The history of the confrontation between Lomonosov and Miller on the issue of "Norman theory"
The most interesting episode of the many years of confrontation between the Russian scientist Mikhail Lomonosov and his eternal antagonist Gerard Miller is the dispute over the so-called "Norman theory". In modern historiography, this dispute is interpreted rather vulgarly: it is argued that Lomonosov, either out of envy or out of false patriotism, attacked the progressive historian Miller, who was something like a modern member of the Academy of Sciences and possessed advanced scientific tools, unlike Lomonosov, which is to the detriment historical tried to present his homeland in the most favorable context.
Miller was born in Westphalia in 1705 and arrived in Russia in November 1725, where he became actively involved in the work of the newly created Academy. One of the leaders of the Academy, Johann Daniel Schumacher, at first patronized the young compatriot in every possible way, but subsequently relations between them deteriorated significantly, which was one of the reasons why Miller, for whom it became unbearable to stay within the walls of the Academy, went on the Great Northern Expedition, where he spent the next ten years.
For a speech in 1749 at a ceremonial meeting of the Academy in honor of Empress Elizabeth, Miller prepared a report in which he outlined the then-new "Norman theory", according to which it was assumed that the Russian state was founded by the Varangians, therefore the name "Rus" is supposedly of Scandinavian origin. This theory was not new at that time - Miller had previously set out his hypotheses regarding the Scandinavian origin of Rus' in his articles published in various scientific journals.
Miller's report caused a sharp rejection on the part of Lomonosov, who accused Miller of the political background of the "Norman theory" and demanded that the Academy ban the presented report. Lomonosov, in addition to historical inconsistencies in Miller's theory, also found ideological underpinnings. In his opinion, Miller did not show any facts of the glory of the Russian people, their numerous military victories, but presented everything as if the Scandinavians managed to gain control over Russia. Lomonosov was most outraged by the fact that Miller practically did not rely on Russian chronicles in his work, but operated with information set forth in the Scandinavian sagas.
Lomonosov was supported by the Russian and part of the Western scientific community, the report was recognized as politicized, Miller was forbidden to read it, and was also demoted for six months in his academic rank and removed from his post with a decrease in salary. This conflict prompted Lomonosov to conduct historical research himself and write two scientific works on Russian history.
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