Volkov in France: Cultural Transfers in Anthropology and Prehistoric Archaeology at the end of the 19th Century
The article is devoted to famous scientist Fedir Vovk, who was known in France, as Theodore Volkov. He was a member of the intellectual diaspora exiled from the Russian Empire mostly for political reasons, sometimes also because of the situation of higher education under the tsarist regime. Als...
Gespeichert in:
| Veröffentlicht in: | Археологія і давня історія України |
|---|---|
| Datum: | 2012 |
| 1. Verfasser: | |
| Format: | Artikel |
| Sprache: | English |
| Veröffentlicht: |
Інститут археології НАН України
2012
|
| Schlagworte: | |
| Online Zugang: | https://nasplib.isofts.kiev.ua/handle/123456789/89388 |
| Tags: |
Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
|
| Назва журналу: | Digital Library of Periodicals of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine |
| Zitieren: | Volkov in France: Cultural Transfers in Anthropology and Prehistoric Archaeology at the end of the 19th Century / N. Richard // Археологія і давня історія України: Зб. наук. пр. — К.: ІА НАН України, 2012. — Вип. 9. — С. 220-227. — англ. |
Institution
Digital Library of Periodicals of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine| id |
nasplib_isofts_kiev_ua-123456789-89388 |
|---|---|
| record_format |
dspace |
| spelling |
Richard, N. 2015-12-09T16:21:00Z 2015-12-09T16:21:00Z 2012 Volkov in France: Cultural Transfers in Anthropology and Prehistoric Archaeology at the end of the 19th Century / N. Richard // Археологія і давня історія України: Зб. наук. пр. — К.: ІА НАН України, 2012. — Вип. 9. — С. 220-227. — англ. 2227-4952 https://nasplib.isofts.kiev.ua/handle/123456789/89388 902(091)(4)”18” The article is devoted to famous scientist Fedir Vovk, who was known in France, as Theodore Volkov. He was a member of the intellectual diaspora exiled from the Russian Empire mostly for political reasons, sometimes also because of the situation of higher education under the tsarist regime. Also it is devoted to his role in cultural transfers in anthropology and prehistoric archaeology in France and Russia. Статья посвящена роли Теодора Волкова в научном и культурном обмене между Францией и Россией. Представлен анализ научной деятельности ученого в период жизни во Франции, участия в научных обществах, контактов и совместной деятельности с коллегами антропологами и преисториками. Освещены научные публикации ученого, подготовленные и выпущенные во французских изданиях в этот период. Представлены также сведения о преподавательской деятельности Теодора Волкова в различных учебных заведениях. Анализируется его деятельность в качестве переводчика и работа по аннотированию для французской научной общественности славяноязычных научных изданий. Делается вывод о том, что для научной коммуникации между учеными различных стран наибольшее значение имела деятельность Т. Волкова по обзору, комментированию и представлению французским ученым российских научных изданий, а в последствии — французских в России. en Інститут археології НАН України Археологія і давня історія України Статті Volkov in France: Cultural Transfers in Anthropology and Prehistoric Archaeology at the end of the 19th Century Волков во Франции: культурный взаимообмен в археологии и исторической антропологии в конце XIX ст. Article published earlier |
| institution |
Digital Library of Periodicals of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine |
| collection |
DSpace DC |
| title |
Volkov in France: Cultural Transfers in Anthropology and Prehistoric Archaeology at the end of the 19th Century |
| spellingShingle |
Volkov in France: Cultural Transfers in Anthropology and Prehistoric Archaeology at the end of the 19th Century Richard, N. Статті |
| title_short |
Volkov in France: Cultural Transfers in Anthropology and Prehistoric Archaeology at the end of the 19th Century |
| title_full |
Volkov in France: Cultural Transfers in Anthropology and Prehistoric Archaeology at the end of the 19th Century |
| title_fullStr |
Volkov in France: Cultural Transfers in Anthropology and Prehistoric Archaeology at the end of the 19th Century |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Volkov in France: Cultural Transfers in Anthropology and Prehistoric Archaeology at the end of the 19th Century |
| title_sort |
volkov in france: cultural transfers in anthropology and prehistoric archaeology at the end of the 19th century |
| author |
Richard, N. |
| author_facet |
Richard, N. |
| topic |
Статті |
| topic_facet |
Статті |
| publishDate |
2012 |
| language |
English |
| container_title |
Археологія і давня історія України |
| publisher |
Інститут археології НАН України |
| format |
Article |
| title_alt |
Волков во Франции: культурный взаимообмен в археологии и исторической антропологии в конце XIX ст. |
| description |
The article is devoted to famous scientist Fedir Vovk,
who was known in France, as Theodore Volkov. He was
a member of the intellectual diaspora exiled from the
Russian Empire mostly for political reasons, sometimes
also because of the situation of higher education under
the tsarist regime. Also it is devoted to his role in cultural
transfers in anthropology and prehistoric archaeology in France and Russia.
Статья посвящена роли Теодора Волкова в научном и культурном обмене между Францией и Россией. Представлен анализ научной деятельности
ученого в период жизни во Франции, участия в научных обществах, контактов и совместной деятельности с коллегами антропологами и преисториками.
Освещены научные публикации ученого, подготовленные и выпущенные во французских изданиях в этот период. Представлены также сведения о
преподавательской деятельности Теодора Волкова
в различных учебных заведениях. Анализируется
его деятельность в качестве переводчика и работа
по аннотированию для французской научной общественности славяноязычных научных изданий.
