SUMMARY

In this article, Vladimir Bobrovikov, Russia’s leading scholar of the Caucasus, reflects on the contribution of Anatoly Remnev to Russian imperial history. He notes that Remnev was a student of Boris Anan’ich and began his studies doing research on administrative institutions of the Russian Empire. Bobrovnikov recalls two projects on which he collaborated with Remnev. He was a proponent of the “regional” approach to imperial history as opposed to the nationalizing paradigm of Russian historical writing. Bobrovnikov notes that Remnev was a superb expert on the fabric of imperial society, and that in his works theory never took over the facts, even if he did not shy away from general observations. Especially valuable for Bobrovnikov was a chance to work with Remnev and compare different regions of the Russian empire. The author sees this work as potentially more productive than comparisons between different imperial formations. Bobrovnikov discusses Remnev’s work on the “mental maps” of the Russian empire and what he called the “geography of power.” He did not always agree with Remnev, who was critical of the “frontier approach” to Siberian history. Finally, Bobrovnikov writes about Remnev’s contributions to the study of orientalist representations of native peoples of the steppe. Remnev succeeded in uncovering the voices of the subjugated peoples in a way no one did before him. Bobrovnikov bemoans the fact that he and Remnev did not succeed in writing a study together on the “inorodtsy” from different regional perspectives. He describes the passing of Anatoly Remnev as an irreparable loss to scholarship on the Russian Empire.