Vladimir Abryutin
Vladimir Abryutin (5/17th of May 1872, Riga, Russian Empire – 20th of October 1944, Riga, Latvian SSR) – a lecturer of the Russian Institute of University Knowledge in Riga. From 1922 to 1934 was the principal of the private primary school, owned by his wife Maria Lerch-Abryutina.
In 1897, Vladimir Abryutin graduated from the Moscow Theological Academy. In 1897–98, he studied at the St. Petersburg Archaeological Institute. He spent several years in Italy, attending classes at the University of Rome. In 1902, he returned to Russia.
From 1902 to 1905, V. Abryutin taught at the Syzran Theological Seminary (Samara Governorate). From 1906 to 1916, he worked as a teacher and inspector at the Ashgabat City Boys’ Gymnasium. In April 1917, he was appointed head of a new gymnasium under construction in Bukhara. However, he chose a different path: he married Maria Lerch (b. October 21, 1885) and settled in Moscow, where his wife ran a private girls' gymnasium. He lived and worked in Moscow for nearly five years. However, the political situation in Russia forced the couple to seek refuge elsewhere. That place turned out to be Latvia, as under Latvian citizenship law, V. Abryutin (and his wife) had a legal right to obtain Latvian citizenship.
Maria Lerch-Abryutina immediately opened a private primary school (located at 4 Meža Street, near the Holy Trinity Church in Pārdaugava), which operated until the 1933/34 academic year, but was unable to survive the economic crisis. The headmaster of this school was V. Abryutin.
However, within the Russian community, V. Abryutin was better known as a lecturer at the Russian University Courses, which were later transformed into the Russian Institute of University Knowledge. At this institution, he worked as a lecturer, delivering courses such as: Child Psychology, History of Russian Literature.
He also taught Greek, Russian, and Church Slavonic.
From the mid-1930s, he lived as a retiree.
Vladimir Abryutin passed away in Riga on October 20, 1944.
Text by Tatjana Feigmane
Sources of information:
ЛГИА, ф. 1632, оп. 1, д. 6509.
ЛГИА, ф. 2996, оп. 1, д. 3159.
