Afanasiy Prokopievich Shchapov (''Афанасий Прокофьевич Щапов'' in
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
) (May 10(17).1830 – February 27(10.3).1876) was a Russian historian accused of "
Siberian nationalism" and persecuted by tsarist authorities.
Life
Afanasiy Shchapov was born in the village of Anga some 210 miles from
Irkutsk, into a family of a Russian
sexton and
Buryat peasant woman. Educated in
Irkutsk, he moved to
Kazan
Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: ɑzan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering an ...
and became a student at Kazan Theological Academy (1852–1856). Upon receiving his
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
, Shchapov began to deliver lectures on Russian history at his
alma mater (1856–1860) and later at
Kazan University
Kazan (Volga region) Federal University (russian: Казанский (Приволжский) федеральный университет, tt-Cyrl, Казан (Идел буе) федераль университеты) is a public research uni ...
(1860–1861). He also studied the
Solovetsky Monastery
The Solovetsky Monastery ( rus, Солове́цкий монасты́рь, p=səlɐˈvʲɛtskʲɪj mənɐˈstɨrʲ) is a fortified monastery located on the Solovetsky Islands in the White Sea in northern Russia. It was one of the largest Chris ...
library, which had been evacuated during the
Crimean War
The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia.
Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...
to Kazan. Fascinated with the
Solovetsky Uprising, Shchapov started writing articles about the
Raskol
The Schism of the Russian Church, also known as Raskol (russian: раскол, , meaning "split" or "schism"), was the splitting of the Russian Orthodox Church into an official church and the Old Believers movement in the mid-17th century. It ...
and
Old Believers. On April 16, 1861, he delivered a revolutionary speech dedicated to the victims of the
Bezdna Unrest, after which he was arrested and escorted to
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
. After the investigation, Shchapov was dismissed as a teacher and appointed to the
Ministry of the Interior
An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs.
Lists of current ministries of internal affairs
Named "ministry"
* Ministr ...
as an official in charge of the
sectarian affairs. In 1862, he was discharged and placed under police surveillance.
Afanasiy Shchapov was a contributor for many Russian
magazines, such as ''Отечественные записки'' (Notes on Fatherland), ''Русское слово'' (Russian Word), ''Время'' (Time), ''Век'' (Century), and others. In 1864, he was
exiled to his native village and then Irkutsk on suspicion of his connections with
Alexander Hertzen
Alexander Ivanovich Herzen (russian: Алекса́ндр Ива́нович Ге́рцен, translit=Alexándr Ivánovich Gértsen; ) was a Russian writer and thinker known as the "father of Russian socialism" and one of the main fathers of agra ...
and
Nikolai Ogaryov
Nikolay Platonovich Ogarev (Ogaryov; ; – ) was a Russian poet, historian and activism, political activist. He was deeply critical of the limitations of the Emancipation reform of 1861 claiming that the serfs were not free but had simply exchan ...
. In the summer of 1865, Shchapov was arrested in connection with the so-called
Siberian oblastniks
Siberian regionalism (russian: Сибирское областничество, lit= Siberian oblast movement, translit= Sibirskoye oblastnichestvo) is a political movement that advocates for the formation of an autonomous Siberian state. The idea ...
affair. After his release, he worked in a number of magazines, including ''Дело'' (Cause), ''Записки Сибирского отдела РГО'' (Notes of the Siberian Department of the
Russian Geographic Society
The Russian Geographical Society (russian: Ру́сское географи́ческое о́бщество «РГО»), or RGO, is a learned society based in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It promotes geography, exploration and nature protection wi ...
), and others. In 1866, Shchapov took part in an expedition to the
Turukhansk
Turukhansk (russian: Туруха́нск) is a rural locality (a '' selo'') and the administrative center of Turukhansky District of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located north of Krasnoyarsk, at the confluence of the Yenisey and Nizhnyaya Tu ...
regions as an
ethnographer
Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...
, organized by the Siberian Department of the Russian Geographic Society. Afanasiy Shchapov died of
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...
in 1876.
