Old Believer merchants and industrial development of the Kazan Governorate during the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries
https://doi.org/10.26907/2541-7738.2025.2.78-90
Abstract
The entrepreneurial activities pursued by the Old Believer merchants in the Kazan Governorate during the 19th and early 20th centuries are examined, with the focus on flour production and steelmaking as the two industrial sectors they specialized in by either renting state-owned enterprises or building new mills and factories. The most influential Old Believer merchant dynasties of that time involved the Okonishnikovs, Shamovs, Romanovs, etc. They all succeeded by effectively navigating their enterprises, using the latest equipment, and relying on support from their local communities. The working conditions at the enterprises managed by the Old Believers are described, as well as their efforts in providing healthcare support to workers by organizing sick funds and the problems they faced while trying to balance their religious values and entrepreneurial practices. It is concluded that, despite numerous challenges, including bureaucratic hurdles while trying to rent the enterprises, poor transportation, and the need to rely on local resources, the Old Believer merchants in the Kazan Governorate contributed significantly to the industrial modernization of the region, especially by developing the industrial sectors that were locally grounded and less dependent on transportation networks.
About the Author
A. Yu. Afanasyev
Kazan Federal University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Andrei Yu. Afanasyev, Postgraduate Student, Department of Russian History and Archival Studies
Kazan
References
1. Ocherk torgovoi i obshchestvennoi deyatel’nosti manufaktur sovetnika E.F. Guchkova [An Essay on the Commercial and Public Activities of Manufacturing Councilor E.F. Guchkov]. St. Petersburg, Tip. V. Vellinga, 1867. 19 p. (In Russian)
2. Manufaktura i fabriki torgovogo doma pod firmoi “Savva Morozov s synov’yami”: k Vserossiiskoi vystavke 1870 g. [The Manufactory and Enterprises of the Savva Morozov and Sons Trading Company: On the Occasion of the All-Russian Exhibition of 1870]. Moscow, Tip I.N. Kushnera, 1870. 42 p. (In Russian)
3. Tarnovskii K.N. Sovetskaya Istoriografiya rossiiskogo imperializma [Soviet Historiography of Russian Imperialism]. Moscow, Nauka, 1964. 244 p. (In Russian)
4. Negulyaev A.P. Zavod-veteran: iz istorii kazanskogo zavoda “Serp i molot” [A Veteran Plant: From the History of the “Serp i Molot” Kazan Metallurgical Plant]. Kazan, Tatknigoizdat, 1968. 143 p. (In Russian)
5. Vyshegorodtsev V. Old Believer capitalism. Byloe, 1997, no. 5 (70), p. 3. (In Russian)
6. Kerov V.V. “Se chelovek i delo ego…”: konfessional’no-eticheskie faktory staroobryadcheskogo predprinimatel’stva v Rossii [“Behold the Man and His Deed...”: Confessional and Ethical Factors of the Old Believer Entrepreneurship in Russia]. Moscow, Ekon-Inform, 2016. 590 p. (In Russian)
7. Ageev S.S. Ryazanovy – kuptsy ekaterinburgskie [The Ryazanovs – Merchants of Yekaterinburg]. Yekaterinburg, Inst. Ist. Arkhaeol. Ural. Otd. Ross. Akad. Nauk, 1998. 190 p. (In Russian)
8. Petrov Yu.A. Dinastiya Ryabushinskikh [The Ryabushinsky Dynasty]. Moscow, Russ. Kn., 1997. 196 p. (In Russian)
9. Terent’ev P.N. Prokhorovy: “sitsevaya” imperiya moskovskikh magnatov [The Prokhorovs: The “Chintz” Empire of the Moscow Magnates]. Moscow, Gen. Dir., 2011. 248 p. (In Russian)
10. Egorova G.S. Entrepreneurial activities of the Old Believer merchant dynasties in the Vladimir Governorate: From the second half of the 18th century until 1917. Cand. Sci. (History) Diss. Vladimir, 2012. 209 p. (In Russian)
