He was born in Rechitsa uyezd, Minsk province (now Gomel region). His father was Antoni Ivanovich Goshkevich, a priest of St. Michael's Church in the village of Strelichyova, Rechitsa County (now Khoiniki District); his mother was Glikeria Yakovlevna Goshkevich; his brother was Ivan Antonovich Goshkevich (who became an archpriest of the Kiev-Podolsk Constantine Church); his nephew was historian V. I. Goshkevich.
In 1835 he graduated from Minsk Theological Seminary with first degree and was sent to St. Petersburg Theological Academy, which he graduated in 1839. The topic of his candidate's essay was "Historical Review of the Sacrament of Penance. He was engaged in the lithographic edition of the translation of the Old Testament from Hebrew into Russian. He was held administratively liable for an unauthorized translation by the Synod.
By the decision of the Holy Synod of August 29, 1839 he was enrolled in the Russian Spiritual Mission in China (1839-1848). He was a member of the 12th mission in Beijing. As a result of his stay in China he published articles in his fundamental research "Works of Members of the Russian Spiritual Mission in Beijing". He was awarded the Order of St. Stanislaus, 3rd class.
During his stay in China, he studied the country as a naturalist, in particular he was keen on collecting collections of insects and butterflies, which later joined the collections of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
After his return from China to St. Petersburg in 1850, he was enrolled as an official for special assignments in the Asia Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia. In 1852 he was sent as a dragoon and adviser on the mission of Yevfimy Putyatin to Japan on the frigate "Pallada".
January 26 (February 7), 1855 he participated in the signing of the Treaty of Shimoda between Russia and Japan. On July 14, 1855 he left Japan on the brig "Greta", on which he was taken prisoner by the British in Hong Kong (August 1, 1855 - March 30, 1856). While in captivity he was composing the first Japanese-Russian dictionary (SPB, 1857) with the help of Japanese Tachibana Kosai Tatsibana-no Koosai, after his baptism Vladimir Iosifovich Yamatov; 1821-1885, Kumezo; a samurai from the Kakegawa clan.)
He returned to St. Petersburg in May 1856, where he received a medal of dark bronze on St. Andrew's ribbon "In memory of the war of 1853-1856", and on October 16, 1857 was awarded the Order of St. Anna 2nd degree with a crown and at the same time 500 rubles in silver. He was also awarded the "Badge of Merit for XV years.
December 18, 1857 he received the highest permission to publish "Japanese-Russian Dictionary", prepared jointly with Tatibana-no Koosai.
On December 21, 1857 he was appointed Imperial Consul of Russia in Japan by the Imperial order of the Civil Office.
In 1858-1865 years Consul of the Russian Empire in Japan (in Hakodate), where he arrived on October 24, 1858, on the clipper "Jigit". In the same year he went to Edo, the residence of the Shogun, to ratify the Edo treaty on trade and navigation. In 1860, as a ktitor and architect, he built the first Orthodox church in Japan under the consulate.
On his return from Japan in 1865-1866 he served in the Asiatic Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia with the rank of collegiate counselor (which corresponded in the table of ranks to the high VI class).
In 1866 he returned to his homeland, where he began working on a book "On the roots of the Japanese language," which was published posthumously in 1899.
In 1871 Goshkevich and his wife were confirmed to hereditary nobility. In 1872 they had a son, Joseph, who later became an honorary justice of the peace of Vilna district, the author of the book "Statistical Information on Peasant Land Management of Vilna province".
He died on his estate in the village of Mali (now Ostrovets district, Grodno region) on May 3 (15), 1875. He was buried in the Orthodox parish cemetery in Ostrovets (does not exist today). According to a local informant Lugowski A. I. Maldis indicated that the grave was near the beginning of the eastern wall of the church of St. Kozma and Damian (in 1866 - 1918 the church of the same name).
Memorial
In Mali village a memorial sign by Belarusian sculptor R.B. Grusha was erected in his honor. In the town of Ostrovets there is a bronze bust - chest portrait of Goshkevich, which was made by Belarusian sculptor Valerian Yanushkevich. One of the streets in Minsk is named after I. Goshkevich. At Hakodate Museum in Hokkaido, Japan, there is a bronze bust of Goshkevich made by Russian sculptor Oleg Komov in 1989.
The previously unknown species of insects (including two species of butterflies), most likely collected by his wife in China, Beijing (Goschkevitschii creeper) and Japan (Neope goschkevitschii), as well as a bay in North Korea; in Korean tradition, Chosanman Bay.
