Universities of the Russian Empire in Autobiographies of Historians in the 19th – early 20th Centuries: “Events”, “Actors”, “Stories”

The paper provides an analysis of the 19th – early 20th centuries autobiographies by I. Snehyrov, N. Ustrialov, S. Soloviov, K. Bestuzhev-Riumyn, M. Maksymovych, N. Kostomarov, V. Antonovych, M. Drahomanov, V. Semevskyi, etc. Such concepts as «life events», «actors», «stories» act as key notions of the research. This research focuses on the «event» saturation at various stages and different spheres of the university life of memoirists, as well as the peculiarities of interpretation and presentation of the corresponding «events». Particular attention is paid to the analysis of «stories», which are a complete narration and give some «events» the status of «key» or «turning». In addition, the paper analyzes the circle of communication of memoirists (so-called «significant others»), which allows to talk about the relationships in the system «teacher – student», «client – patron», etc. Understanding autobiographical texts as cultural and intellectual constructs influenced by a lot of factors (cultural and historiographic tradition, life experience of a memoirist, etc.), makes it possible to understand more deeply not only the individual «life path» of the university historian, but also the phenomenon of the university as a whole. In particular, the appearance in the autobiographies of historians of the younger generation of reflections on their current system of education, attempts to understand the moral code of «university person», the emphasis on the recognition of their scientific achievements by their colleagues. This is what indicates the beginning of the formation process of a professional community and awareness of the university values.