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{{Tip|A common idea in the West is that metrical books (Russian parish registers) were destroyed by the Soviet regime in its campaign against religion. On the contrary, Soviet archives preserved them. Cut off by political circumstance, or unresponsive to genealogical inquires, these sources remained untouched for most of the twentieth century.<ref name="profile">The Family History Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, “Family History Record Profile: Russia,” Word document, private files of the FamilySearch Content Strategy Team, 1996-2001.</ref>}} | {{Tip|A common idea in the West is that metrical books (Russian parish registers) were destroyed by the Soviet regime in its campaign against religion. On the contrary, Soviet archives preserved them. Cut off by political circumstance, or unresponsive to genealogical inquires, these sources remained untouched for most of the twentieth century.<ref name="profile">The Family History Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, “Family History Record Profile: Russia,” Word document, private files of the FamilySearch Content Strategy Team, 1996-2001.</ref>}} | ||
Records of births, marriages, and deaths are commonly called “vital records” because they record critical events in a person’s life. Church records are vital records made by church officials. They are often called parish registers or churchbooks (''Metricheskaja kniga'', plural - ''Metricheskie knigi'', ''Метрические книги'' in Russian). Church | Records of births, marriages, and deaths are commonly called “vital records” because they record critical events in a person’s life. Church records are vital records made by church officials. They are often called parish registers or churchbooks (''Metricheskaja kniga'', plural - ''Metricheskie knigi'', ''Метрические книги'' in Russian). In 1722, Peter the Great mandated the recording of births, marriages, and deaths by the Orthodox Church. They consisted usually of 3 parts: a) births and christening; b) marriages; c) deaths and burials. Most remarkable was, that in the marriage part, like in the christening part, witnesses were mentioned, two from each side of the family. | ||
Normally two copies were made, one (a transcript) sent annually to a central ecclesiastical or civil office. The transcript is the copy most likely to have survived the civil disruptions of Russia's past. Parish registers consist of forms filled out annually, filed, and then bound into books. Over time they were filed in any order imaginable. There are gaps in the years indicating that some materials were lost or misplaced. Quite often the records of churches in a district for a single year are bound in the same volume. | Normally two copies were made, one (a transcript) sent annually to a central ecclesiastical or civil office. The transcript is the copy most likely to have survived the civil disruptions of Russia's past. Parish registers consist of forms filled out annually, filed, and then bound into books. Over time they were filed in any order imaginable. There are gaps in the years indicating that some materials were lost or misplaced. Quite often the records of churches in a district for a single year are bound in the same volume. | ||