Vol 24, No 1 (2025)

The author considers the fate of Italian prisoners of the First World War in Russia during the Civil War, as well as the participation of Italian prisoners of war and troops of the Expeditionary Corps of the Italian Army in the foreign military intervention in Siberia and the Far East as part of the Entente forces. The author analyzed the process of the formation of Italian military units in Russia from prisoners, which began in 1918 in the Volga region, Siberia and the Far East, as well as the formation and dispatch of the Italian Expeditionary Corps in the Far East, which was small in numbers, from Italy to Vladivostok. The article provides information on the number of Italian troops during the Civil War in Russia, places of their formation and deployment, and their participation in military operations. These Italian troops were the only interventionist forces in Siberia consisting of Italian prisoners of war and expeditionary troops which deliberately arrived in Russia. There were also attempts by Italy to organize the work of the military mission in Omsk at the Headquarters of the Supreme Ruler of Russia Admiral A.V. Kolchak; the archival documents regarding its activity are published for the first time. In conclusion Italy was the least active participant in the intervention in Siberia among all Entente countries, and main undeclared goal of Italians - was to gather and rescue former prisoners of the First World War out of Russia.

The article examines the main stages of the life and activity of Spanish engineer Agustin de Betancourt who exerted a significant influence on the development of engineering in Russia at the beginning of the XIX century and made a significant contribution to the formation of the country's cultural heritage. Particular attention is paid to the poorly studied aspects of his biography: the reasons for moving from Spain to Russia and the role played by Russian ambassador to Madrid Ivan Muravyov-Apostol in the move, as well as specification of some previously unknown details of his stay in the Russian Empire. Based on the documents from Russian archives (the Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation, the State Archive of the Russian Federation) and Spanish archives (the National Historical Archive, the General Archive of the Indies, the Historical Archive of the Nobility), on the documents from Orotava Foundation in the Canary Islands, as well as on memoirs, the study traces the peculiarities of Agustin de Betancourt’s relationship with Emperor Alexander I, whose favorable disposition initially granted Betancourt carte-blanche in his work. The author comes to the conclusion that the disgrace of Agustin de Betancourt led to the “oblivion” of his contribution to the architectural and engineering image of St. Petersburg for almost a century. It is proved that apart from the monarch’s disgrace, a certain role was played by architect Auguste de Montferrand for this disgrace, who had grabbed the credit for his joint work with the Spanish engineer for himself.

The author examines the correspondence of Rabia Arat, a representative of the Tatar emigration in Turkey with her husband, Rashit Rakhmati Arat, a Turkologist and professor at Istanbul University. The letters contain autobiographical material, as well as a story about the problems of the Tatar female doctor during a period of emigration. Based on comparative-historical, system-structural and biographical methods, the author reconstructs the events from the life of the family of Tatar Muslims from Russia in the first years of political emigration. Rabia Arat’s emotionally colored feelings, particularly associated with the difficulties of perceiving the realities of emigrants’ everyday life, allow us to create a picture of the personal and social life of the educated Muslim woman in Germany and Turkey in the 1920-1930s. Women, who on the one hand, sought to fulfill their career ambitions, and on the other hand, who wanted to preserve the traditions of Tatar-Muslim education and to support their family well-being inside the ethno-confessional norms of attitude of then women’s role and place in society of the period.

The authors examine in detail the activities of the Armenian Philanthropic Society and its role in the public life of the Russian Empire. The relevance of the research is conditioned by the importance of the study of the history of Armenian-Russian relations for the deepening and development of cooperation between these nations at present. The purpose of the paper is to reveal the role of the Armenian Philanthropic Society in the charitable activities of the Russian Empire in order to demonstrate the intensity and productivity of Armenian-Russian relations in different historical periods. The scientific novelty lies in the study of a large number of unique archival documents provided by the National Archive of Armenia. The materials of the study are both the archival documents directly related to the Armenian Philanthropic Society and the works of scholars dedicated to this subject. The methodological basis of the study is historical-genetic and comparative-historical methods, which allowed to deeply analyze the process of origin and development of charity in the Russian Empire in general and the activities of the Armenian Philanthropic Society in particular. The results of the study indicate the significant role of the Armenian Philanthropic Society in the public life of Transcaucasia, which it was able to occupy thanks to the tireless support of the Armenian population. The Society played a huge role in the consolidation of the Armenian national identity. During the years of its activity the society managed to become an example of realization of the charitable mission. A new trend in the charitable sphere emerged in the second half of the XIX century, during the era of the reforms of Alexander II. The Armenian Philanthropic Society, having defined fundamental national priorities in the realization of its mission, managed to fit safely into the Russian paradigm of moral values.

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