Generations in historical science: The hvostovs dynasty

Abstract

© The authors. The thematic justification of the researched problem comes from the need to identify a family basis, linking generations from parents to children transmitting not only traditions and eternal values, but also scientific knowledge, particularly when this knowledge is not simply accepted and perceived, but also implemented professionally, including as a continuation of the life of older generations. The purpose of the article is to examine and catalogue the materials about the Hvostovs Russian dynasty of historians. They are: a leading historian of antiquity at the beginning of the 20th century Mikhail Mikhailovich Hvostov (1872-1920), his son, a prominent Soviet historian of international relations and foreign policy of Russia, academician Vladimir Mikhailovich Hvostov (1905-1972) and his daughter, the doctor of historical sciences, a leading scientific employee of the Institute of world history, Russian Academy of Sciences, the head of the "Problems of historical cognition" center Ksenia Vladimirovna Hvostova. The main method of investigation is a widely spread historical-comparative method that provides historical comparisons, contrasts, and setting parallels. This method realizes an opportunity to study the historical facts as in close connection with the historic setting where they were originated and are still valid, so in qualitative changes at different stages of development. An important role in the direction of the analysis on the nature of the problem realization requires using the elements of system-structural analysis. This article presents the results indicating conservation and development of scientific traditions in four generations of the Hvostovs dynasty of historians showing the sustained development of historical knowledge in Russia in the XIX-the XX-XXI centuries. The results and materials of the article may be useful in studying and popularisation of scientific contribution of the historians dynasties to the development of the world and national historical science.