A humanist ahead of his time

Nikolai Nikolaevich Miklouho-Maclay

On July 17 it was 180 years since the birth of the outstanding Russian anthropologist and ethnographer Nikolai Nikolaevich Miklouho-Maclay, a researcher of the indigenous peoples of Southeast Asia, New Guinea, Australia and Oceania, and a full member of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society.

Monographs and books have been written about N. N. Miklouho-Maclay, and films have been made about him. Monuments have been built in his honor, and streets, geographical sites, and the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences have all been named after him. Miklouho-Maclay's birthday is unofficially observed in Russia as a professional holiday for ethnographers.

And yet the scope of this outstanding Russian humanist's scientific interests and his personality remain little known to the general public. We spoke with Egor Mikhailovich Osipov, the great-great-grandson of the traveler's younger brother, Doctor of Sociological Sciences and professor at the Department of Sociology of Management, Faculty of Public Administration, Lomonosov Moscow State University. The conversation touched on the personality of N. N. Miklouho-Maclay, his scientific legacy, and his social and administrative initiatives that were ahead of their time.

Egor Osipov, Doctor of Sociological Sciences, Professor of the Department of Sociology of Management, Faculty of Public Administration, Lomonosov Moscow State University, is the great-great-grandson of N.N. Miklouho-Maclay's younger brother.

— Egor, you belong to the family of Nikolai Miklouho-Maclay. Tell us about the history of his family.

— My grandmother, Irina Miklouho-Maclay, is the granddaughter of Mikhail, the younger brother of the great traveler. Nikolai himself was the second of five children in the family of the engineer Nikolai Ilyich Miklukha, who rose from building a section of the Nikolaev Railway (the line between St. Petersburg and Moscow) to becoming head of the main railway station of the Russian Empire. At the time it was called the St. Petersburg Passenger Station; today it is Moskovsky Station.

His wife, Yekaterina Semyonovna (née Becker), was eight years younger than her husband and had Polish roots. Her ancestor Johann Becker served as personal physician to the last Polish king, Stanislaw August Poniatowski. After Nikolai Ilyich's death at the age of 40, the burden of caring for the children fell entirely on his mother shoulders. The family had to move to a more modest apartment and cut expenses. These trials hardened the children's characters and shaped their development.

The eldest was Sergei, who later became a justice of the peace, followed by Nikolai, Olga, and Vladimir, who from an early age dreamed of becoming a sailor: he rose to command the coastal defense battleship Admiral Ushakov, on which he died heroically at the Battle of Tsushima in 1905 (during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904 to 1905). The youngest was my great-great-grandfather Mikhail. A talented geologist and mining engineer, he contributed to Russian science and also became the collector and keeper of the family archive.

Nikolai Miklouho-Maclay himself, while still a gymnasium student, avidly read the travel books that filled his father's library, which probably predetermined his professional path.

— When did your interest in studying the personality of N. N. Miklouho-Maclay arise?

— I remember that in my childhood, a beautiful green collected works of Nikolai Nikolaevich, published in the 1960s, stood on the family bookshelves. My grandmother surely drew my attention to it more than once. At school, in geography classes, I gave reports on the great traveler.

My genuine interest in the scientist's work arose in my adult years, when, because of my profession, I began to reflect on his social and political initiatives, including those in the field of public administration.

— In his youth Miklouho-Maclay did not show particular talent in scholarly fields. By his own admission, "I studied poorly at the gymnasium and even avoided attending classes"...

— He was later even expelled as an unmatriculated student from St. Petersburg University for participating in a student demonstration and was forced to continue his studies abroad. His correspondence with his mother from those years has survived, revealing her worry over how hard it was for Nikolai to manage clothing. He was so short of funds that he even asked her to send him buttons.

Nevertheless, Nikolai always remained a true patriot of Russia. Having become a world-recognized scientist, he thought about the state interests of his homeland and about paths for its development in new lands. This fact has always drawn my attention.

— You work in sociology. Can it be considered a science related to ethnology?

— The founder of sociology, the French scholar Auguste Comte, proclaimed it the mother of all "positive" sciences, those operating with precise data and relying on empirical knowledge. Supporters of this paradigm find it easy to trace sociology's connection to any science.

In sociology there is a field called ethnosociology. It studies a person's social position as a representative of an ethnic group, their national self-awareness, and the specifics of how ethnic groups form. There are different approaches to understanding the nature of ethnicities. Some scholars (for example, Joseph Arthur de Gobineau, Otto Ammon) believe that humanity's ethnocultural diversity is generated by genetically determined differences, and that social progress is ensured exclusively by the white European race. We understand perfectly well what monstrous doctrines these ideas later fed into.

