Mikhail Buldakov’s Role in the Historical and Cultural Heritage of Russian America

Abstract

The article is devoted to the activities of Mikhail Buldakov who was born in Velikii Ustiug. He became the chief of the Russian-American Company which was the first and largest monopolistic joint stock company in the Russian Empire. The authors trace Buldakov’s life from that of an ordinary person, a fur-dealer in Siberia, to one of the most influential persons among the Russian merchants of his time. The authors have investigated the innovations proposed by Buldakov, which put Russia among the leading powers of that time. Buldakov’s family ties have been researched, and these include the founders of the first permanent settlements in North America: Grigorii and Natalia Shelikhov and the chamberlain Nikolai Rezanov. The article analyzes the measures put forward by Buldakov to motivate the company’s employees, and reveals features of the management of the Russian-American Company in crisis years. The authors explore the role of Buldakov in preserving Russian cultural and historical heritage in Alaska as well as objects of Alaskan native material culture in Russian contemporary museums. The attention is paid to preservation and evolution of Russian heritage in the North Pacific. The authors study the role of Buldakov in the context of historical and cultural heritage of Russian America on the basis of a wide range of sources. Rare documents from regional national and foreign archives, museums and libraries have been used. The article highlights the role of Siberian cities and merchants in the movement of the Russians to the shores of America. The article is intended to arouse interest in the problem of promoting the historical and cultural heritage of Russia in the North Pacific among the public.