Koropchevskii, D.A.: Arapy

Title

Arapy, Moskva 1912 (first edition: 1898)

Arapy

Keywords

Summary

The essay was first published for another editor (E. Evdokimov) in 1894, under the title Arapy: ocherk byta i nravov chernogo plemeni (Arapy: An Essay on the Way of Life and Customs of Black Tribes). Since 1898 it has been part of the series “Knizhka za knizhkoi” (N° 46 in the catalogue). The book, aimed primarily at children, offers an account on the black population living in Africa, i.e. arapy: as Koropchevskii explains, this term became widespread in Russia to refer to the “Negro” population and, as such, it should not be confused with araby (Arabs). The author combines general information on the continent with ethnographical knowledge on the black peoples living in it. A strong emphasis is given to the language of race: as a matter of fact, in his treatise Koropchevskii emphasises the differences between the various “races”, also calling into question the influence of the “yellow race” on Russia. Considerable space is given to descriptions of animals, too. The book is illustrated with drawings portraying locals, artefacts, and animals.

Bio

Dmitrii Koropchevskii was a Russian author, translator, editor and ethnographer. Born in Moscow into a noble family, he graduated from the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Moscow University in 1863, becoming interested in anthropology and ethnography thanks to professor Grigorii Shchurovskii. It was with the purpose of popularising this knowledge that he became the editor of the journals “Znanie”, “Slovo”, and “Novoe obozrenie”. He published articles, novels and short stories also with the pseudonym “G. Taranskii”, and translated several Western authors like E. Tylor, G. de Maupassant, J. Lubbock, F. Ratzel, whose ideas strongly influenced him. From 1899 he started to teach ethnography and anthropogeography at various institutions, including Saint Petersburg University. A member of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, he served as a chairman of the Russian Anthropological Society from 1899 to 1902.

Sources

D. Klements, Dmitrii Andreevich Koropchevskii (nekrolog), “Ezhegodnik Russkogo antropologicheskogo obshchestva”, 1905, 1, p. 256-258;

E. Rogalina, “Koropchevskii, Karapchevskii Dmitrii Andreevich”, in Russkie pisateli. 1800-1917, t. 3, Moskva 1994, p. 85-86.

A.F.