Translate this page:
Please select your language to translate the article


You can just close the window to don't translate
Library
Your profile

Back to contents

Genesis: Historical research
Reference:

Tombstone of the Beginning of the XX Century from the Territory of the Modern Cemetery

Zagvazdina Yana Gennad'evna

Junior Scientific Associate, Tobolsk Scientific Station of Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences

626152, Russia, Tyumen region, Tobolsk, ul. Ak. Yu., 15

wandy00@mail.ru
Zagvazdin Evgeniy Petrovich

Scientific Associate, Tobolsk Complex Scientific Station of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences

626152, Russia, Tyumen region, Tobolsk, Ak. Yu. str. Osipova, 15

kulay_arx@mail.ru
Other publications by this author
 

 

DOI:

10.25136/2409-868X.2022.12.39316

EDN:

UAJTVT

Received:

04-12-2022


Published:

30-12-2022


Abstract: The article is devoted to the study of a tombstone from the territory of the Sumkinsky cemetery located near Tobolsk. The extraordinary nature of the find is due to the fact that the tombstone of the beginning of the XX century was accidentally discovered in a later rural cemetery founded in the middle of the XX century, that is, fragments of the monument were brought there specifically. This is also indicated by the unsystematic nature of the location – its parts lay scattered, on the path between the rows of later burials, piled against a metal fence. The tombstone was a three-part stone obelisk, of which the base and the middle part remained. The biographical inscription of the monument was badly damaged. In the process of studying the destroyed text of the epitaph with the involvement of a number of sources, it was found out that the burial belonged to the son of the priest Fyodor Filippovich Afanasyev – Simeon, who died at a young age and was buried in the village of Shishkinsky. More biographical information was found out about his father, who was born in the Voronezh province and graduated from the Theological Men's College. He served as a psalmist in Tobolsk, and then was promoted to deacon. His son was born there. F.F. Afanasyev later became a priest and served in the village of Shishkinsky, Tobolsk district, and then in the village of Ust-Ishim, Tarsky district.


Keywords:

the Sumkino cemetery, stone tombstone, priest F.F. Afanasyev, Tobolsk, Shishkinskoye village, Ust-Ishimskoye village, biography, epitaph, necropolitics, Christ the Nativity Church

This article is automatically translated.

IntroductionModern Russian necropolitics, which remained in oblivion throughout the Soviet period, when this branch of historical science was recognized as reactionary and studied selectively, has a high information potential.

Tombstones remain one of such basic sources of this historical trend. They are one of the important sources that not only mark the burial place of a particular person, but also often are real works of art. In addition, the information on the monument often contains biographical information, and also reveals the nature of relationships between people, about which we are practically not informed by other types of sources.

Tobolsk necropolistics is only taking the first serious steps in terms of studying the necropolis as a comprehensive historical source. A significant amount of information in this regard was provided by the publication of the results of many years of archaeological excavations on the territory of the Tobolsk Kremlin, the upper Posad and in the foothill part of the city. As a result of these works, Tobolsk necropolises were identified and studied, mainly belonging to the end of the XVI –end of the XVIII centuries [1]. Rural necropolises in the vicinity of Tobolsk have been studied less by archaeological methods [2, 3].

The later period of Tobolsk necropolistics, after the 1770s, was studied by historians based on the materials of the Zavalny cemetery. An outline of the history of the formation of this urban necropolis is well traced from archival sources [4]. There are essays on individual personalities of this cemetery [5, 6, 7], as well as individual works on the morphology of tombstones, epitaphs [8, 9] and the typology of funerary monuments [10]. Near Tobolsk, the history of church burials was studied based on the materials of the Ioanno-Vvedensky Monastery [11].

The sources of biographical information for Tobolsk necropolistics until recently remained tombstones and stone tombstones, most fully represented in the Zavalny cemetery. In addition, burials with massive stone tombstones are known on the territory of the Sofia courtyard of the Tobolsk Kremlin, information about which is known mainly to Tobolsk local historians. To a lesser extent, tombstones were studied in the vicinity of Tobolsk – on the territory of the Ioanno-Vvedensky Convent. However, there are finds of stone tombstones outside these necropolises.

