ABSTRACT
The problem of homelessness in contemporary Russia is under-researched, though there have been occasional articles in the press that have described the most obvious and glaring conditions of homeless people’s lives. Homeless people themselves affect the life of average citizens more and more, in streets, shops and the entrances of homes. This is a direct consequence of the socio-economic changes taking place in Russia. However, historically there have always been homeless people in Russia, not excluding the Soviet era. In the recent past, they were called vagrants or bichi. In urban folklore, bich was short for byvshii intelligentniy chelovek or ‘former member of the intelligentsia’. This description was tied in with a mythologised ideal of people who did not wish to be subject to the laws and conventions of regulated communal life. Tales are told of bichi – former academics, engineers, teachers – who chose a free way of life instead of what to them was a burden – submission to ignorant bosses, life with an unloved wife and so forth.