Делается вывод о том, что для научной коммуникации между учеными различных стран наибольшее
значение имела деятельность Т. Волкова по обзору,
комментированию и представлению французским ученым российских научных изданий, а в последствии — французских в России.
|
| issn |
2227-4952 |
| url |
https://nasplib.isofts.kiev.ua/handle/123456789/89388 |
| citation_txt |
Volkov in France: Cultural Transfers in Anthropology and Prehistoric Archaeology at the end of the 19th Century / N. Richard // Археологія і давня історія України: Зб. наук. пр. — К.: ІА НАН України, 2012. — Вип. 9. — С. 220-227. — англ. |
| work_keys_str_mv |
AT richardn volkovinfranceculturaltransfersinanthropologyandprehistoricarchaeologyattheendofthe19thcentury AT richardn volkovvofranciikulʹturnyivzaimoobmenvarheologiiiistoričeskoiantropologiivkoncexixst |
| first_indexed |
2025-11-25T21:37:52Z |
| last_indexed |
2025-11-25T21:37:52Z |
| _version_ |
1850559752602386432 |
| fulltext |
220
n. r i c h a r d
volkov in frAncE: culturAl trAnSfErS in
Anthropology And prEhiStoric ArchAEology
At thE End of thE 19th cEntury
the article is devoted to famous scientist fedir vovk,
who was known in france, as theodore volkov. he was
a member of the intellectual diaspora exiled from the
russian Empire mostly for political reasons, sometimes
also because of the situation of higher education under
the tsarist regime. Also it is devoted to his role in cul-
tural transfers in anthropology and prehistoric archae-
ology in france and russia.
k e y w o r d s: history of archaeology, personality,
scientific communications, t. volkov
Fedir vovk was known as Theodore volkov in
France in the end of the 19th century. He was a
member of the intellectual diaspora exiled from
the Russian empire mostly because of the politi-
cal reasons, and also the situation with higher
education in tsarist Russia. For example, in 1900
volkov became a colleague of Joseph Deniker,
author of a famous synthesis on human races in
Paris [Deniker ,1900]. Deniker, who was born in
Astrakhan, was studying in Saint-Petersburg. He
was trained as an engineer before moving to Par-
is in 1876 where he became a chief librarian at
the National museum of Natural History. As an
editor of the bibliographical section of the scien-
tific journal l’Anthropologie, Deniker played an
important role in the cultural transfers in anthro-
pology between France and Russia. French scien-
tists also participated in these processes. For ex-
ample, Baron Joseph de Baye collaborated with
the gentlemen of science in Russian empire [ma-
karov & al., 2009]. An amateur archaeologist, he
traveled extensively in Caucasus and promoted
the broadcast of Russian archaeological discover-
ies in France [for example Baye, 1894]. De Baye
and volkov published a monograph in French on
the Paleolithic sites of Afontova-Gora, near Kras-
noyarsk [Baye & vokov, 1899]. Institutions also
promoted the circulation of the scientific infor-
mation. Russian and eastern european scholars
participated in the International Congresses in
Anthropology and Prehistoric Archaeology (one
of them was held in moscow in 1892) and World
Fairs, especially 1900 Fair, included national an-
thropological and archaeological sections.
volkov arrived to Paris from Ukraine in the
end of the 1880’s for the political reasons. But,
contrary to Deniker (in regards to historian of sci-
ence Alexandre Koyre), he went back to Russia
after the 1905 Revolution, where he was appoint-
ed at the Saint-Petersburg University. Ukrainian
participants of this conference know volkov’s
Russian and Ukrainian career after 1905 much
better than I. But it is worth mentioning that he
operated the cultural transfers between France
and the tsarist empire in both directions. After
returning to Saint-Petersburg, volkov introduced
anthropological and archaeological techniques
and theories developed in the West to archaeolo-
gists from Russian empire. During his staying
in Paris he introduced the scientific information
from his homeland in France also.
This paper will focus on the French scien-
tific groups volkov was associated with, and
the type of information he transmitted to his
French audience.
A mEmBEr of mAny
SciEntific circlES
If volkov is well known for his relationship
with the French Gabriel de mortillet and with
the Société d’anthropologie de paris, it is less
known that he became familiar with other scien-© N. RICHARD, 2012
УДК 902(091)(4)”18”
221
Richard N. Volkov in France: Cultural Transfers in Anthropology and Prehistoric Archaeology at the end of the 19th Century
tific groups during his staying in Paris. Indeed,
he produced scientific papers in numerous fields.
As most of his contemporaries, volkov was not a
specialized scientist, but an eclectic scholar inter-
ested in the diverse fields of folklore, ethnogra-
phy, cultural and physical anthropology, archae-
ology, prehistory and sociology.
volkov’s activity in Parisian anthropologi-
cal society is the most well-known part of the
scholar’s French destiny. When volkov arrived
to France, this scientific society was 30 years old
and very dynamic [Blanckaert, 2001; Wartelle,
2004]. It was created in 1859 by the neurologist
Paul Broca, with the agenda of studying «human
races» in all their physical, cultural and histori-
cal aspects [Blanckaert, 2009]. most of its mem-
bers were physicians and physical anthropolo-
gists, especially craniometrists. But the Société
d’anthropologie also was the main national in-
stitution for the studies in prehistoric archaeol-
ogy and paleoanthropology before the foundation
of the French Prehistoric Society in 1904. The
Parisian Anthropological Society also hosted re-
searchers in ethnography and sociology. volkov
became a member of this association in December,
1895. Paul Broca, the founder of this Society, was
already dead by that time, and the Society was
divided into some groups with different ideologi-
cal and political agendas. The most radical group
was headed by Gabriel de mortillet. Though its
label had nothing to do with marxism, this circle
was known as the «scientific materialism group».
It was materialistic, fiercely anticlerical and po-
litically radical [Hammond, 1980; Harvey, 1984;
Richard, 1989].
During his staying in Paris, volkov became
familiar with de mortillet’s group, and mostly
shared its political and philosophical radicalism.
