scholarly journals Creating an Ethnographic Atlas of European Russia as Reflected in Peter von Köppen’s Correspondence with the Academy of Sciences

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Gibson

In the mid-nineteenth century, the development of ethnographic cartography was mostly driven by issues related to the classification and territorial distribution of ethnic groups. However, in the course of this work, cartographers, ethnographers, and statisticians faced economic and material challenges, which have often been overlooked in the scholarship. This article examines the ‘mapping processes’ (М. Edney) of the 1840s through an analysis of correspondence between Peter von Köppen and the Imperial St Petersburg Academy of Sciences about the preparation of the Ethnographic Atlas of European Russia (1848), one of the first ethnographic maps published in the Russian Empire. These sources held in the St Petersburg branch of the Archives of the Russian Academy of Sciences are published here for the first time and provide detailed information about the circumstances behind the preparation of the atlas. The academy only published a short summary of these discussions, which omitted key financial and methodological details. The correspondence thus provides an alternative perspective on the history of cartography, revealing the difficulties of everyday scientific activity behind the scenes. The exchange vividly describes the relationship between the Academy of Sciences and the Russian Geographical Society during its early years, Köppen’s struggle to finance his various cartographic projects, and the material processes of producing an ethnographic map. The article focuses on how Köppen balanced his scientific vision with his limited material and practical circumstances and the goals of the various scientific organisations he was involved in.

Purpose. Life, scientific and pedagogical way of А. М. Krasnov at the time of the formation of geography was unique, versatile, often contradictory, but clearly creative and innovative approach to everything that was within his interests. Despite some hasty results that harmed his general authority, the figure of A. M. Krasnov – the professor of Imperial Kharkiv University, the founder of Batumi Botanical Garden – is still of interest. Attention has veen paid to the period of his initial formation as a scientist, communication with V. I. Vernadsky, comparison of A. M. Krasnov’s works with works of other researchers, the implementation of the idea of plant introduction. Method. Authentic scientific works of A. M. Krasnov and his contemporaries have been used in the work. Through the use of historical and historiographical sources and comparative analysis there have been revealed those inconsistencies in his works which caused sharp criticism of reviewers. Results. Studies of the work of the first domestic doctor of geographical sciences Andriy Mykolayovych Krasnov have showed his passion for expeditionary research, charisma, thirst for knowledge, love of nature, rich innovative heritage. Attention has been paid to the initial stage of his life, when the interest in scientific, in particular, expeditionary research, which did not leave him during his life, emerged. Based on the study of the relationship between A. M. Krasnov and V. I. Vernadsky, a conclusion about his extraordinary character, ingrained sense of independence, but also passion, excessive emotionality, haste of conclusions has been made. The authors have given the generalized description of the state of the study of geography, which was considered an auxiliary science in the universities of the Russian Empire in the late XIX century, because for A. M. Krasnov it became a source of innovation. The article reveals the extraordinary scientific courage of A. M. Krasnov, who in his doctoral thesis considered the views of famous scientists on the causes of steppe plains. The analysis of А. М. Krasnov’s publications and other sources has proved that he became the creator of constructive geography, combined theoretical classes with practical ones in nature, initiated student scientific expeditions, founded a student geographical society and a geographical office. Possessing artistic and literary talent, he became one of the best promoters of exotic regions, visiting dozens of countries around the world. The authors have also traced the reasons why his scientific works were treated with skepticism and distrust. Scientific novelty and practical significance. Some details of the relationship between A. M. Krasnov and V. I. Vernadsky have been clarified. The reasons that led to the ignoring of the scientific achievement of A. M. Krasnov by contemporaries have been revealed. It is expedient to use these materials while writing the full scientific and pedagogical biography of professor A. M. Krasnov.


2008 ◽  
pp. 39-52
Author(s):  
Ella V. Bystrycka

The relationship between the Vatican and Russia has been the subject of research by more than one generation of scientists representing various scientific schools. Of particular interest was the pontificate of Leo XIII. The new emphasis of the foreign policy of the Curia, initiated by him, provided for the establishment of friendly relations with the Russian Empire. In this regard, the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences intensified the study of the history of the papacy. In the end, she published a number of interesting documents, edited by E.F. Shmurla (for the period from the creation of the centralized Russian state until the death of Peter I), A. Turgenev (2 volumes, 1841-1842), A. Popov (1845-1850). In Soviet historiography, the study of the history of Vatican-Russian relations in the nineteenth century. engaged M. Sheiman, E. Adamov. On the basis of documentary materials, a monograph of the German scientist E. Winter was constructed. The documents published by the authors have not lost their significance for the modern researcher. Their impartial analysis opens up the possibility of a new understanding of the Eastern policy of the Apostolic See, the place and role of Catholics of the Orthodox rite, in particular Ukrainian Greek Catholics in the context of these relations.


