Miklouho-Maclay - what the famous traveler left behind

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Exactly 130 years ago - on April 14, 1888, the famous Russian ethnographer, biologist, anthropologist and traveler Nikolai Nikolaevich Miklouho-Maclay passed away, who devoted most of his life to the study of the indigenous population of Australia, Oceania and Southeast Asia, including the Papuans of the North the east coast of New Guinea, now called the Maclay Coast.

Portrait of Miklouho-Maclay by K. Makovsky. Stored in the Kunstkamera.

His research was highly regarded during his lifetime. Considering his merits, Miklouho-Maclay's birthday on July 17 is unofficially celebrated in Russia as a professional holiday - the Day of the Ethnographer.

Nikolai Nikolaevich Miklukho-Maclay was born on July 17, 1846 (July 5, old style) in the village of Rozhdestvenskoye (today it is Yazykovo-Rozhdestvenskoye Okulovsky municipal district of the Novgorod region) in the family of an engineer. His father Nikolai Ilyich Miklukha was a railroad worker. The mother of the future ethnographer was called Ekaterina Semyonovna Becker, she was the daughter of a hero of the Patriotic War of 1812. Contrary to a fairly widespread misconception, Miklouho-Maclay did not have any significant foreign roots. The widespread legend about the Scottish mercenary Michael Maclay, who, having taken root in Russia, became the founder of the family, was just a legend. The traveler himself came from an ordinary Cossack family Miklukh. If we talk about the second part of the surname, then he first used it in 1868, thus signing the first scientific publication in German "Rudiment of the swim bladder in the Selachians." At the same time, historians could not come to a consensus about the reason for this double surname Miklouho-Maclay. Discussing his nationality, in his dying autobiography, the ethnographer pointed out that he is a mixture of elements: Russian, Germanic and Polish.

Photo of Nikolai Miklukha - student (until 1866).

Surprisingly, the future ethnographer studied poorly at school, often missing classes. As he admitted 20 years later, at the gymnasium, he missed lessons not only because of ill health, but also simply from unwillingness to study. He spent two years in the 4th grade of the Second Petersburg Gymnasium, and in the 1860/61 academic year he attended classes very rarely, missing a total of 414 lessons. Miklouha's only mark was “good” in French, in German he was “satisfactory”, in other subjects - “bad” and “mediocre”. While still a high school student, Miklouho-Maclay was imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress, he was sent there together with his brother for participating in a student demonstration, which was caused by the socio-political upsurge of 1861 and was associated with the abolition of serfdom in the country.

Ernst Haeckel and Miklouho-Maclay.

In Soviet times, the biography of the ethnographer indicated that Miklouho-Maclay was expelled from the gymnasium, and then from the University for participation in political activities. But this is not true. The future famous traveler left the gymnasium of his own free will, and he simply could not be expelled from the university, since he was there as an auditor. He did not finish his studies in St. Petersburg, leaving for Germany. In 1864, the future ethnographer studied at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Heidelberg, in 1865 - at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Leipzig. And in 1866 he moved to Jena (a university city in Germany), where he studied comparative animal anatomy at the Faculty of Medicine. As an assistant to the German naturalist Ernst Haeckel, he visited Morocco and the Canary Islands. In 1868 Miklouho-Maclay completed his studies at the University of Jena. During the first expedition to the Canary Islands, the future explorer studied sea sponges, and as a result discovered a new type of calcareous sponge, named Guancha blanca after the indigenous inhabitants of these islands. It is curious that from 1864 to 1869, from 1870 to 1882 and from 1883 to 1886 Miklouho-Maclay lived outside Russia, never staying in his homeland for more than one year.

Drawings and notes of Miklouho-Maclay.

In 1869 he made a trip to the coast of the Red Sea, the purpose of the trip was to study the local marine fauna. In the same year he returned back to Russia. The first scientific studies of the ethnographer were devoted to the comparative anatomy of sea sponges, shark brains, as well as other issues of zoology.

Drawings and notes of Miklouho-Maclay.

But during his travels Miklouho-Maclay also made valuable geographical observations. Nicholas was inclined to the version that the cultural and racial characteristics of the peoples of the world are formed under the influence of the social and natural environment. In order to substantiate this theory, Miklouho-Maclay decided to take a long journey to the islands of the Pacific Ocean, here he was going to study the “Papuan race”.

Corvette "Vityaz" under sail.

At the end of October 1870, with the assistance of the Russian Geographical Society, the traveler got the opportunity to leave for New Guinea. Here he went on board the military ship "Vityaz". His expedition was designed for several years.

Miklouho-Maclay with Papuan Akhmat. Malacca, 1874 or 1875.

On September 20, 1871, the Vityaz landed Maclay on the northeastern coast of New Guinea. In the future, this area of the coast will be called the Maclay Coast. Contrary to misconceptions, he did not travel alone, but accompanied by two servants - a youth from the island of Niue named Boy and the Swedish sailor Olsen.

Drawing by Miklouho-Maclay.

At the same time, with the help of the Vityaz crew members, a hut was built, which became for Miklouho-Maclay not only housing, but also a suitable laboratory. Among the local Papuans, he lived for 15 months in 1871-1872, with his tactful behavior and friendliness, he managed to win their love and trust.

Illustration for Miklouho-Maclay's diary.

But initially Miklouho-Maclay was considered among the Papuans not as a god, as is commonly believed, but quite the opposite, as an evil spirit. The reason for this attitude towards him was the episode on the first day of their acquaintance. Seeing the ship and the white people, the islanders thought that it was Rotei, their great ancestor, who had returned. A large number of Papuans went on their boats to the ship in order to present the newcomer with gifts. On board the Viking they were also well received and presented, but on the way back a cannon shot suddenly rang out from the ship, so the crew saluted in honor of their arrival. However, out of fear, the islanders literally jumped out of their own boats, threw gifts and floated to the shore, deciding that it was not Rotei who had come to them, but the evil spirit of Buk.

