Russkaya Starina

4-8

Authors: Andrey V. Venkov

The Don Cossacks had their own banner system. In addition to the banners, which were sent to the Don by the tsar, the Cossacks had their own banners, which were very diverse. During the military reform of 1875 the Cossack banners were unified and became identical in form with the Russian cavalry standards. During the civil war, the Cossacks retained the old unified tsarist banners for their resurgent regular regiments, with the exception of the Kalmyk regiment. The remaining Cossack regiments, which made up the majority, revived the old system of diversity of banners.

16-25

Authors: Alla V. Shadrina

Cathedrals of major cities of Russia have traditionally been the centers of not only Church life, but also the focus of cultural life, which attracted outstanding artists. Rostov Cathedral of the Nativity of the virgin was no exception. Here in the last third of the XIX – first half of XX century carried his Ministry musicians and artists, whose names entered the history not only of Rostov-on-Don and the Soviet Union. The article is devoted to the return of forgotten names of outstanding artists whose life was associated with the Rostov Cathedral of the Nativity of the virgin.

32-63

Authors: Leonid L. Smilovitsky

The article is devoted to the study of a rarely examined topic: the role of photography in wartime correspondence between the front and rear as a historical source. The state and citizen have different attitudes to the photography. Photographs in wartime could simultaneously act not only as witnesses, but also as prosecutors. Soldiers and commanders and their families gave the photograph an exceptional value. The photograph was more valuable than the letters and must be kept. The photographs were taken on the road even when there was not enough time for the collections, their place was next to documents, money and a modest stock of things and provisions in hand luggage. Soldiers wore photos of relatives and friends in the pocket of their uniform at the heart or in a knapsack behind their backs. The coverage of the circumstances in which the soldiers and the Red Army commanders made and sent photographs to their homes, relatives, friends and neighbors and comrades in arms draw a true picture of a military everyday life, provide the necessary details for understanding the behavior of a person in war, and reveal his inner world. The article is based upon the data from the letters and diaries of the Soviet Jews – soldiers of the Red Army – which were collected in the archives of the Diaspora Research Center at Tel Aviv University over the last five years (2012–2018) and are herein introduced into academic circulation for the first time.

74-82

Authors: Varvara Е. Dobrovolskaya

The article deals with the activities of Ivan Timofeyevich Kokorev on the collecting and studying folklore and ethnographic materials. Particular attention in his work was focused on materials related to the life and customs of Moscow burghers. Of particular interest are the descriptions of the types of Moscow artisans, their professional folklore (proverbs, prescriptions, professional jargon and signs). The author pays great attention to the description of the holidays and festivals, as well as the games. Kokorev published the songs of the citizens (round dance, table, ritual, cruel romances) and actively used them in his works. He showed great attention to the peculiarities of the costume of the urban lower classes, urban amusements, folk cooking, wedding ceremonies. The writer turned out to be a very attentive and scrupulous collector of folklore and ethnographic material. He was one of the few who paid attention to the folklore tradition and customs of the townsfolk. Kokorev’s essays are especially interesting being based on his personal observations on the life of Moscow, its holidays and everyday life.