Educational travels of M.S. Koutorga to England and Greece: from London to Athens, including explorations in Boeotia

The article deals with the educational travels of the outstanding Russian researcher of antiquity M.S. Koutorga, which he made in England and Greece. In the existing publications on the activities of M.S. Koutorga the trip to England has not been paid attention. This trip can be seen as preparation for a later visit to Greece, where M.S. Koutorga conducted research, especially in Boeotia. In England, Koutorga visited the famous researcher on the ancient topography of Greece, Colonel William Martin Leake, who presented M.S. Kutorga with three of his works. Colonel Leake, through a chain of personal connections, recommended Koutorga to Cambridge, Oxford, and the British Museum. In addition, Mikhail Semenovich became a member of the Cavendish Literary Club, as mentioned in a letter from Lionel Buda. Thus, with the necessary literature, M. S. Koutorga knew the places of Greece that had been less affected by previous explorations, giving him the opportunity to make his own. Having visited Greece, M. S. Koutorga also secured the necessary references. He was associated with A. M. Kumanis, A. R. Rangavis, I. K. Paparrigopoulos, and other statesmen and scientists in Greece. All this made it possible to organize the journey in the best possible way and to carry out research for subsequent publications, among which the study of the Plataean region in Boeotia occupied a special place. The article is based on archival material, most of which is published for the first time, and is accompanied by a map of the region of Plataea, on which the names mentioned by Koutorga are inscribed.