Cultural image of hospitality in Russian phraseology

In language we find traces of prehistory, folk wisdom, which was passed down from generation to generation in oral form. To better understand the legacy of a given nation, one should delve into its phraseology. In Russian we will find a lot of phraseological relationships and sayings, which prove the evolution of language and culture. Of these, an interesting group are those dedicated to culinary traditions. This group of phraseology perfectly illustrates the lives of simple people. They describe the way of eating meals and the home hierarchy.

The Minsk Agricultural Society as an organizer of food aid for the rural population in 1907–1908

A crop failure in the Minsk governorate in 1906 caused famine in the districts of Barysaw, Mazyr, Pinsk, Rechytsa, and Slutsk. The article presents a little-known fragment of the history of the Minsk Agricultural Society from 1907–1908, when Polish landowners organized food aid for starving peasants. It was their own initiative, non-commercial, philanthropic, and independent from the state authorities. The landowners bought over 950 tons of rye in southern Russia and Siberia with their own money, transported it to the Minsk governorate and sold it to the peasants at purchase prices. For this purpose, they had to organize special committees dealing with the distribution of rye in the districts. The grain they supplied was cheaper and of better quality than grain imported by state institutions (zemstvo), therefore the peasants preferred to buy rye from the landowners’ committees. The food aid for peasants showed how well Polish landowners were organised and how effective this type of activity was.