- Belarusians in Russia
Belarusians are a major ethnic group inRussia . In the census of 2002 807,970 Russian citizens confirmed their Belarusian ethnicity. [http://www.perepis2002.ru/ct/html/TOM_04_01.htm] Major Belarusian groups live in the regions ofMoscow ,St. Petersburg ,Kaliningrad ,Karelia .Geography
A minor part of Belarusians in Russia are original inhabitants of the Russian-Belarusian border regions. In ancient times the regions of
Smolensk andPskov were inhabited by the East Slavic tribe ofKrivichi that later became major base of the Russian and Belarusian nations. The Russian town of Smolensk was several times conquered byPolatsk dukesFact|date=February 2007 and belonged to theGrand Duchy of Lithuania between 1408 and 1514.According to the census of the
Russian Empire , some Belarusians lived in the territories of modernSmolensk Oblast ,Bryansk Oblast . A small number of Belarusians used to live in the modernKaluga Oblast ,Pskov Oblast ,Orel Oblast .The
Korenization policies of the 1920s encouraged Belarusians of Russia to promote and develop Belarusian cultural life and education. A system of Belarusian schools was established in Western Russia. In the 1930s, the Korenization was reversed and its proponents were repressed.Moscow
During the
Polonization of the Grand Duchy in the 16th and 17th centuries, a large number of Orthodox Ruthenians, led by PrincesMistislavsky ,Belsky andGalitzine , escaped the repressions to Moscow. In documents of that time they are also called "Litvin s" or "White Ruthenia ns".One of the compact settlements of Litvins in Moscow was the Meschianskaya Sloboda. Its inhabitants engaged in financial operations, trade, and medicine. Meschanskaya Sloboda had a degree of self-governance and a collegiate church.
In the times of
Imperial Russia and theUSSR , Moscow as the scientific and economic centre of the country attracted many specialists from different parts of the empire including Belarus. So, the minister of foreign affairs of the USSR during the most tensed period of theCold War was the BelarusianAndrei Gromyko .Today, Moscow also attracts huge numbers of specialists for constant and temporary work. Every year hundreds of students from Belarus join Moscow universities.
t. Petersburg
After the
Partition of Poland , Belarusians started migrating to Russia including the imperial capital,St. Petersburg . Especially many peasants from northern and eastern regions of Belarus migrated to St. Petersburg.According to statistics, from 1869 to 1910 the number of Belarusians in St. Petersburg grew 23 times and reached 70,000. By the end of that period Belarusians were the biggest ethnic minority in the city [http://by.ethnology.ru/win/belinspb.htm] .
In the second half of 19th century, several Belarusian organisations were created in St. Petersburg uniting intellectuals and students. In 1868 the enlightenment organisation "
Kryvitski vazok " was founded. In the 1880s the organisation of leftist Belarusian intellectuals "Homan " was created. A Belarusian publishing house existed in St. Petersburg in 1906-1912. Belarusian scientists at the universities of St. Petersburg made important ethnographic researches about Belarus.The activity of organisations of Belarusian diaspora continued after the
October Revolution until it was violently stopped byStalinist repressions.During the
Perestroika , several new Belarusian diaspora organisations appeared in Leningrad. Today St. Petersburg, though less than Moscow, is also attractive for workers and students from Belarus.iberia
Siberia was goal for mass migrations from Belarus in the 19th century. First, Russians deported participants of January
November uprising s. During the period 1885–1914, 550 thousand Belarusians settled to Siberia. Entire Belarusian villages existed there.After the
October Revolution , the stream of migrants from Belarus to Siberia did not stop. The Soviets tried to organise their flow and sanctioned several researches on the history and traditions of Siberian Belarusian. In 1929 theNational Academy of Sciences of Belarus organised a special ethnographic expedition to Siberia. In the census of 1926 371,840 Siberians stated their Belarusian descent.Korenization allowed the Belarusian minority inRSFSR to develop its culture and language. Belarusian schools were created in Siberia.In the 1930s and early 1940s many Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian intellectuals and peasants were deported to Siberia, including those from
West Belarus when annexed to the BSSR.In the late 1980s the Belarusian national revival movement also affected Siberian Belarusians.
