Home – Home – Jornals – Humanitarian sciences in Siberia 2022 number

M.M. Speransky, an outstanding state figure of the XIX century, the Siberian Governor-General (1819-1822), left a significant mark in the administrative-political organization history of the outskirts of Russia, which was an important plot of the domestic imperialism building, and became the subject of close attention of researchers. At the same time, the Soviet and post-Soviet historiography emphasized mainly the content and results of M.M. Speransky’s reform activities in Russia and Siberia, as well as the important episodes of his personal biography during the rapid career growth (until March 1812). Much less attention was paid to the description and scientific-research reflection of the personal traumatic experience of the highest imperial official in circumstances of exile and “disgrace” (1812-1816), as well as to the understanding of Speransky’s self-feelings in the subsequent years marked by his activities as Penza Civil Governor and Siberian Governor-General. A prominent contribution to this problem statement and development was made in the 1870s by representatives of Siberian regionalism (V.I. Vagin, G.N. Potanin, N.M. Yadrintsev). They drew attention in their journalism and private correspondence to the consonance of their own socio-political biographies with the life experience of an outstanding Siberian reformer, that allowed them to reproduce the personality and activity of M. Speransky taking into account the experienced psychological trauma. Appealing to the modern interpretations of the “trauma” concept and ways to overcome it made it possible to reveal the ideas of Siberian regionalism on M. Speransky’s personal feelings and experiences at different stages of the reform activities in Siberia, the adaptive behavior strategies of the official, dependence of decision-making on the psychological state in a difficult life situation. Based on the ego-texts of the Siberian regionalism leaders, the study reveals, that implementing the administrative and management mission in Siberia by M. Speransky fell into victimized and resilient stages in psychological terms. In their frames, there was a gradual overcoming of trauma and changing the world perception of the reformer, which formed a positive background for regional transformations.