Aleksandr Arseniev, the traveller’s brother, and the expedition of 1912–1913: to the 150th V.K. Arseniev’s anniversary

• Khisamutdinova N.V.

  Natalia V. Khisamutdinova. Vladivostok State University of Economics and Service Vladivostok. Russia

The article is based on the memoirs of Alexander Klavdievich Arseniev, the younger brother of the famous explorer of the Far East, traveller and writer V. K. Arseniev. It reveals some previously unknown details about the expedition of 1912–1913 known as Ussuriyskaya. Due to its secret nature – searching and expulsion from the region of illegal Chinese and Korean people, who interfered with the accelerated development of the territory – the expedition
resulting report has not been published, and the travel diary of its leader V.K. Arseniev has not been preserved. A. K. Arseniev participated in the initial stage of the campaign as a civilian preparator. Although his memoirs did not reveal the true goals of the journey, calling it "an expedition to find ancient monuments", the manuscript allows to find out the conditions of the travel, understand the relations between the local indigenous population and the Chinese and Korean people, and learn about Vladimir Arseniev’s academic interest in this journey, mostly archaeology and ethnography, which resulted in some significant findings. Some V. K. Arseniev’s and his companions’ personal features are also revealed in the article. In general, A.K. Arseniev’s memoirs are a valuable source of information about both the expedition and V. K. Arseniev. Along with these details, the article contains facts of A. K. Arseniev’s biography
(1983–1962). A graduate of the Konstantinovsky Mezhevoy (Land Survey) Institute in Moscow, he came with his brother to Khabarovsk in 1911 to work at Pereselencheskoye Upravlenie (the Resettlement Administration). Through several decades, up to the 1940s, he lived and worked in the Far East, having close contacts with V. K. Arseniev’s family (till 1930).

Keywords: Aleksandr Arseniev, Vladimir Arseniev, expedition of 1912–1913 (Ussuriyskaya), archaeological sites, indigenous peoples of the Far East.