Orthodox Estonians in St Petersburg Province: The Fate of the Diaspora in an Autochthonous Environment

Abstract

During the pre-revolutionary decades, the Estonian diaspora was one of the most active in St Petersburg, however, it remains little-studied to this day. An intensive study of the history of Estonian churches in St Petersburg province and the Estonian deanery of the St Petersburg diocese make it possible to raise the question of an organised Orthodox Estonian diaspora that did not merge with the Lutheran one. This article formulates the reasons for introducing this phenomenon into scholarly circulation and characterises its distinctive features. The author refers to documents from the Central State Historical Archive of St Petersburg (primarily, reports from the dean of Estonian district), as well as articles and materials from the first All-Russian population census. The active development of the issue studied by some historians in recent years speaks of its relevance. The article provides an overview of the historical situation, identifies the problems that characterised the life of Estonian migrants in St Petersburg and the province, and describes the contribution to the solution of the problem by Archpriest Pavel Kuhlbusch, senior priest of the Estonian church in the capital and dean of the Estonian parishes of the diocese. Additionally, the author carries out a detailed analysis of the theological aspect of the diaspora’s existence and missionary and educational work inside it. The threat of nationalism caused by the language barrier with the locals, the linguistic community with a Lutheran majority, and the incomprehensibility of the Church Slavonic language for foreigners was the breeding ground of the Estonian diaspora as a whole and led the Orthodox Estonian diaspora to a crisis at the time of the collapse of the Russian Empire. The atheism of Bolshevik ideology finally terminated its life in the 1930s. However, the panhellenism of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, which replaced the multiculturalism of the Russian Empire, also failed to contribute to the development of Orthodoxy among Estonians. The efforts Pavel Kuhlbusch made for many years led to an increase in the number of Orthodox Estonians, whose literacy and enlightenment also increased significantly, but his departure to Estonia for episcopal service and death in 1919 had a disastrous effect on the future fate of the Estonian Orthodox diaspora.