No surprise, that Adrien, mortillet’s son, was
one of volkov’s referees, when he applied for the
membership of the Société d’anthropologie. After
mortillet’s death, volkov demonstrated his loy-
alty to his mentor by becoming a member of the
fund raising committee for the setting up of a me-
morial. Also he took part in the administration
of the Parisian Anthropological Society through
different committees dealing with budgetary
matters and with the organization of the Society
museum and laboratory. He was staying in touch
with this association after his returning to Rus-
sia. For example, he was a representative of the
Saint-Petersburg Anthropological Society and
the Shevchenko Society at the 50th anniversary
Jubilee in 1909. Therefore many articles written
by volkov in France were published in scientific
journals related to the Parisian Anthropological
Society, mainly its bulletin and l’Anthropologie
that was launched in 1890 and became the promi-
nent French journal in the field of anthropology.
volkov’s first paper dealing with the customs and
rituals related to wedding in Ukraine was pub-
lished in l’Anthropologie in 1891 [volkov, 1891].
His name was added to the main contributors’ list
on the front page from 1897 till 1905.
* * *
volkov published articles in journals related
to other French scientific groups. He published a
paper in mélusine in 1890 [volkov, 1890], and in
revue des traditions populaires in 1891 [volkov,
1891]. These two journals contributed the emer-
gence of the folklorist studies in France. Founded
in 1877, mélusine was dealing with the folk lit-
erature and legends. Henri Gaidoz (1842—1932)
was an editor of this journal. He taught Celtic
philology at the ePHe (Practical School for High-
er education) and ethnology at the School for
Political Science in Paris [Gauthier, 2008]. The
revue des traditions populaires was published by
the French Society for Popular Traditions since
1886. It was edited by Paul Sébillot (1843—1918),
a former painter and a republican publicist, who
was the main promoter of the folklore studies
and national ethnography in France in the end of
the 19th century [voisenat, 2008]. French folklor-
ists were partly overlapped with anthropologists.
many members of the Société des traditions popu-
laires, like Paul Sébillot, also were the members
of the Société d’anthropologie de paris. But their
scientific interests were partly diverged: folklor-
ists focused on cultural anthropology and the
Western world (including Russian empire), when
anthropologists were more interested in physical
anthropology and the non-Western populations.
volkov became a member of the Société des tradi-
tions populaires in the beginning of the 1890’s 1,
and worked on folk traditions and customs in
Ukraine, Russia and eastern europe. He pub-
lished his results in scientific journals related to
this Society.
* * *
volkov also participated in the work of a group
of sociologists organized around Rene Worms. If
Durkheim’s name is almost solely remembered,
sociology was far from being a unified field, ei-
ther at the institutional or the theoretical level,
in France in the end of the 19th century. Contra-
dicting views on a nature of the social science
and the type of institution which should host this
science came into intense competition, resulted
in the victory of the Durkheimians [muchielli,
1998]. Rene Worms was one of the late 19th cen-
tury French sociologists. Following the views of
Alfred espinas [Feuerhahn, 2011], he believed
that society should be studied as an organism.
«Organicism» would confer to sociology the same
1. His membership is mentioned in the Annuaire des
traditions populaires for 1894. He is not yet a mem-
ber in 1890, according to the previous issue of the An-
nuaire.
Richard N. Volkov in France: Cultural Transfers in Anthropology and Prehistoric Archaeology at the end of the 19th Century
222
scientific ground as biology and guaranteed truly
scientific analysis of the social facts. In order to
develop this new social science, Worms turned
into a genuine «institutional entrepreneur» [mos-
bah-Natanson, 2008], and created institutions
such as the revue internationale de sociologie and
the institut international de sociologie in 1893.
He also founded the Société de sociologie de paris,
the Parisian branch of the Institute, in 1895. Ac-
cording to Worms’ belief that sociology should be
organized on an international scale, theses insti-
tutions were oriented to international coopera-
tion, and many foreigners contributed the revue
internationale de sociologie work. The Interna-
tional Institute became a centre of the network
of the prominent sociologists all over the Western
world, including Russian and eastern european
scholars. volkov found his place in this network,
becoming a member of the Société de sociologie de
paris in 1900. He published his first paper deal-
ing with Russian ethnography at the 1900 World
Fair in the revue internationale de sociologie in
1901 [volkov, 1901].
volkov also took part in another venture related
to the social sciences in the beginning of the 20th
century: the creation of the Ecole russe des hautes
études sociales [Russian School for Higher Social
education], which delivered lectures in Russian
and French in Paris between 1901 and 1906. It
is mostly known for the conferences on the agrar-
ian problem organized by lenin in 1902 [Gutnov,
2002]. This school was linked to the French Ecole
des hautes études sociales, founded by disciples of
Frederic le Play in order to promote higher edu-
cation in the new social sciences in Paris in 1900
[Prochasson, 1985]. Following one of le Play’s
idea, the founders of the School believed that ed-
ucation in political science, economics and sociol-
ogy was necessary in order to enhance efficient,
science based decision-making among economic
managers and politicians. Another agenda was
the pacification and moralization of the French
society, through the education of its elite at the
time when it was deeply divided by the Dreyfus
Affair. They existed with different ideological
agendas, similar schools, independent from the
State and outside the traditional university sys-
tem, as elsewhere in europe, such as in Brussels
the Ecole des sciences sociales (1891) or in Britain
the london School of economics (1895).
The main founders of the Russian School, histo-
rian and economist maxime Kowalewski and pos-
itivist sociologist eugene de Roberty also taught
at the French Ecole des hautes études sociales,
and promoted the same ideal of the new scientifi-
cally trained elite for their homeland. The classes
at the School included epistemology, political sci-
ence, economics, sociology, law, criminology, his-
tory of religion, moral philosophy, literature, art
history, and anthropology. volkov held classes in
general anthropology and comparative ethnogra-
phy. Also he was in charge of a tutorial class on
these matters. Through the school and the insti-
tut international de sociologie volkov participated
in the intellectual and institutional foundation of
the modern sociology in Russia.
