Nizhny Novgorod merchants at the end of the 18th - first quarter of the 19th century: number and guild composition. The story of one photo

I won't be mistaken if I say that all Nizhny Novgorod residents know who the Rukavishnikovs are. Everyone knows about the Rukavishnikovs' palace on Verkhnevolzhskaya embankment and about their bank on Rozhdestvenskaya.
But behind this, according to all estimates, unprecedented wealth hid also unprecedented generosity. It is a well-known fact that the Russian merchants were famous for their habit of helping the poor, and in Nizhny, in the homeland of the Fair, this reached unprecedented proportions. Here merchants bargained eagerly for their goods, and then they could give thousands to charity.
The Rukavishnikov dynasty rightfully earned the fame of the most generous Nizhny Novgorod patrons of art. I would like to tell you about the good deeds they have done, which I managed to find out about (I'm sure this is an incomplete list).
To make the further story more or less clear, you need to tell a little about this family. The beginning of this dynasty was laid by Grigory Rukavishnkov, who, being an ordinary blacksmith, in 1812, after the Fair, came to Nizhny Novgorod. For several years he became a major trader, and then the owner of a steel plant that supplied products even to Persia. His son Mikhail continued his father's work and created a real commercial and industrial empire. Mikhail Grigorievich, popularly called the "iron old man", became the first benefactor in the Rukavishikov family. His motto sounded like "Sacrifice and Trustee". Mikhail Rukavishnikov had as many as nine children, and they all became famous patrons of the arts, following in the footsteps of their father.

So I'll start the storyMikhail Grigorievich. (1811-1875)

Mikhail Grigorievich, a merchant of the first guild, the same "old man of iron" was a member of the provincial committee for the guardianship of prisons and made donations annually in favor of the Nizhny Novgorod prisoners. For his patronage, he became a hereditary honorary citizen and was a manufacturing advisor. He left a huge fortune to the family, which at the time of his death consisted of a wife, seven sons, two daughters and a sister, about four million rubles each. His wife, Lyubov Alek-sandrovna, built an almshouse and a children's hospital in memory of her husband, and the House of Diligence, built later by the Rukavishnikovs, was named after Mikhail and Lyubov Rukavishnikovs.

Mikhail Grigorievich supported the Mariinsky Women's Gymnasium (I believe that this is the same as the Mariinsky Institute for Noble Maidens, since both names refer to the wife of Alexander II, Maria Alexandrovna) and orphanages.

(The original building of the Mariinsky Institute)

(As a result, the Mariinsky Institute is located here)

If someone can enlighten me on the question of whether there is a difference between the Mariinsky Gymnasium and the Mariinsky Institute for Noble Maidens, I would be very grateful.

The heirs of Mikhail Grigorievich.

Ivan Mikhailovich, the son of Mikhail Grigoriechia, was one of the most famous public figures Nizhny Novgorod: a public councilor of the City Duma, an honorary magistrate, a full member of the Nizhny Novgorod Society for the Encouragement of Higher Education and the Nizhny Novgorod Society of Art Lovers - this is not a complete list of his social "loads" that required him not only time, but also significant material resources.

In 1906, Ivan Mikhailovich donated 75 thousand rubles for the Widow's House of Bugrov and Blinov (the one on Lyadov Square) and 25 thousand for the education of widows' children. The fact is that in the Widows' House children were only given elementary education, and with Rukavishnikov's money they built a school with workshops: a shoe and a tailor for boys, a sewing one for girls. Now it is the old building of the "Ton" company, the former factory named after Clara Zetkin).


(The same Widow's House. It seems to have been completely preserved, but for some reason it does not make the same impression)

Can you imagine the building of the Orlyonok cinema? So, it once also belonged to the Rukavishnikovs. Ivan Mikhailovich did not build it, but he bought it. After his death, according to Rukavishnikov's will, this building was transferred to the Public Assembly of Nizhny Novgorod, where his meetings were held. In addition, the building became the center cultural life, in particular, music concerts were held here.

Sergey Mikhailovich 1852-1914) became famous not for charitable activities, but for construction. The well-known house of the Rukavishnikovs on the Verkhne-Volzhskaya embankment was built by Sergei Rukavishnikov. He also bought an estate in Podvyaz, not far from Nizhny Novgorod, and created an exemplary farm out of it. In addition, in 1908, on Rozhdestvenskaya Street in Nizhny Novgorod, by order of Sergei Mikhailovich, the famous architect Shekhtel erected a huge complex, which included the Rukavishnikovs Bank and a tenement house.

