The history of St. Petersburg Komi National Group "Nevatas"

St. Petersburg and the Republic of Komi region have had longstanding ties. Already in 1703, under the decree by Tsar-reformer Peter the Great, the first group of Komi peasants was sent here to build a city on the Neva River. Later, people flocked to the capital in search of work, worked in factories, in the service of the rich people and students, served in the Army, studied and even struck up their own businesses. According to the 1897 census, 214 people lived here who have identified themselves as Komi. Liaising with the homeland, helping relatives and friends and keeping the traditions of national culture, they initiated the formation of the Komi national group. Being the capital, the country’s economic and cultural center, St. Petersburg has played a huge role in scientific studies and economic development of the northern edge of Komi and in training specialists who became the basis of the Komi national intelligentsia. The scientific study of the Komi region was launched in the second half of XVIII century by assistant professor at the Imperial Academy of Sciences I.I. Lepekhin, a prominent Russian scientist, who visited the Komi land in 1768 - 1772 and introduced the unique culture and way of life of the people of Komi to the Russian scientific community. In the middle of the XIX century, in St. Petersburg the Komi national intelligentsia begins to form itself. VN Latkin (1809 - 1867) was one of the first settlers in St. Petersburg. He was a son of Ust-Sysolsk merchant who made a fortune in the gold mines in Siberia. Together with his son-in-law M.K.Sidorov he founded a Pechora company for export of the northern timber via Kronstadt to Western Europe. He was one of the first to raise a question of the need to develop the Pechora and Ob river basins and put in a large part of his capital for that purpose. After his death, his case was continued by M.K. Sidorov who drilled in 1868 - 1873 the initial wells in Ukhta and began the commercial production of oil. Latkin’s grandson became a professor of law at St. Petersburg University and a deputy of 1st State Duma.

G.S. Lytkin (1835 - 1907), the author of the first grammar book in the Komi native language and a native of Ust-Sysolsk, graduated in 1859 from the Faculty of Oriental Studies, St. Petersburg University, with a gold medal for his thesis on the Kalmyk language and literature. His connections with Land and Liberty, the Russian revolutionary organization, did not allow him to take high positions and all his life he worked as a teacher of geography. But it was he who wrote a textbook on general geography which became the basic textbook for high schools in pre-revolutionary Russia. The main scientific efforts by G.S. Lytkin were the studies of the Zyrian (Komi) language and the translations of religious books in the Zyrian language. He has established the sound rules of the Komi language used even now.

K.F. Zhakov (1866 - 1926) who was born near Ust-Sysolsk in a peasant family was a younger contemporary and fellow countryman of G.S. Lytkin. At the age of 30 he entered the Kiev University and then moved to the history and philology faculty of St. Petersburg University, where he plunged into intensive scientific and social activities. K.F. Zhakov was a recognized expert in Finno-Ugric ethnography and linguistics. He created his own philosophical system, limitizm, and wrote a series of literary tales based on the mythology of the northern peoples. In 1898 the famous psychiatrist VM Bekhterev invited him to teach at the newly opened Neuropsychiatric Institute, the first private institution of higher education in Russia where sick-calls of people from different professional groups was arranged.

In 1907, during a trip in the Komi land, K.F. Zhakov met an intelligent young man Pitirim Sorokin and invited him to St. Petersburg, promising support. That way the young man appeared in St. Petersburg to become later the greatest scientist of XX century and the founder of the American school of sociology. Already in his student years Pitirim Sorokin started to do science, publish works on the Komi ethnography and get involved in sociology. He entered the Socialist-Revolutionary Party, actively promoting their political views, and collaborated with the SR newspapers. Between the February and October revolutions, Sorokin was the secretary of A.F. Kerensky, which later became the reason of his conflict with the Soviet authorities. But in 1918, Sorokin rejected political activities and was even allowed to establish the Sociological Institute at the University. Yet in 1922, including many large Russian scientists, he left the country for the good.

In the Soviet period, experts in various economic fields from Leningrad have made an enormous contribution to the socio-economic development of the Komi Republic, the development of its natural resources, industrial infrastructure, culture, education and science. On the other hand, in 1950-1980, thousands of young people from Komi received education in Leningrad. Specialists with invaluable practical experience were returning from Komi to Leningrad. These intensive exchanges are also taking place today, creating the modern image of the Komi national group. Currently, a little over 3,000 people live in St. Petersburg and Leningrad region. However, there are immeasurably more people in St.Petersburg whose lives and works are connected with the Republic of Komi in this or another way.

