On the status of religious education in the Tauride province in the late 19th – early 20th centuries: historiographical aspect

Abstract

The author tries to analyze the formation and development of religious education of different denominations at the turning-point of the 19th and 20th centuries. Being multi–ethnic and varied in religious beliefs Crimean society needs special approach to the problem of education. The author gives a brief description of historical sources dedicated to religious education in Crimea. The most significant and influential organizations dealing with spiritual education were the Crimean diocese, the Karaite community and Muslim religious associations, in particular the Crimean Tatar ones. Despite the fact that in the first years of Soviet power, many archival documents were lost or destroyed, the funds of the State archive of the Republic of Crimea (GARK) allow to get an idea of various aspects of the functioning of religious educational institutions of different communities including their goals and objectives reflected in the сharter; methods of financing and management; personnel policy; peculiarities of organization and content of the educational process. Studying and adopting historical evidence, described in archives of religious educational bodies enables the researchers to understand the peculiarities of mentality of different ethnic groups and thus to cease the tension among them. This in turn contributes to the national security of the Russian Federation.