Another interesting fact: in 1868 the Rukavishnikovs bought another estate, in Lazarev, Bogorodsky district of the Nizhny Novgorod province, from the Nizhny Novgorod Sheremetevs. This estate is less known than the same Podvyaz and is worse preserved. In addition, the estate (object cultural heritage regional significance) today threatens the construction of a landfill for the burial of solid waste. Like this.

(Lazarevo. Everything looks sad, but it's a pity. Photos are taken from here http://poligon-lazarevo.ru/)

Mitrofan Mikhailovich 1864-1911

(Mitrofan Mikhailovich is the only one whose portrait I could find)

During his life, Mitrofan Mikhailovich amassed a large collection of paintings, including "The Flying Carpet" by Vasnetsov, "The Lady under the Umbrella" by Kramskoy, which now adorn the walls of the Nizhny Novgorod Art Museum. He donated money for Blagoveshchensky male monastery, The Trinity Verkhneposadskaya church (the one that was located on the site of the NGLU and his father took part in the construction of which), the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. Somewhere between Alekseevskaya and Osharskaya streets, he financed the building of the Cyril and Methodius Brotherhood, a charitable society of which he was chairman for several years. The brotherhood of Cyril and Methodius contributed to the religious and moral upbringing and education of the poorest students of the Nizhny Novgorod provincial gymnasium. The brotherhood provided the students with housing in their dormitory and in the apartments they found, paid for their tuition, provided them with teaching aids, clothing and shoes for free, and paid medical benefits. Pupils were given an allowance of 5.6 rubles a month.

(Annunciation Monastery)

(Trinity Church, the new building of the NGLU stands right on this place)

In 1908, an honorary hereditary citizen of Nizhny Novgorod, Mitrofan Mikhailovich Rukavishnikov, donated a manor land plot on the Verkhnevolzhskaya embankment to the Russian Red Cross Society, and a hospital was built at the merchant's expense. On November 14, 1913, the Nizhny Novgorod Surgical Hospital of the Russian Red Cross Society received the first patients.


(Surgical Hospital of the Russian Red Cross Society, now City Clinical Hospital No. 3)

Mitrofan Mikhailovich, like his brother Ivan, was a member of the Nizhny Novgorod provincial guardianship committee for prisons and helped juvenile criminals released from prisons.

In 1887, at a meeting of the City Duma, a call was made "to open the House of Diligence in Nizhny for the employment of the homeless poor and beggars." The idea of ​​construction was realized only thanks to the disinterested help of the Rukavishnikovs. Brothers Ivan, Mitrofan, Sergey, Nikolai Mikhailovich Rukavishnikovs and their sisters Varvara Mikhailovna (married Burmistrov) and Yulia Mikhailovna (married Nikolaev) equipped and provided the society with three stone two-story buildings, a three-story stone large outbuilding, services and land. The House of Industriousness, opened on the corner of Varvarskaya and Mistrovskaya Streets, was named after Mikhail and Lyubov Rukavishnikov, the parents of the donors. The family's help, of course, was not limited to this: the Rukavishnikovs regularly donated significant funds for the maintenance of the House of Industriousness, took part in improving production activities, in organizing the education of children (to a large extent, a parish school was opened here at their expense) and in building a library ... The results were not slow to affect: at the XVI All-Russian Industrial and Art Exhibition, which took place in Nizhny Novgorod in 1896, the products of the House of Industriousness received diplomas that corresponded to gold and bronze medals. The public recognition of the usefulness and merits of the new institution was evidenced by the visit to the House of Industriousness by Emperor Nicholas II and his wife in 1896. After this visit, which prompted a series of follow-up visits dignitaries, charitable donations came in very significant amounts. This made it possible to equip a new building of the House by 1905 (in the 20s of the last century a printing house was opened in it, and in the 60s two upper floors), to increase the number of people to be visited (usually there were 500-550 people, and, for example, in 1903, 63,594 people dined) and to expand production (mats, mops, tow, lifebuoys, and so on, which took part in the exposition at the Paris exhibition in 1900).


