GREEK SUBJECTS IN ODESSA, 1879: CHARACTERISTICS OF THE COMMUNITY IN THE LIGHT OF CENSUS DATA

The article discusses the primary data from the 1879 General Census of the Kingdom of Greece that concern the Greeks of Odessa, who resided in the city both permanently and temporarily. The analysis of the census records allows the adequate reconstruction of the characteristics of the Greek community, which in 1879 displayed a transitional migratory type. Social institutions (especially, the family) and everyday practices demonstrate a similar migratory character. The inclusion of the Greeks of Odessa in almost all strata and professional corporations assumed new aspects and marked a noticeable “proletarization”. Concerning the ethno-cultural specifics and sustainability of ethnic identity, it is found that the Greek community of Odessa shows the relatively high level of literacy and education as well as the absolute predominance of Greek as a native language

From 1794 and until the Crimean War, Odessa attracted various segments of the population by providing economic benefits and social privileges. Following this period, in the second half of the nineteenth century, the expansion of the port, the development of industrial enterprises, and the increase of auxiliary personnel in Odessa's economy attracted new settlers to the city. Odessa thus represented a multinational settlement, during the early history of which Greeks, as the first settlers, comprised a very large community that enjoyed special privileges and was much engaged in business and education.
The lack of statistical data and censuses does not allow us to determine the number and structure of the population of Odessa (including its Greek segment) until 1892, when there was conducted the so-called "one-day" census, which is the earliest reliable record on the population of the city. According to it, the Greek community comprised at least 5,283 people, or 1.55 percent. 1

Similar figures for
Greek residents of Odessa come from the 1897 First General Population Census of the Russian Empire, in which the number of people who indicated Greek as their native language is estimated as 5,086 or 1.26 percent. 2 It is this data that historians commonly used in their studies throughout the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. 3 In this context, particularly important and valuable is primary data on the Greek population of Odessa found in the exogenous records of the 1879 General Census of the Kingdom of Greece that included as much information as possible about the Greek subjects of the Diaspora. 4 The census includes data on all Greek residents of Odessa, both permanently and temporarily residing in the city, recorded directly by Greek consular authorities in Odessa. After the inventories had been completed, they were handed over to the Hellenic Ministry of the Interior, and later found their way to the Main State Archive of Greece. They represent questionnaires that contain the following information: 1) name and surname, 2) gender, 3) age, 4) marital status, 5) educational background, 6) profession, 7) spoken language, 8) religion, 9) permanent or temporary residential status, and 10) place of residence in Greece. In addition, the records include a complete list of family members, but, unfortunately, the degree of their kinship or their relationship to the head of the family is not indicated. Finally, at 1  the request of the ministry, there is also recorded information on the Greek churches found in the respective cities. 5 The number of Greek subjects recorded in Odessa amounts to 2,283 people, or almost half (48.8 percent) of all Greeks in the Russian Empire. 6 Each fifth Greek of the Russian Empire resided in Izmail and Taganrog (853 and 906 people respectively), while in other cities (Berdiansk, Kerch, Ackerman, Moscow and St. Petersburg) there lived each tenth Greek subject in the empire. This system of settlement clearly reflects the commercial and economic character of the Greek community in the Russian Empire linked directly to the grain trade.
To be fair, however, it is reasonable to assume that the consular registration data can be rather incomplete. Given the complicated process of the census project, it seems likely that not all Greeks were informed about it in a timely manner, while some of them might not have declared their arrival and stay in the city to the consular services at all. There certainly were persons who evaded the census for a number of reasons (for example, fearing military service, either for themselves or for their children). 7 This probably applies equally to all territories, but apparently was especially evident on the northern coast of the Black Sea.
The migratory nature of the Greek community within the empire is underscored by a rather pronounced overall average sex ratio index of 201.2, i.e. more than two males for every female. This ratio varies widely from place to place, from the complete absence of women in Akkerman to very small women indices in St. Petersburg (261.9, or almost one to three) and Kerch (666.6 or one to seven). Against this background, the sex ratio of Greeks in Odessa appears in a relative harmony showing 1,427 males to 856 females. This represents the lowest in the entire empire index of 159,7.