Tui from the village of Gorendu. Drawing by Miklouho-Maclay.

Later, a Papuan named Tui helped to change the situation, who was bolder than the rest of the islanders and managed to make friends with the traveler. When Miklouho-Maclay managed to cure Tui from a serious injury, the Papuans accepted him into their society as an equal to themselves, including him in the local society. Tui, for a long time, remained a translator and mediator of the ethnographer in his relations with other Papuans.

In 1873, Miklouho-Maclay visited the Philippines and Indonesia, and the next year he visited the southwestern coast of New Guinea. In 1874-1875, he again traveled twice through the Malacca Peninsula, studying the local tribes of Sakai and Semangi. In 1876 he traveled to Western Micronesia (the islands of Oceania), as well as Northern Melanesia (visiting various island groups in the Pacific Ocean). In 1876 and 1877 he again visited the Maclay Coast. From here he wanted to return back to Russia, but due to a serious illness the traveler was forced to settle in Sydney, Australia, where he lived until 1882. Not far from Sydney, Nikolai founded the first biological station in Australia. In the same period of his life, he traveled to the islands of Melanesia (1879), and also examined the southern coast of New Guinea (1880), and a year later, in 1881, he visited the southern coast of New Guinea for the second time.

Drawing by Miklouho-Maclay.

It is interesting that Miklouho-Maclay was preparing a Russian protectorate over the Papuans. He several times carried out an expedition to New Guinea, having drawn up the so-called "Maclay Coast development project". His project provided for the preservation of the Papuans' way of life, but at the same time declared the achievement of a higher level of self-government on the basis of already existing local customs. At the same time, the Maclay Coast, according to his plans, was to receive the protectorate of the Russian Empire, becoming also one of the basing points of the Russian fleet. But his project was not feasible. By the time of the third trip to New Guinea, most of his friends among the Papuans, including Tui, had already died, at the same time, the villagers were mired in internecine conflicts, and the officers of the Russian fleet, who studied the local conditions, concluded that the local coast was not suitable for deployment of warships. And already in 1885 New Guinea was divided between Great Britain and Germany. Thus, the question of the possibility of realizing a Russian protectorate over this territory was finally closed.

Miklouho-Maclay returned to his homeland after a long absence in 1882. After returning to Russia, he read a number of public reports on his travels to members of the Geographical Society. For his research, the society of lovers of natural science, anthropology and ethnography awarded Nikolai a gold medal. After visiting the European capitals - Berlin, London and Paris, he introduced the public to the results of his trips and research. Then he again went to Australia, having visited the Maclay Coast for the third time on the way, this happened in 1883.

From 1884 to 1886, the traveler lived in Sydney, and in 1886 he returned to his homeland. All this time he was seriously ill, but at the same time he continued to prepare for the publication of his scientific materials and diaries. In the same 1886, he handed over to the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg all the ethnographic collections he had collected from 1870 to 1885. Today these collections can be seen at the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography in St. Petersburg.

The traveler who returned to St. Petersburg changed a lot. As people who know him noted, the 40-year-old young scientist sharply grew decrepit, weakened, his hair turned gray. Pains in the jaw appeared again, which intensified in February 1887, and a tumor appeared. Doctors could not diagnose him and could not determine the cause of the disease. Only in the second half of the 20th century did doctors manage to remove the veil of secrecy from this issue. Ethnographer was killed by cancer with localization in the area of the right mandibular canal. Exactly 130 years ago, on April 14, 1888 (April 2, old style) Nikolai Nikolaevich Miklouho-Maclay died, he was only 41 years old. The traveler was buried at the Volkovskoe cemetery in St. Petersburg.

Drawing by Miklouho-Maclay.

The most important scientific merit of the scientist was that he raised the question of the species unity and kinship of existing human races. It was also he who first gave a detailed description of the Melanesian anthropological type and proved that it is very widespread on the islands of Southeast Asia and in Western Oceania. For ethnography, his descriptions of the material culture, economy and life of the Papuans and other peoples inhabiting the numerous islands of Oceania and Southeast Asia are of great importance. Many observations of the traveler, distinguished by a high level of accuracy, and at present remain practically the only materials on the ethnography of some of the islands of Oceania.

Grave of N. N. Miklukho-Maclay (St. Petersburg).

During the life of Nikolai Nikolaevich, more than 100 of his scientific works on anthropology, ethnography, geography, zoology and other sciences were published; in total, he wrote more than 160 such works. At the same time, during the life of the scientist, not a single of his major work was published, all of them appeared only after his death. So in 1923, Miklouho-Maclay's Travel Diaries were first published, and even later, in 1950-1954, a collection of works in five volumes.

Papua New Guinea.

The memory of the researcher and ethnographer is widely preserved not only in Russia, but all over the world. His bust can be found today in Sydney, and in New Guinea a mountain and a river are named after him, excluding the section of the northeastern coast, which is called the Maclay Coast. In 1947, the name of Miklouho-Maclay was given to the Institute of Ethnography of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (RAS). And relatively recently, in 2014, the Russian Geographical Society established a special Gold Medal named after Nikolai Nikolaevich Miklukho-Maclay, as the highest award of the society for ethnographic research and travel. The world recognition of this researcher is also evidenced by the fact that in honor of his 150th anniversary, 1996 was proclaimed by UNESCO the Year of Miklouho-Maclay, at the same time he was named a Citizen of the World.