MALARIA AS COLONIAL EXPERIENCE: EXPLANATIONS OF THE DISEASE BY ESTONIAN SETTLERS ON THE BLACK SEA COAST

Aivar Jürgenson

Aivar Jürgenson PhD, Senior Researcher of Estonian National Museum Muuseumi tee 2 60532 Tartu, Estonia, http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1551-3218

Abstract

The second half of the 19^th century saw the beginning of agrarian colonization by Estonians of other regions of imperial Russia. Estonian settlers encountered malaria in the Volga region and Siberia, but the outbreaks with the more serious consequences struck Estonians in the Black Sea coast in Transcaucasia, where Estonian villages Linda, Estonia, Salme and Sulevi were established in the 1880s. This article examines beliefs about the causes of malaria, treatments and preventive measures.

Key words: colonization, medical history, folk medicine, environmental history, Abkhazia.