The 1879 census shows that in the Greek community of Odessa, as in the rest of the enclaves, males outnumbered females. Per every 100 persons, there were 62.5 men and 37.5 women. Many men (unmarried, married, and widowed) flocked to the city alone, without family, in search of work. Not only had the rapid development of the industrial sector had its impact, but also the end of the Rus-so-Turkish War of 1877-1878 had driven men to the city. These two factors contributed to the revival of trade and, as a consequence, to the increase of Greek navigation in the Black Sea region. 8 At the same time, no fundamental intensification and, therefore, no mobility was observed. This is indicated by fact that, in 1879, the absolute majority of Greeks of Odessa (2,283 persons, or 86.9 percent, or nine out of ten) declared their permanent residence in the city. The remaining 13.1 percent (299 persons) consisted mainly of tanners (24.7 percent) and sailors (17 percent), while a large portion of them (24.1 percent) did not report their occupation at all.
The distribution of the population by sex and age is best illustrated by the construction of a special demographic pyramid commonly used to display this dual criterion. The available archival data allowed us to carry out calculations in age groups with an interval of up to one year, but we will dwell on the five-year range commonly accepted in historical demographic reconstructions.
Analysis of the general demographic situation among the Greeks of Odessa in 1879 shows that one of four persons in the community (or 24.4 percent) were children (under 15), almost two-thirds (64.6 percent) belonged to the active cohort (15-49 years old), and only one of ten (11 percent) were elderly people. While there was gender harmony in the children's group, with 277 boys to 278 girls, the other two groups exhibited a typical picture for the community as a whole -two males for a female.
A slightly different approach counts persons under 19 years of age as children and adolescents. In this case, this cohort includes 763 persons out of 2,283 Greek residents of Odessa (33.4 percent, or every third one). Under this approach, the share of the adult population decreases somewhat to 1,269 persons (55.3 percent). Both methods of calculations show the "progressive type" of the age distribution of the Greek population of Odessa featuring the dominance of persons of reproductive age with a noticeable, more than a quarter, share of children. This indirectly indicates a stable social situation in the Greek community, which spans more than two generations.
However, at the same time, it is the sex ratio in different age groups that is indicative of the migratory nature of the population. While in the group of children the sex ratio is natural (100.1), in the adult and elderly cohorts it is only 198.2 and 195.3, respectively (i.e., two males per a female). It is this figure that reveals that the group was in a state of mechanical transitions, or migrations on a temporary or permanent basis. These migrations involved primarily the male population.
Because of the heuristic possibilities of the source and its epistemological productivity, research into the origin of the Greeks of Odessa is particularly important. In this study, we rely on the information declared by the respondents themselves about their registration in the registers of Greek municipalities.
The top spots among Greek places are occupied by the natives of the Aegean islands, mostly the central island region (Cyclades) (33.3 percent, or one of three), and those of the Ionian Islands (23.9 percent, or one of four). 9 These are followed by a significant gap by Attica and Peloponnese -4.9 percent and 3.8 percent, respectively. The last spots with noticeably lower figures are occupied by Thessaly and Central Greece (1.4 percent) and Evia (0.5 percent).
Regardless of the historical geographical region, he highest numbers of settlers came from the islands of Syros with the municipality of Ermoupoli (344 persons), Cephalonia with the town of Livathos (321) and Santorini (196 persons from Fira). These are followed by more than two times smaller numbers from Athens and Mykonos. The other micro-regions (Kranion, Ithaca, Corfu, Andros, Skopelos, and Tinos) were represented in Odessa by two to three dozen migrant residents.
The active in the economic sense population of Greeks of Odessa in 1879 comprised more than half (55.27 percent) of the total community. Comparisons with contemporary historical data suggest that this figure falls within the average percentage range for the developed urban centers. In Athens, for example, whose population increased by a third between 1870 and 1879, this index equaled 52.7 percent, while the average index for the entire Greece as an agrarian country in1879 was only 36.8 percent. 10 The overwhelming majority of the Greeks of 9 For the early phases of settlement of the Odessa were employed. Such a high degree of employment confirms that the city was attractive for people engaged in labor and production. Of the total number of 1,427 Greek men in Odessa, 1,264 were employed. If we subtract from the remaining figure boys, young men and males older than 55 years of age, there remain only 14 men (or 0.98 percent) who either were unemployed or failed to declare their occupation. Women showed a relatively low share in the economically active population of Greeks in Odessa (32.25 percent). The overwhelming majority of them (91.47 percent) did not work, and only 74 ladies declared their employment. The age variation in the employment among the Greeks of Odessa in 1879 supports the conclusion that their urban community was economic and migratory in character. Even among adolescents and elderly men the percentage of those not working is small, while middle-aged men show the main share of the employed persons.