2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 148-171
Author(s):  
Alexander N. Malinkin

This article discusses the problem of the relationship between sociology and philosophy in 1920’s Soviet Russia, the result of which was the birth of “Marxist sociology” and its approval in the 1930’s. In the first part of the article, the problem becomes more acute in the question of whether there was any sociology in the USSR during those years. It is argued that the answer to it cannot be unconditional and unequivocal, because much depends on what was considered to be “sociology” at the time. In this regard, the thesis about the existence of “empirical sociology” in the 1920’s is questioned. The article briefly highlights the original meaning of the concept of “sociology”, the history of its existence in the Russian Empire. It analyzes how the trends of “philosophical nihilism” in the early years of Soviet government were reflected in its interpretation. The task is set not only to describe the historically and socio-culturally conditioned changes in the meaning of the term “sociology” in the 1920’s, but also to determine the factors that influenced them from the perspective of sociology of knowledge. In this regard, the key yet negative role of Vladimir Lenin in the history of domestic social thought is considered.


2020 ◽  
pp. 17-27
Author(s):  
D. Meshkov

The article presents some of the author’s research results that has got while elaboration of the theme “Everyday life in the mirror of conflicts: Germans and their neighbors on the Southern and South-West periphery of the Russian Empire 1861–1914”. The relationship between Germans and Jews is studied in the context of the growing confrontation in Southern cities that resulted in a wave of pogroms. Sources are information provided by the police and court archival funds. The German colonists Ludwig Koenig and Alexandra Kirchner (the resident of Odessa) were involved into Odessa pogrom (1871), in particular. While Koenig with other rioters was arrested by the police, Kirchner led a crowd of rioters to the shop of her Jewish neighbor, whom she had a conflict with. The second part of the article is devoted to the analyses of unty-Jewish violence causes and history in Ak-Kerman at the second half of the 19th and early years of 20th centuries. Akkerman was one of the southern Bessarabia cities, where multiethnic population, including the Jews, grew rapidly. It was one of the reasons of the pogroms in 1865 and 1905. The author uses criminal cases` papers to analyze the reasons of the Germans participation in the civilian squads that had been organized to protect the population and their property in Ackerman and Shabo in 1905.


2019 ◽  
pp. 256-281
Author(s):  
E.M. Kopot`

The article brings up an obscure episode in the rivalry of the Orthodox and Melkite communities in Syria in the late 19th century. In order to strengthen their superiority over the Orthodox, the Uniates attempted to seize the church of St. George in Izraa, one of the oldest Christian temples in the region. To the Orthodox community it presented a threat coming from a wealthier enemy backed up by the See of Rome and the French embassy. The only ally the Antioch Patriarchate could lean on for support in the fight for its identity was the Russian Empire, a traditional protector of the Orthodox Arabs in the Middle East. The documents from the Foreign Affairs Archive of the Russian Empire, introduced to the scientific usage for the first time, present a unique opportunity to delve into the history of this conflict involving the higher officials of the Ottoman Empire as well as the Russian embassy in ConstantinopleВ статье рассматривается малоизвестный эпизод соперничества православной и Мелкитской общин в Сирии в конце XIX века. Чтобы укрепить свое превосходство над православными, униаты предприняли попытку захватить церковь Святого Георгия в Израа, один из старейших христианских храмов в регионе. Для православной общины он представлял угрозу, исходящую от более богатого врага, поддерживаемого Римским престолом и французским посольством. Единственным союзником, на которого Антиохийский патриархат мог опереться в борьбе за свою идентичность, была Российская Империя, традиционный защитник православных арабов на Ближнем Востоке. Документы из архива иностранных дел Российской Империи, введены в научный оборот впервые, уникальная возможность углубиться в историю этого конфликта с участием высших должностных лиц в Османской империи, а также российского посольства в Константинополе.


2021 ◽  
Vol 80 (3) ◽  
pp. 1329-1337
Author(s):  
Jure Mur ◽  
Daniel L. McCartney ◽  
Daniel I. Chasman ◽  
Peter M. Visscher ◽  
Graciela Muniz-Terrera ◽  
...  

