“And so lived our ancestors…”

This article examines the Urals roots and self-perception of the Siberian historian and bureaucrat Peter Andreevich Slovtsov (1767–1843). Best known as the author of the two-volume Historical Survey of Siberia (1838–43), Slovtsov is often described as the first Siberian patriot and precursor to the Siberian regionalist movement. Drawing on a range of published and archival sources to analyze how Slovtsov made sense of his family roots in the Urals region, the author suggests that Slovtsov is best understood as a man of the empire who understood both his own life trajectory and Siberian history as fruits of enlightened imperial rule

Ancient history · Empire · Genealogy · Folklore, Mythology, and Literature Studies · History