Greeks in Russia are considered one of the most ancient diasporas, since the Black Sea regions were colonized by them in the ancient period. In the early Middle Ages, Russian lands most often came into contact with the Greek population, who settled on the southern coast of Crimea, which is under the rule of Byzantium. It was from there that Russian Christian traditions were borrowed. In this article we will talk about the history of the people in the Russian Federation, their numbers, outstanding representatives.
Numbers
The first statistics to estimate the number of Greeks in Russia date back to 1889. At that time, about 60 thousand representatives of this people lived in the Russian Empire. Here are how many Greeks settled in Russia shortly before the fall of the empire.
In the future, their number has steadily increased. According to the 1989 USSR census on the territory of the Soviet Unionmore than 350 thousand Greeks already lived, more than 90 thousand of them remained directly in Russia.
Assessing the results of the 2002 census, it can be argued that by that time there were almost one hundred thousand representatives of this people in the Russian Federation. About 70% of them were registered in the Southern Federal District. The largest number of Greeks in Russia is in the Krasnodar and Stavropol Territories - more than 30,000 each.
In 2010, the census recorded only 85,000 Greeks in Russia. The settlements in which there are the most of them are still preserved. That's how many Greeks in Russia currently live. In some settlements, they make up a significant part of the total population. Among the places where Greeks live in Russia, the Stavropol Territory should be noted first of all. For example, the Piedmont region of the Stavropol Territory stands out, where there are more than 15% of the population, the city of Essentuki, more than 5% of the Greeks live in it. Here are the most popular places where Greeks live in Russia.
The appearance of the Greeks
One of the key directions of the pan-Greek colonization movement of the VIII-VI centuries. BC e. was the settlement of the Northern Black Sea region. This process took place in several stages and in different directions. In particular, in the east and west.
As a result of large-scale colonization and resettlement of the ancient Greeks on the territory of Russia, several dozens of settlements and policies were founded. The largest at that time were Olbia, Cimmerian Bosporus, Phanagoria, Tauride, Hermonassa, Nymphaeum.
Turkish Constantinople
The mass migration of Greeks to Russia began in 1453 after the capture of Constantinople by the Turks. After that, the settlers arrived in large groups on the territory of Russia.
At that time, our country was not a particularly attractive place for immigrants, even despite the common faith. The Moscow principality was still considered unfavorable due to economic backwardness and a bad climate. There were very few Greeks at that time, mentions of them in the annals of the XV-XVI centuries are insignificant. Only after the marriage of Ivan III and Sophia Paleolog in 1472 did the influx of Greeks increase sharply. Mostly they moved from Italy. Moreover, it was mainly the intellectual elite - monks, nobility, merchants and scientists.
A century later, a patriarchate was proclaimed in Russia, intellectual immigration reached a fundamentally different level. It is this period in the history of the Greeks in Russia that is considered the heyday of cultural and religious ties. It was then that Mikhail Trivolis, better known as Maxim the Greek, Jerome II, Arseny Elasson, began to play a big role in the life of the state. Numerous scribes, clerics, teachers of the Greek language and artists played no less important role, who determined the entire cultural development of the Grand Duchy, its orientation towards the Orthodox Church.
Unification of Christian peoples
Ties between ordinary representatives of the Russian and Greek peoples intensified at the turn of the 17th-18th centuries, when Peter the Great and his heirs sought to unite allChristian peoples of the Caucasus and southeastern Europe. Then among the population of Greeks in Russia the number of sailors and soldiers increased. Especially a lot of them began to come during the time of Catherine II. It even became possible to form separate Greek units.
Giving a general characterization of the policy of Peter I and his followers, it can be noted that in relation to the Greek population, it mostly coincided with how the authorities behaved with other Orthodox peoples. For example, they also supported the resettlement of Ukrainians, Armenians, Russians themselves, Bulgarians and Greeks in the border areas. Especially in troubled regions where Muslims used to live predominantly.
The purpose of this policy, which influenced the history of the Greeks in Russia, was to assert their dominance in new territories, as well as the economic, demographic and social development of these areas. Foreigners in return received privileges and favorable conditions for economic development. For example, a similar preferential treatment was established in Mariupol. Moreover, it was accompanied by the provision of a certain self-government, the ability to have their own police officers, courts, education system.
The policy of the Russian authorities towards the Greeks living in Russia was associated with a significant expansion of territories, starting from the reign of Peter I. Territorial acquisitions were secured as a result of the three partitions of Poland, successful Russian-Turkish wars.
In 1792, the Kherson region, Nikolaev, Odessa became Russian possessions. As a result of administrative reforms, aNovorossiysk province. It was in the southern regions of Russia that an unprecedented program was implemented to populate new regions with foreigners who were loyal to the St. Petersburg authorities. The Greek contribution to the development of these areas mainly occurred due to resettlement in the Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov from the Crimea. The new influx of Greeks to these places was due to the tightening of the policy of the Ottoman Empire towards the Gentiles, the involuntary participation of the Greek population in supporting the uprisings against Turkey. Basically, during clashes in the framework of the Russian-Turkish wars. The positive attitude towards resettlement on the part of Catherine II also contributed to this, it fit into the ideological justification of her famous "Greek project".
