[From Tseikhgauz No. 14, 2/2002. Page 37.]

 

  

Petr Fedorovich Kosmolinskii

(5 August 1950 – 22 February 2001)

 

 

            It is with great sadness that we announce the death of an outstanding force in the study of our country’s heraldry and uniforms, the well-known artist and publicist P.F. Kosmolinskii.

His first academic steps were undertaken in circumstances in which the study of Russian uniforms was almost completely forgotten and phaleristics, heraldry, and the rich world of noble culture were treated with scorn. As an artist, P.F. Kosmolinskii keenly felt this gap in cultural social studies, knowledge that was stifled by ideological constraints. With his art he tried to reestablish the broken connection with time and traditions. In fact, he was the first to resurrect the genre of Russian military historical miniatures and achieved wide international recognition.

P.F. Kosmolinskii’s series of articles in the journals Sovetskii muzei, Nauka i zhizn’, and others in the 1980s were a true breakthrough in acquainting the public with uniformology. For many modern researchers these articles, illustrated by the author, were the first means of making a serious study of military costume.

At the beginning of the 1980s P.F. Kosmolinskii came forward as one of the initiators for an association into one organization of all those interested in uniformology, heraldry, and phaleristics. A Military History Commission was created under the Central Council of VOOPIK. For a long time he worked as a leader and in 1987 he became chairman. In the course of many years of regularly collected reports he acquired a mass of experience. It was in fact the nest of the Military History Commission that saw the birth of the Moscow movement of military history clubs which later spread so far. P.F. Kosmolinskii, prominent as one of the most active of its organizers, became the honored leader of one of the largest associations of clubs—“Moskovskii korpus.”

P.F. Kosmolinskii gave much attention to the rebirth of the study of Russian heraldry, the preservation of its best traditions, and the correct use of new designs. He strictly observed these principles, being Master of Heraldry of the Russian Assembly of Nobles.

P.F. Kosmolinskii generously shared his experience and knowledge with everyone who turned to him for help and advice. His high professionalism and human qualities gave him great authority among friends and acquaintances.

The editorial staff of Tseikhgauz expresses deep sympathy to relatives and friends of the deceased.

__________________________________________

   

Translated by Mark Conrad, 2002.