Pyotr Vasilyevich Kireyevsky, born on February 11 (23), 1808, in the Kaluga province and died on October 25 (November 6), 1856, in the Kireyevskaya sloboda of the Oryol province, was a renowned Russian writer, translator, folklorist, and archaeographer. He came from an ancient noble family of Kireyevskys and was the younger brother of Ivan Vasilyevich Kireyevsky. Pyotr spoke seven languages.

His father, Vasily Ivanovich, served in his youth and after retiring settled in the family estate of Dolbino, where he built a new house and married Avdotya Petrovna Yushkova. Vasily Ivanovich knew five foreign languages, was engaged in medicine and literature, was an anglophile, but did not like encyclopedists. He actively supported folk festivities and was known for his piety. In 1812, he died from typhus. Pyotr's mother also came from a noble family connected with the Golovkins and Naryshkins.

Pyotr, along with his brother Ivan, received home education, and from 1822 studied under professors at Moscow University. In 1823, he met the Polish ethnographer Z. Dolenga-Khodakovsky and assisted him in his work on a collection of folklore. Through his brother, Pyotr interacted with notable figures such as D. V. Venevitinov and A. S. Khomyakov, and attended a reading of Pushkin's drama "Boris Godunov."

In 1827, Pyotr debuted in the magazine "Moscow Herald," and in 1828 published a translation of Byron's story "The Vampire." He also translated works by Calderón and Shakespeare. In 1829, Pyotr went to Germany, where he attended lectures by famous professors and interacted with Fyodor Tyutchev. Upon returning to Russia, he began working in the Moscow Archive of the Collegium of Foreign Affairs.

Kireyevsky adhered to Slavophile views and actively collected folk songs, involving well-known writers in this endeavor. In 1832, he published an article on the current state of Spain. In 1835, Pyotr went abroad again for treatment, and in 1836 became the owner of a village near Oryol, where he conducted folklore expeditions.

In the last years of his life, Kireyevsky dedicated himself to studying chronicles and collecting songs, striving to preserve them for future generations. In 1845, he published an article "On Ancient Russian History," and in 1846 translated Samuel Collins' work on the state of Russia. From 1853, he showed signs of illness, and in 1856 he passed away in Kireyevskaya sloboda. He was buried in Optina Monastery, like his brother.