The ethnocultural approach views an ethnic group as the result of the interaction of culture, social system, and individuals. Finally, the geographically oriented approach (held, for example, by Lev Gumilyov) sees an ethnic group as a phenomenon of the biosphere, the result of a human group's adaptation to natural and climatic conditions. There is certainly a close connection between the subject matter of ethnosociology and Nikolai Nikolaevich's scientific interests.

— In Russia Maclay studied in the physics and mathematics faculty, but later moved deeply into ethnology. How did this transition happen?

— From childhood Nikolai drew beautifully and wanted to develop in that direction (his illustrations, which later supplemented his research notes, became invaluable scientific material). However, Yekaterina (his mother) wanted to see her son become an engineer, following his father's example, and repeatedly urged him to study mathematics above all. At his mother's wish, Nikolai became an unmatriculated student in the natural sciences department of the physics and mathematics faculty of St. Petersburg University.

In 1864, after moving to Germany, he attended lectures in the philosophy and law faculties. The reason was that at that time all independent natural science fields and schools were only just forming. Nikolai was interested in earth sciences, mineralogy and crystallography. He immersed himself in disciplines related to the human being: zoology, anatomy, medicine. He was preoccupied with the problem of how organism forms change under the influence of environmental conditions.

Noticing the young scholar's talent, a prominent follower of Charles Darwin, the German naturalist and philosopher Ernst Haeckel, invited him to become his assistant. At the age of twenty, Miklouho-Maclay set off together with his eminent mentor on his first expedition to the Canary Islands to study sea sponges.

As a sociologist I have always been struck by a paradox directly tied to Miklouho-Maclay's worldview. He was educated in Heidelberg, Leipzig, and Jena under scholars who actively promoted the ideas of evolutionary biology (Darwinist theories). In Europe at that time social Darwinism was developing, based on the ideas of the English philosopher and sociologist Herbert Spencer, popular in the second half of the 19th century. He tried to prove that unlimited competition and the principle of state non-interference could lead society toward progress.

These doctrines would later become the theoretical basis of "wild capitalism," justifying its social consequences, unemployment and the impoverishment of people, by appeal to "natural selection." According to this logic, the strongest are meant to survive, and the fate of the weak is of little concern to anyone.

And so, having received his scientific upbringing in that environment, Miklouho-Maclay nonetheless consistently defended the unity of the human race. He rejected the theories, popular in his time, holding that black races (including Australian Aborigines and Papuans) represented a transitional biological species between ape and Homo sapiens, and he actively opposed the slave trade. He devoted the entire second half of his life to refuting the ideas of his teachers.

As a supporter of equal rights, he advocated for establishing primary forms of government in Papua New Guinea based on cooperation, relying on consultative and partnership assemblies (similar to the veche in ancient Rus).

— Perhaps Miklouho-Maclay initially did not fully agree with his mentors, and through his subsequent work tried to prove that his own worldview was correct... He considered it his mission to introduce the Papuans to civilization. How was this expressed?

— His aspiration was based on recognizing the Papuans as fully equal to other peoples and ethnic groups, so he considered it his duty to share the achievements of developed society. Having a medical education, he healed local people with remedies previously unknown to them.

Observing their way of life, their buildings, dugout canoes, and utensils made with stone axes, flint shards, or shells, he was amazed by the islanders' patience and dexterity. They butchered meat with sharp bamboo knives.

On later expeditions Maclay brought the natives iron tools, vegetable and fruit seeds, teaching them new agricultural methods. A number of the plants and household items he introduced retained Russian-derived names: "topor" (axe), "pila" (saw), "nozh" (knife). To other local names was added the scientist's own name, for example "dyigli Maclay" (cucumber), "valyu Maclay" (pumpkin). A huge impression was made on local people by the "big Russian pig with teeth on its head," which is called "bik." Every object left behind by Nikolai Nikolaevich on that shore was long revered as a relic.

He taught the natives many methods for defending their lands, driven by a wish to protect these wonderful people from cruel, self-serving, mercenary colonizers. In other words, the scholar shared knowledge he believed would be useful to them. Through his attitude and conduct he earned unquestioned authority among the natives.

— Miklouho-Maclay's known principles include: never promise, but having promised, try to fulfill it; and, if one is fated to be killed, it makes no difference whether it happens standing, sitting, comfortably lying on a mat, or asleep. What helped him keep his composure, often while in danger?

—He is such a vivid and at the same time enigmatic figure that a great many myths surround him. Their emergence was aided by the unique traits of his personality: a striving for knowledge, self-discipline, and an ability to find harmony with the surrounding world. Nikolai Miklouho-Maclay was a man of Orthodox upbringing and remained entirely true to it in all his actions.

