Alexander Alexandrovich Ivanov,
Doctor of Historical Sciences, Irkutsk State University, Irkutsk, Russia, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Problems of Modern Decembrist Studies on the Pages of the Irkutsk Magazine
DOI: 10.31518/2618-9100-2025-6-9
The article contains an overview of the publications of the Izvestiya Irkutsk State University journal in the seпries “History”, which reflect the specific historical, source studies and historiographical problems of modern, mainly Siberian, Decembrist studies. After examining all issues of the journal from 2011 to 2025, the author established the total number of articles on Decembrist subjects and determined their direction. It is estimated that the largest number of publications on the history of the Decembrists’ stay in Siberia and Decembrist studies belong to specialists from Irkutsk and Novosibirsk. An analysis of the content of the journal’s publications has shown that the main part of the articles is not specifically historical, but historiographical and source-based in nature, which indicates that modern researchers are actively studying the experience of previous generations of Decembrist scholars, searching for ways to develop the topic, and striving to update its conceptual approaches. Among the Decembrist scholars of the Soviet and modern periods, considerable attention is paid to the work of S.F. Koval. Historians note Koval’s indisputable merits in organizing the publication of the collections Siberia and the Decembrists, the Polar Star series, and also emphasize the scientist’s decisive contribution to turning the topic of the history of the Siberian exile of the Decembrists from a local history into an all-Russian one. The analyzed publications most often raise the problems of perception of the ideas and programmatic attitudes of the Decembrists by Russian society in the first half of the 19th century, issues of the relationship between the Siberian administration and the Decembrists, and the contribution of exiled nobles to the culture and education of Siberians. One of the main directions of the development of modern Decembrist studies, as it follows from the publications, should be considered a significant expansion of the range of previously unpublished sources. In general, the review of articles on the history of the Decembrists published on the pages of the journal indicates the further development of this major scientific topic, which has a 200-year history of study.
Publishing: 28/12/2025
The article has been received by the editor on 27/08/2025
How to cite: Ivanov A.A. Problems of Modern Decembrist Studies on the Pages of the Irkutsk Magazine // Historical Courier, 2025, No. 6 (44), pp. 142−157. [Available online: http://istkurier.ru/data/2025/ISTKURIER-2025-6-09.pdf]
Links: Issue 6 2025
Keywords: the history of the Decembrists; Siberian Decembrist studies; Irkutsk State University; S.F. Koval