The main partIn 2021, on the territory of the existing cemetery near the village of Vorogushino, called Sumkinsky and functioning approximately from the middle of the XX century, a part of a stone tombstone monument of the early twentieth century was discovered (Fig. 1, Fig. 2). Two fragments of gray stone, presumably marble, were preserved from the tombstone.

One of them, the lower one, with an epitaph, has dimensions of 48x42x33 cm, the other (upper), without an epitaph – 35x33x28 cm. (Fig. 3) On the larger fragment there are holes where iron pins were inserted to fix the upper part of the monument. Identical traces of blue oil paint are recorded on both fragments, which additionally suggests that these are parts of the same monument.

How did the tombstone end up in another cemetery that did not yet exist when the tombstone was created? A thorough survey of the Sumkinsky cemetery showed that the oldest burial is located closer to the fork of the Tyumen– Khanty-Mansiysk–Sumkino road and dates from the information on the monument in 1950. There are no signs that there could have been earlier tombstones here, but without dates – typologically all the monuments of the Soviet era examined. The cemetery site where the fragments of the monument were found also contains mainly burials of the last two decades. Consequently, massive fragments of the ancient tombstone were transported here on purpose much later. The nature of the destruction of the monument, in particular the desire to destroy the epitaph, testifies to its purposeful damage.

There are many similar examples of mockery of burials at the Zavalny cemetery of Tobolsk. Most of the tombstones and monuments erected in the pre-revolutionary period have been displaced from the places where they were originally installed. Many of them have been destroyed and preserved in fragments. This was largely due to the anti-religious policy pursued by the state after the revolution. Tombstones containing words of prayers, mentions of God and images of crosses could be perceived as a symbol of religion and, probably, as a result, were damaged and destroyed.

Some cast-iron gravestones, in particular, from the graves of the Decembrists, were removed from the cemetery and used for household needs [12].

Regarding the find at the Sumkinsky cemetery, unfortunately, it was not possible to find out who and when brought the fragments of this monument.

The most surviving part of the pedestal has partially preserved the inscriptions. On the one hand:

 "...b sim pa…

 ...om pokoits..

..The Priest's name

 ...en Tob.Duh.schools

 ...ion Feodorovich

 .fanasyev,

 ..89.. Feb. 3 days

 ....190..g ......"

With another:

"Peace be upon your ashes

Beloved son"

And with the third:

"In and (my) Father

And (the Son and the Holy One) the

(E) ear. Amine(b)"

We assumed that the first inscription originally looked like this: "(Po)d sim pa (mint) om pokoits (I) (sy)n Priest (W)en. Tob. Spirit. Colleges (...)ion Feodorovich (A)fanasyev, (born?) (1)89/(.) Feb. 3 days (died?) 190(.) g. (....)".

Initially, the following information could be found from this inscription: the son of a priest of the Tobolsk diocesan school or a men's theological school was buried under this tombstone. The date of birth of the son, apparently, was February 3, the year of birth was reconstructed in the interval from 1890 to 1899, and the year of death – from 1900 to 1909. The father's name is Fyodor Afanasyev, the son, perhaps, Simeon or Larion. The son, as the inscription says, was beloved, perhaps even the only one.

Since, according to the inscription on the tombstone, the father served at the Tobolsk Theological School at the time of his son's death, accordingly, there was every reason to assume that the Afanasyev family lived in Tobolsk at that time, and his son was buried at the Tobolsk Zavalny cemetery. This cemetery, in fact, was the only place where Orthodox citizens were buried. There have been cases when the deceased were buried at churches or in the Bishop's grove, but this usually concerned people of high spiritual or secular ranks who had special services to the diocese [4, p.281].

In the reference book of the Tobolsk Diocese for 1913, it was not possible to find a priest with the same name and surname among the employees of the Women's Diocesan School, as well as among the teachers and staff of the Men's Theological School [13, pp. 12-16 (page 1)]. But here, in the alphabetical list, there is a mention of Afanasyev Fyodor Filippovich, a priest with. Ust-Ishim, Tarsky Uyezd, graduated from the theological college, and served as a psalmist since 1886, a deacon since 1887, a priest since 1906 [13, p. 10 (page 4)]. If this is the priest we are looking for, then probably the death of the son occurred in the period from 1906 to 1909, that is, from the moment when his father, according to the entry in the Reference Book of the Tobolsk diocese, was already ordained a priest. It can be assumed that at that time the clergyman and his family lived in Tobolsk, and was subsequently transferred to the Tarsky district.

