The life path of Professor Evgenii Aleksandrovich Engel’ according to archival documents and materials of his personal file. 1878-1942

Scientific article

doi 10.28995/2073-0101-2024-2-391-408

For citation

Krasnikova, Yuliya N. (2024). “The life path of Professor Evgenii Aleksandrovich Engel’ according to archival documents and materials of his personal file. 1878-1942”, Herald of an Archivist, no.2, pp. 391-408. doi 10.28995/2073-0101-2024-2-391-408

Krasnikova, Yuliya N., St. Petersburg State Agrarian University, St. Petersburg, Russia

The life path of Professor Evgenii Aleksandrovich Engel’ according to archival documents and materials of his personal file. 1878-1942

Abstract

The life path of Professor E. A. Engel’ is connected with the history of a number of educational institutions in St. Petersburg. Despite the fact that Evgenii Aleksandrovich was a well-known scientist and socio-political figure of the first quarter of the XX century, no full-fledged biography of him has been written. However, some information has been preserved in different sources. This is the reason for the purpose and objectives of this study: on the basis of archival documents, first introduced into the scientific circulation, to detail the biography of a well-known in Petrograd major scientist, social activist and talented teacher, who made a significant contribution to the development of the Faculty of Social Sciences of the Leningrad University and the Faculty of Economics and Politics of the Leningrad Agricultural Institute. The article is based on a thorough search work. The materials of his personal file kept at the St. Petersburg State Agrarian University and documents from the archival funds of the central archival repositories of St. Petersburg were involved. The study used biographical and prosopographical methods to trace the fate of an individual through his or her career practices. The biographical method has been ignored by academic science for some time because of its seemingly low representativeness. But the personification of history allows us to see the person behind socio-political and economic events, to analyze the influence of external factors on his life. The prosopographical method allowed us to trace the typical features of career development for its time. Engel’ did not occupy any leading positions before the revolution, but he repeated the fate of many nominees of the young republic, when the "correct" social origin and party affiliation compensated for the lack of administrative experience. He joined the RSDLP as early as 1902 and after the Second Congress supported the Bolsheviks; thanks to his active work in the party, he acquired useful acquaintances. Like many of his contemporaries, after the October Revolution of 1917 Evgenii Aleksandrovich combined many responsible positions, being, for example, at one time dean of different faculties in two higher educational institutions. His personal file is cut off at the very peak of his active work. It is difficult to say how his life path went in the 1930s and when he completed it: the fate of E. A. Engel’ dissolved in the abyss of events that swept Russia. A. Engel's fate dissolved in the abyss of events that swept Russia. The reconstructed biography of the famous scientist, Professor E. A. Engel’, whose life was connected with a number of higher educational institutions of Leningrad, can become a good source of commemorative practices and strengthen the sense of unity of corporate community through the representation of past events.

Keywords

Historical sources, source studies, Evgenii Aleksandrovich Engel’, revolutionary students, red professorship, Bolshevik, Faculty of Social Sciences, Leningrad University, Faculty of Economics and Politics, Leningrad Agricultural Institute

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About the authors

Yuliya N. Krasnikova, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor, St. Petersburg State Agrarian University, Department of Philosophy and Socio-Humanitarian Sciences, Associate Professor, St. Petersburg, Russia, +7-911-229-37-00, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The article was received in the editorial office on 25.01.2023, recommended for publication on 20.03.2024.