* * *
living in Parisian neighborhoods populated by
numerous Russian emigrants, volkov was insert-
ed in different scientific networks, related to his
intellectual interests, national origin and politi-
cal affinities. Though these networks may appear
separate, in fact they were overlapped and united
by the science they intended to promote. Indeed,
in the end of the 19th century, sociology, anthro-
pology, ethnography and prehistoric archaeol-
ogy were not considered as completely separate
fields of knowledge. As we will see, the content
of volkov’s papers in French scientific periodicals
demonstrates this statement.
culturAl trAnSfErS
During his staying in Paris, volkov published
papers related mainly to three topics: folklore or
national ethnography, physical anthropology and
archaeology. Among these papers only a minor-
ity dealt with original research, based on the first
hand data collected and interpreted by volkov
himself.
Before coming to France, volkov was studying
at the Odessa and Kiev Universities, and was al-
ready an amateur archaeologist and anthropolo-
gist, member of scientific and charitable associa-
tions such as Hromada of Kiev, the Southwestern
Branch of the Imperial Russian Geographic So-
ciety and the Shevchenko Society. But in order
to avoid too close a police watch in France as a
political refugee, he enrolled as a student in natu-
ral sciences at Sorbonne. He wrote a doctoral dis-
sertation on the comparative anatomy of human
and primate foot. This work was presented to the
Anthropological society, published in its bulletin
and as a separate volume in 1905 [volkov, 1905].
It was volkov’s main original contribution to the
Société d’anthropologie de paris, awarded with
the Godard Price. During the first half of the 20th
century it was often quoted as a methodological
model in physical anthropology.
Some papers on Ukrainian cultural ethnogra-
phy published in l’Anthropologie and in the re-
vue des traditions populaires, for example, those
on wedding and death rituals [volkov, 1891;
1896], also contained first the hand information
collected by volkov before he came to France. In
1903, 1904 and 1905 the Anthropological Society
awarded him with the grants for anthropological
expeditions to Galicia, Bucovina and the Car-
pathian mountains (now Hungary, Poland and
Romania). But he published only a short report
in the Society bulletin before leaving to Saint-Pe-
tersburg [volkov, 1905]. Indeed, most of his origi-
223
Richard N. Volkov in France: Cultural Transfers in Anthropology and Prehistoric Archaeology at the end of the 19th Century
nal ethnographic research was published in Kiev
and Saint-Petersburg, where he edited collective
volumes of the Russian and Ukrainian «ethno-
graphic material». The same conclusion holds
for volkov’s work on archaeology. No equivalent
of his study on mezine can be found among his
French publications before 1905.
* * *
Thus, volkov was not a field archaeologist or
anthropologist in France. At the same time he
was not a real «armchair» scientist, bringing to-
gether and interpreting data collected by others.
His contribution to the science was of a different
kind. volkov circulated information and objects,
and helped to establish contacts between the east
and West. In this respect, his activities are better
defined as the «cultural transfers» in the mean-
ing given to this notion by the French historians
michel espagne and michael Werner [see their
manifesto article, 1987].
As usual for the cultural transfers, volkov
acted primarily as a translator. If French was
still spoken among aristocratic circles in Rus-
sian empire, the reverse was not true, and most
French anthropologists and archaeologists in the
end of the 19th century did not speak Russian or
any other eastern european language. This was
the case, for example, of Joseph de Baye, who was
able to travel in Russia and collect information
because of his aristocratic, French speaking con-
nexions. Therefore, volkov’s primary goal was
to summarize and comment publications, events
and debates from the east, sharing this informa-
tion in the scientific circles he associated with.
The volumes of the materials for russian ethnog-
raphy he edited since 1910 in Saint-Petersburg
demonstrate that he was aware of the importance
of bridging the language gap. They contained
abstracts in French, a feature the reviewer in
l’Anthropologie found worth mentioning to his
non-Russian speaking audience:
«formerly a very active member of our society,
the distinguished curator of the Emperor Alex-
ander iii’s museum knows from experience how
important a careful summary in french of the
russian content can be, for such a beautiful pub-
lication to reach its audience» [Capus, 1910] 1.
Therefore volkov wrote mostly book reviews for
French scientific periodicals, and his main con-
tribution was given to their bibliographical sec-
tions or sections dealing with the scientific news.
Sometimes he published more than 20 reviews a
year in l’Anthropologie dealing with the publica-
tions in Russian, Ukrainian and other Slavic lan-
guages (for example in 1896).
Reviewing books often implied more than a
mere summary of their content. At the meetings
of the Société d’anthropologie de paris, presen-
1. Author’s translation.
tations of books on behalf of their authors gave
volkov the opportunity to depict more broadly
these scholars’ scientific activities, to summarize
their research and to introduce scientific debates
taking place in the east. This was the case, for ex-
ample, on the 21st of July, 1898. volkov presented
a volume on the quaternary geology of the lublin
area on behalf of Nikolai Krichtafovitch, an edi-
tor of the geological and mineralogical yearbook
of Russia. He commented this donation by giv-
ing information about Kristafovitch’s excavations
and discoveries of fossil bones associated with
madgalenian flint implements. Then he com-
pared the prehistoric tools found in Poland with
those found in Kiev and summarized debates tak-
ing place among Polish, Ukrainian and Russian
scholars about dating these remains in relation
to the glaciations [volkov, 1898].
Together with the books, volkov also circulat-
ed genuine archaeological and ethnographical ar-
tifacts or reproductions. At the 16th of June, 1896
meeting of the Société d’anthropologie de paris he
presented 14 photographic plates of the prehis-
toric tools, sent to the Ecole d’anthropologie by the
secretary of the Troitzkossavsk-Kiathka section of
the Russian Geographic Society [Présentations…,
1896]. In 1900 he gave craniums and painted
eggs from Bohemia on behalf of Jindrich matieg-
ka, one of the founders of physical anthropology
in Prague. He also handed over ethnographic
objects from Siberia and Turkestan given by the
Russian section at the Paris Word Fair. His activ-
ities as a go-between also included human beings.
volkov facilitated contacts and introduced fellow
citizens to the Parisian groups he was associated
with. For instance he was a referee for the schol-
ars from Russian empire who wished to enter the
Société d’anthropologie de paris. In 1897 he sup-
ported the application of anthropologist Nikolai
mogiliansky, who later played an important role
in the ethnographic Division of the Imperial Rus-
sian Geographic Society and participated (as well
as volkov) in the Commission for the Study of the
Tribal Composition of the Population of the Bor-
derlands of Russia set up in 1917.
