Tereshchenko, Aleksandr
Tereshchenko, Aleksandr Vlas’evich
Born 1806; died Feb. 21 (Mar. 5), 1865, in the village of Zen’kovo, in what is now Poltava Oblast. Russian ethnographer and archaeologist.
Tereshchenko’s main work, The Way of Life of the Russian People (parts 1–7; St. Petersburg, 1847–48), deals with Russian dwellings, clothing, food, trades and crafts, family life, common law, rituals, folk medicine, and folklore, as well as Russian physical traits. Tereshchenko sought to demonstrate the distinctive qualities of Russian culture and its links with the culture of ancient Slavic peoples. However, he upheld official reactionary nationalist ideology.
Tereshchenko also studied the history of the nomads of the Black Sea steppes, conducted archaeological excavations, and described hundreds of archaeological remains. His works include Burial Mounds and Stone Figures in Ekaterinoslav and Tavrida Provinces (1866).