The situation in the 19th century
In the 19th century, the mass migration of Greeks continues. Their presence in Transcaucasia especially increases after the official annexation of Georgia in 1801. The invitation of the Greeks to these lands begins to appear one after another. Even the fact that the Turks, taking advantage of the temporary weakening of Russia due to the Patriotic War with the French, did not prevent this, temporarily took part of these territories under their control.
Even more actively observed the outflow of Greeks from the territory of the Ottoman Empire in the 1820s. Due to the liberation revolution of 1821, the attitude towards them is noticeably worsening.
The next step is the arrival of the Christian population on the territory of Russia following the Russian army in 1828, when Turkey was again defeated. Together with the Greeks, this time the Armenians are massively resettled, who are alsoforced the Turks.
In the second half of the 19th century, the resettlement of Christians from the banks of Pontus occurs with varying degrees of intensity, but almost continuously. A certain role in this was played by the newly launched program to attract immigrants to these territories. When crossing the borders of the empire, everyone received five rubles lifting silver, regardless of gender and age.
Another burst of migration activity is observed in 1863, when Russian diplomats manage to force Porto to sign a decree on the free migration of Greeks from their places of original residence to Russia. Contributed to this conquest of the mountainous regions of the Caucasus by Russian troops and the discriminatory policy of the Turks against Christians. The highlanders of the Caucasus, who were defeated in the war with the Russian army, mostly professed Islam, so they began to move to their fellow believers in Turkey.
The latest waves of Greek immigration
The last wave of mass immigration from Turkey to Russia happened in 1922-1923. Then the Greeks tried to get from Trabzon to their homeland through Batumi, but the civil war prevented these plans. Some families were scattered in different places.
During the years of Stalinist repressions, a wave of imprisonments and arrests of Greeks begins, who are accused of anti-government activities and treason. In total, there were four waves of mass persecution from October 1937 to February 1939. Thousands of Greeks at that time were condemned as enemies of the people and exiled to Siberia.
Bthe next decade, the resettlement of Greeks in the direction of Central Asia continues. From the Kuban, Eastern Crimea and Kerch they come to Kazakhstan, at the end of the Second World War the Greeks are resettled from the Crimea to Siberia and Uzbekistan. In 1949, Greeks of Pontic origin were exiled to Central Asia from the Caucasus. Two weeks later, Greeks who had Soviet citizenship departed on the same route. According to various estimates, from 40 to 70 thousand people were resettled at that time.
In the same period, the last Greeks from the outskirts of Krasnodar were also resettled. According to the estimates of researchers who deal with the Greeks who fell victim to Stalinist repressions, from 23,000 to 25,000 people were arrested at that time. About 90% were shot.
Soviet historian of Greek origin Nikolaos Ioannidis among the main reasons for the deportation of the Greeks by the Soviet authorities calls the fact that the ruling party in Georgia adhered to nationalist views. In addition, the Soviet government suspected the Greeks of having links with spies after the defeat of the Democratic Army in Greece itself. Finally, they were considered an alien element, and the industry of Central Asia, which was developing intensively, urgently needed workers.
The forced resettlement of Greeks during the Stalinist repressions was the last test for this people. Already during these persecutions, they proved to the Soviet authorities how much they were mistaken, since it was among the Greeks that during the Great Patriotic War there were especially many heroes at the front.
Ivan Varvatsi
In the history of our country there were many famous Russian Greeks who played an important role in its formation. One of them is a Russian nobleman of Greek origin Ivan Andreevich Varvatsi. He was born in the North Aegean in 1745.
By the age of 35, he became famous as a famous pirate, for whose head the Sultan of Turkey promised a thousand piastres. In 1770, Varvatsi, like many of his countrymen at that time, voluntarily joined with his ship the Russian squadron of the First Archipelago Expedition, commanded by Count Alexei Orlov. It happened during the Russian-Turkish war. The B altic Fleet was given the task of circumnavigating Europe as discreetly as possible, intensifying the struggle of the Balkan peoples. The goal was achieved to the surprise of many. The Turkish fleet was almost completely destroyed in the Battle of Chesma in 1770. It is with this battle that history connects the beginning of Varvatsi's service to the Russian Empire.
After the conclusion of the peace treaty, his position was not easy. On the one hand, he was a Turkish subject, but at the same time he fought on the side of the Russian Empire. He decided to continue serving Russia on the Black Sea. In Astrakhan, he establishes the sale and preparation of caviar, from there he begins to regularly sail on his ship to Persia.
In 1780 he received an order from Prince Potemkin to go to the Persian expedition of Count Voynich. In 1789, after the successful completion of another mission, he received Russian citizenship. He directs his energy and outstanding abilities to commerce, soon becoming one of the richest Greeks in Russia. Much moneyat the same time, he also allocates through patronage.