In the Tobolsk diocesan address calendar for 1895, it is indicated that in the Tobolsk Christ-Nativity Church, Fyodor Filippov Afanasyev, 24 years old, who graduated from the course at the Tobolsk Theological College, appointed to this position on May 13, 1887, is married" [14, p. 38 (page 1)].

In the address calendar for 1897, it is indicated that in the Tobolsk Men's Theological School since 1896, Deacon F. Afanasyev serves as an economist [15, pp.9-11 (page 2)].

In the Tobolsk diocesan address calendar for 1901, it is indicated that Deacon Theodore Filippovich Afanasyev, 30 years old, who graduated from the course of the theological school, serves as a psalmist in the Tobolsk Epiphany Church [16, pp. 6-7 (page 4)].

Two years later, in the address calendar for 1903, Fyodor Filippovich is mentioned as a serving priest in the wooden church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God in Shishkinskoye village [17, p. 6 (page 4)].

Thus, according to the entries in the address calendars, Fyodor Afanasyev became a priest not in 1906, as indicated in the Reference Book of the Tobolsk diocese for 1913, but earlier, for at least three years, and before that, from May 13, 1887, he served as the psalmist of the Tobolsk Christ-Nativity Church, since 1896., who has already become deacon F. Afanasyev serves as the steward of the Tobolsk Men's Theological School. No later than 1903, Fyodor Filippovich Afanasyev was ordained a priest of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God in the village of Shishkinsky in the Karachinsky volost of the Tobolsk district. In addition, we learn information that Fyodor Afanasyev was born around 1871 (in 1895 he was 24 years old) and graduated from the Tobolsk Theological College, as well as that in 1895 he was already married.

The record of the ordination of Fyodor Afanasyev to the priesthood was found in the Tobolsk Diocesan Gazette. In one of the last issues for 1901, it is indicated that "the deacon of the City-Tobolsk Epiphany Church, Theodore Afanasyev, was ordained a priest to the village-Shishkin church of the Tobolsk district" [18, 1901. p. 389].

The Tobolsk diocesan gazette also contains a record of his dismissal from his place and the appointment to the post of deacon in the church of Ust-Ishim. In May 1909, the church press reported that the priest of the church of S. Shishkinsky, Fyodor Afanasyev, was removed from the place [19, p.116]. In September of the same year , a minor priest , Fyodor Afanasyev , was appointed to the diaconate of the church of S. Ust-Ishim Tarsky uyezd [20, p. 186].

Also, information about the Afanasyev family was found in the census sheet of the First General Population Census of the Russian Empire, conducted in 1897 [21, l. 18 vol.]. According to this entry, the family consists of Afanasyev Fyodor Filippovich, 26 years old, his wife, Afanasyeva Nadezhda Semenovna, 22 years old and their son Afanasyev Simeon Fedorovich, 5 years old. All family members belong to the spiritual rank, Orthodox. The owner himself was born in the Ostrogorsky district of the Voronezh province, graduated from the Spiritual Men's College.

At the time of the census, Fyodor Filippovich serves as an economist-deacon of the Theological School. His wife Nadezhda Semyonovna is a native of Omsk, studied at the Alexander Orphanage. The youngest member of the family is the only son Simeon, 5 years old, born, as indicated in the census form, here in Tobolsk.

The family lives, according to census data, in Tobolsk, on the territory of Cathedral Square, in the house of the Tobolsk Theological School, in the apartment of the school's housekeeper. The apartment, apparently, is a service dwelling, provided for the use of Fyodor Filippovich and his family due to the fact that he serves as a steward-deacon of the Theological School.

