Eugene Bolkhovitinov

[1] Best known as an antiquary and book collector, Bolkhovitinov came from a generation of learned Orthodox monks formed by the Russian Enlightenment.

The son of a Voronezh priest, Bolkhovitinov attended the Slavic Greek Latin Academy and the Moscow University.

Though amateur, his archaeological and palaeographical work was highly regarded by a circle of antiquaries close to Count Nikolai Rumyantsev.

[2] He also gained the friendship of poet Gavrila Derzhavin, who addressed to him a lengthy idyll, Life in Zvanka (one of the best known poems in the language).

[1] He assembled a large collection of manuscripts, developed an interest in the history of church music, and compiled the first comprehensive guide to Russian secular writers.