* * *
These activities imply that volkov’s contribu-
tion to French scientific journals were mostly of
a descriptive nature and very rarely expressed
his own interpretations. But they still conveyed
a message to their French audience. volkov’s pa-
pers gave information about research taking place
from eastern Prussia to Bosnia, from the North-
ern and Asiatic borders of the empire to Austria.
Therefore he has shown quite intensive scientific
activity provided in the east to his French col-
leagues.
volkov’s papers highlighted some individuals
by periodic reports on their researches. He regu-
larly reviewed the research in archaeology and
Richard N. Volkov in France: Cultural Transfers in Anthropology and Prehistoric Archaeology at the end of the 19th Century
224
anthropology of lubor Niederle, author of a hand-
book of the Czech archaeology in 1910 and one of
the founders of the State archaeological Institute
in 1919 [for example volkov, 1893]. Also he gave
accounts on the activities of Dmitry Anuchin,
stressing his role as an organizer of the anthro-
pological research in Russia in the ethnographic
Division of the Imperial Geographic Society [for
example, volkov, 1895]. In Bosnia-Herzegovina
volkov commented the achievements of viclav
Radimsky at the National museum and the Neo-
lithic sites around Sarajero [for example volkov,
1896]. In moravia (now Czech Republic), he de-
scribed the advancement of martin Kriz excava-
tions on the site of Predmost [for example volkov
1897]. many of volkov’s reviews dealt with his
homeland, and prominent Kiev’s scholars were
also introduced to their French counterparts.
For example, this was the case of vladimir Anto-
novich, Professor of Russian History at the Kiev
University. volkov considered him as «the dean
of Russian archaeologists» [volkov, 1903, р. 114],
and highly praised his archaeological maps of
Kiev and volynia Provinces [volkov, 1896; 1904].
volkov published few obituaries in the revue
des traditions populaires. For example, readers
learned about the work of Kharkov philologist
Alexander Potebnja on popular Ukrainian poetry
and songs in 1892 [volkov, 1892].
Beyond individuals, volkov stressed the role of
organisations that helped to organize archaeol-
ogy and anthropology in the east. He gave the
picture of a booming scientific field in the insti-
tutionalisation process and professional network
of the museums and scientific societies, despite
a largely inadequate university system. volkov
described eastern museums or museum sections
dealing with archaeology and anthropology. For
example, he informed his readers about the ex-
istence of important collections at the National
museum of Bosnia-Herzegovia in Sarajevo. This
museum displayed more than 20,000 prehistoric
implements and 250 craniums in 1900 [volkov,
1900, р. 63—64].
volkov also depicted the activities of the sci-
entific societies. Some were already well estab-
lished, such as the moscow Society of Friends
of the Natural Sciences, Anthropology and eth-
nology (founded in 1863), and the Imperial Geo-
graphical Society (founded in 1845) [see Bradley,
2009, р. 128—210]. In 1895 volkov informed
readers of l’Anthropologie about the creation of
a new Troitzkossavsk section of the Geographical
Society on the Chinese border, and the restora-
tion of its Southwestern section in Kiev, after 20
years of a political ban which had badly disrupted
ethnographic research in Ukraine [volkov, 1895].
At the Société d’anthropologie de paris, volkov
also described the Shevchenko Scientific Society,
founded in 1873 in lviv, as a «kind of national
academy», publishing works in Ruthenian, a
common language understood both in Austrian
Galicia and Russian Ukraine in march 1899. He
introduced more precisely the work of the ethno-
graphic Commission, he was one of the co-found-
ers in 1898 [volkov, 1899]. volkov also informed
his readers about foundation of the new associa-
tions, such as the medical-Anthropological Soci-
ety of the military medical Academy in Saint-Pe-
tersburg founded in1892 [volkov, 1895].
Also he gave the information on scientific con-
gresses or their specialized sections. He com-
mented the creation of the statistics section at the
1894 moscow congress of Russian naturalists and
physicians that, with the absence of a State sta-
tistical department, started to gather the impor-
tant data on Russian demography [volkov, 1895].
Russian Archaeological Congresses, organized
since 1869 by the moscow Archaeological Soci-
ety, provided the topic for longer memoirs. The
1899 Kiev session gave volkov the opportunity to
mention the «great number of scientists dealing
with archaeology» and the «remarkably abun-
dant recent discoveries» made in his homeland,
as well as the rich public and private collections
in Kiev [volkov, 1900, р. 59]. In a presentation
at the 1903 Kharkov Congress, volkov insisted
on the structuring influence of such meetings not
only for advancement of the scientific discussions,
but also for the invigoration of the archaeological
researches in different parts of the Russian em-
pire. He compared their impact to the congresses
of the Association pour l’avancement des sciences
founded in 1872 in French provinces [volkov,
1903, р. 113].
volkov included publications to the instru-
ments of institutionalization. He praised the
completion of the archaeological maps. A map of
the Kiev Province published in 1895 by the mos-
cow Archaeological Society was deemed of an
«exceptional importance» and of the «high value
for archaeology of the eastern europe» [volkov,
1896, р. 348]. He reviewed the first volume of the
materials for the ethnography of the rutheno-
ukrainians published by the ethnographic Com-
mission of the Shevchenko Society at the Société
d’anthropologie de paris in 1899. In may, 1902
he drew his French colleagues’ attention to the
journal of russian Anthropology launched in
1900 by the Society of Friends of the Natural Sci-
ences, Anthropology and ethnology [Bulletins de
la Société d’anthropologie de Paris, 1902, р. 546].
