Women were colonizers too: The role of women in the colonization of Russian America

This thesis contributes to the historiography of Russian history and gender history. The use of gender theory to understand empires is very common, but many scholars have not yet used gender theory to explore the Russian Empire. I focus on the role of women in the Russian colonization of one of the only overseas colonies of the empire, Russian America. I use the diaries and letters from five women who were married to Russian traders and officials. These five women were Natalia Shelikhova, Anna Bering, Elisabeth von Wrangell, Margaretha Etholen, and Anna Furuhjelm. I analyze their roles through five separate themes including: marriage, trade, society, education, and motherhood. My goal in the thesis is to show how women contributed to the colonization of Russian America through their marriages to Russian traders and officials.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Russian, E Eur, Eurasian St

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2023

Author dc:creator

• Tollison, Laurel Anne

Contributors dc:contributor

• Randolph, John W

• Russia
• Empire
• Gender

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2023 Laurel Tollison

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/121284

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F121284