Historians claim that at the same time he constantly maintained ties with the Greek diaspora, especially with those who settled in Taganrog and Kerch. From 1809, he negotiated the construction of the Alexander Nevsky Church in the Greek Jerusalem monastery, and four years later he finally moved to Taganrog.
At the end of his life, Varvatsi again went to his homeland to fight for its independence. He was a member of the secret society "Filiki Eteria", whose goal was to create an independent Greek state. Its members were young Greeks who lived at that time in the Ottoman Empire, and merchants of Greek origin who moved to the Russian Empire. Varvatsi financially supports the leader of a secret society, Alexander Ypsilanti, who raises an uprising in Iasi, which became the impetus for the Greek revolution. Varvatsi bought a large batch of weapons, which he supplied the rebels. Together with them he took part in the siege of the Modena fortress. Died in 1825 at the age of 79.
Dmitry Benardaki
Among the well-known Greeks of Russia, one should also remember the industrialist and wine farmer, gold miner and creator of the Sormovo plant Dmitry Benardaki. He was born in Taganrog in 1799. His father was the commander of the cruising ship "Phoenix", which participated in the Russian-Turkish war of 1787-1791
From 1819 he served in the Akhtyrsky hussar regiment. Became a cornet, in 1823 he was dismissed from service with the rank of lieutenant for domestic reasons. Withlate 1830s begins to acquire plants and factories from which he builds his empire.
In 1860 he buys shares of a machine factory in Krasnoe Sormovo. It delivers lathes, steam engines, a crane to enterprises. All this makes it possible to build the country's first open-hearth furnace for steel smelting in ten years. The Sormovo Shipyard also fulfills state orders: it builds warships for the Caspian Fleet, the first iron ships.
Together with the merchant Rukavishnikov, he participates in the creation of the Amur Company. The first to practice gold mining in the Amur Region.
Does a lot of charity work. Establishes funds for the needy, takes care of minors convicted of petty crimes, creates craft shelters and agricultural colonies.
In St. Petersburg, Benardaki built the Greek embassy church, which he completely took on his own. Benardaki helped Gogol with money, who described him in the second volume of "Dead Souls" under the name of the capitalist Costanjoglo, who provides all kinds of help to those around him.
Died in Wiesbaden in 1870 at the age of 71.
Ivan Savvidi
If we talk about today's we althy Greeks in Russia, the first who comes to mind is a Russian businessman of Greek origin Ivan Ignatievich Savvidi.
He was born in the village of Santa on the territory of the Georgian SSR in 1959. He graduated from school in the Rostov region, then served in the Soviet army. He received his higher education at the faculty of material and technicalsupply of the Institute of National Economy in Rostov-on-Don. He defended his thesis in economics.
In 1980 he got a job at the Don State Factory. He started his career as a transporter. At the age of 23, he already became the foreman of the locksmith shop, over time he was promoted to deputy director. In 1993, he headed the Donskoy Tabak company as a general director.
In 2000, Savvidi established his own charitable foundation, which supports projects in the field of science, education and sports. From 2002 to 2005 was the president of the football club "Rostov". But then he left the financing of Russian football. He currently owns a majority stake in the Greek club PAOK. Since then, the team has won the silver medals of the championship three times and won the Greek Cup twice
Maxim Grek
Looking into the history of our country, you can find the great Greeks of Russia. These, of course, include the religious publicist Mikhail Trivolis, better known as Maxim the Greek. An ethnic Greek who lived in the 15th-16th centuries was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church.
Maxim Grek was born in the village of Arta into an aristocratic family in 1470. His parents provided him with a first-class education. After graduating from school on the island of Corfu, he ran for local government at the age of 20, but lost.
After this failure, he went to Italy, studying philosophy. He closely communicated with prominent humanists of his time. Great influence on the heroOur article was provided by the Dominican friar Girolamo Savonarola. After his execution, he went to Athos, where he took the vows as a monk. Presumably this happened in 1505.
Ten years later, the Russian prince Vasily III asked to send him a monk to translate spiritual books. The choice fell on Maxim the Greek. His first major work was the translation of the Explanatory Ps alter. He was approved by the Grand Duke and all the clergy. After that, the monk wanted to return back to Athos, but Vasily III rejected his request. Then he stayed to translate, creating a rich princely library.
Noticing the social injustice in the life around him, the Greek began to criticize the authorities. In particular, he took the side of the non-possessors, led by Nil Sorsky, who advocated that the monasteries should not own the lands. This made him an enemy of their opponents the Josephites. In addition, Maxim Grek and his followers criticized the way of life of a certain part of the clergy, the foreign and domestic policies of the secular authorities, usury in the church.
In 1525, at the Local Council, he was accused of heresy, imprisoned in a monastery. He died in 1556 in the Trinity-Sergius Monastery.
