] He is known for his work on textual criticism of the Primary Chronicle. [5] [6] The Povest’ vremennykh let: An Interlinear Collation and Paradosis (Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute, 2003) under his co-editorship received the Early Slavic Studies Association Award for Distinguished Scholarship. [3] Together with scholars such as Oleksiy Tolochko and Ludolf Müller  [ de; ru ] (1917–2009), Ostrowski is credited with having reignited interest in textual criticism of the Primary Chronicle around the year 2000. [7] [6] His work in advancing this field has been praised by many, [8] [7] [6] though some parts of his metholodology have been questioned by fellow scholars. [9]

Ostrowski's other publications include Who Wrote That? Authorship Controversies from Moses to Sholokhov (2020) and two other monographs, and six co-edited collections of articles. [3] Serhii Plokhy (2006) said that Ostrowski's monograph Muscovy and the Mongols (1998) 'successfully challenged the myth of the "Tatar yoke" and persuasively identified numerous borrowings of the Muscovite political elite and society from their Qipchaq overlords.' [10] The evidence put forth had made it 'difficult to reject the argument of Russian Eurasianists and Western scholars like Keenan and Ostrowski that the early modern Russian state was much more a product of its recent Mongol experience than of the chronologically and geographically removed Kyivan past.' [11] The book also re-dated all of the literary works of the Kulikovo cycle to after the 1440s, a significant conclusion for dating the translatio of the Rus' land from the Middle Dnieper to Suzdalia. [12]

Selected works

Co-edited works

Monographs

Journal articles (chronological selection)

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Related Research Articles

<i>Primary Chronicle</i> 12th-century chronicle of Kievan Rus

The Russian Primary Chronicle, commonly shortened to Primary Chronicle, is a chronicle of Kievan Rus' from about 850 to 1110. It is believed to have been originally compiled in or near Kiev in the 1110s. Tradition ascribed its compilation to the monk Nestor beginning in the 17th century, but this is no longer believed to have been the case.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nestor the Chronicler</span> Monk and chronicler of Kievan Rus

Nestor the Chronicler or Nestor the Hagiographer was a monk from the Kievan Rus who is known to have written two saints' lives: the Life of the Venerable Theodosius of the Kiev Caves and the Account about the Life and Martyrdom of the Blessed Passion Bearers Boris and Gleb.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Askold and Dir</span> Earliest known Norse rulers of Kiev

Askold and Dir, mentioned in both the Primary Chronicle, the Novgorod First Chronicle, and the Nikon Chronicle, were the earliest known rulers of Kiev.

The Synopsis, also known as the Kievan Synopsis or Kyivan Synopsis is work of history, first published in Kiev in 1674. It interprets history through a Christian conception of time focused on the narratives of creation, fall, and redemption. It also had a political purpose to justify the Treaty of Pereyaslav which annexed the Cossack Hetmanate to the Tsardom of Russia while also claiming a central role for the city of Kiev.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Novgorod First Chronicle</span> Rus literary work

The Novgorod First Chronicle or The Chronicle of Novgorod, 1016–1471 is the oldest extant Rus' chronicle of the Novgorod Republic. Written in Old East Slavic, it reflects a literary tradition about Kievan Rus' which differs from the Primary Chronicle. The later editions of the chronicle reflect the lost Primary Kievan Code of the late 11th century, which contained information not present in the later Primary Chronicle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rus'–Byzantine Treaty (911)</span> 911 treaty between Kievan Rus and Byzantine Empire

The Rus'–Byzantine Treaty of 911 is the most comprehensive and detailed treaty which was allegedly concluded between the Byzantine Empire and Kievan Rus' in the early 10th century. It was preceded by the preliminary treaty of 907. It is considered the earliest written source of Kievan Rus' law. The text of this treaty is only found in the Primary Chronicle (PVL), and its authenticity is therefore difficult to establish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Principality of Moscow</span> Principality of the Late Middle Ages

The Principality of Moscow or Grand Duchy of Moscow, also known simply as Muscovy, was a principality of the Late Middle Ages centered on Moscow. It eventually evolved into the Tsardom of Russia in the early modern period. The princes of Moscow were descendants of the first prince Daniel, referred to in modern historiography as the Daniilovichi, a branch of the Rurikids.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Serhii Plokhy</span> Ukrainian-American historian

Serhii Mykolayovych Plokhy is the Mykhailo Hrushevsky professor of Ukrainian history at Harvard University, where he also serves as the director of the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute.

