Johann Baptist Cattaneo
The Rev. Johann Baptist Cattaneo (sometimes spelled Cattani) was born in Lavin, Gaubünden, Switzerland, on 27 June 1746 and died in Norka on 16 January 1831. He married in Fläsch, Graubünden, Switzerland to Barbara Johanna Thomas, daughter of Johannes Thomas and Magdalena Steiner, in 1768. She was born in Lavin, Graubünden, Switzerland, 17 April 1752 and died in Sarepta (Russia) on 4 December 1808. He studied at the theological school in Zürich, Switzerland, and was ordained on 26 June 1766 in Susch in the Unterengadin Valley, Switzerland and served in Fläsch from 1767 to 1771. During 1771 and 1772, he served in Schuders, and from 1772 to 1784, he was in Antönien. He became the pastor in Norka on 31 August 1784 and served there until his death in 1831.
He is the author of “Eine Reise durch Deutschland und Russland, seinen Freunden beschrieben von J.B. Cattaneo aus Bünden, gegenwaertigen Pfarrer einer reformierten deutschen Colonie zu Norka an der Saratofischen Statthalterschaft an der Wolga in der russischen Tartarei in Asien.” (“A Trip through Germany and Russia, written for his friends and described by J.B. Cattaneo from Bünden, presently Pastor of a Reformed German Colony in Norka in the city administrative center of Saratov on the Volga in Russian Tartary in Asia.”) - printed in Chur, Switzerland, in 1787.
Read the memoirs of Johann Baptista Cattaneo.
"The popular pastor, Rev. Cattaneo, who came to Norka in 1784 had a rather even handed way of dealing with family strife.
Whenever a couple came to him asking for a divorce, he would listen quietly to both sides, and then, since both husband and wife were usually to blame, he would lift a stick which he kept handy for this very purpose, and proceed to give them both a beating. As a result, it is not surprising to hear that during his ministry, divorces in Norka were practically non existent."From "My Mothers People" a self published book by Emma Schwabenland Haynes, 1959
Below is an excerpt from the Kazan Reformed Church (Russian text) web site that provides additional information on Rev. Cattaneo (Kataneo):
Since 1763, people of the Reformed faith have appeared in the Volga region, and since 1804, in the Black Sea area. In the Volga region, a total of about 2,000 people of the Reformed faith were settled primarily in the German colonies of Norka, Messer and Balzer. By 1910, there were nearly 70,000 people of the Reformed faith in the Volga region. However, Lutheran historiography considers that the the number of people of the Reformed in the Volga region was underestimated.
Among the first Protestant pastors church chronicles, with some distinctions in the spelling of surnames, name Fabricius from Sarepta, Еger from Podstepnaja, Каtaneo (Cattaneo) from Norka, Маn from Northern Ekaterinenstadt, Оttо from Таlovka (Beideck), Flitnner from Frank, Litzac from Privalnaja (Warenbrug), Lundberg from Barataevka, Buck from Southern Еkaterinenstadt, Gimer from Ust-Кulalinka, Gunter from Stephan and Аhlbaum from Frank. In various archival and other sources there are surnames of several other clerics - Gerving, Мооs etc. These pastors, to the extent possible, provided religious services for all of the Volga settlers.
The clergy is respected and honored among the colonists. Many pastors were fine doctors, agriculturists and poets. For example, Johann Baptist Cattaneo, a Reformed pastor from Norka in the Volga region, was known not only in German colonies, but also among nomads, such as the Kalmyks, as a skilled therapist and surgeon. Up to 1819, he has lead 16 amputations of hands and legs, 277 operations for cancer and other tumours and has made more than 8,000 inoculations against smallpox. With his versatile knowledge he helped the colonists with questions about beekeeping, cultivation of plants and agriculture.
Translation courtesy of Alexander Schreiber, Moscow.