The data from the metric books supplement the information already received. In one of them we managed to find a record of the birth of Semyon (Simeon). According to the entry in the Metric Book of the Grado-Tobolsk Christ-Nativity Church on February 2, 1892, the psalmist of this church, Theodore Filippov Afanasyev, and his legitimate wife, Nadezhda Semenova, had a son, Simeon, who was baptized on February 6. Thus, we see that the date of birth is incorrectly indicated on the tombstone, in fact, Simeon was born not on February 3, but on February 2, 1892. Also, this record allows us to get information about the place of service of his father, Fyodor Filippovich, at the time of the birth of his son, he serves as the psalmist of the Christ-Nativity Church. The record of the birth of his son, apparently, was made by his hand [22, L. 266 (vol.), 267].

Also, a record of the marriage of his parents was found in the metric books. The wedding took place on May 1, 1891 in the same Christ-Nativity Church, where Feodor Afanasyev had already served. The groom at that time was 21 years old, the bride, Nadezhda Semenova Bulba – 17. Also from the record we learn that the father of the bride – Simeon Simeonov Bulba, is a retired non-commissioned officer, ranked among the bourgeois class. Among the guarantors, apparently, the bride's brother, who does not have the rank of clerk of the directorate of schools of the Tobolsk province, Ioann Semenov Bulba, is indicated [23, l. 255 (vol.), 256].

Thanks to the viewing of the metric books of the church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God of S. Shishkinsky Karachinsky parish, where the priest Fyodor Afanasyev was identified, it was possible to find a record of the death of his son Semyon. According to this record, the son of the priest of the village of Shishkinsky, Simeon, died on December 1, 1902 at the age of 10 "from brain inflammation." He was buried, as indicated in the document, on December 3, 1902 at the parish cemetery [24, L. 490 (ob), 491].

Based on all of the above, we can conclude that the stone tombstone was originally located not in the Zavalny cemetery of the city of Tobolsk, as we assumed, but in the parish cemetery of the village of Shishkinsky, where, according to the records of the metric book, Semyon Afanasyev was buried. The village (now the village of Shishkin), and probably the parish cemetery attached to it, is located at a relatively short distance from the place where the tombstone was discovered (about 6 km). Probably, over time, the cemetery was abandoned and most of the tombstones were lost, and someone who accidentally discovered a surviving stone tombstone decided to move it to the nearest functioning cemetery. Thus, perhaps, it turned out to be on the territory of the Sumkinsky cemetery.

Written sources made it possible to clarify and restore the information on the tombstone. Thus, we found out that the son of the clergyman Fyodor Afanasyev, Semyon, was born on February 2, 1892, died on December 1, 1902. It was possible to establish that the date of birth does not exactly coincide with the date of birth stamped on the monument (the discrepancy in the data is one day). In addition, the position of the father of the deceased, indicated on the tombstone, raises questions – the priest of the Women. Tob. Spirit. Schools. At that time there were two theological schools in Tobolsk – a Men's theological School and a Women's diocesan school. In one of them, Fyodor Afanasyev really served, but not in the year of his son's death, but in an earlier period of time – in 1897, he served as a steward-deacon of the Theological School.

In 1902, when his son died, according to documents, first of all, entries in the metric book, Fyodor Afanasyev is a priest of the Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God of S. Shishkinsky. Information that he was also serving at the Theological School at that time has not yet been found. He is also not in the lists of employees in the theological educational institutions of the Tobolsk diocese for 1901-1909, which were published annually in the Tobolsk Diocesan Gazette [25, pp.309-316; 26, pp.313-321; 27, pp.353-362; 28, pp.279-286; 29, pp.297-304; 30, pp.164-171; 31, pp.119-126; 32, pp.369-377]. The lists were reviewed not only for the year of the son's death, but also for the next few years, due to the fact that the tombstone was probably not made immediately, but after some, possibly very long time, during which the place of service of the deceased father could change.

Despite the fact that the place of service of Fyodor Afanasyev indicated on the tombstone has not yet been confirmed by documentary sources, and it is possible that it does not correspond to reality, nevertheless, biographical information about the priest of the Tobolsk province and his family was obtained during the research.