More than a third (38.68 percent) of the Greek residents failed to declare their occupations. This indicates the transient nature of employment of Greek migrants, who were ready for any kind of work and/or in search of employment. Almost as many residents (40.3 percent) indicated that they work as "clerks", "apprentices", "merchants", "sailors", "tanners", and "servants". The variability in other professions is quite extensive, from representatives of the highly skilled labor force (doctors, craftsmen, etc.) to the hired workers. It shall be noticed that the majority of the Greeks of Odessa were engaged in trade and production.
Hired workers prevail among the employed Greeks of Odessa numbering 384 people (almost 17 percent, or every seventh Greek resident). These are followed by much less numerous employees of trading corporations (111 persons, or 4.86 percent), representatives of maritime occupations (84 persons, or 3.68 percent) and tanners (75 persons, or 3.29 percent).
This indicates that the once powerful commercial core of the Greek community was in recession, and a social group of low-income workers or self-employed already developed. In addition to sailors, who temporarily lived in Odessa in anticipation of being hired, there were also tanners from Ermoupoli who, after the crisis of the industry and the bankruptcy of several factories on Syros, 11 also 11 Καρδάσης Β. Σύρος. Σταυροδρόμι της Ανατολικής Μεσογείου 1832 -1857. Διδακτορική διατριβή. Αθήνα: ΕΚΠΑ, 1985. Σ. 122-146; Αγριαντώνη Χ. Οι μετασχηματισμοί της βιομηχανικής δομής της sought employment in the tanneries of Paraskeva and Rodokanaki. 12 This is also indirectly confirmed by the high percentage of "proletarian" and artisan occupations (tailors, servants, shoemakers, bakers, blacksmiths, etc.), which together accounted for a little more than a third (36.06 percent) of the total economically proactive population. Freelance and artistic occupations (teachers, doctors, lawyers, artists, salesmen, clerks) reached 34.39 percent, i.e. almost as many as the above. Merchants and shopkeepers (including hotel owners) accounted for 17.36 percent, and the total middle class population among the Greek residents of Odessa in 1879 reached 84.39 percent. Workers and clerks accounted for only 9.1 percent. Rare among the Greeks of Odessa were persons employed in agriculture (3.25 percent), and only 2.5 percent of the employed residents of the city belonged in prestigious social strata (owners of enterprises). This indicates that the so-called "middle class" strengthened in comparison with the first half of the nineteenth century.
As noted above, the vast majority of women did not work. Almost half (42.52 percent) of the girls were younger than 19 years old, while young men of the same age accounted for 27.96 percent, most of whom were of working age. The population of females of 20 to 49 years of age shows a figure similar to girls (47.54 percent), while in the male population the share of the same age group approached 60 percent. Statistical analysis of the census forms shows that only 6.17 percent of women participated in labor activities, which means that the majority of females were engaged in household chores and child rearing and education. The occupations declared by 74 females were as follows: middle-class Greek women were professional servants, teachers, or engaged in petty trade. The rest were lower class workers (workers in industries, tanneries, housemaids, cooks, etc.). However, it is striking that about two thirds (60 percent) of the women of the lower class were literate. Privileged occupations include three house proprietors and a landowner. It is indicative that all of them were widows over 45 years of age, who had income from managing their family property. Such a small share of working women means that either the men made enough money to meet the needs of the family, or the female employments made no sense because of the extremely low wages.
The social group of the middle class and the poor already emerged. The middle class was important, and there was a growing trend toward proletarianization. Despite the specificity of the Greek population of Odessa, these observations can be extrapolated to the urban environment as a whole. This provides additional arguments for discussing the characteristics of the city's population suggested by historians in the context of social reconstructions of the second half of the nineteenth century. 13 From the questionnaire forms of the census, it can be calculated that the literacy rate among the Greeks residing in Odessa in 1879 comprised 65.7 percent, and this is including children under 6 years of age. Such an unprecedentedly high share of educated people in the Greek community of Odessa (for comparison, this index for the different ethnic and confessional communities of Odessa in 1870 ranged from 12 to 35 percent) 14 clearly indicates that Greek residents of the city comprised, first of all, members of the middle class, as well as underscores the important role of a special Greek school in Odessa. 15 The gender distribution of literacy is indicative. While among the males this index is 69.73 percent, among the females it is more than twice lower comprising 30.27 percent. The reason for this discrepancy lied in the different degree of involvement of the Greek men and women in trade and production processes.
Of the total number of the Greek subjects older than 5 years of age (2,028 persons), literate persons accounted for 72.93 percent, which a very high share. Of these, males accounted for 48.67 percent and females for 24.26 percent. In general, women were much less literate than men, and their level of literacy can be described as quite moderate.
