Bolotov, Vasily Vasilyevich, is a famous church historian (born December 31, 1853, died April 5, 1900). The son of a deacon of the Tver diocese, Bolotov was educated at the Tver Theological Seminary and in St. Petersburg. Theological Academy, where he later taught general church history. In 1879, Bolotov defended his master's thesis "Origen's Doctrine of the Holy Trinity" (St. Petersburg, 1879). Bolotov combined with a thorough and deep theological education the broadest and most versatile philological knowledge. Bolotov’s works on the history of the ancient Christian Coptic, Ethiopian and Syrian churches, which always contained a lot of new things, aroused lively and deep interest among specialists from all countries. For the totality of his works, Bolotov received a doctorate in church history in 1896, in the field of which he was perhaps the first initiator of a purely scientific development in our country and created an entire school. His "Lectures on the history of the ancient church: I. Introduction to church history" (St. Petersburg, 1907) and "Lectures on the history of the ancient church. II. History of the church in the period before Constantine the Great" (St. Petersburg, 1910) were published under the editorship of Professor A. Brilliantov. Bolotov's literary works, with the exception of his initial journal works, are of a strictly scientific nature and, in terms of the form of presentation, are accessible to a very limited circle of specialists.