The main milestones of Theodore Filippov Afanasyev 's life path are as follows:

Around 1871, he was born in the Ostrogorsky district of the Voronezh Province, graduated from the Tobolsk Theological Men's College. In 1891 he married Nadezhda Semenova Bulba, a native of Omsk, and in 1892 his son Simeon was born. During this period of time (from May 13, 1887), he served as a psalmist, and then as a deacon of the Tobolsk Christ-Nativity Church. Subsequently (in 1896) he became the steward-deacon of the Tobolsk Men's Theological School. However, then (in 1901) he again served as a psalmist in another Tobolsk church – the Epiphany. At the end of 1901 he was ordained a priest of the church of the village of Shishkinsky Tobolsk district.

About a year after his appointment as a priest in the church of S. Shishkinsky, on December 1, 1901. his son is dying. Apparently, until May 1909, the place of service of Fyodor Afanasyev did not change. In May 1909, he was dismissed from his post and dismissed for the staff, and in September he was appointed to the post of deacon to the church of S. Ust-Ishim Tarsky district, where he probably later (no later than 1913) became a priest. But a record of this has not yet been found.

Conclusion Thus, thanks to the comparison of material and documentary sources, it was possible to establish the original location of the tombstone, which was found in a modern operating cemetery, to restore the information lost on the tombstone and partially restore biographical data about one of the clergy of the Tobolsk diocese and his family.

Despite the apparent reliability of the data that the tombstones contain, as we can see, this type of sources should still be checked with the help of data from other sources, primarily documentary ones. The latter, as practice shows, can also contain errors and typos, so the sources in question should be studied in a complex.

Fig. 1. Sumkinskoye cemetery with the location of the tombstone of the beginning. XX century. on its territory.

  

Fig. 2. The layout of the tombstone and the photo fixation of its location.

Fig. 3. Drawing the inscriptions on the tombstone.

