Siberian missionary priest Alexey Mikhailovsky

The purpose of research is to study the personality of Alexei Mikhailovsky, the first Orthodox missionary in the Khakass-Minusinsk Region. The use of the biographical method allows us to study a person through the prism of his activity in the context of his role in history. A comprehensive analysis of mass sources of church demographic records (parish registers, confessional lists), office documentation of the Tobolsk diocese made it possible to determine the quantitative results of his activities, personal qualities and characteristics. The policy of Christianization of the indigenous peoples of Siberia evolved throughout the pre-revolutionary period; its forms and practices were determined by the goals of the Russian state, the regional characteristics of the autochthons of Siberia, the ideological attitudes of church hierarchs, and the personal qualities of missionaries. Last third of the 18th century - a special period in the history of missionary work: religious policy received legislative formalization, the Christian mission among the non-Russian peoples of the Russian Empire began to focus on the principles of religious tolerance, mass baptisms were abandoned, and the position of diocesan bishops was introduced in dioceses with a non-Russian population. In 1750, Alexei Mikhailovsky, a native of Nezhin, Chernigov province, became the archpriest of the cathedral church of the Resurrection in Krasnoyarsk. For 40 years until his death, he served as a Krasnoyarsk customer, from 1764 until the abolition of the position in 1799 - one of the full-time missionaries of the Tobolsk diocese. Alexey Mikhailovich Mikhailovsky is a hereditary priest, the first educated customer in the Khakass-Minusinsk Region, his professional activity was quite successful. But intolerance in religious matters, rigidity in matters of faith, inflexibility in relations with local authorities, conflicts with the Mangazeya and Yenisei clergy did not allow him to achieve much success in the matter of baptism. Orthodox missionaries, convinced of the superiority of the Orthodox faith over paganism and other religions, baptized forcibly. Intolerance towards the beliefs of the indigenous population caused resistance on the part of the Khakass.