Bashkirtseff
Orig | CZ

Viatka (Vyatka)

Basic Aktualizováno: 2025-12-07

Research Status: Basic Last Updated: 2025-12-07 Diary Coverage: Book 00 (1884 preface)

Identity

Viatka (also spelled Vyatka, now called Kirov) was a provincial city in northeastern European Russia, 896 kilometers northeast of Moscow. In the 19th century, it served as a place of administrative exile for political and troublesome subjects.

Historical Context

Administrative Exile:

  • Used by tsarist authorities for punishment without formal criminal charges
  • Less severe than Siberian exile
  • Exiles often lived relatively comfortably
  • Could work in local administration or rent houses
  • Famous exiles included Alexander Herzen and Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin

19th Century Exile System:

  • Administrative exile required no trial or formal charges
  • Authorities could send "troublesome" individuals away from major cities
  • Vyatka was far enough to isolate but not as harsh as Siberia
  • Exiles often held society evenings and continued cultural activities
  • System allowed authorities to remove problems without legal process

Vyatka as Location

Geography:

  • On the Vyatka River in European Russia
  • Provincial capital of Vyatka Governorate
  • Remote but not wilderness
  • Cold winters, relatively developed town

Social Life:

  • Provincial society
  • Local nobility and officials
  • Exiles often became part of cultural life
  • Less sophisticated than Moscow or Petersburg

Connection to Bashkirtseff Family

In 1865, Georges (Marie's uncle) was "saisi, emballé et envoyé à Viatka entre deux gendarmes" (seized, packed up and sent to Viatka between two gendarmes). Marie's account reveals:

Why Georges was sent:

  • No single major crime ("Avait-il commis un crime qualifié? Non")
  • "Mille misères et mille petites saleté qui embêtaient tout le monde" (A thousand petty troubles and a thousand little filthy deeds that annoyed everyone)
  • Pattern of bad behavior: beating officials, playing tricks, antagonizing the province
  • Poltava governor had to intervene
  • Accumulated grievances rather than one crime

The Significance:

  • Administrative exile avoided public trial and scandal
  • Sent "between two gendarmes" - under guard but not in chains
  • Remote enough to remove him from Poltava society
  • Beginning of "le drame bête et terrible" (the stupid and terrible drama) that consumed the family

Family Impact:

  • Started the family's obsession with "saving Georges"
  • All family energy went to visiting authorities, writing ministers
  • Life consumed by "Georges et les policiers" (Georges and the police)
  • Young Marie's mother used her beauty to petition governors on Georges' behalf

Historical Examples

Alexander Herzen (1834):

  • Exiled to Vyatka for free-thinking
  • Not permitted to return to Moscow until 1842
  • Later became famous revolutionary writer

Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin:

  • Young nobleman from Tver
  • Exiled for free-thinking and anti-government statements
  • Served as official in gubernatorial chancellery
  • Rented house in town center, held society evenings
  • Wrote literary works during exile
  • Very comfortable conditions

Administrative Context

The Vyatka exile system reflected Russian autocratic power:

  • No habeas corpus or due process required
  • Officials could exile troublemakers without trial
  • Families often followed exiles voluntarily
  • System maintained social control without public scandal
  • For nobility, more humiliation than hardship

Related Entries

Sources

%% 2025-12-07T12:40:00 RSR: Created entry to explain Georges' 1865 exile and Russian administrative exile system %%