Professor of theology Dmitry Nikanorovich Belikov: contribution to the study of the orthodox cultural heritage of Tomsk province (late 19th – early 20th centuries)

The article analyzes the contribution of Dmitry Nikanorovich Belikov (18521932), professor of theology at the Imperial Tomsk University, to the study of the Orthodox cultural heritage of the Tomsk province. D.N. Belikov was an emeritus professor of theology at the Imperial Tomsk University, a clergyman, public figure, and scholar. After graduating from the Kazan Theological Academy, he was appointed professor of theology at the Imperial Tomsk University. Simultaneously with his appointment as professor of theology, D.N. Belikov became rector of the Grado-Tomsk University Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. For several years, D.N. Belikov was in charge of the Archaeological and Ethnographic Museum. His work with the museum archives led the scholar to local history research. Drawing on documents from the archives of the Tomsk Theological Consistory and data from the census books of the Bogoroditse-Alekseevsky Monastery in Tomsk and the Nativity of Christ Monastery in Kuznetsk, D.N. Belikov began researching the process of Siberian development in the 17th-18th centuries, which interested him. Thanks to the work of D.N. Belikov’s work gives us a glimpse of the appearance of monasteries and churches, as well as the layout of monastery buildings, the plans of which he used - “drawings of monastery buildings”. Information can also be found on the process of preparing the iconostasis and painting the walls. The study lists the icons in the Bogoroditse-Alekseevsky Monastery and describes the iconostasis and church furnishings. The study also provides a list of icons and their detailed descriptions. One significant detail, absent from 18th- and 19th-century works, should be noted: the author’s respect for Old Believer culture. The Old Believers remained dissenting voices for the historian, yet he respected and valued the cultural heritage they preserved. By bringing previously unstudied materials into scholarly circulation, he made an invaluable contribution to the study of Siberian history, and especially to the study of Siberian Old Believers and their Orthodox cultural heritage. The authors declare no conflicts of interests.

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