His worldview is well illustrated by a famous episode from his first expedition. Walking to see Tui, his friend from a local tribe, Maclay lost his way and ended up in an unfamiliar village. To convince the local people of his peaceful intentions, his trust, and his lack of fear, he lay down on a mat, closed his eyes, and fell asleep. He later wrote in his diary that he woke up refreshed, having slept for more than two hours. Opening his eyes, he saw Papuans sitting around him, talking quietly, afraid to wake him. They were looking at him no longer sullenly but with extreme astonishment, having realized he posed no threat to them.

The following fact is confirmed: the indigenous people of New Guinea considered Maclay a supernatural being. The reason was the color of his skin. He was the first white man they had ever seen, and he was taken for an ancestor who had returned from the world of the dead and spirits, which in their understanding could be either good or evil. He was counted among the former and called "kaaram tamo," "man from the moon" (before that he had been called "gare tamo," "man in a case," meaning "man in clothing"). This is how they explained his power and extraordinary abilities. The scientist did not contradict this belief, realizing it guaranteed his safety.

Since Miklouho-Maclay had indeed come to the natives with good intentions, he soon gained access to their homes, which helped him in his ethnographic research. Finding himself in the Stone Age, the scholar studied and opened up this ancient, distinctive culture for science. He gave the natives mirrors, empty bottles, nails, pieces of fabric and the like; in return he received coconuts, sugar cane, taro tubers, dog meat, pork, breadfruit and bananas. Maclay noted that these mutual offerings were not buying and selling but an exchange of gifts or surplus goods. Sometimes he tested the local people, accepting gifts without giving anything in return. For their part, the natives neither demanded anything nor took back what they had brought.

— Myths also surround the origin of the surname...

— According to legend, the Cossack Miklukha, in the battle at Zhovti Vody in 1648, took prisoner a Scotsman named Maclay, a mercenary in the Polish army. The Scotsman converted to Orthodoxy and married Miklukha's daughter, which is why a second part was added to the original surname. The scientist's great-grandfather, Mikhail, also had two nicknames, Miklukha and Makhlay, though the latter fell out of use after some time.

Living abroad, Nikolai Nikolaevich himself added the second part to his surname for greater success in publishing in European scientific journals. Later this was adopted by the whole family as well.

— What were Miklouho-Maclay's social and administrative initiatives in the context of Papua New Guinea's relations with other countries?

— Miklouho-Maclay fought for the rights of indigenous peoples. He appealed to statesmen, gave lectures to scholarly societies, and published articles in the Russian and foreign press. His goal was to protect the natives from colonial violence and to eradicate slavery and the slave trade. For example, in 1881 he drew up a memorandum on the abduction of people into slavery in the western Pacific.

However, his activity was not limited solely to what we would now call the media sphere. The scholar enlisted the well-known Swiss jurist Johann Caspar Bluntschli to consult on drafting an international agreement respecting the rights of the peoples of Oceania. Nikolai Nikolaevich's plans also included opening schools in local villages, which would have allowed the Papuans to integrate into the modern world while preserving their cultural identity.

The colonial powers, which soon divided New Guinea among themselves, considered such educational projects unnecessary and unprofitable for their imperial interests.

— Miklouho-Maclay was a full member of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society and petitioned Emperor Alexander III for Russia to take the Maclay Coast under its protection in order to develop the region. However, he was refused on the grounds that the lands were too remote. Why else, in your view, did this happen?

— Among the reasons cited, the economic ones came first: implementation would have required significant expenditure from the treasury. Equally important was concern about possible political complications with Great Britain and Germany, which already had their own interests in that region, should Russia carry out such an expansion.

Something similar to Miklouho-Maclay's initiative was seen in the 20th century, during the bipolar world characterized by the confrontation between Western capitalist civilization and the Soviet one. In my view, the main value of that arrangement was the development of states neighboring the leaders of the two poles, the countries of Africa, Asia and the Pacific region. Soviet assistance in education, technology and cultural exchange gave a powerful boost to their development, later allowing them to follow their own paths.

He proposed the idea of creating a Russian colony on the coast of New Guinea or on one of the islands of Oceania. When I say "colony," I do not mean an imperial territory used for extracting profit. It was meant to be a kind of experimental society, a commune, where agriculture, fishing and hunting would develop through the residents' own labor. Governance of the community was meant to be entrusted to a council of elders made up of both settlers from Russia and local people.

