Bichurin N.Y. (Iakinf) (1777-1853), Chinologist, translator

Categories / Science. Education/Personalia
BICHURIN Nikita Yakovlevich (monastic name Iakinf) (1777-1853, St. Petersburg), scholar of Eastern Studies, corresponding member of Russian Academy (1828). Graduated from the Theological Seminary of Kazan (1799). Took monastic vows in 1800, raised to the rank of archimandrite in 1802. In 1807-20, headed the Russian Spiritual Mission to Beijing. In 1822 in St. Petersburg, he was defrocked by the church court and exiled to Valaam Monastery. After his influential friends interceded for him in 1826, he was returned to St. Petersburg to Alexander Nevsky Lavra; later, he served as translator in the Asian Department of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and was engaged in research and journalism. Bichurin authored several works, including monographs, on the history, ethnography and economy of China, Mongolia and Tibet. Buried at St. Lazarus Cemetery of Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

References: Н. Я. Бичурин и его вклад в русское востоковедение: (К 200-летию со дня рождения): Материалы конф.: В 2 ч. М., 1977; Хохлов А. Н. Н. Я. Бичурин и его труды о Монголии и Китае // ВИ. 1978. № 1. С. 55-72.

T. V. Ermakova. Bichurin Nikita Yakovlevich
Хохлов А. Н. Н. Я. Бичурин и его труды о Монголии и Китае // Вопр. истории, 1978
Н. Я. Бичурин и его вклад в русское востоковедение: (К 200-летию со дня рождения): Материалы конф.: В 2 ч. М., 1977 Russian Academy of Sciences
Alexander Nevsky Lavra
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Lazarevskaya Burial Vault