For Whose Common Good?: The Russian Philanthropic Society in Finland and the Challenges of Russian Language Education in Late Imperial Russia

Abstract

This article examines the extent to which efforts by the Russian Philanthropic Society in Finland (RBO) to provide funding for education in Russian-language primary and secondary schools helped foster a sense of solidarity among Russian migrants from the empire at the end of the nineteenth century. The RBO dealt with issues that had implications far beyond fundraising for Russian schools. How could the organization finance these schools when the Russian donor base in Finland was so small? How should the society decide who deserved funding? This study relates to the parameters of Finland’s Russian community at the end of the nineteenth century. It reflects on how voluntary associations complicated the mapping of social boundaries that united and divided people. This article demonstrates that voluntary associations’ activities can reveal as much about divisive factors as unifying ones within a cultural community.