Vladimir Ivanovich
Dahl
1801-1872
Vladimir Ivanovich Dahl was an outstanding Russian lexicographer, writer, ethnographer, and physician, the creator of the famous “Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language. His life and multifaceted work are fittingly commemorated in a memorial museum in Moscow. He was born in Lugansk into the family of a physician-linguist. He began his career as a naval officer, then graduated from the University of Dorpat (Tartu) and became a military doctor, participating in campaigns against the Poles and Turks. In 1833, he was appointed as a special assignments official under the military governor of the Orenburg Region. This civil service role allowed him to begin the extensive work of collecting folk dialects, proverbs, and ethnographic materials. V.I. Dahl’s literary career began in 1832 with the publication of “Russian Fairy Tales,” and he was known in literature under the pseudonym “Cossack Lugansky.” His friends and interlocutors included A.S. Pushkin, V.A. Zhukovsky, N.V. Gogol, and Prince V.F. Odoevsky. Dahl was also one of the founders of the Russian Geographical Society. After retiring in the early 1860s, he moved to Moscow to dedicate himself entirely to his life’s main work. It was here that he completed the first edition of the «Explanatory Dictionary» (1863-1866), containing about 200,000 words and 30,000 proverbs. For this monumental work, Dahl was awarded the Lomonosov Prize and the title of Honorary Academician. The V.I. Dahl Museum in Moscow is located at: Bolshaya Gruzinskaya St., 4-6, building 9. This is one of the oldest wooden buildings in the capital, where Dahl spent his final years and completed work on his Dictionary. The house is a federal historical monument. The museum was opened in 1986 on the initiative of the All-Russian Society for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments (VOOPIiK). In the 1960s and 1970s, public activism saved this house from demolition. Two halls present the life and legacy of Dahl, including biographical displays highlighting his career as a physician, writer, and scientist; lifetime editions of the «Explanatory Dictionary» and the collection «Proverbs of the Russian People»; personal belongings, photographs, and drawings donated by Dahl’s great-granddaughter, Olga Stanisheva; and exhibits detailing the story of how the house-museum itself was saved. The V.I. Dahl Museum is not only a memorial space but also a living center dedicated to honoring the great work that preserved for us the richness and spirit of the Russian folk language.
Address: Moscow, Bolshaya Gruzinskaya str., 4-6, building 9