(House of industriousness named after Mikhail and Lyubov Rukavishnikov)

Also, the children of Mikhail Rukavishnikov, with their own money, repaired the Zhivonosov Church, which was located opposite the Kremlin's now-restored Conception Tower (where the square is now). The church, unfortunately, has not survived to this day: it was dismantled in 1928.

Brothers Ivan Nikolay The Mitrofan Rukavishnikovs also took part in the construction of a colony for the mentally ill near the village of Lyakhovo, Nizhny Novgorod Region (such complexes had not been built in Russia before). The project of the famous psychiatrist Pyotr Petrovich Kashchenko for the construction of such a hospital would not have been possible without private investment Nizhny Novgorod merchants, including the Rukavishnikov brothers, in the total amount of 57 thousand rubles. In 1895, Ivan Rukavishnikov, guided by the instructions of Kashchenko, acquired 50 acres of land for a colony - part of the former estate of the writer P.I. Melnikov-Pechersky in the village of Lyakhovo near the city. As a result, construction began in 1899. The pavilion of the hospital for men was named after Ivan Mikhailovich Rukavishnikov.

(Colony for the mentally ill)

Knew in the city Rukavishnikov Vladimir Mikhailovich, on whose funds there was a well-known and outside the city choir chapel(built at the very Trinity Church, in the construction of which his father took part). Several soloists of this chorus later became singers of the Bolshoi Theater.

Varvara Mikhailovna Burmistrova-Rukavishnikova, the daughter of an old iron man, also left a memory of herself, having bought land for the city cemetery, erecting a church, service buildings there and enclosing the Nizhny Novgorod necropolis with a fence with turrets and gates (just in case, the territory of the cemetery is 16 hectares!). After the death of her father, Varvara Mikhailovna Burmistrova-Rukavishnikova invested part of her inheritance (namely, one and a half million rubles) in the construction of a house on Zhukovskaya Street (modern Minin Street). The architect Grigoriev built a mansion with a greenhouse and a large garden, decorated the interiors with wood painting, tapestries and draperies. This house (only part of the ensemble has survived) today houses a literary museum: in 1917, Varvara Mikhailovna voluntarily gave up her magnificent rich house along with a collection of art treasures

Varvara Mikhailovna did not have her own children, so she gave all her attention to the pupils from the Mariinsky gymnasium, warmly received them in the house (during the holidays she had 6-7 pupils of the Mariinsky Institute), taught two girls at her own expense, and took care of their future. Varvara Mikhailovna has repeatedly participated in the financing of educational institutions in Nizhny Novgorod. So, in 1916, after the death of her husband, she contributed 50,000 rubles for the arrangement of the Warsaw Polytechnic Institute, which was transferred to Nizhny Novgorod, which after the revolution was reorganized into the Nizhny Novgorod Polytechnic Institute.

PS. I think there may be inaccuracies in my text, so I will be grateful for the remarks.

Nizhny Novgorod patronage of arts is more than one century. The houses donated to the city by merchants or industrialists are still alive. Enterprising businessmen knew how to use money, but they never spared thousands to help those in need and their hometown.

Genius sponsor

The name of the folk craftsman - self-taught Ivan Kulibin thundered throughout Russia. As you know, he created and presented to Empress Catherine the Great an outlandish clock, where little people play a whole show. The tsarina was amazed at such a gift and immediately gave the inventor to head the mechanical workshop of the Academy of Sciences.

And few people know, thanks to whom Russia learned about Kulibin's talent! The merchant of the first guild, Mikhail Andreevich Kostromin, suggested that the master make a watch for the arrival of the empress in Nizhny Novgorod, moreover, he paid for all the materials and maintained the family of the legendary self-taught for the entire time of work. The merchant himself asked for an audience with Catherine's favorite, Count Orlov. It was then that Kulibin presented the watch to the empress.

The Empress did not forget the generous merchant - she presented the patron with a thousand rubles, a silver mug with her own portrait and a dedication.

The merchant Kostromin was from peasants, earned his fortune with ingenuity and enterprise. He had an amazing flair and generosity. The city retains the memory of the merchant Kostromin - a mansion with columns on Bolshaya Pokrovskaya, 4. Now there is an educational theater.

Trample care

The noble deed of Nikolai Bugrov, a representative of a well-known Old Believer merchant family, is still reminiscent of the building of the City Duma, now the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Court on Bolshaya Pokrovskaya, 1.