St. Petersburg Komi national group "Nevatas" appeared in St. Petersburg in 1991 on a wave of democratic reforms and a general interest in the "native land" and the father's culture. Establishment of the national group was largely defined by the growth of national consciousness of the Komi natives and a follow-up of establishing Komi Kotyr Society in Syktyvkar. At that time, several St. Petersburgers, natives of the Komi land, set their mind on a completely mundane purpose: to meet more often in the range of their countrymen, where they could speak their native language, discuss issues of concern for the country and the republic. The initiators of of the national group were Mikhail Dmitrievich Ignatov, a well-known documentary filmmaker and Clara Nikolaevna Trenkina, an artist-designer. They gathered around their countrymen including me to discuss the issue of creation a society and preparing its charter. The initial meetings took place at Ignatov’s flat in Moika, which was more like a museum of the Komi culture than a typical St. Petersburg communal flat. Everywhere there were subjects of the ancient Komi life, spinning wheels, trunks, wart or bark products, folk instruments, homespun towels and traditional clothes. Thousands of details, lots of photos and various documents were lying on the tables and windowsills. All this was gathered by Mikhail Ignatov in his business trips and brought to Leningrad. In general, the atmosphere was romantic, creative and inspiring. All of us sincerely wished that the residents of the northern capital learned more about the Komi land, its people, traditions and culture. We sought to make stronger links of the natives of Komi living in St. Petersburg with their native land. At the very end of 1991 a constituent assembly was held. And on January 15, 1992, the national group was approved by the Office of Justice under Leningrad City Council.

During the 15 years since the establishment, Nevatas, like any organization, had ups and downs. But since the late 90's the national group’s social activity becomes regular. This was facilitated by two factors: on the one hand, supporting the Komi diaspora by the Ministry of Nationalities of the Komi Republic and the Komi Representation Office in Northwestern Region of the Russian Federation, on the other – creation of a system of interaction between the national-cultural societies and the representatives of authorities under the program of tolerance of Saint-Petersburg. Today Komi national group "Nevatas" is one of the most active national-cultural societies in St Petersburg that brings together more than 300 people associated with the Republic of Komi. The national group has become a social force consolidating the Komi diaspora and is a center of attraction for all of St. Petersburgers associated with the Republic of Komi. The members include people of different ages, nationalities and professions: students, veterans, the Komi and the Russians, scientists and artists, professors and entrepreneurs, doctors and workers. There are people who were born in Komi and for whom the national group is like a thread that connects them with their native land. There are people who used to work in the North for years creating the basis of the industrial, intellectual and cultural potentials of the Republic. All you have passion for the Komi land, a sense of belonging to the developments in the Republic, a sincere desire to be useful and a lively interest in each other.

Among those who did much for the formation of the national group, we should note a not so long ago deceased Engels Vasilevich Kozlov, People's Artist of Russia and the Republic of Komi. He was always keenly interested in the life of the national group and had the pleasure of meeting his fellow countrymen, youth and students. He did not only talk about his works and the creative lives of the war-time generation of the Leningrad artists. The exhibitions of his works that were repeatedly held in the Representation of the Republic have always aroused great interest of his countrymen. Valentina Byzova, a professor of the two universities in Syktyvkar and St. Petersburg is among the most active members. She is the person who embodies the close relationships between St. Petersburg and the Republic with all her life and professional activity. Despite the enormous employment, she always finds time to meet with the fellow countrymen. And her reports about the features of ethnic psychology based on her own research that she made at the meetings of the national group, have helped so many young people and students from the remote Komi land to adapt more quickly in the modern metropolis that St.Petersburg has become recently.

The meetings of Oleg Chuprov, a remarkable Ust-Tsilma poet now residing in St.Petersburg, with his fellow countrymen are always very interesting and warm. A winner of many literary prizes and the author of the magnificent lyrics of the St.Petersburg hymn, he is also a wonderful storyteller. His poetry impregnated with a deep sense of love for his homeland always produces a lively response in the hearts of his countrymen.

The meetings and events of the members of the diaspora with the Head of the Republic of Komi, representatives of the public authorities and the leaders of the municipal administrations of the Republic, creative evenings of artists and literary workers, exhibitions of art, scientific reports on the history and ethnography of the Komi region organized by the Representation Office of the Republic together with the national group are always held in an amazing atmosphere of openness and friendliness. These events are not only pure socializing arrangements. They really have become a form of spiritual convergence and unity.

Alexander I. Teryukov, Ph.D. Hist.
Chairman, Nevatas Komi National Group in St.Petersburg
Head of Department of Ethnography of the Eastern Slavs and the Peoples in European Russia, Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography after Peter the Great (Cabinet of Curiosities), Russian Academy of Sciences
Phone: +7 911 902 50 69
E-mail: tsan@kunstkamera.ru

Elena V. Ivanova
Deputy Chairman, Nevatas Komi National Group in St.Petersburg
Phone: +7 921 427 33 17, 498 49 08
E-mail: evivanova@inbox.ru