Jan Cherski Society for Belarusian Culture was established inIrkutsk and is now the largest and most active organisation of the Belarusian diaspora inRussia .Fact|date=February 2007Other regions
In the 18th century Belarusians lived in several
gubernya s of European Russia. Belarusian settlements existed inKursk ,Pensa gubernyas and in theUral .After cancellation of
serfdom in Russia in the 19th century, mass migrations of Belarusian peasants to Russia started. Main goals wereVolga region,Caucasus ,Central Asia andSiberia .From late 1940s to early 1960s many Belarusians settled in Karelia,
Arkhangelsk Oblast , theKomi Republic , andKaliningrad Oblast .Belarusian territorial autonomies in Russia
Belarusian national revival in
RSFSR in early Soviet times included creation of Belarusian local autonomies - national Rural Soviets (сельсоветы) insideraion s. In 1924–1926, 71 Belarusian rural soviets were created in Siberia. In 1926 there were 26 Belarusian rural soviets in the Russian Far East. In the Ural in 1928 there were eleven. Later, several Belarusianraion y, administrative units of a higher level, were created. In early 1930s there was a Belarusian national raion of Taboryn as part of theUral oblast. There was a discussion about the creation of a Belarusian national unit inside theOmsk oblast.In mid-1930s all Belarusian autonomies inside the
RSFSR were liquidated.Modern state
Number of Belarusians in Russia
Because of cultural closeness of Belarusians to
Russians and weakly expressed national identity, Belarusians are more than other ethnic minorities exposed to assimilation in Russia. Despite mass inflow of migrants from Belarus during last centuries, children of immigrants rarely identify themselves as Belarusians.Currently, more and more Belarusian organisations are created in different regions of Russia.
In 2003 a Belarusian cultural society "Belorusy Yugry" was registered in
Surgut .The largest and strongest Belarusian diaspora organisation in Russia is the
Jan Čerski Society for Belarusian Culture in Irkutsk. The organisation unites descendants of Belarusian settlers in Siberia, and has several branches and issues a newspaper.In Moscow there is the
Frantsishak Skaryna Society for Belarusian Culture and an informal union of Belarusian students. InBashkortostan there is a Belarusian national cultural centre "Siabry" founded in 1996. InKaliningrad Belarusians are united in the culture society "Karalaviec".In the last decade Belarusian community of Russia is of separate opinion on the current presidency of
Alexander Lukashenko . Some organisations support the democratic opposition. Other, more recently founded organisations as theFederal National Cultural Autonomy of Belarusians in Russia are supported by the embassy of Belarus, and have a more positive opinion on the policies of the regime.Besides Russian citizens of Belarusian descent, there are about 400 thousands Belarusians currently working in Russia. [http://finance.rol.ru/news/article02D6C/default.asp]
Notable Russians of Belarusian origin
*
Fedor Dostoyevski , writer, descendand of aPolesia nszlachta family
*Mikhail Glinka , composer, descendand ofSmolensk szlachta
*Dmitry Shostakovich , composer, descendand of a participant of theNovember uprising
* Several Russian noble families (Trubetskoy ,Belsky and others) were originally Belarusianszlachta that fled to Muscovy
*Alexander Bogdanov
*Pavel Sukhoi External links
* [http://by.ethnology.ru/ Russia and Belarus: an ethnocultural dialogue] (in Russian)
* [http://www.maskva.net Maskva.net] - a web portal of Belarusians inMoscow (in Belarusian and Russian)
* [http://www.narodru.ru/peoples1192.html Peoples of Russia] : Belarusians (in Russian)
* [http://www.nn.by/index.php?c=ar&i=3842 A hundred Belarusian villages in Siberia] (article in Belarusian)
* [http://www.hramada.ru Francišak Skaryna Society for Belarusian Culture] , Moscow (in Belarusian)
* [http://www.belros.ru Federal National Cultural Autonomy of Belarusians in Russia] (in Russian)
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