Persecution of the Ambur skete in the letters of Alexander Stepanovitch Prugavin

Abstract

This work elucidates the little studied history of the persecution of the Ambur skete of Philippian Old Believers in 1879–1880. The article is based on the archive materials of the Russian State Archive of Literature and Arts and the State Archive of Archangelsk Region. This the first time that the authors have introduced the letters of the Old Believer A. I. Permyakov to the populist (narodnik) and researcher of Russian religious life, A. S. Prugavin. The letters reveal previously unknown details of the relations between the officials and the inhabitants of the Ambur skete at the time under consideration: the denunciation of a local priest to the Archangelsk police department; the resolution of the local authorities to destroy the skete cells; petitions of Permyakov and Prugavin to the governor of Archangelsk and petitions of the skete-dwellers to the governor’s office and the minister of Internal Affairs on the unlawful persecutions of the skete; the sad outcome of the сonfrontation of the skete-dwellers and officials. The research elucidates the history of the Ambur skete, historiography of the subject and analyzes the official policy toward the Old Believers in the second half of the 19 thcentury. On the basis of Permyakov’s letters, the history of persecution of the skete-dwellers in 1879–1880 is given a detailed description along with the part Permyakov and Prugavin played in these events. They both were openly sympathetic to the Old Believers and tried to help them in every possible way. In particular, Prugavin published notes on the persecution of the Ambur skete in different periodicals while Permyakov patronized the community. The authors conclude that the repressive measures implemented against the Ambur skete-dwellers by the officials of the Arkhangelsk region reflected both the general repressive policy of the Russian government towards Old Believers and the vagueness of legislation on the issue of this religious group whose secrecy offered broad scope for the official injustice towards them in the province. Refs 17.