Episode 9: Moscow's Plague. The Tale of Dr Afanasii Shafonskii

Episode 9 April 30, 2021 00:32:46
Episode 9: Moscow's Plague. The Tale of Dr Afanasii Shafonskii
Tales from Imperial Russia
Episode 9: Moscow's Plague. The Tale of Dr Afanasii Shafonskii

Apr 30 2021 | 00:32:46

/

Show Notes

Between 1770 and 1772, Moscow saw a virulent outbreak of the Black Death, one of the most feared diseases in European history: Dr Afanasii Shafonskii was tasked with battling this epidemic. In this episode, we follow the plague's progress as it caused death, deprivation, and revolt in Russia's biggest city.

The principal source for this episode and all of the quotes is: J. T. Alexander, Bubonic Plague in Early Modern Russia: Public Health and Urban Disaster (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003)

Other Episodes

Episode 7

April 02, 2021 00:21:03
Episode Cover

Episode 7: The Italian Job. The Tale of Raffaele Scassi

In the early nineteenth century, Raffaele Scassi, Genoese gambler and ne'er-do-well, found himself in the newly founded Black Sea port of Odessa. This was...

Listen

Episode 1

January 10, 2021 00:10:04
Episode Cover

Introduction

Tales from Imperial Russia is a fortnightly podcast narrating ordinary and extraordinary lives from the Russian Empire. In short episodes, we will avoid the...

Listen

Episode 23

December 08, 2023 00:24:52
Episode Cover

Episode 23: The Other Rasputin. The Tale of Iliodor (Trufanov)

Between 1905 and 1912, the monk Iliodor (Trufanov) set Russia ablaze with his inflammatory right-wing rhetoric, causing scandal after scandal. In this episode, we...

Listen