Johann Vollrath Bacmeister

Johann Vollrath Bacmeister , Russian spelling: Bakmejster, Ivan Grigor'jevic (born July 9, 1732 in Hanover , † September 18, 1788 in St. Petersburg ) was a German historian and librarian at the Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg.

Life

The son of the Hanoverian syndic Georg Arnold Bacmeister (1700–1773) and Sara Hedwig Margaretha Bacmeister (1707–1742), daughter of the secret law firm Georg Arnold Bacmeister (1678–1736), as well as the grandson of the Celle law firm director Johann Christian Bacmeister and nephew of the theologian Lucas Bacmeister studied history and several languages at the University of Göttingen . After completing his studies, the Russian envoy, Count Cernyšov, appointed him to be court master at the " English Court ", the embassy chancellery of the Russian Tsar's Foreign Office on Varvarka Street in Moscow. After his death, the incumbent president of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Count Aleksej K. Razumovskij, took him over as private secretary and at the same time made him the librarian of the academy library and the administrator of the art chamber attached to the academy. Bacmeister worked in these positions until his death. He received special recognition for his evaluation of the Coin Cabinet in the St. Petersburg Hermitage , where his knowledge of Arabic was particularly beneficial.

In addition, from 1777 Bacmeister became involved as a freelancer and co-editor of the " St. Petersburg Journal " and also published regular reports on current events for the Academy's almanac . In 1785 he was finally appointed editor and successor to the late Jacob von Staehlin for the German-language St. Petersburgische Zeitung .

As early as 1780, Bacmeister had founded a circle in St. Petersburg for reading new literary publications in French, and from 1785 was accepted as a member of the renowned " Imperial Free Economic Society " founded by Tsarina Catherine II of Russia . In St. Petersburg, Bacmeister worked closely with his cousin, the historian and linguist Hartwig Ludwig Christian Bacmeister , who also worked there at the Russian Academy of Sciences .

Works

• Essai sur la bibliothèque et le cabinet de curiosités et d'histoire naturelle de l'academie des sciences de Saint-Petersbourg , Weitbrecht & Schnoor , St. Petersburg, 1776
• Attempt on the library and the natural objects and art cabinet of the Imperial Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg , Weitbrecht & Schnoor, St. Petersburg, 1777
• Poems , in: St. Petersburg Journal , 1778 No. 2, pp. 456ff.,
• About the old Russian coins , in: St. Petersburg Journal , 1780.
• Historical message from the metal statue of Peters the Great , Weitbrecht & Schnoor, St. Petersburg, 1783
• Materials for Statistick and Modern State History - Meyer, Lemgo, 1785
• Contributions to the life story of the Patriarch Nikon ; Riga, Hartknoch, 1788

literature

• Russkij biograficeskij slovar , (1896–1912), St. Petersburg, Vol. II, pp. 430–431
• Novyj Enciklopediceskij slovar , Sankt Peterburg,
• Eichhorn, Carl (1902): The history of the St. Petersburger Zeitung 1727–1902 , St. Petersburg, pp. 116–117

Web links

• Biography on the website of the University of Potsdam ( Memento from January 17, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
• Wolrad Johann Conrad Bacmeister in the Erik Amburger database
• Biography and geneal. Information