From the entire array of primary census sheets, it appears that only slightly less than a fifth of the Greeks of Odessa (357 persons, or 17.48 percent) could not speak Greek. These included Greek men's wives, who became Greek subjects through mixed marriages, and their children, who were born in Odessa and declared Russian as their native tongue, which comes as no surprise in any ethno-cultural context.
The analysis of ethno-linguistic preferences for native language among Greek residents of Odessa shows that 9 out of 10 men (88.65 percent) and 3 out of 4 women (72.31 percent) retained their native tongue. The assimilation and inter-ethnic marriages should be considered responsible for a high share of the Russian language accounting for 9.81 percent among men and 25.35 percent among women (15.6 percent in average). Other languages are represented only sporadically.
We now return to the issues of general literacy, in which the Greeks of Odessa, as we have already found out, demonstrated a much higher level than other ethnic populations. 16 We tend to explain this by high educational qualification requirements that were applied to immigrants from Greece. In order to address this issue, we examined the correlation between literacy and the geographic origin of the Greek residents of Odessa. Among regions the top positions are occupied by Greeks from the Cyclades and Cephalonia, while among the municipalities, the highest percentage of educated Greeks come from Livathos.
In general, the 1879 census shows the following figures for the marital status of the Greek subjects: approximately one third of both men and women (30.1 percent and 36.9 percent, respectively) were married. The relatively high share of unmarried men (two-thirds, or 66.7 percent) and women (over half, or 53.4 percent) indicates the migratory character of the Greek community of Odessa. The share of single-parent families accounts for only 2.2 percent for male parents and 9.7 percent for female parents (on average, only one in twenty of the community members).
The census records indicate 380 Greeks families consisting of 1,524 persons (an average of 4 persons per family). These families included not only married and widowed people, but also others, such as, for example, relatives or "single immigrants" residing under the same roof. The census tables also show that both women and men concluded marriages at the average age of 27.6 years. The analysis of the census sample allows us to group the Greek subjects into the following types of families: the most common type was the simple (nuclear) family, which consisted of a married couple and their children. In our case, about half of the Greek families in Odessa fall into this category (49.74 percent). The second largest category comprises married couples with no children (27.37 percent; we note this share as high). Apparently, these were young families who had only recently settled in Odessa or left their children in Greece.
The non-family groups include unmarried persons living together with either relatives or non-relatives. In 1879, among the Greeks of Odessa such groups accounted for 5.26 percent. A similar share is demonstrated by extended families that consisted of a married couple (or a widowed parent) with the children and other relatives of different generations representing a complex degree of kinship in ascending or descending lines. Single-parent families consisted of a widowed parent and his or her children. In our sample, these families account for 12.37 percent. The majority of single parents were females. These families had an average size of 4.4 persons and more than half of them (53 percent) included minor children.
The average number of family members among Greeks in Odessa is estimated at 4.1 persons. The most frequent type is childless families (23.21 percent), followed by families with two and three children (19.94 percent and 15.45 percent, respectively). Whereas the high share of the first type families testifies to the migratory character of the Greek community, the presence of families of the second type, on the contrary, is indicative of intergenerational stabilization. This logical paradox is removed when we take into account the composite type of this ethnic community of the city that included both long-time Greek residents and the first generation of immigrants.

Conclusions
The identification and interpretation of the original Greek census of 1879, as well as its preliminary quantitative analysis for Odessa, allows us to make several important conclusions: 1. This document essentially fills in "white spots" in statistical data for the second half of the nineteenth century falling between a series of censuses known as "Revizskie Skazki" (1718 -1859) and the official censuses of 1892 and 1897. The heuristic potential of these documents permits adequate reconstruction of the characteristics of the city's Greek community and the population in general (of course, under the condition that the data is correlated).
2. The Greek community of Odessa in 1879 displayed a transitional migratory type. This finds manifestation, first of all, in the demographic characteristics. Showing progress in the sex and age structure (radical dominance of the young and middle-aged cohorts), the community represented an unbalanced gender population with a marked predominance of males of reproductive age.
3. It is worth noting that social institutions (especially, the family) and everyday practices reflect a similar migratory character. This is indicated by a high share of single-parent families (widowed and unmarried persons) and a very small share of large families, which are represented mainly by work groups rather than groups of relatives proper. The inclusion of the Greeks of Odessa in almost all strata and professional corporations assumed new aspects -while in earlier times trade took the lead, in 1879 there was a noticeable "proletarization" of the community (hired and professional workers).
4. As long as ethno-cultural specifics and sustainability of ethnic identity are concerned, it is worth noting that the Greek community in Odessa demonstrates the relatively high level of literacy and education as well as the absolute predominance of Greek as a native language.