Margarita Dmitrievna Kushnareva,
Doctor of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor, Irkutsk State University, Irkutsk, Russia, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The Problem of the Development of the Fur Trade in the North of the Yakutsk Region in the Essay by V.M. Zenzinov
DOI: 10.31518/2618-9100-2023-6-13
The article analyzes V.M. Zenzinov’s point of view on the development of the fur trade in the north of the Yakutsk region at the beginning of the 20th century. It is noted that V.M. Zenzinov, a descendant of merchants, from an early age became familiar with the peculiarities of running a large trading business. He received a good education, and participated in the political life of Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. For his revolutionary activities, he was repeatedly exiled to remote regions of North-Eastern Siberia. The described scientific work was written by V.M. Zenzinov in 1914–1915 during his exile in the Russian Ustye, Bulun and Verkhoyansk, published in Moscow in 1916. The explorer of the North applied an integrated approach to describing the development of the fur trade in the northern districts of the Yakutsk region. Zenzinov’s work is at the crossroads of history, ethnography and economics. The photographs of fur-trading tools taken by V.M. Zenzinov on the coast of the Arctic Ocean in 1914 are of value. In the article, Zenzinov’s conclusions regarding the cost of consumer goods, furs, and the profits of the northern merchants from transactions are supported by factual material from official and commercial clerical documentation of local governments, departments and large firms. According to V.M. Zenzinov, trade margins for products sometimes reached 300 %, and the profit from the fur trade amounted to 200–500 thousand rubles per one fishing season. V.M. Zenzinov noted heaviness, friability and predatory character as the main features of the development of the fur trade in the north of the Yakutsk region. The author of the essay pointed out the need to include the region into the broad Imperial socio-economic processes. At present, the work of V.M. Zenzinov retains its relevance in the study of a wide range of problems, and highlights the unique facets of economic activity on the remote frontiers of Russia in the early 20th century.
Publishing: 28/12/2023
The article has been received by the editor on 14/10/2023
How to cite: Kushnareva M.D. The Problem of the Development of the Fur Trade in the North of the Yakutsk Region in the Essay by V.M. Zenzinov // Historical Courier, 2023, No. 6 (32), pp. 180–189. [Available online: http://istkurier.ru/data/2023/ISTKURIER-2023-6-13.pdf]
Links: Issue 6 2023
Keywords: North-Eastern Siberia; V.M. Zenzinov; fur trade; merchants; company; goods