References
1. Danilov P. G. Necropolis XVII-XVIII centuries in the structure of Tobolsk urban development in the light of archaeological and historical materials. The Culture of Russians in Archaeological Research Scientific. Omsk; Tyumen; Yekaterinburg: Magellan, 2014. Pp. 19-22.
2. Danilov P. G. Orthodox necropolis of the XVII-XVIII centuries in the Abalak village of Tobolsk district: results and prospects of research // Bulletin of Novosibirsk State University. Series: History, Philology.-2012. Ò. 11. ¹ 7. Pp. 158-163.
3. Danilov P. G., Turova N.P. Children's burials from the Russian settlement "Village Yarkova" in the Tobolsk Priirtyshye // Bulletin of the Tomsk State University. 2017. ¹ 414. Pp. 45-51.
4. Balyunova E.A., Balyunov I.V. From the history of funeral rites of the Russian population // Urals Archives. ¹12. 2008. Pp. 279-282.
5. Sulimov V. S. Zavalnoe cemetery: a guidebook. Tobolsk, 2006. 40 p.
6. Sulimov V. Tobolsk Necropolis: names and fates. Tobolsk, 2020. 78 p.
7. Gainullin M.S. Poor Kyukhlya, or in search of the last shelter // Yuzhnouralskaya Panorama. ¹ 181 (2662). Chelyabinsk, 2011.
8. Burnasheva A. V. Epitaphs and volumetric-plastic forms of tombstones in Tobolsk memorial Zaval cemetery // Cultural heritage of Siberia. 2009. ¹ 10. Pp. 14-16.
9. Berezhnova M.L. Epitaphs in Siberian cemeteries at the end of XIX-XXI centuries [Electronic resource] // Cultural heritage of Siberia: [website]. URL: http://sibnasledie.omsu.ru/page.php?id=46 (accessed 20.10.2022).
10. Zagvazdin E. Three-vertical Golgotha from tombstones from Tobolsk and Ioanno-Vvedensky female monastery // Culture of Russians in archeological studies: Collection of scientific articles. Omsk: LLC "Publishing house "Nauka", 2017. Ñ. 389-394.
11. Zagvazdin E.P. St. John Vvedensky nunnery in persons: The Druzhinins // Almanac of Gender History "Adam and Eve". Ì., 2016. Pp. 311-343.
12. Eristov B.O. Unsung Song.... Uralsky Rabochiy Publisher. Yekaterinburg, 2000. 200 p.
13. Reference book of the Tobolsk diocese for September 1, 1913. Tobolsk. diocese brotherhood of St. Demetrius of Thessaloniki. St. Demetrius of Thessaloniki.-Tobolsk: Tip. Published by the Tobolsk diocesan brotherhood, 1913. [2], 46, 227, 87, 66 p.
14. Tobolsk eparchial address calendar, published by order of the Tobolsk eparchial governor for 1895 for the benefit of the eparchial Trusteeship on the poor clergy. Tobolsk, Printery of Tobolsk Eparchial Brotherhood, 1895. 250, 42, 13 p.
15. Tobolsk diocesan address-calendar for 1897. Publication of the Tobolsk Diocesan Brotherhood of St. Vlt. St. Demetrius of Thessaloniki; compiled by N. Bogoslovsky. Bogoslovsky N.-Tobolsk, The Typography of the Tobolsk Eparchial Brotherhood, 1897. X. 260 p.
16. Tobolsk diocesan address-calendar for 1901. Published by the Brotherhood of the Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessaloniki. Tobolsk. Typography of the Diocesan Brotherhood, 1900-1901. 40, 38, 66, [167], XVII, [2] pp.
17. Tobolsk diocesan address-calendar for 1903. Published by the Brotherhood of St. Demetrius of The Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessaloniki. Tobolsk: The printing house of the Eparchial Brotherhood, 1903. 15, 23, 42, 112, VIII p.
18. Directions of diocesan authorities. The official section // Tobolsk eparchial bulletin. 1901. ¹ 23. Pp. 388-392.
19. Eparchial news. The official section // Tobolsk eparchial bulletins. 1909. ¹ 10. Pp.115-122.
20. Diocesan news. Official department // Tobolsk eparchial bulletins. 1909. ¹ 17. Pp. 186-187.
21. in Tobolsk, part 1; the Tobolsk men's religious school-Sobornaya Square, Ilyinskaya St., Diocesan women's school-Ilyinskaya St., Vladimir bourgeois almshouse-Ilyinskaya St., female dowager and feldsher school-ul. Ilyinskaya Street, Tobolsk provincial hospital for social services-Hospitalnichnaya Street, infectious disease department of Tobolsk provincial hospital for social services-Hospitalnichnaya Street, Community of Sisters of Mercy of the Russian Red Cross Society-Hospitalnaya Street. Department of the mentally ill men in Tobolsk provincial hospital for social services-Hospital Street // TF GATO. F. I 417. Op. 2. D. 7. p. 18 ob.
22. Metrical Books of Churches of Tobolsk, Abalaksky Znamensky, St. John Vvedensky Monasteries // TF GATO. F. I 156, op. 15, d. 707, fol. 266(ob.), 267.
23. Metrical Books of Churches of Tobolsk, Abalaksky Znamensky, John Vvedensky Monastery // TF GATO. F. I 156, op. 15, d. 703, fol. 255(ob.), 256.
24. Metric books of churches in Tobolsk county // TF GATO. F. I 156, op. 15, d. 737, fol. 490(ob.), fol. 491.
25. List of employees of clerical-educational institutions in Tobolsk at the beginning of 1901-1902 academic year. Official Section // Tobolsk Eparchial Gazette. 1901. ¹ 17. Pp. 309-316.
26. List of employees of clergy educational institutions in Tobolsk at the beginning of 1901-1902 school year. The official list // Tobolsk eparchial gazette. 1902. ¹ 18. Ñ. 313-321. (Note: Apparently there is a typo, and it's not about the school year 1901-1902, but 1902-1903 academic year).
27. List of employees at clerical-educational institutions in Tobolsk, by the beginning of 1903-1904 school year. The official list // Tobolsk diocesan gazette. 1903. ¹ 19. Pp. 353-362.
28. List of employees of clergy schools in Tobolsk at the beginning of 1904-1905 school year. The official list // Tobolsk eparchial bulletin. 1904. ¹ 18. Ñ. 279-286.
29. List of employees of clergy schools in Tobolsk at the beginning of 1905-1906 school year. The official list // Tobolsk eparchial gazette. 1905. ¹ 18. Pp. 297-304.
30. List of employees of clergy educational institutions of Tobolsk diocese at the beginning of 1906-1907 school year. The official list // Tobolsk eparchial gazette. 1906. ¹ 18/19. Pp.164-171.
31. List of employees of clergy schools in Tobolsk diocese at the beginning of 1907-1908 school year. The official list // Tobolsk eparchial gazette. 1907. ¹ 18. Pp.119-126.
32. List of employees of clergy schools in Tobolsk diocese at the beginning of 1908-1909 school year. The official list // Tobolsk eparchial gazette. 1908. ¹ 19. Pp. 369-377.

