The materials of Siberian archives about the biographies of Catholic priests who were in Western Siberia (1830s – the end of the 19 century)

The state archives of Western Siberia are the most important custodians of invaluable material covering a wide range of problems of Russian and Siberian history, among which the topic of the political exile occupies a significant place. The identification of the biographical information about Catholic priests who were exiled to Siberian is an interesting and poorly studied issue. The study of the biographies of exiled Catholic priests makes it possible to significantly supplement the ideas about the Siberian political exile of the XIX century and the internal policy of the autocracy. The purpose of this study is to draw the attention of specialists to the materials of Siberian archival storage facilities containing information about the Catholic priests serving exile in Western Siberia from the 1830s until the end of the XIX century. The author identified and studied the official documentary materials in the state archives of Omsk (fund of the Main Directorate of Western Siberia), Tomsk (funds of the Tomsk Provincial Administration, metric books of churches of the Tomsk province), Tobolsk (Tobolsk General Provincial Administration Fund), Barnaul (Biysk Police District Administration Fund). The funds contain correspondence from the government, police and gendarmerie, among which the reports are important. The numerous letters of central and regional authorities are presented, reflecting the implementation of instructions and orders on the ground. The information on the implementation of constant control and supervision over the behavior of exiled the Catholic priests in the settlement allows us to obtain factual information about the daily life of exiled clergy, their occupations, and destinies. Some cases cover the issue of assigning cash benefits from the treasury, allowing the religious activities in places of residence to the exiled priests. A significant number of cases relates to the applications by the exiled priests for exemption from supervision and return to their homeland. In general, thanks to the consideration of these archival materials, it has become possible to significantly add biographical information revealing the identities of specific priests, their self-sacrifice activity in exile. The state archives of Western Siberia have the richest materials, which are a valuable historical source, a documentary basis for recreating the biographies of exiled Catholic priests, and have tremendous scientific potential that opens up great prospects for further scientific research. The author declares no conflicts of interests.

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