The theme of Siberian exile and penal servitude in Dmitrii Zavalishin’s series of essays Letters about Siberia (Moskovskie Vedomosti, 1864–1866)

The article examines Dmitrii Zavalishin’s series of essays Letters about Siberia, published in 1864-1865 in the newspaper Moskovskie Vedomosti, the leader of conservative periodicals of those years. Following Fyodor Dostoevsky and Sergei Maksimov, Zavalishin was one of the first in Russian journalism to raise the issue of the vicious practice of using exile to Siberia as a punishment. The relevance of the study of this issue is due to the growing interest in the role of the Russian conservative press in the political and socio-economic life of Russia in the second half of the 19th century, as well as the need to study the historical experience of the penitentiary system of the Russian Empire in the context of the need to improve correctional labor institutions in modern Russia. The scientific novelty of the research is determined by the lack of knowledge of the role of Russian periodicals in this issue and consists in the introduction of little-known publications into scientific discourse. Zavalishin’s essays examine the economic feasibility of using Siberian territories as places of exile, the degree of effectiveness of the work of exiled convicts, and the impact of exile on the morals of convicts and the way of life of local residents of the region. The authenticity and persuasiveness of the essays are given by the author’s long-term observations of the life and customs of Siberians, his own experience of life in the Siberian region. Being personally familiar with the range of problems related to penal servitude and exile, Zavalishin saw the rich economic potential of Siberia and actively supported the ideas of developing the Siberian region, but at the same time denied the significant economic effect of using exiled forced labor. The publicist associated the further development of Siberian territories exclusively with voluntary resettlement and persistently argued that forced exile not only lacks economic benefits, but also has an extremely negative effect on the morals of both the exiled themselves and the indigenous Siberians, and therefore cannot become the basis for its further successful development. It has been demonstrated that many of Zavalishin’s conclusions are confirmed by the data of modern researchers. Letters about Siberia reflected the steady interest of Russian post-reform society in the subject of exile, contributed to the awakening of social activity, the formation of a negative image of exile in the Russian press, anticipating this topic in the works of Vladimir Korolenko, Nikolai Yadrintsev, Anton Chekhov, and Aleksandr Skabichevsky. The author declares no conflicts of interests.

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