The Russian community in Estonia
The Russian community in Estonia has developed over several centuries: according to the 1897 consensus, it constituted 4.7 per cent of the Estonian population, which at that time meant 46 026 persons. In connection with new industrial enterprises and military constructions in the early 20th century, the Russian community started growing at tremendous speed. According to some estimates, the number of Russian civilians reached 100 000 in 1917. During the German occupation, about one third, i.e. 40 000, left the country.
Revolution and civil war in Russia brought about a new wave of immigration. Approximately 20 000 Russians from the Judenitch Army and the same number of refugees arrived in Estonia at that time. In 1925 Riigikogu passed the bill of Cultural Autonomy of Minorities that granted national minorities extensive freedom to promote their own culture, education and social activities. The Russian national minority, however, failed to make much use of this opportunity.
During the 1920s and 1930s, the Russian community in Estonia tried hard to maintain their culture and identity. This was made easier by the social composition of the refugees that contained a large number of intellectuals. Famous Russian émigré philosophers such as Nikolai Berdjajev and Semjon Frank lectured here, as did writers (e.g. Ivan Bunin, the first Russian Nobel prize winner), politicians, actors, etc. Contacts with Estonian cultural figures were established, evenings of Estonian poetry were organised, collections of poetry by Marie Under and Henrik Visnapuu translated into Russian, Estonian plays were staged, etc.
A significant event for the Russian community was the celebration of Puskhin’s 125th anniversary on 26 May 1924, which later became an annual tradition under the title “Days of Russian Culture”. This undertaking set an example to other Russian communities all over the world. Church services and processions of people wearing national costume were usually organised on that day. Concerts took place, musicians played on national instruments, choirs and dancers performed both in the open air and in community halls. Amateur theatres put on shows and the day ended with grand-scale festivities all around.
In spring 1931, a large Russian exhibition was arranged showing the various forms of expression of Russian culture in Estonia. The exhibition displayed paintings, graphic art and architecture, as well as compilations on the topics of religion, archaeology, daily life, schools, theatre, libraries, sport, handicraft, publishing, periodicals and literature.
The 1920s and 1930s witnessed the Russian culture’s deepening interest in its own folklore. Folk songs had especially well survived in the Petseri area near the Estonian southwestern border where Jelizaveta Mahler, a famous folklorist from Basel University, gathered material in the late 1920s. Folklore performances of Russian weddings were also very popular at the time.
Libraries and museums played an important part in Russian culture. The most valuable of these was the Narva City Museum containing numerous ethnographic items which came from the Narva region and areas near Lake Peipsi. Since 1919, Russian-language books were published in Estonia, by such publishing houses as Odamees in Tartu, Bibliofiil and Russkaja Kniga in Tallinn. Alongside philosophical and religious literature, fiction, school textbooks and children’s books were published as well.
Russian-language periodicals also achieved an excellent standard in the Republic of Estonia — between 1918 and 1940 over one hundred Russian-language periodicals were issued. The majority of them were short-lived, although quite a few were published for decades. The most popular amongst the local Russian population were the dailies Poslednije Izvestija (Last News, 1920–1927), Vesti Dnja (Daily News, 1926–1940; banned by the Soviet authorities), Russkij Vestnik (Russian Chronicler, 1934–1940; abolished by the Soviet power). Mention should be made of such magazines as Nov, originally published in newspaper format and later as a magazine. Despite the small number of copies, Nov was known throughout the Russian community.
As for literature, no great writers have admittedly emerged from the Russian community in Estonia. The best known was perhaps the Russian émigré poet Igor Severjanin (1887–1941) who lived in Toila in Virumaa and became famous in the whole of pre-revolutionary Russia and even acquired the title “King of Poets”. Several others are deserving of mention as well: literary critic Pjotr Pilski (1881–1941), prose writers Vladimir Guschik (1892–1947) and Vassili Nikiforov-Volgin (1901–1941), poets Boriss Nartsissov (1906–1982) and Jüri Ivask (1878–1922).
A special role in the Russian cultural scene belongs to Boriss Vilde (1908–1942) who moved to Estonia from St Petersburg, but travelled on to Germany and Paris where he worked at the Paris Museum of Ethnography. In 1937 the museum dispatched him to Estonia to gather ethnographic material about the Setu people and local Russians. During the German occupation, it was Vilde who suggested that the French anti-fascist movement should be called Résistance. He took an active part in it himself. Boriss Vilde was arrested by the gestapo and shot in the back yard of the Paris Museum of Ethnography. He was posthumously awarded the highest French decorations.
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