PUBLIC SENTIMENTS IN SIMBIRSK AT THE END OF THE XIX – BEGINNING OF THE XX CENTURY ACCORDING TO THE MEMOIRS OF PROFESSOR A.I. YAKOVLEV

The relevance of the research lies in the introduction into scientific circulation of A.I. Yakovlev’s memoirs entitled “Revolution”, preserved in the State Historical Archive of the Chuvash Republic, which were written by the son of the Chuvash educator I.Ya. Yakovlev, Aleksey Ivanovich. The analysis of this manuscript makes it possible to study the public sentiments in the town of Simbirsk in the late XIX and early XX centuries, as well as to characterize the author’s worldview. The purpose of the study is to analyze a new source, to characterize social relations in Simbirsk in the late XIX and early XX centuries, as well as to study the views of A.I. Yakovlev on the reasons for the growth of revolutionary sentiments and the genesis of revolution in Russia. Materials and methods. The basis of this work is the memoirs of Aleksey Yakovlev from the manuscript entitled “Revolution”. To achieve this purpose, the principles of historicism, objectivity and consistency are important, as well as methods of analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, the historical and genetic method, and the method of source analysis. Results. The memories of A.I. Yakovlev were written in 1930. In August 1930 Aleksey Ivanovich was arrested by the “Academic case.” The very structure of the memoirs gives us the opportunity to hypothesize that the author’s original intention was to explore the origins of the Russian revolution and bring the narrative to 1917. However, supposedly the arrest of A.I. Yakovlev prevented the completion of the work. Structurally, the following themes can be distinguished in the memoirs: 1) the situation in Simbirsk on the eve of 1887; 2) the arrest of Alexander Ulianov and the reaction of Simbirsk community to what happened; 3) the situation of Simbirsk gymnasium students after the events of 1887; 4) the attention of the author and Simbirsk youth to revolutionary publications and Marxist literature; 5) views and behavior of Simbirsk society’s representatives. Conclusions. The memories of A.I. Yakovlev makes it possible to characterize the public mood in Simbirsk on the eve of the events of 1887 and up to 1904 in different social groups, which were expressed in generational conflict, the spread of revolutionary literature, antagonism between the lower and upper classes of society, and the government’s rejection of objective trends in the country’s development.