СТОЛИЧНЫЙ ИНТЕЛЛИГЕНТ СЕРЕБРЯНОГО ВЕКА И ТЕЛЕФОННАЯ СВЯЗЬ
THE ST. PETERSBURG AND MOSCOW INTELLECTUAL OF THE SILVER AGE AND THE TELEPHONE COMMUNICATION

Summary/Abstract: The paper presents an attempt to calculate the number of telephones that some intelligentsia groups in St. Petersburg and Moscow had installed between 1901 and 1917. The purpose of this research is to evaluate intelligentsia’s ability to utilize advanced (and still rather expensive) communication technology of the time. Addressing this issue may either support or put under question the concept of early 20th century Russian intelligentsia as most dynamic social strata ready to welcome all sorts of novelties. Examined as pieces of evidence are some reference yearbooks and telephone directories issued between 1901 and 1917. Several groups of intellectuals were selected for the study, such as city council deputies, university professors, lecturers at technical colleges, school teachers and Russian Orthodox priests. Each group included from 20—30 to 60—70 persons. The degree of telephone proliferation and its dynamics were traced over a number of years: from 1907 to 1917 for St. Petersburg, and from 1908 to 1916 for Moscow. The research discovered that although the share of telephone owners was different among various intelligentsia groups, even the lowest percentage was significantly higher then the middle class average, at time rising as high as 80 %. In certain groups telephone proliferation reached its climax at about 1910—1912 and still went on, though less quickly. However by 1917 a telephone still was not considered an absolute necessity even among some well-to-do Russian urban professionals.

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