Samokvasov, Dimitrii

Samokvasov, Dimitrii [Самоквасов, Димитрий], b 27 May 1843 on an estate near Molotech, Novhorod-Siverskyi county, Chernihiv gubernia, d 16 August 1911 in Moscow. Russian archeologist and law historian. After studying at Saint Petersburg University, he taught law at Warsaw University from 1877 until he moved to Moscow in 1892 to direct the Ministry of Justice archives and teach the history of Russian law at Moscow University. He directed a number of archeological digs in Russia and Ukraine, including the renowned Chorna Mohyla site near Chernihiv. He published monographs and articles on early Kyivan Rus’ cities (including his MA dissertation in 1873), on legal history, and on early Kyivan Rus’ grave sites (the latter have little scholarly value). Although born in Ukraine, he opposed the Ukrainian national movement.

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