The 'Cosmopolitan' Historian I. P. Schmidt: Chapters of a Biography

The article is devoted to the reconstruction of the biography of Isai Pavlovich Schmidt, a Professor of History, propagandist and the head of the flight on the route Moscow – Beijing (1925). The life and work of I. P. Schmidt (1896–1975) have already been the object of studies in modern historiography. However, the complex of new sources, which were available to the authors of the present article, made it possible to revisit some facts of the professor's biography, introducing the necessary additions and clarifications. The purpose of the study is the reconstruction of the biography of I. P. Schmidt in the context of the Soviet history with a focus on the impact of the anti-cosmopolitan campaign in the USSR on the professional career and further life of the professor. As a result of the analysis, the authors identified the main stages of the biography of I. P. Schmidt and noted the peculiar features of his worldview. The obtained results of the study led the authors to the conclusion that events of the anti-cosmopolitan campaign had resulted in the beginning of a new stage in the I. P. Schmidt’s biography – his research and pedagogical activities in Uzbekistan and Siberia. The study determines peculiarities of the activities and life of the “cosmopolitan” historian in the country’s periphery. This article is intended for teachers and university students, researchers as well as local historians.