Smyshliaev, D.D.: On the Way to the Sinai

Title

Na puti k Sinaiu, Perm’ 1878

On the Way to the Sinai

Keywords

Summary

The book is divided into two chapters, Alexandria and Cairo. Smyshliaev provides geographical and historical details, while at the same time sharing his experiences and describing the local society. He thoroughly characterises the natives, describing their clothes and way of life, and underlines how Europeans live in the country, recalling his interactions with them. A Russian translation of the Ashtiname of “the false prophet” Muhammad is also provided. The last pages are devoted to the encounter with Russian pilgrims; particular attention is given to the figure of Arkadii, one of the pilgrims (a “sectarian”, according to the author’s evaluation) living a life of renunciation in a metochion in Cairo. Smyshliaev is particularly impressed by Arkadii’s refusal of clothing.

Bio

Dmitrii Smyshliaev was a Russian local historian and ethnographer, honorary member of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society. Born in Perm into the family of a merchant, he studied at the local gymnasium prior to embarking upon a trading career. He travelled around Russia and abroad, attending the Great Exhibition in London in 1851 and visiting Scotland, Germany, France, Italy, Athens and Constantinople. After the death of his father in 1857, he liquidated the family business in order to dedicate himself to the study and teaching of local history. He contributed to the organisation of many public schools and reading circles, and founded the periodical “Sbornik Permskogo zemstva”. In the 1860s he was investigated in relation to a local revolutionary circle, for circulating Herzen’s works among his acquaintances. A well-established figure in Perm, he laid the foundations for the establishment of the Perm Economic Society, officially founded after his death. He lived in Jerusalem between 1885 and 1889 as the first authorised representative of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society; there, he promoted the construction of the Mission of Saint Sergius.

Sources

“Smyshliaev (Dmitrii Dmitrievich)”, in Entsiklopedicheskii slovar’ Brokgauza i Efrona, t. XXXa, Sankt-Peterburg 1900, p. 592;

Rossiia v Sviatoi zemle. Dokumenty i materialy, t. 1, ed. by N. Lysovoi, Moskva 2000;

“Smyshliaev Dmitrii Dmitrievich”, in Russkie pisateli. 1800-1917: biograficheskii slovar’, t. 5, Moskva 2007, p. 687-689;

Rossiia v Sviatoi zemle. Dokumenty i materialy, t. 3.1, ed. by N. Lysovoi, Moskva 2020.

 A.F.