Abstract

The formation and development of V.I. Bovykin’s academic school is linked to the Faculty of History of Lomonosov Moscow State University. The school, which has existed for several decades and brought together several generations of historians, continues to develop in the twenty-first century. This article attempts at outlining V.I. Bovykin’s development as a researcher, the main trends of his scholarly interests, and the constant expansion and enrichment of the range of his research. The author examines the extant archives of the scholar and recollections of his students and colleagues. The works by V.I. Bovykin’s disciples are varied in their subject matter. Not all of his followers work in the economic history paradigm, but the core of the school consists of studies devoted to this very topic. V.I. Bovykin was formed as a specialist in the history of Russia at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, and the research of his school was initially focused on the Russian history of that period. But his followers, who developed the traditions of economic history, went beyond these chronological boundaries and nowadays deal with the economic history of the twentieth century. In the new economic realities of the 1990s, the historian himself adopted a new, “modern” perspective on many issues of the economic history of the turn of the 19th–20th centuries. The main features of V.I. Bovykin’s scientific school were defined by his own creative interest in historiography and source studies. However, these components of historical science have become a means of penetrating deeply into the economic history of Russia in modern and contemporary periods. An important feature of V.I. Bovykin’s school was the humanitarian dimension of economic history research. Significant contribution was made by V.I. Bovykin’s followers and pupils in exploring the personal factor in economic history. The school is renowned for the work of Bovykin’s disciples who have mastered the biographical and genealogical methods. The efforts of V.I. Bovykin’s followers were instrumental in creating a collective portrait of the national entrepreneurs. Several generations of the scholar’s followers have developed an unwavering interest in economic history and its humanitarian phenomena. Conferences dedicated to the memory of V.I. Bovykin are held regularly.