Miller, Orest Fedorovich

Born July 23 (Aug. 4), 1833, in Haapsalu, in present-day Estonian SSR; died May 20 (June 1), 1889, in St. Petersburg. Russian folklorist and literary scholar.

Miller graduated from the historical and philological faculty of St. Petersburg University in 1855. He became a professor at St. Petersburg University in 1870. In his “Essay on a Historical Survey of Russian Literature” (1863), Miller undertook for the first time in Russia the systematic study of folklore. As a folklorist, he was affiliated with the mythological school. Miller’s doctoral dissertation, “Il’ia Muromets and the Bogatyrs of Kiev” (1869), reflected his Slavophile views. Miller wrote a series of lectures entitled “Russian Literature After Gogol,” which was published in 1874.