No 2 (2025): History and philology

For the first time, based on ethnographic essays, historical sources, and literature, approaches reflecting important milestones in the history of Orthodox church building in the Kola North in the XV–XVI centuries are analyzed in three settlements: Varzuga, Kandalaksha, and Kola. The process of spreading Orthodoxy in the Kola North and church building began in the XV century and was carried out with the help of preachers, among whom the most famous were Tryphon of Pechenga, Theognost, and Theodoret of Kola. The personality of the latter is the subject of the greatest debate in the available historical and ethnographic literature. The lack of documents confirming the exact dates of the foundation of churches and monasteries in Kandalaksha and Kola in the XVI century initiated a discussion concerning the activities of Theodoret of Kola and his role in the Christianization of the Kola North. It was updated after the publication of a book about Theodoret by the church historian Metropolitan Mitrofan (Badanin). The controversy, which was reflected in scientific, critical and journalistic texts, involved not only professional historians, but also the public associated with the religious-church environment and local history. Discussions in the field of religious-church history of the region allow us to see a rather motley picture of the perception of religious life and ambiguous assessments of the activities of preachers.

The paper deals with the life and activities of the famous Ukrainian hetman of the XVII century Pyotr Doroshenko in the Vyatka Region of Russia. For the first time in the scientific literature, the author clearly defined the years of his service as the Vyatka voivode – 1682 - 1684. Besides, based on rare sources, his contribution to the rebuiding of the fortress of the Khlynov town, the capital of the Vyatka Voivodeship, was determined.

The author considers the main legislative acts related to the gradual formation of the merchant class in the Russian Empire in the XVIII century. The formation of the guild merchant corporation begins in the era of Peter the Great, when the consolidation of traders in towns was aimed at improving the efficiency of the taxation system and increasing the flow of funds to the state budget. In the first third of the XVIII century, there was a terminological and legislative separation of traders into a separate group, integrated not only into the economic sphere, but also into the structure of local government. In the legislative practice of the second third of the XVIII century, the term “merchant class” was used to denote a group of people engaged in trading activities; in 1742, the merchant class was divided into three guilds. In the last third of the XVIII century, the Manifesto on the Supreme Favors Granted to Different Classes on the Occasion of the Conclusion of Peace with the Ottoman Porte in 1775, and the Charter on the Rights and Benefits of the Towns of the Russian Empire in 1785 finally formalized the class organization of the guild merchant class. Thus, by the end of the XVIII century, the merchant class in the Russian Empire was represented by three guilds, each of which implied conditions for entry in the form of the amount of declared capital and provided a certain range of privileges related to trade, entrepreneurship, communication routes and social status.

The paper considers the role of the Abkhazian intelligentsia in the socio-political and socio-economic life of Russian society. At the beginning of the XIX century, the Abkhazian intelligentsia included representatives of noble and princely families who made up the Abkhazian military intelligentsia. Since the mid-XIX century, a large contingent of Abkhazian officials from various social strata of the population has been growing. The bulk of the social group began to consist of people from non-noble strata of society who received education at the educational institutions of the Russian capital in various specialties. Among the large group one can see lawyers, journalists, philologists, specialists in flora and fauna, and other scientific disciplines. Prominent representatives of the Abkhazian intelligentsia worked for the benefit of the development of the entire Russian society in the field of culture and education. Since the end of the XIX century, the creative path of Alexander Konstantinovich Shervashidze (Chachba) began, whose name can be ranked among the outstanding artists of Russia. Since the beginning of the XX century, representatives of the political Abkhazian intelligentsia have been actively involved in the establishment of Soviet power and the development of a new socialist society.

