The Yenisey Province is spoken about…

A lot of travelers, explorers, officials and outstanding public activists have visited the Yenisey Province at different times. The places of Eastern Siberia couldn’t leave them indifferent, and they eagerly shared their impssions in their travel notes, scientific works, memories and letters. We will tell you about the famous fellow countrymen’s (and not only!) vision of the lifestyle and future of the Yenisey Province .

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► The historian of Siberia and poet Petr Slovtsov wrote the following:

“… the new entrance to the city from the western side is so luckily organized, that a traveler, having occurred near the city on the height,  suddenly sees the whole city with picturesque suburbs in two excellent pictures, divided by a street two versts long, thrown straightforward, and the street itself, seen as if is going away beyond the Yenisey, is a no less enchanting picture… Krasnoyarsk will have wonderful destiny” (Siberian historian P.A. Slovtsov about the past, psent and future of Krasnoyarsk 22^nd of May 1826, 1830. // The History of Krasnoyarsk: documents and materials 18^th – the first half of the 19^th century / Krasnoyarsk city administration, Krasnoyarsk State Pedagogical university, 2000. p. 494).

► The first Yenisey Governor, ruled from 1823 to 1831, Alexander Stepanov considered:

“The Yenisey Province, having provided the neighbouring provinces with bread on their demands, bringing it along the rivers of Western Siberia for feeding the riverside residents, and always having well stocked village shops with the remaining amount of goods in the peasants’ bins after selling — is, of course, a rich breadbasket of Siberia and the one, in which bread is kept after consumption without any turnover” (Stepanov A.P. The Yenisey Province / intr. by G.F. Bykonya. Krasnoyarsk: RASTR, 2017. p. 166).

► Nikolay Yadrintsev, explorer of Siberia and Central Asia, and one of the founders of the Siberian regionalism told in his notes:

“Nevertheless the history of this region was, it impossible to deprive it of the famous future. With the belief in its life, its calling the best wishes to it are combined now. They will inspire people, dedicated to it, and will bring energy to labour in the new country” (Yadrintsev N.M. Siberia as a colony: for the jubilee of three hundred years: psent position of Siberia, its needs and demands, its past and future. Saint-Petersburg: Pr.house of M.M. Stasyulevich, 1882. p. 449-450).

► Gold manufacturer Nikolay Latkin noted:

“The Yenisey Province occupies an outstanding place in the Empire in its mineral resources. They are headed by gold, which has got grand impact to the lifestyle of the province residents…” (Provinces, regions and cities, situated on the Siberian route of the Heir Tsarevich. 5. The Yenisey Province. Saint-Petersburg: Pr.house of the Ministry for Inner Affairs, 1891. p. 2).

► Norwegian polar explorer Fridtjof Nansen:

“Siberia, as it has already been said, is a rich country, and it is worth working at its development. It especially abounds in mineral resources. The first place belongs to gold, which is more and more found, mainly in middle and eastern Siberia. In the Yenisey Province gold is found in many places, also in the middle and eastern parts” (Nansen F. To the Country of the Future: the Great Northern Route from Europe to Siberia through the Kara Sea / authorized. transl. from Norweg.: A. and P. Ganzen. Saint-Petersburg: pr.house of K.I. Ksido, 1915 (Saint-Petersburg: the office of the pr.house of  A.F. Marx). p. 287-288).

► Ivan Pestov, the chairman of the Yenisey Treasury Chamber shared his following observations:

“ The characters of the local inhabitants are quite temper, well-behaved and hospitable: they gently welcome each visitor, are glad to share the last they have with him, and if some of the guests thanks the host with money for such welcome and treat, he will provoke the host’s and his own displeasure, and the money will not be taken” (Pestov I.S. The Notes about the Yenisey Province of Eastern Siberia, 1831/ ppared by state councilor I.Pestov. Moscow: in the Univ.pr.house, 1833. p. 286-287).

► The Norwegian and Russian entrepneur, who played an important role in the exploration of Siberia and the Far East, Jonas Lied (he was the Consul of Norway in Krasnoyarsk):

“My first task in Krasnoyarsk was to find out what Siberia can give to West. Not only me, who was astonished with what I’d found, the recipients of my letters experienced shock. Besides furs of the highest quality, there were all the kinds of other potentially export goods. Imagine a merchant, who arrived at the Yenisey encampment with three tons of mammoth bones! Then I met a Czech, who was buying nothing else, but wonderful and long hair made of a Siberian elk’s mane.  He purchased them at the price of one ruble per pound. Just imagine, how much in this pound! The most expensive brushes for miniature painting in Europe and for Japanese masters of lacquer miniature were made of this. Some merchants specialized at maral antlers, which were used for producing elixir of life in China. Other valuable export goods were cedar nuts, used for producing sweet oil, very estimated by Paris confectioners. However, the main export goods were linen, hemp, leather, goat and sheep skins, wool, bristle and horsehair.  Graphite, as well as wood, asbestos, mica, zink, coper and grain became important goods too.” (Lied J. Siberia – strange nostalgia: autobiography / Jonas Lied. Moscow: Ves’ Mir, 2009. p. 77).

Photo: Komsomolskaya Pravda in Krasnoyarsk (pview), Internet encyclopedia of the Krasnoyarsk region.