In the 1892 issue of the revue des traditions pop-
ulaires he described a new Czekh ethnographical
journal, cesky lid (the czekh people) [volkov,
1892].
* * *
Thus readers of l’Anthropologie and the revue
des traditions populaires became familiar with the
exotic names of their eastern colleagues through
volkov’s papers. Some of these scholars met
each other in Paris or at the international meet-
225
Richard N. Volkov in France: Cultural Transfers in Anthropology and Prehistoric Archaeology at the end of the 19th Century
ings. Other scholars from the east were known
because of the translations published in French
periodicals. For example, this was the case of vi-
centiy Khvoika, the excavator of the Saint-Cyril
Street prehistoric sites discovered in Kiev in 1894
[volkov, 1894]. He came to Paris in 1900 and at-
tended the International congress of anthropol-
ogy and prehistoric archaeology, held during the
World Fair. He presented a paper, published in
l’Anthropologie as well as in the proceedings of
the conference [Khvoika, 1901].
French readers also learned about the impor-
tant archaeological discoveries and knew the
names and locations of the important sites such
as the Kiev site of St Cyril Street, or the Siberian
site of Afontova-Gora, near Krasnoyarsk. Discov-
ered in 1884, it was presented to the internation-
al community by its excavator, I.T. Savenkov at
the 1892 Congress of prehistoric archaeology in
moscow. Then this site was visited by baron de
Baye [Baye & volkov, 1899; see makarov and al.,
2009]. French scholars learned about the growing
number of the Palaeolithic sites excavated in Cen-
tral europe and Russia, about the extraordinary
(and then unaccounted for) amount of mammoth
bones and tusks at some of these sites, about the
flint tools and art works they contained, etc. They
also learned about the debates around these re-
mains rouse among eastern scholars: some of
them thought that evidence was too scarce to
conclude that man and mammoth coexisted; the
others held the contrary view and discussed the
age of the sites in relation to the geology of glacia-
tions. French archaeologists also understood the
potential of the kurgan archaeology from volkov’s
papers. They were informed about the materials
dating from Neolithic to medieval times, traces
of the death rituals and anthropological types
contained in these mounts, as well as about nu-
merous hypotheses generated by these remains;
about early settlements, migrations and cultural
diffusion in eastern europe. Finally, French read-
ers learned about the ethnographic and cultural
diversity of the present populations of Russian
empire and Slavic regions, a diversity they could
also witness in the Russian and Austrian anthro-
pological sections of World Fairs [volkov, 1901],
as well as in more specialized exhibitions, such as
Parisian exhibits of the material collected during
State sponsored Scientific missions [for example
Hébert, 1896].
concluSion:
An AppliEd SociAl SciEncE for
A rEformEd ruSSiAn EmpirE
Besides new knowledge and the sense of a boom-
ing research activity, what conclusions could the
French readers draw from volkov’s publications
in scientific journals? Partly because of close po-
lice watch on political refugees in Paris, volkov
was cautious to not express too clearly his reform-
ist and patriotic political ideas. But his readers
could still guess his opinion from his writings,
and became aware of the limited freedom experi-
enced by scholars in tsarist Russia.
Between the lines of the papers dedicated to
seemingly purely scientific matters, French read-
ers learned about tsarist repressions against na-
tional academic communities and institutions.
They also understood better how scientific and
patriotic movements in the eastern europe were
closely related, how polemical were the nation-
al idioms problem and the researches in these
languages. French educated elites were already
familiar with this issue. many of them followed
the episodes of Poland’s misfortune, and became
aware of the patriotic value of Polish language
and literature through the lectures given at the
College de France by Adam mickiewicz in the
1840’s. Among others, volkov brought into fo-
cus that in many respects Ukraine underwent a
similar situation.
For example, French readers learned from his
papers that Ukrainian (Southwestern) Section
of the Imperial Russian Geographic Society had
been suspended in 1876, disrupting national eth-
nographic research for 20 years [volkov, 1895].
In the obituary of Pantaleimon Kulich, they
were informed that this well known specialist
in Ukrainian folklore was arrested in the 1840’s
for his association with the patriotic circles, im-
prisoned because of his republican and federal-
ist ideas, and for a while forbidden to publish.
volkov explained that Ukrainian language was
banned for the institutional use in the Russian
part of Ukraine, rendering research on national
literature more or less dangerous depending on
fluctuations of the tsarist politics [volkov, 1897].
He also explained that Ukrainian intellectuals
in Russia had resigned themselves to adopt Rus-
sian, a language their compatriots from Galicia
on the other side of the Austrian border did not
understand. At the Kiev Archaeological Con-
gress, Ukrainian language had not been recog-
nized and leading scholars from Galicia, who did
not speak Russian and refused speaking either
German or Polish had to boycott the conference
[volkov, 1901, р. 59—60].
volkov’s paper on Ukrainian popular tradi-
tions and material culture showed that conclu-
sions drawn from linguistics and philology were
reinforced by national ethnography. These sci-
ences demonstrated that Ukraine formed «a
complete whole from an ethnographic point of
view» [volkov, 1891, р. 160], distinct from other
neighboring Slavic entities, Polish, Belarussian
or Great Russian [volkov, 1891, р. 405]. Archae-
ology and history added to these arguments,
showed that Ukraine was «the first among east-
ern Slavic nations to enter the history» [volkov,
1891 р. 160]. Such statements obviously provided
arguments for tacit claims of the reunification
and home rule.
