The Cult Personality of Siberia: Construction of the Image of G. N. Potanin in Biographical Sources (History and Modernity)

The study aims to identify and demonstrate the methods and forms of representing the image of the leader of the Siberian regionalists’ movement – G. N. Potanin in biographic. The objectives of the work involve establishing the dynamics of reproduction of the positive image of the educator as a cult figure of Siberia in biographical sources. The methodological platform is the paradigms developed by the French historian J. Revel, who understands biographies as a subjective but unique historical source. The historical and anthropological approach was also important. The toolkit allows us to identify the private and the special in the life and work of the founder of regionalism. The article shows that the authors of the biographies had their own attitudes and varying degrees of involvement in the life and socio-political activities of the outstanding Siberian. This group of written sources is characterized by a variety of narratives about the significance of the educator’s personality. Representative practices, as well as the methods and markers of constructing the image of Grigory Nikolaevich Potanin, have undergone a certain evolution. In pre-revolutionary times, the main narratives were about the individual virtues of the famous Siberian, and about his travels. In Soviet times, biographers were little interested in the personality of G. N. Potanin, emphasizing his professional achievements. At present, there is a high interest in the legacy of the educator. In biographies, the image of the ideologist of regionalism as a multifaceted scientist, educator and public figure of Siberia is updated.