Firs Fedosovich Bolonev: Stages of a Scholarly Biography

The article analyzes the scholarly biography of the outstanding Russian ethnographer Firs Fedosovich Bolonev (1935–2018), the founder of a comprehensive approach to the study of the history and culture of the Semeiskie (Transbaikal Old Believers). Drawing on a wide range of sources — including archival materials, publications, and the scholar’s personal recollections — the article reconstructs the key stages of his professional career. It examines his work at the Buryat Integrated Research Institute, his postgraduate training undertaken at the invitation of Academician A. P. Okladni-kov, his many years of activity at institutes of the Siberian Branch of RAS, and his leadership of numerous field expeditions. Special attention is given to F. F. Bolonev’s contribution to the development of eth-nography. His candidate and doctoral theses are analyzed as works that laid the methodological foundations for the study of the folk calendar, spiritual culture, and everyday life of the Semeiskie. The innovative nature of his research is emphasized, as his studies were among the first in Russian scholarship to address the religious life of Old Believers, their ethnocultural interaction with the Indigenous peoples of Siberia, and the mechanisms for preserving traditional culture in a foreign cultural environment. His unique role as a field researcher who collected an extensive body of ethnographic and folkloric ma-terials is also noted. The article concludes that the scholarly legacy of F. F. Bolonev — comprising 28 monographs and more than 235 articles — is of fundamental signif-icance. His works not only laid the foundation for contemporary studies of Old Belief in Siberia but are also actively used in educational and local history practice, contributing to the preserva-tion of the unique cultural heritage of the Semeiskie of Transbaikalia.