This is a select bibliography of post-World War II English-language books and journal articles about the Early Slavs and Rus' and its borderlands until the Mongol invasions beginning in 1223. Book entries may have references to reviews published in academic journals or major newspapers when these could be considered helpful.

This is a select bibliography of post World War II English language books and journal articles about the history of Russia and its borderlands from the Mongol invasions until 1613. Book entries may have references to reviews published in academic journals or major newspapers when these could be considered helpful.

The Kievan Chronicle or Kyivan Chronicle is a chronicle of Kievan Rus'. It was written around 1200 in Vydubychi Monastery as a continuation of the Primary Chronicle. It is known from two manuscripts: a copy in the Hypatian Codex, and a copy in the Khlebnikov Codex ; in both codices, it is sandwiched between the Primary Chronicle and the Galician–Volhynian Chronicle. It covers the period from 1118, where the Primary Chronicle ends, until about 1200, although scholars disagree where exactly the Kievan Chronicle ends and the Galician–Volhynian Chronicle begins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calling of the Varangians</span>

The calling of the Varangians, calling of the (Varangian) princes or invitation to the Varangians is a legend about the origins of the Rus' people, the Rurik dynasty and the Kievan Rus' state, recorded in many divergent versions in various manuscripts and compilations of Rus' chronicles. These include the six main witnesses of the Primary Chronicle and the Novgorod First Chronicle (NPL), as well as later textual witnesses such as the Sofia First Chronicle and the Pskov Third Chronicle.

<i>Khlebnikov Codex</i> 16th-century codex of Rus chronicle

The Khlebnikov Codex is a codex of Rus' chronicles compiled in the 1560s.

Textual variants in the Primary Chronicle manuscripts arise when a copyist makes deliberate or inadvertent alterations to the text that is being reproduced. Textual criticism of the Primary Chronicle or Tale of Bygone Years has included study of its textual variants.

The Trinity Chronicle is a Rus' chronicle written in Church Slavonic, probably at the Trinity Lavra near Moscow by Epiphanius the Wise.

Textual criticism or textology of the Primary Chronicle or Tale of Bygone Years aims to reconstruct the original text by comparing extant witnesses. This has included the search for reliable textual witnesses ; the collation and publication of such witnesses; the study of identified textual variants ; discussion, development and application of methods according to which the most reliable readings are identified and favoured of others; and the ongoing publication of critical editions in pursuit of a paradosis.

The Origins of the Slavic Nations: Premodern Identities in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus is a work by Serhii Plokhy and was published by Cambridge University Press in 2006. The book examines the origins of the east Slavic family of nations, Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus, and explores how their early development and complex relationship impacted their history and identities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Serhii Buhoslavskyi</span> Soviet literary historian, composer and musicologist from Ukraine (1888–1945)

Serhii Oleksiyovych Buhoslavskyi was a Russian Imperial and Soviet literary historian, musicologist and composer from present-day Ukraine. Buhoslavskyi is known for his work on textual criticism of the Primary Chronicle.

Tetyana Leonidivna Vilkul is a Ukrainian historian specialising in medieval Ukrainian history, and a senior research fellow of the Institute of History of Ukraine. She is known as one of the scholars who reinvigorated scientific interest and research efforts into textual criticism of the Primary Chronicle (PVL) in the early 21st century.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Ostrowski 1977, p. i.
  2. Plokhy 2006, p. x.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Michael Flier (24 March 2021). "The Ruling Families of Rus'". huri.harvard.edu. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Donald Ostrowski". medieval.fas.harvard.edu. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 Isoaho 2018, p. 638.
  6. 1 2 3 Gippius 2014, p. 342.
  7. 1 2 Isoaho 2018, pp. 638–639.
  8. Plokhy 2006, p. 26.
  9. Gippius 2014, p. 346.
  10. Plokhy 2006, p. 132.
  11. Plokhy 2006, p. 133.
  12. Plokhy 2006, p. 70.
  13. Halperin 2022, p. 55.

Sources