The Development of Geography in Pre-Soviet Russia

ABSTRACT This is an attempt to portray some of the more important currents of thought and personalities associated with the progress of geography in pre-Soviet Russia, with the chief aims of 1) indicating some of the roots of present Soviet geographical thinking, and 2) placing the Russian contribution as an integral yet distinctive part of the developments in world geography before 1920. The main part of the paper is organized chronologically and appraises the life and work of the more significant geographers of each period, their impact on the character of the subject, and their relation to their historical and intellectual milieu. Finally, the nature and extent of the carry-over to the Soviet period is suggested. The recent intense methodological debate is seen as, in good measure, inspired by the work of the pre-Revolutionary scholars, and by the awareness of a broken heritage. In conclusion, some continuities of thought in Russian geography, then and now, are postulated.