The Role of Academician Mikhail N. Bogolyubov in the Establishment of Orthodoxy in the Far East as a Research Field

In this article, an attempt is made, on the basis of material from home archives, documents on the history of the Oriental Faculty at St. Petersburg State University, publications in the scholarly almanac Pravoslavie v Dalʹnem Vostoke (Orthodoxy in the Far East), and research articles in the Trudy (Acts) of the Nizhny Novgorod Theological Seminary, to show the role of Academician Mikhail Nikolayevich Bogolyubov in the formation of the scholarly field “Orthodoxy in the Far East”. The author shows that the scholar’s interest in this area did not arise by chance but was associated with family traditions (M.N. Bogolyubov’s father was a professor of theology), special education and the significant role of Patriarch Sergius (Stragorodsky), who was the godfather of the future academician. The study presents a brief biography of M.N. Bogolyubov and notes his discoveries and contributions to Russian oriental studies. Particular attention is paid to the very problem of “Orthodoxy in the Far East”, which, thanks to academician Bogolyubov, became the topic of research by Russian scientists and was included in the educational process, as reflected in the teaching materials and textbooks published at St. Petersburg State University.