Matkhanova Natalya P.,
Doctor of Historical Sciences, Institute of History of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Memoirs of Major-General A.V. Glinsky of the Siberian Service (to the Source Characteristic)
DOI: 10.31518/2618-9100-2019-2-11
The article introduces a new source of personal origin into scientific use. The author of the memoirs was a man of low military rank, he became a general many years later, on the eve of creating the text. Of the thousands of officers who served in Siberia in the XIX century, A.V. Glinsky stands out primarily by the fact of creation of memoirs. They characterize the situation in the civil and military administration, the armed forces and the system of supervision of penal servitude and exile in the region in the 1870s – 1880s. The article reconstructs the main stages of the author’s biography; traces the fate of the manuscript; shows the informational capabilities of the source. Of particular value is the characteristic of the real life and real activities of the Siberian officer: the organization of the summer camp, the arrangement of the barracks and the life of the Cossacks and soldiers, the relationship with superiors, subordinates and colleagues. The author of memories provides unique information about individual military administrators, especially the Trans-Baikal governors – as a rule, negative. Of great interest are the source materials on the Siberian merchants and individual merchants. The most important is the description of the Siberian penal servitude, the difficulties and problems of the convoy service, the story of the escape and capture of political prisoners – I.N. Myshkin and his comrades, account of the actions of the Cossacks, on “restoring order” in prison, led by the memoirs’ author himself. Glinsky’s memoirs provide an opportunity to present his views and moods, his critical and even accusatory attitude towards the orders that existed in Siberia at that time.
Publishing: 29/04/2019
How to cite: Matkhanova N.P. Memoirs of Major-General A.V. Glinsky of the Siberian Service (to the Source Characteristic) // Historical Courier, 2019, # 2 (4). Article 11. [Available online:] http://istkurier.ru/data/2019/ISTKURIER-2019-2-11.pdf
Links: Issue 2 2019
Keywords: memoirs of the military; Siberia of the XIX century; governors of the Trans-Baikal region; political hard labor