Peer Review

Peer reviewers' evaluations remain confidential and are not disclosed to the public. Only external reviews, authorized for publication by the article's author(s), are made public. Typically, these final reviews are conducted after the manuscript's revision. Adhering to our double-blind review policy, the reviewer's identity is kept confidential.
The list of publisher reviewers can be found here.

The era of Perestroika led to drastic changes not only in the lives of Soviet citizens, but also to changes in scientific thought. Indeed, democratization and glasnost led to the breaking down of ideological barriers, and eventually to the revival of scientific discussions in the social sciences and humanities. At the same time, there was a revival of previously suppressed auxiliary historical disciplines: in particular, genealogy, necropolistics, etc. These circumstances determine the relevance of the article submitted for review, the subject of which is a stone tombstone of the beginning of the XX century at the Sumkinsky cemetery of the village of Vorogushino, Tyumen region. The author sets out to examine the Tobolsk necropolitics, analyze the tombstone of the beginning of the XX century at the Sumkinsky cemetery, as well as restore information on the tombstone. The work is based on analysis and synthesis, reliability, objectivity, the methodological basis of the research is a systematic approach, which is based on the consideration of the object as an integral complex of interrelated elements. The scientific novelty of the article lies in the very formulation of the topic: the author seeks to characterize the tombstone found at the Sumkinsky cemetery of the early twentieth century from the point of view of necropolistics. The scientific novelty of the article is also determined by the involvement of archival materials. Considering the bibliographic list of the article as a positive point, its scale and versatility should be noted: in total, the list of references includes over 30 different sources and studies. The source base of the article is represented by published materials (periodicals, reference publications) and unpublished from the funds of the Tobolsk branch of the State Archive of the Tyumen region. Among the studies attracted by the author, we note the works of A.V. Burnasheva, M.L. Berezhnova, E.P. Zagvazdin and other authors, whose focus is on various aspects of Tobolsk necropolystics. Note that the bibliography is important both from a scientific and educational point of view: after reading the text of the article, readers can turn to other materials on its topic. In general, in our opinion, the integrated use of various sources and research contributed to the solution of the tasks facing the author. The style of writing the article can be attributed to a scientific one, at the same time understandable not only to specialists, but also to a wide readership, to anyone interested in both auxiliary historical disciplines in general and necropolistics in particular. The appeal to the opponents is presented at the level of the collected information obtained during the work on the topic of the article. The structure of the work is characterized by a certain logic and consistency, it can be distinguished by an introduction, the main part, and conclusion. At the beginning, the author defines the relevance of the topic, shows that tombstones "are one of the important sources that not only mark the burial place of a particular person, but also often are real works of art." In the center of the author's attention, discovered in 2021 on the territory of the existing cemetery near the village of Vorogushino, called Sumkinsky and functioning approximately from the middle of the XX century. the tombstone monument of the early XX century. The work shows that the stone tombstone was originally located "in the parish cemetery of the village of Shishkinsky, where, according to the records of the metric book, Semyon Afanasyev was buried." During subsequent research, the author obtained biographical information about the priest of the Tobolsk province, Fyodor Afanasyev, and his family. The main conclusion of the article is that "thanks to the comparison of material and documentary sources, it was possible to establish the original location of the tombstone, which was discovered in a modern operating cemetery, to restore the information lost on the tombstone and partially restore biographical data about one of the clergy of the Tobolsk diocese and his family." The article submitted for review is devoted to an urgent topic, is provided with 3 drawings, will arouse readers' interest, and its materials can be used both in training courses and in the framework of the development of necropolistics. There is an important note to the article: it is necessary to specify its name, indicating the territorial location of the monument under study. After correcting the remark, the article can be recommended for publication in the journal Genesis: Historical Research.