The Informative Potential of "Reference Books about the Persons of the St. Petersburg [Petrograd] Merchants ... [1865-1916]" for the Study of the Entrepreneurs of the Waste

Abstract

The author examines the "Reference books on persons of the St. Petersburg [Petrograd] merchants and other ranks, joint-stock and unit companies and trading houses ... [1865-1916]" published by merchant councils, whose appearance was associated with the procedure for obtaining certificates and tickets for conducting trade and fishing activities. They are a unique source for studying the Russian business class. The features of the structure and the specifics of the presentation of information in the "Reference Books" allow to present it in the form of Excel tables and form a prosopographic data bank, which serves as an effective tool for working with a large array of data. As a result of the source analysis, their subject-thematic content was revealed. The authors show that the materials of the "Reference Books" allow us to study the sources of recruitment and the composition of the bourgeoisie of St. Petersburg, the prevailing areas of capital application, strategies for the development of entrepreneurial activity, including various types of diversification. The use of the prosopographic method makes it possible to reconstruct the social appearance of individual age cohorts of out—of-towners and migrants - immigrants from peasants and burghers, trends in intergenerational social mobility and identity transformation, marriage and career strategies. In addition, the ways of regional and local (within St. Petersburg) movements are traced. Thus, the strategies of behavior of the most passionate part of the peasantry for a long time are reconstructed. The scientific novelty of the study consists in the analysis of the structure of "Reference books" and their potential to obtain a more objective picture of the main patterns and features of the formation of the Russian business class in the imperial period.