The Catholic Community of Yekaterinburg between the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries according to the 1897 Census and Church Records

Abstract

This article studies the Catholic community of Yekaterinburg, its size, ethnic composition, religious life, and demography. The analysis is based on the aggregates of the first all-Russian census of 1897 and nominative data from the church books of St Anna’s Church. For this purpose, the authors transcribed the 1897 census’ tables electronically and analyzed the size, age and gender composition, social status, occupations and education of the Yekaterinburg Catholics. In addition, they divided entries from the St Anna’s Church parish books into three data tables: baptisms, marriages, and burials. The data were processed to analyze the intensity of the community’s religious life and find its main demographic characteristics. Despite the fact that they were a religious minority representing less than one percent of the city’s residents, the research shows that the Yekaterinburg Catholics in many respects constituted a wealthy, and well-established ethno-confessional community, integrated in the city’s religious landscape. Their number was relatively stable over the fifteen prewar years and the community’s high quality and continuity made it distinct from the Catholic communities in Siberia.

Keywords

• католики Урала
• Всероссийская перепись 1897 г.
• метрические книги
• конфессиональная жизнь
• база данных
• компьютерные методы в истории.