11. Kochergina M.V. Starodub’e i Vetka v istorii russkogo staroobryadchestva (1760–1920 gg.): demograficheskoe razvitie staroobryadcheskikh obshchin, predprinimatel’stvo, dukhovnaya zhizn’, kul’tura [Starodubye and Vetka in the History of the Russian Old Believers (1760–1920): Demographic Development, Entrepreneurship, Spiritual Life, and Culture of the Old Believer Communities]. Bryansk, Ladomir, 2011. 436 p. (In Russian)
12. Obukhovich S.A. Old Believers of the Samara-Saratov Volga region during the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries: Their contribution to the economy and culture of the area. Cand. Sci. (History) Diss. Moscow, 2008. 259 p. (In Russian)
13. Latypov I.R. Development of the Old Believer communities in the Kazan Governorate from the 19th to early 20th century. Cand. Sci. (History) Diss. Kazan, 2011. 224 p. (In Russian)
14. Sverdlova L.M. Kupechestvo Kazani: Dela i lyudi [Kazan Merchants: Affairs and People]. Kazan, Matbugat Yorty, 1998. 167 p. (In Russian)
15. Sverdlova L.M. Kazanskoe kupechestvo: sotsial’no-ekonomicheskii portret (kon. XVIII–nach. XX v.) [Kazan Merchants: A Social and Economic Portrait (From the Late 18th to Early 20th Century)]. Kazan, Tatar. Kn. Izd., 2011. 318 p. (In Russian)
16. Lipakov E.V. Old Believers in Chistopol. In: Chistopol’ i chistopol’tsy. Iz proshlogo i nastoyashchego [Chistopol and Its Citizens. From the Past and Present]. Kazan, Po Gorodam Vesyam, 2004, pp. 120–127. (In Russian)
17. West J. About the Old Believers. In: West J., Petrov I.A. (Eds.) Kupecheskaya Moskva: Obrazy ushedshei rossiskoi burzhuazii [Merchant Moscow: Images of Russia’s Vanished Bourgeoisie]. Petrov Yu.A., Savinova E.N. (Trans.). Moscow, ROSSPEN, 2007, pp. 35–41. (In Russian)
18. Ekonomicheskaya istoriya Rossii XIX–XX vv.: sovremennyi vzglyad [Economic History of Russia in the 19th–20th Centuries: A Contemporary Perspective]. Moscow, ROSSPEN, 2001. 622 p. (In Russian)
19. West J. Old Believers and entrepreneurial culture in tsarist Russia. Sovremennaya Konkurentsiya, 2008, no. 3 (15), pp. 130–143. (In Russian)
20. Gibadullin M.Z. Kazan City Public Bank: Its establishment, activities, and role in interregional trade financing. Russian Journal of Economics and Law, 2010, no. 1 (13), pp. 73–83. (In Russian)
21. Gafiatullina L.G. Chistopol industrial merchants during the second half of the 19th century. Gasyrlar Avazy – Ekho Vekov, 2005, nos. 1–2, pp. 238–242. (In Russian)
22. Chesnokova Yu.V. The evolution of social insurance in Russia as the foundation for the development of the labor protection institution. Pravo i Gosudarstvo: Teoriya i Praktika, 2019, no. 7 (175), pp. 24–26. (In Russian)
23. Gusakov D.B. The development of legislation on state social insurance for workers in the Russian Empire during the early 20th century. Vestnik Chelyabinskogo Gosudarstvennogo Universiteta, 2011, vol. 28, no. 19 (234), pp. 114–116. (In Russian)
24. Kir’yanov Yu.I. Zhiznennyi uroven’ rabochikh Rossii (konets XIX–nachalo XX v.) [Living Standards of Workers (from the Late 19th to Early 20th Century)]. Moscow, Nauka, 1979. 287 p. (In Russian)
Review
For citations:
Afanasyev A.Yu. Old Believer merchants and industrial development of the Kazan Governorate during the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Uchenye Zapiski Kazanskogo Universiteta Seriya Gumanitarnye Nauki. 2025;167(2):78-90. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.26907/2541-7738.2025.2.78-90
Views:
53
Email this article 