August von Haxthausen și satul devălmaș rusesc (mir-ul). Asemănări și deosebiri cu satul devălmaș românesc

Abstract

Franz Ludwig Maria August freiherr von Haxthausen-Abbenburg, an westphalian nobleman, started a journey throughout Russia in 1843, at the invitation of the Tsar, with the intention of studying the situation of the peasantry. In the work published as a conclusion of his journey, Haxthausen made a description of the Russian rural commune (the Mir) with special references to the structure of the Russian family, the composition of the household, the system of property, with its collective and individual ownership of the land. His observations have remained a reference point in the rural life studying, especially in what later will be called rural sociology. Comparing these informations with those concerning the Romanian rural commune, there can be observed some resemblances but also some differences between these two types of village. Thus, resembling elements can be found especially in what concerns the agrarian techniques. Other elements, like those concerning the family structure, distinguish the Russian rural society, in which the extended family dominates, from the Romanian one, in which, with rare exceptions, the family composed only by one married couple dominates.