Richard N. Volkov in France: Cultural Transfers in Anthropology and Prehistoric Archaeology at the end of the 19th Century
226
They also provided a basis for further reflection
on the nature of prehistoric archaeology and na-
tional ethnography. volkov’s scientific contribu-
tions may seem eclectic, but he did not considered
them so. In his view, folklore, anthropology and
prehistory were the same field, on which a true
science of society could be based. In turn this sci-
ence was intended as a political tool for a radical
reform, liberal and federal, in Russia. «ethnog-
raphy and other anthropological sciences» were,
after volkov, the «very basis» of sociology [volkov,
1901 р. 39]. In the same way he linked prehis-
toric archaeology to ethnography, taking up the
French neologism of «palethnology» in its full im-
plication [volkov, 1903, р. 114]. For this reason
a rigorous and thorough survey of ethnographic
peculiarities and of discrepancies in the level of
development among the populations of the Rus-
sian empire, as well as a complete historical and
archeological account of the formation of these
peculiarities, was badly needed. The knowledge
provided by this survey would be necessary in
shaping a new liberal and federal Russian State,
uniting truly national entities with adapted polit-
ical autonomy. volkov shared this encompassing
and utilitarian conception of anthropology with
his French mentor Gabriel de mortillet, who pur-
sued a political career as well as a scientific one
during the Third Republic. The similar under-
standing of the applied social science also shaped
the expectations of the scholars who founded the
Russian School for Higher Social education in
Paris. It was volkov’s agenda for the anthropo-
logical lectures he gave in this institution.
This belief in the reformist power of science,
conveyed by his French papers, probably helps
understand volkov’s state of mind when the news
about the 1905 revolution came to Paris. volkov
decided to go back to Saint-Petersburg in order to
pursue his scientific activities in prehistoric ar-
chaeology and ethnography.
Baye joseph de. Compte rendu des travaux du neuvième
congrès russe d’archéologie, 1893 / Joseph de Baye. —
Paris: Nilsson, 1894.
Baye joseph de. le Gisement paléolithique d’Aphonto-
va-Gora, près de Krasnoïarsk (Russie d’Asie) / Joseph
de Baye & Théodore volkov. — Paris, 1899.
Blanckaert claude (ed). les politiques de l’anthropolo-
gie. Discours et pratiques en France (1860—1940) / ed.
Claude Blanckaert. — Paris, 2001.
Blanckaert claude. De la race à l’évolution. Paul Broca
et l’anthropologie française (1850-1900) / Claude Blanc-
kaert. — Paris, 2009.
Bradley joseph. voluntary Associations in Tsarist
Russia. Science, Patriotism, and Civil Society / Joseph
Bradley. — Cambridge, 2009.
capus guillaume. materialy pa ethnographiy Rossiy
(matériaux pour l’ethnographie de la Russie): Tome 1er
/ Guillaume Capus. — l’Anthropologie. — 1910. — 21.
—P. 561—562.
deniker joseph. les Races et peuples de la terre: élé-
ments d’anthropologie et d’ethnographie / Joseph De-
niker. — Paris, 1900.
Espagne michel. la Construction d’une référence cultu-
relle allemande en France : Genèse et histoire (1750—
1914) / michel espagne et michael Werner / — Annales
eSC. — 1987. — 4. — P. 969—992.
feuerhahn wolf. les «Sociétés animales» : un défi а
l’ordre savant / Wolf Feuerhahn. — Romantisme. —
2011. — 4. — Р. 35—51.
gauthier claudine. Henri Gaidoz (1842—1932). Bio-
graphie / Claudine Gauthier // Bérose. encyclopédie en
ligne sur l’histoire des savoirs ethnographiques, Paris,
2008. — UmR 8177.
gutnov dmitrij A. l’ecole russe des hautes études
sociales de Paris (1901—1906) / Dmitrij A Gutnov //
Cahiers du monde russe. — 2002. — 43. — 2—3. —
Р. 375—409.
hammond mark. Anthropology as a Weapon of Social
Combat in late-nineteenth Century France» / mark
Hammond // Journal of the History of the Behavioral
Sciences. — 1980. — 16. — Р. 118—132.
harvey joy. l’évolution transformée. Positivistes et
matérialistes dans la Société d’Anthropologie de Pa-
ris du Second empire à la Troisième République / Joy
Harvey // Histoires de l’Anthropologie. — Paris, 1984.
— Р. 387—405.
hébert jules. expositions des voyages et missions
scientifiques / Jules Hébert // l’Anthropologie. —
1896. — 7. — Р. 242—243.
khvoika vicentiy. Découvertes paléolithiques récem-
ment faites en Russie / vicentiy Khvoika // l’Anthropo-
logie. — 1901. — 12. — Р. 158—159.
makarov nicolai. About the History of Krasnoyarsk
Archaeologists’ International Relations / Nicolai maka-
rov, Aleksandr vdovin & Yekaterina Detlova // Journal
of Siberian Federal University, Humanities and Social
Sciences. — 2009. — 2. — 3. — Р. 336—348.
mosbah-natanson Sébastien. Internationalisme et
tradition nationale: le cas de la constitution de la so-
ciologie française autour de 1900 / Sébastien mosbah-
Natanson // Revue d’Histoire des Sciences Humai-
nes. — 2008. — 18. — Р. 35—62.
muchielli laurent. la découverte du social. Naissance
de la sociologie en France (1870—1914) / laurent mu-
chielli. — Paris, 1998.
présentations. Photographies d’objets préhistoriques
de Russie // Bulletins de la Société d’anthropologie de
Paris. — 1896. — 4ème série. — T. 7 . — P. 390—392.
prochasson christophe. Sur l’environnement intellec-
tuel de Georges Sorel : l’ecole des hautes études socia-
les (1899—1911) / Christophe Prochasson // Cahiers
Georges Sorel. — 1985. — 3. — Р. 16—38.
richard nathalie. la revue l’Homme de Gabriel de
mortillet : anthropologie et politique au début de la IIIe
République / Nathalie Richard // Bulletins et mémoires
de la Société d’anthropologie de Paris. — 1989. — 3—
4. — numéro spécial: Histoire de l’anthropologie : hom-
mes, idées, moments. — Р. 231—256.
voisenat claudie. Sébillot Paul (1843—1918) : Biogra-
phie / Claudie voisenat // Bérose. encyclopédie en ligne
sur l’histoire des savoirs ethnographiques. — Paris,
2008. — UmR 8177.
volkov théodore. la fraternisation — IX en Ukraine /
Théodore volkov // mélusine. —1890. — t. 5. — 8. — Р.
