Abstract:

This article examines the scientific activity of the Russian traveller and ethnographer Alexandra Viktorovna Potanina. The subject of the article is the ethnographic essay of A. V. Potanina "Buryats". The purpose of the study is to determine the relevance and scientific significance of the essay "Buryats" for the period of the second half of the 19th century. As a result, the work "Buryats" as a complex work telling about various aspects of the life of the Buryats, including their history, features of the economic structure and religious beliefs, was highly evaluated in the scientific community and became a necessary foundation for further research in this area. Moreover, for this essay, Alexandra Viktorovna was awarded a gold medal by the Imperial Russian Geographical Society.

Keywords: ethnography, Alexandra Viktorovna Potanina, Buryats, ethnography of the Buryats, Eastern Siberia, Russian Geographical Society