Background: The genetic variant rs9923231 (VKORC1) is associated with differences in the coagulation of blood and consequentially with sensitivity to the drug warfarin. Variation in VKORC1 has been linked in a gene-based test to dementia/Alzheimer’s disease in the parents of participants, with suggestive evidence for an association for rs9923231 (p = 1.8×10–7), which was included in the genome-wide significant KAT8 locus. Objective: Our study aimed to investigate whether the relationship between rs9923231 and dementia persists only for certain dementia sub-types, and if those taking warfarin are at greater risk. Methods: We used logistic regression and data from 238,195 participants from UK Biobank to examine the relationship between VKORC1, risk of dementia, and the interplay with warfarin use. Results: Parental history of dementia, APOE variant, atrial fibrillation, diabetes, hypertension, and hypercholesterolemia all had strong associations with vascular dementia (p < 4.6×10–6). The T-allele in rs9923231 was linked to a lower warfarin dose (βperT - allele = –0.29, p < 2×10–16) and risk of vascular dementia (OR = 1.17, p = 0.010), but not other dementia sub-types. However, the risk of vascular dementia was not affected by warfarin use in carriers of the T-allele. Conclusion: Our study reports for the first time an association between rs9923231 and vascular dementia, but further research is warranted to explore potential mechanisms and specify the relationship between rs9923231 and features of vascular dementia.


Author(s):  
Semen M. Iakerson

Hebrew incunabula amount to a rather modest, in terms of number, group of around 150 editions that were printed within the period from the late 60s of the 15th century to January 1, 1501 in Italy, Spain, Portugal and Turkey. Despite such a small number of Hebrew incunabula, the role they played in the history of the formation of European printing cannot be overlooked. Even less possible is to overestimate the importance of Hebrew incunabula for understanding Jewish spiritual life as it evolved in Europe during the Renaissance.Russian depositories house 43 editions of Hebrew incunabula, in 113 copies and fragments. The latter are distributed as following: the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences — 67 items stored; the Russian State Library — 38 items; the National Library of Russia — 7 items; the Jewish Religious Community of Saint Petersburg — 1 item. The majority of these books came in public depositories at the late 19th — first half of the 20th century from private collections of St. Petersburg collectors: Moses Friedland (1826—1899), Daniel Chwolson (1819—1911) and David Günzburg (1857—1910). This article looks into the circumstances of how exactly these incunabula were acquired by the depositories. For the first time there are analysed publications of Russian scholars that either include descriptions of Hebrew incunabula (inventories, catalogues, lists) or related to various aspects of Hebrew incunabula studies. The article presents the first annotated bibliography of all domestic publications that are in any way connected with Hebrew incunabula, covering the period from 1893 (the first publication) to the present. In private collections, there was paid special attention to the formation of incunabula collections. It was expressed in the allocation of incunabula as a separate group of books in printed catalogues and the publication of research works on incunabula studies, which belonged to the pen of collectors themselves and haven’t lost their scientific relevance today.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonas Springer

This study is dedicated to the regional history of the East-West conflict on the basis of the relationship between the Germany military and the Belgian armed forces stationed in Germany. The central question it addresses is which factors were largely responsible for the interdependence between actors and institutions of both armies. In addition to analysing the limited time of the peak phase of Belgian military deployment in the Federal Republic 1946–1990, the book concentrates regionally on the military training areas of Vogelsang in the Eifel and the Wahner Heide near Cologne as military contact zones. For this purpose, the author evaluates unpublished archival sources at the local level for the first time.


Orthodoxia ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 111-124
Author(s):  
F. A. Gayda

This article deals with the political situation around the elections to the State Duma of the Russian Empire in 1912 (4th convocation). The main actors of the campaign were the government, local administration, liberal opposition and the clergy of the Orthodox Russian Church. After the 1905 revolution, the “official Church” found itself in a difficult situation. In particular, anti-Church criticism intensified sharply and was expressed now quite openly, both in the press and from the rostrum of the Duma. A consequence of these circumstances was that in this Duma campaign, for the first time in the history of Russian parliamentarianism, “administrative resources” were widely used. At the same time, the authorities failed to achieve their political objectives. The Russian clergy became actively involved in the election campaign. The government sought to use the conflict between the liberal majority in the third Duma and the clerical hierarchy. Duma members launched an active criticism of the Orthodox clergy, using Grigory Rasputin as an excuse. Even staunch conservatives spoke negatively about Rasputin. According to the results of the election campaign, the opposition was even more active in using the label “Rasputinians” against the Holy Synod and the Russian episcopate. Forty-seven persons of clerical rank were elected to the House — three fewer than in the previous Duma. As a result, the assembly of the clergy elected to the Duma decided not to form its own group, but to spread out among the factions. An active campaign in Parliament and the press not only created a certain public mood, but also provoked a political split and polarization within the clergy. The clergy themselves were generally inclined to blame the state authorities for the public isolation of the Church. The Duma election of 1912 seriously affected the attitude of the opposition and the public toward the bishopric after the February revolution of 1917.


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