193—203.
volkov théodore. Rites et usages nuptiaux en Ukraine /
Théodore volkov // l’Anthropologie. — 1891. — 2. —
Р. 160—184; 408—437; 537—587.
volkov théodore. Traditions et superstitions des ponts
et chaussées. I les routes (suite). vI les chaussées et
les digues (suite) / Théodore volkov // Revue des tradi-
tions populaires. —1891. — t. 6. — 7. — Р. 404—405.
227
Richard N. Volkov in France: Cultural Transfers in Anthropology and Prehistoric Archaeology at the end of the 19th Century
volkov théodore. Une note sur l’ethnographie / Théo-
dore volkov // Revue des traditions populaires. —
1891. — t. 6. — 7 : 405.
volkov théodore. A. A. Potebnia / Théodore volkov //
Revue des traditions populaires. — 1892. — t. 7. —
1. — Р. 59—60.
volkov théodore. cesky lid (le Peuple tchèque) /
Théodore volkov // Revue des traditions populaires. —
1892. — t. 7. — 2. — Р. 231—232.
volkov théodore. Dr l. Niederle. lidstvo v dobé pred-
historicke ze zvlastnim zretelem na zeme slovanske /
Théodore volkov // l’Anthropologie. —1893. — 4 —
Р. 613.
volkov théodore. Découvertes archéologiques en
Ukraine et en Russie blanche / Théodore volkov //
l’Anthropologie. — 1894. — 5. — Р. 506.
volkov théodore. la section sud-ouest de la Société
impériale russe de géographie (а Kiev). Nouvelle
section de la Société impériale russe de géographie /
Théodore volkov // l’Anthropologie. — 1895. — 6. —
Р. 116.
volkov théodore. Travaux de la sous-section de statis-
tiques du IXème Congrès des naturalistes et des mède-
cins russes, tenu du 3 au 11 janvier 1894 а moscou /
Théodore volkov // l’Anthropologie. — 1895. — 6. —
Р. 460—461.
volkov théodore. v.B. Antonovitch. Arkheologitches-
kaïa karta Kievskoï goubernii / Théodore volkov //
l’Anthropologie. —1896. — 7. — Р. 346—348.
volkov théodore. v. Radimski. Prehistoricka sojenica
kod Ripka u Bosni / Théodore volkov // l’Anthropolo-
gie. — 1896. — 7. — Р. 573—579.
volkov théodore. m. Kriz. O donkoceni vyzkumnych
praci v Predmosti / Théodore volkov // l’Anthropolo-
gie. — 1897. — 8. — Р. 686—687.
volkov théodore. P.A. Koulich / Théodore volkov //
Revue des traditions populaires. —1897. — 3. —
Р. 281-282.
volkov théodore. Krychtafovitch N. Posliétretitchnyia
obrazovania v okrestnostiakh Novo-Alexandrii / Théo-
dore volkov // Bulletins de la Société d’anthropologie
de Paris: 4ème série. — 1898. — t. 9. — Р. 386—388.
volkov théodore. materialy do ukraïno-ruskoï ethno-
logii / Théodore volkov // Bulletins de la Société d’an-
thropologie de Paris: 4ème série. — 1899. — t. 10. —
Р. 124—125.
volkov théodore. Congrés archéologique de Kiev /
Théodore volkov // l’Anthropologie. —1900. — 11. —
Р. 59—64.
volkov théodore. l’ethnographie dans la section russe
de l’exposition universelle de 1900 / Théodore volk-
ov // Revue internationale de sociologie. — 1901. —
9. — Р. 39-51.
volkov théodore. le congrés archéologique de
Kharkov / Theodore volkov // l’Anthropologie. —
1903. — 14. — Р. 113—118.
volkov théodore. v.B. Antonovitch. Arkheologitches-
kaïa karta volynskoï goub / Théodore volkov // l’An-
thropologie. — 1904. — 15. — Р. 209—210.
volkov théodore. Rapport sur les voyages en Galicie
Orientale et en Bucovine en 1903 et 1904 / Théodo-
revolkov // Bulletins et mémoires de la Société d’an-
thropologie de Paris: 5ème série. — 1905. — t. 6. —
Р. 289—294.
volkov théodore. variations squelettiques du pied
chez les primates et dans les races humaines / Théo-
dorevolkov. — Paris, 1905 [extrait de Bulletins et
mémoires de la Société d’anthropologie de Paris].
wartelle jean-claude. la Société d’Anthropologie de
Paris de 1859 а 1920 / Jean-Claude Wartelle // Revue
d’histoire des sciences humaines. — 2004. — 10. —
Р. 125—171.
Н. Р и ш а р
вОЛКОв вО ФРАНЦии:
КуЛьТуРНыЙ вЗАиМООбМЕН в
АРхЕОЛОГии и исТОРичЕсКОЙ
АНТРОПОЛОГии в КОНЦЕ XiX ст.
Статья посвящена роли Теодора Волкова в науч-
ном и культурном обмене между Францией и Рос-
сией. Представлен анализ научной деятельности
ученого в период жизни во Франции, участия в на-
учных обществах, контактов и совместной деятель-
ности с коллегами антропологами и преисториками.
Освещены научные публикации ученого, подготов-
ленные и выпущенные во французских издани-
ях в этот период. Представлены также сведения о
преподавательской деятельности Теодора Волкова
в различных учебных заведениях. Анализируется
его деятельность в качестве переводчика и работа
по аннотированию для французской научной об-
щественности славяноязычных научных изданий.
Делается вывод о том, что для научной коммуника-
ции между учеными различных стран наибольшее
значение имела деятельность Т. Волкова по обзору,
комментированию и представлению французским
ученым российских научных изданий, а в последс-
твии — французских в России.
|