Evgeniya Vladislavovna Komleva,
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.
“Siberian Canal”: the Project of the Krasnoyarsk Merchant M.K. Sidorov to Connect the Ob and Yenisei Lower Reaches (1870s)
DOI: 10.31518/2618-9100-2022-3-11
The article examines the activities of Mikhail Konstantinovich Sidorov, a native of Arkhangelsk, later a Krasnoyarsk merchant, aimed at the development of river communications in Siberia. The author analyzes Sidorov’s records deposited in the fonds of the Russian State Historical Archive, characterizing one of his most daring projects – a plan that arose in the late 1870s to connect the basins of two major Siberian rivers – Ob and Yenisei – with a canal system. The article reveals the project’s content; discusses its positive aspects in comparison with other existing options, as well as benefits of its implementation. The texts written by M.K. Sidorov are presented, revealing his ideas and allowing us to judge the caliber, train of thought and methods of work of this outstanding entrepreneur and public figure. One of these sources – a report delivered on December 6, 1877 at a meeting of the Board of the Society for the Promotion of Russian Industry and Trade, in a revised form appeared in print during its author’s lifetime. However, the publication of an expanded version preceding it, accompanied by two other texts related to the project of the Siberian Canal, provides an opportunity to improve our knowledge of both the activities and personal qualities of M.K. Sidorov himself, and to detail the history of the development of river communication in Siberia, emphasizing the patriotic sentiments of the best part of the Russian merchants, their orientation toward cooperation with government structures in the development of northern territories.
Publishing: 28/06/2022
The article has been received by the editor on 01/03/2022
How to cite: Komleva E.V. “Siberian Canal”: the Project of the Krasnoyarsk Merchant M.K. Sidorov to Connect the Ob and Yenisei Lower Reaches (1870s) // Historical Courier, 2022, No. 3 (23), pp. 137–163. [Available online: http://istkurier.ru/data/2022/ISTKURIER-2022-3-11.pdf]
Links: Issue 3 2022
Keywords: Siberia; river communications; Ob; Yenisei; canal projects; private initiative; merchants; M.K. Sidorov