Ideas
Afanasiy Shchapov authored many works on the history of
sectarianism
Sectarianism is a political or cultural conflict between two groups which are often related to the form of government which they live under. Prejudice, discrimination, or hatred can arise in these conflicts, depending on the political status quo ...
and
Raskol
The Schism of the Russian Church, also known as Raskol (russian: раскол, , meaning "split" or "schism"), was the splitting of the Russian Orthodox Church into an official church and the Old Believers movement in the mid-17th century. It ...
, which he viewed as a manifestation of popular protest against social oppression. In 1856-1864, influenced by
Grigory Yeliseyev
Grigory Zakharovich Eliseev (russian: Григо́рий Заха́рович Елисе́ев, 6 February (25 January) 1821, village Spasskoe, Kainsk district, Tomsk Governorate, Russian Empire – 30 (18) January 1891, Saint Petersburg, Russia ...
and
Stepan Yeshevsky
Stepan ( uk, Степань; pl, Stepań; he, סטפאן) is an urban-type settlement in Sarny Raion (district) of Rivne Oblast (province) in western Ukraine. Its population was 4,073 as of the 2001 Ukrainian Census. Current population:
The ...
, he came forward as a supporter of the so-called "
zemstvo
A ''zemstvo'' ( rus, земство, p=ˈzʲɛmstvə, plural ''zemstva'' – rus, земства) was an institution of local government set up during the great emancipation reform of 1861 carried out in Imperial Russia by Emperor Alexande ...
-
oblast
An oblast (; ; Cyrillic (in most languages, including Russian and Ukrainian): , Bulgarian: ) is a type of administrative division of Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Ukraine, as well as the Soviet Union and the Kingdo ...
theory" (земско-областническая теория), viewing Russian history as an interaction process between certain "oblasts". Shchapov's focus on
geography
Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...
and
economics
Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...
as two principal agencies in history is thought to have heralded the next generation of Russian historians, as represented by
Vasily Klyuchevsky
Vasily Osipovich Klyuchevsky (russian: Василий Осипович Ключевский; in Voskresnskoye Village, Penza Governorate, Russia – , Moscow) was a leading Russian Imperial historian of the late imperial period. Also, he addres ...
,
Paul Vinogradoff
Sir Paul Gavrilovitch Vinogradoff (russian: Па́вел Гаври́лович Виногра́дов, transliterated: ''Pavel Gavrilovich Vinogradov''; 18 November 1854 (O.S.)19 December 1925) was a Russian and British historian and medieval ...
, and
Michael Rostovtzeff
Mikhail Ivanovich Rostovtzeff, or Rostovtsev (russian: Михаи́л Ива́нович Росто́вцев; – October 20, 1952), was a Russian historian whose career straddled the 19th and 20th centuries and who produced important works ...
. Since geographical conditions of various Russian lands differed enormously, Shchapov scorned the possibility of writing a general history of Russia. He held that Sibiryaks were ethnically distinct from the rest of Russian nation, as their character was shaped by rugged nature of inhospitable land they lived in and by the adventurous and enterprising spirit of the Old Believers who had been the original settlers of Siberia.
See also
*
Slavophile
*
Nikolay Kostomarov
Mykola Ivanovych Kostomarov or Nikolai Ivanovich Kostomarov (russian: Никола́й Ива́нович Костома́ров, ; uk, Микола Іванович Костомаров, ; May 16, 1817, vil. Yurasovka, Voronezh Governorate, ...
*
Henry Thomas Buckle
Henry Thomas Buckle (24 November 1821 – 29 May 1862) was an English historian, the author of an unfinished ''History of Civilization'', and a strong amateur chess player. He is sometimes called "the Father of Scientific History".
Early life ...
External links
Shchapov Society in Irkutsk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shchapov, Afanasy
1830 births
1876 deaths
People from Irkutsk Governorate
Russian people of Buryat descent
19th-century historians from the Russian Empire
Russian anthropologists
Russian ethnologists
19th-century deaths from tuberculosis
History of Siberia
Siberian nationalism
Tuberculosis deaths in Russia