SHUSHENSKOYE IN THE MEMOIRS OF POLITICAL EXILES

Abstract

The article attempts to present the image of the Siberian village of Shushenskoye at the end of the XIX century, which was one of the places of political exile in the Minusinsk district of the Yenisei province, on the basis of the available documents. Decembrists, participants of the Polish uprisings, public figures, and narodniks were exiled here at various times, but they did not leave any information about Shushenskoye. The unique interesting and expressive characteristics of the appearance, life, surroundings of Shushenskoye, flora and fauna are presented in the memoirs and correspondence of the exiled social Democrats, which are collected and presented in this publication. They, to a certain extent, break the stereotypes about Shushenskoye and about the peculiarities of political exile at the end of the XIX century, which have developed in the Soviet historical literature, and indicate that political exiles served their exile here under a fairly liberal regime and a relatively comfortable life.