When Miklouho-Maclay published an announcement in a newspaper in 1886 inviting people to take part in the resettlement, more than two thousand people unexpectedly responded! Prominent journalists and public figures took an interest in the initiative. Such ideas were popular in Europe in the second half of the 19th century and were even implemented in early forms of cooperation. Similar concepts were put forward by the anarchists Mikhail Bakunin and Peter Kropotkin, who held that the basis of society should be production and economic cooperation rather than the will of the authorities. The theoretical ideas of stateless governance were formulated by the well-known French philosopher Pierre-Joseph Proudhon. In essence, this is one of the components of what later formed the basis of socialist and even communist concepts.

Unfortunately, his project was never realized, despite the prospect of establishing a Russian naval base in equatorial waters. Nevertheless, Emperor Alexander III of Russia held N. N. Miklouho-Maclay's scientific service to the Fatherland in high regard. After the scholar's death, he granted his wife Margaret, daughter of Sir John Robertson, who had served multiple terms as premier of the colony of New South Wales, a lifelong pension that provided her and their children with a decent standard of living (she received these funds until 1917).

Margaret handed her husband's archives over to the Imperial Russian Geographical Society and returned with her two sons to Australia, where the explorer's direct descendants still live today.

— Miklouho-Maclay fought against colonialism. Today the problem of neocolonialism is relevant. What is similar and what is different between these processes?

— The essence of the discourse remains the same: world leaders seek to subordinate other states to themselves. The difference lies only in the instruments used. Whereas classical colonialism relied primarily on military force and direct seizure of territories, the modern version operates through cunning economic maneuvers. John Perkins's book "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man" vividly illustrates how the United States gained influence in Latin America through various unscrupulous mechanisms.

Russia, in my view, managed to break free from the control of world capital, into whose dependence it had fallen in the 1990s. I mean the activity of structures such as the International Monetary Fund, as well as various non-governmental organizations. Under respectable-sounding names, they tried to place our country in economic dependence, depriving it of real sovereignty.

— Papua New Guinea gained independence in 1975. How is its interaction with Russia developing today?

— It is a state that belongs to the Commonwealth of Nations. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations with Russia. A year earlier, the country's Governor-General Sir Bob Dadae, at a meeting with the Russian ambassador Sergei Tolchenov, expressed gratitude for the support Russia provided on the country's path to independence. He recalled the legacy of Nikolai Miklouho-Maclay and outlined promising areas for cooperation, from education to sustainable development.

In the 1990s students from Papua New Guinea were already studying at Russian universities. Today the country would like to revive this practice, so that young people can study the Russian language, culture and system of government. The Russian Geographical Society makes a great contribution to cultural cooperation between the two countries.

— States that were formerly part of colonial empires often show strong results in sports, and football is far from an exception. Since you played football, I have to ask: how popular is this game in Papua New Guinea?

— It's curious that football appeared at the national team level there twelve years before the country gained independence, in 1963. This is an exception to the rule, since most colonies appeared on the international football stage only after gaining sovereignty, as, for example, the African countries Algeria or Morocco did. Though there are also opposite examples: Indonesia reached the final stage of the 1938 World Cup still under the name of the Dutch East Indies.

Football is popular in Papua New Guinea. The national team has shown worthy results: the team's highest achievement remains reaching the final of the 2016 OFC Nations Cup, where it lost only to the New Zealand national team.

— Miklouho-Maclay's views on human abilities were revolutionary for his time. He was among the first to prove that human abilities (including intellectual ones) do not depend on skin color or origin. Can we speak of the relevance of his work today?

— Certainly. In the scholar's time racism was openly expressed, while today's Western elites use more sophisticated rhetoric. Under slogans of political correctness, but with the goal of preserving control over the countries of the former "second" and "third" world, they avoid the thesis of "intellectual inferiority," replacing it with the claim of "incapacity for democracy." However, this is the same colonial ideology of superiority.

There is much in common between Russia's agenda in the 19th century and today. This is interaction with the countries of the Global South, which categorically do not want to be colonies or to be dependent on other powers. They are seeking new forms of cooperation, and Russia, both then and now, acts as their senior but equal partner.

He sought to maintain ties with the Pacific region on the basis of full equality of peoples. He built international contacts in unexplored territories, acting in the interests of Russian science and the Russian state. Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia called Russia the last stronghold holding back the world from the total dominance of evil. To some degree he fulfilled this same mission. As a categorical opponent of Western colonialism, he understood that the redivision of the world would bring conquered peoples nothing but exploitation, violence and cruelty.

We mentioned earlier the principles Miklouho-Maclay held to. I feel close to the idea that people should be valued according to the goals they set for themselves.

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