Based on archival sources and literature, the paper considers the state of the salmon fishery, the most profitable type of peasant activity of the Pechora Uyezd of the Arkhangelsk Province at the beginning of the XXcentury. Its role in the peasant economy has been studied, and the number of industrialists in two volosts of the Pechora Uyezd – Pustozersk and Ust-Tsilma, where the fishery was widespread, has been identified. A brief description of the fishing gear used in salmon fishing is given. The widespread organization of the fishery in the form of artels, and the emergence of wealthy peasant entrepreneurs who made extensive use of hired workers from among their fellow villagers are noted. The deep penetration of capitalism into this industry is revealed. It is concluded that at the beginning of the XX century the salmon fishery in the Pechora Uyezd had a vivid commercial character.

The author raises the problem of an interdisciplinary approach to the study of folk traditions that have gone out of active use and do not have reliable ethnographic descriptions. This problem is relevant not only for the study of the Komi tradition, but also for ethnographic studies of other peoples. The paper analyzes fragments of scientific works by P. A. Sorokin, V. P. Nalimov, A. S. Sidorov, devoted to the study of the ritual of sacrificing dometic animals among the Komi-Zyryans, using methods of biographical, descriptive, comparative and textual analysis. The analysis revealed that the study of the ritual of sacrificing animals in the works of P. A. Sorokin, V. P. Nalimov and A. S. Sidorov corresponds to the theoretical developments of ethnographic science of the early XX century. It is characterized by the search for and identification of the “roots” of the rite, the correlation of current religious practices with ancient forms of religions and pre-Christian worldview, ignoring the current context of the tradition. It has been established that the source of information about the rite is the personal memories and field materials of the authors, as well as published works. The descriptions of the ritual included in the studies are brief and generalized, typical of ethnographic notes of the second half of the XIX century, which is explained by the authors’ attempt to present the particular as typical. The analysis of the sources made it possible to clarify individual details in the description of the rite, identify controversial points and substantiate contradictions. As a result of the study, the issues of historiography of the animal sacrifice rite in the Komi tradition were clarified, a source study analysis of the materials was carried out, which makes it possible to enter a new stage in the study of this ritual.

The paper considers the implementation of the state program for the organization of training and advanced training of collective farm chairmen during the Great Patriotic War and in the first post-war years using the Komi ASSR as an example. Specific steps taken by the government bodies at both the national and republican levels to achieve this goal are shown. The difficulties encountered by the organizers of the process under consideration during this period are highlighted. The dynamics of secondary agricultural school students in the training of collective farm chairmen in the Komi ASSR in the 1947-1949 academic years is traced.

The author considers the problems of state policy in the field of organizing the production and sale of children’s toys in the Komi ASSR in the mid-XX century. Based on the analysis of archival materials, a set of interrelated problems was identified that led to a shortage of highly artistic and high-quality children’s goods produced at republican enterprises of the local industry - artels and factories. The main production difficulties identified during the study included a shortage of high-quality raw materials, insufficient specialization of craftsmen, manual labor as the basis of the production process and, as a consequence, high selling prices for the manufactured products, as well as inefficient work of supplying and trading organizations. Similar situation has developed in other regions of the country, which caused criticism from state and public institutions and was repeatedly discussed in the press. In the second half of the 1950s the central Union factories, introducing new materials and technologies, significantly increased the volume of children’s products, while in the Komi Republic the production of toys remained at a low level.

The paper considers the figurative system based on poems for children in Russian by Nikolai Kurilov (born in 1949), one of the founders of Yukaghir children’s literature. It includes a boy, his parents, grandmother, brothers, children, representatives of the fauna, a natural phenomenon, and an objective reality. A distinctive feature of the figurative system is the division by the number of characters: most often, either one hero or a group (we) is described. The categories of the comic and the terrible are significant for understanding the figurative system. Conclusions are made that Yukaghir poetry for children is a worthy successor to the traditions of Russian literature. There are a number of similarities and differences with the figurative system of Russian poetry for children. The evolution of the figurative system of poems for children in Russian is associated with the transmission of the national picture of the world and elements of the national worldview. One of the conditions for the evolution of poetics is the common understanding of the poetics of children’s poetry for the poet and the translator.