Everyday Life and Traditions of the Russian Community of Interwar Сhisinau in the Memoirs of Contemporaries

Olga Garusova

doi:10.52603/rec.2021.30.13

Abstract

The article examines the everyday and cultural traditions of the Russian population of interwar Сhisinau based on sources of personal origin. There were selected and analyzed unpublished memoirs of contemporaries who belonged to the noble and intelligent urban stratum, kept in the personal funds of the National Archives of Republic of Moldova. The range of topics and plots is very wide, but Russian problems are implicitly present in all memoirs. Describing everyday habits, leisure, professional occupations, social activities of the Russian-speaking intelligentsia of those years, the authors reflect the world outlook and opinions inherent in their ethno-cultural environment. The studied memoirs show that the everyday life and culture of the Russian population of the 1920s and 30s reflected continuity with those that were characteristic of the previous decades. During the period when Bessarabia was part of Royal Romania, the Russian community, being in new social and ideological conditions, tried to preserve their religious and cultural forms of everyday life. However, while remaining outwardly unchanged, many traditions were filled with a different content moving from social to private life. These personal documents and memoirs allow us to focus on the key topic in ethnology: investigation of the daily life of the Russian population in Bessarabia during the interwar period, less studied in historical discourse.

Highlights

Summary Everyday Life and Traditions of the Russian Community of Interwar Сhisinau in the Memoirs of Contemporaries The article examines the everyday and cultural traditions of the Russian population of interwar Сhisinau based on sources of personal origin
The range of topics and plots is very wide, but Russian problems are implicitly present in all memoirs
The studied memoirs show that the everyday life and culture of the Russian population of the 1920s and 30s reflected continuity with those that were characteristic of the previous decades

Summary

Introduction

În articol sunt elucidate tradiţiile cotidiene şi culturale ale populaţiei ruse din Chişinăul interbelic pe baza surselor private. Vorbind despre obiceiurile de zi cu zi, timpul liber, activităţile profesionale şi sociale ale intelectualităţii vorbitoare de limbă rusă din acei ani, autorii reflectă viziunile mediului lor etnocultural. În perioada în care Basarabia a făcut parte din Regatul Românei, în noile condiţii sociale şi ideologice, comunitatea rusă s-a străduit să păstreze vechile forme religioase, a modului de trai şi culturale ale vieţii de zi cu zi.

Results

Conclusion