Foreigners in the cities of Siberia and the Far East in the late 19th–early 20th centuries: a social and professional portrait (based on the 1897 population census)

Abstract

This article examines the social status of foreigners in the cities of Siberia and the Far East using aggregated and primary data from the 1897 population census. Drawing on previously unknown information from the 1897 census forms preserved in the State Archives of the Tyumen Region in Tobolsk and the State Archives of the Amur Region, this article attempts to compile a socio-professional portrait of foreigners living in Siberia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The article places particular emphasis on identifying and systematizing individual parameters that influence the reconstruction of the social portrait of foreigners and their professional status. This study focuses on the presence and level of education, profession, and capital. Special attention is given to quantitative data and the identification of the percentage ratio of information on foreign nationals to subjects of the Russian Empire. To compile this social portrait of foreigners, a wide range of sources is used, including reference information, memoirs, and published biographical data. By researching and comparing materials from various sources, a social portrait of foreigners living in Siberia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was reconstructed. The authors conclude that the typical example of a foreigner living in Siberia was a highly skilled, educated European with a pronounced entrepreneurial spirit and capital. A special group of foreigners lived in the Far East, primarily immigrants from China. While they lacked outstanding professional skills or a high level of education, they easily adapted to the urban environment not through individual qualities but through their collective potential. The authors conclude that foreigners had a significant influence on the socioeconomic, cultural, and social development of Siberia and the Far East.