“Human Zoos” in Russian  Empire: on the Beginning of the Research  Problem

Abstract. The article discusses some aspects of the history of “human zoos” in Europe in the XIX century. In particular, it deals with the emergence of “anthropozoological” representations in zoo gardens, initiated by the German entrepreneur Carl Hagenbeck, a well-known collector of wild animals and the founder of the European zoo as a research and educational project, is presented. It was he who in 1874–1932 organized visits and “tours” of various tribes in Europe, was the director of “ethnographic shows” and exhibitions of ”wild people in their natural conditions”. The author tries to reconstruct ethnographic shows of African people in the zoos of Moscow and St. Petersburg (the 1860s–1910s), namely representations of the so-called “Dahomey Amazons” and touring groups of various “wild peoples”, organized by C. Hagenbeck. The ways and forms of representation of racial Others are analyzed on the basis of some references about these performances in the cities of the Russian Empire and the general public’s impressions of them.

Keywords: Russian Empire, “human zoos”, racial stereotypes, Africans people in Russia, Dahomey Amazons in Russia, history of zoos in Russia.