Rigelman, Nikolai

Rigelman, Nikolai [Ригельман, Николай; Rigel'man], b 29 September 1817 in Andriivka, Chernihiv county, Chernihiv gubernia, d 2 June 1888 in Kyiv. Historian, publicist, and Slavophile civic leader; grandson of Aleksandr Rigelman. He headed the Kyiv Slavic Benevolent Society, supported Russophile societies in Lviv, and worked closely with the Cyril and Methodius Brotherhood (to the point where he himself was questioned during the inquiry). He became acquainted with Taras Shevchenko in 1840 and came to aid him financially in 1857. He was a director of elementary schools in Kyiv gubernia and a member of the Kyiv Archeographic Commission; together with I. Samchevsky he edited the chronicle of Samiilo Velychko, which was published by the commission (vols 1–4, 1848–64). Rigelman wrote many publicistic works on Slavic and Slavophile issues of his time. He approached the Ukrainian issue from the viewpoint of conservative Slavophilism. Having access to government archives, Rigelman wrote about Shevchenko’s testimony in the Cyril and Methodius Brotherhood trial (‘Dopros T.G. Shevchenka v 1847 g.’ [The Interrogation of T. Shevchenko in 1847], Kievskaia starina, 1902, no. 2).

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 4 (1993).]