Ntrepreneurial and social activity of the Krasnoyarsk merchant Mikhail K. Sidorov in the reflection of the matarials of the Russian state historical archive

The article analyzes the composition and information capabilities of the corpus of handwritten materials that have been preserved in the Russian State Historical Archive and form the personal fund of the researcher of the Russian North, the discoverer of the Northern Sea Route, the Krasnoyarsk merchant Mikhail Konstantinovich Sidorov. The vast majority of the sources under consideration relates to the most fruitful period of M. K. Sidorov’s life which was from 1860s to 1870s, and allows us to get an idea of the range of his interests, entrepreneurial and public activities, interaction with authorities of different levels, relations with different persons, and what is more, to deepen the understanding of his character, biography, initiatives and work style. Based on the information contained in them, the preserved documents can be divided into several groups: related to the state and problems of the Turukhansk Region; to Arkhangelsk province, which M.K. Sidorov maintained a close connection with all his life; to the development of the transport infrastructure of the northern territories, including the development of the Northern Sea Route; to the gold industry; to the development of the public education system in Siberia; to various issues related to the life of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Yenisei province. The largest layer of materials is associated with the problems of development of the northern territories of Russia (Turukhansk Region and Arkhangelsk province) and the opening of the Northern Sea Route. Of particular value are the letters of M.K. Sidorov to Bishop of Krasnoyarsk and Yeniseysk Nikodim (Kazantsev), testifying to the mutual respect and cooperation in a number of issues of these outstanding people of their time. In general, the preserved sources emphasize the breadth of interests and the boldness of M.K. Sidorov’s plans, his concern about the state of the Russian North, his desire to get assistance from the authorities in the implementation of the conceived projects, and his high assessment of the importance of the merchants’ activities for the development of the country. At the same time, many texts testify to his difficult nature, the desire to insist on his own, which led to frequent conflicts with representatives of the administration at various levels. Reflecting the activities of a particular person, the materials of the personal fund of M.K. Sidorov at the same time allow us to judge the sentiments of a certain, patriotic part of the Russian merchant class, who in the post-reform period advocated a policy of strict protectionism in the field of economic development of the northern territories of the country, providing various benefits and privileges to domestic entrepreneurs.

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