Bugrov bought the theater building on Blagoveshchenskaya square (now Minin and Pozharsky squares) Photo: Public Domain

Bugrov, a philanthropist and philanthropist, donated the palace to his native city, however, under funny circumstances. The merchant bought the theater building on Blagoveshchenskaya square (now Minin and Pozharsky squares) and ... a week later presented it to the city council. He explained that his deceased parents lived in this place - they say, it’s not good when, instead of the father’s house, there is a theater. Bugrov also partially sponsored the construction of a pompous palace-palace here, where the city council was located.

The merchant did not skimp on direct financial assistance. Rumor has it that he gave alms only 10 million rubles in his life.

The Bugrovs' family came up with the idea to create an overnight house for 500-800 people at the foot of the Kremlin. Every wanderer could find a place to sleep here, a pound of free bread and a mug of boiling water. It was strictly in the shelter: "Do not drink vodka, do not sing songs, be quiet." Maxim Gorky glorified this house in the play At the Bottom.

Bugrova's lodge Photo: Administration of Nizhny Novgorod

Nowadays, various departments have been in the building of the flop for a long time. Now the historic house has been bought by a Nizhny Novgorod businessman.

And next to this building is the legendary tea house "Stolby". Merchant Dmitry Sirotkin invited the writer Maxim Gorky to arrange in a house on the street. A tanning daytime haven for tramps and the unemployed. The fact is that the tramps were expelled from the nearby Bugrovsk shelter in the morning, and they were allowed back only in the evening - for order. And in the afternoon, they could warm up in the tea room, eat for 3 kopecks. A library, a free outpatient clinic was opened in "Stolby" ...

Not for a pocket - for a heart

Helping the suffering, donating large sums to help the disadvantaged was the norm for the Nizhny Novgorod merchants. With the money of entrepreneurs on the street. Ilyinskaya, the first orphanage appeared, and on pl. Lyadov built a "Widow's House" for widowed poor women and orphans - by the way, by the forces of the same Nikolai Bugrov, who also attracted the relatives of the Blinov merchants to the case.

The widow's house on Lyadov square. Photo of the early 20th century Photo: Public Domain

The merchants opened educational institutions, built churches, and installed a water supply system. One of the gifts to the city is the Christmas Church of the 18th century, built by the Stroganov merchants (its style in architecture was called “Stroganov Baroque”).

From the history of charity in the Nizhny Novgorod province

v period XIX- early. XX centuries.

(based on materials from the Central Archives of the Nizhny Novgorod Region)

Dictionaries and reference books of pre-revolutionary Russia determined "charity" as "a manifestation of compassion for one's neighbor and the moral obligation of the one who has to rush to help the poor", as well as "doing good, taking care of the decrepit, crippled, sick, and poor." All the basic concepts of the phenomenon under consideration are laid down here: first, the understanding of charity as a matter kind and, moreover, responsibilities moral; secondly, the care of benefactors should be surrounded by the poor or the sick (that is, to put it modern language, socially unprotected layers of society). There is a certain historical tradition of charity in Russia behind this understanding. Caring for the poor has always been one of the most important precepts of Christianity, and the clergy were given the opportunity to carry out active charitable activities with significant sums of money that came from the tithe (one tenth of all income) allocated to the church and contributions “for the sake of the soul”. The wealthy laity also tried to follow the example of the clergy.

The Nizhny Novgorod region was no exception. On the pages of the "Nizhegorodsky Chronicle" we find references to the merchant guest Taras Petrov, who at his own expense repeatedly ransomed many compatriots from the Horde captivity, helping them to return to their homeland. Handwritten synodics of the 16th-17th centuries of the Annunciation, Pechersky, Makaryevsky and other monasteries of our region indicate in detail how and on what days to "put food for the church orphans" and give alms to commemorate the souls of the dead church rulers and secular rulers. It also mentions the monastic almshouses, in which the elderly and crippled warriors found shelter and food, or even simply "poor men and women." At the same time, charity in the Nizhny Novgorod region had its own characteristics, the reason for which was the commercial and industrial nature of our region.

Stormy economic development The Nizhny Novgorod Territory constantly attracted thousands of working people to the region. Every year crowds of artisans arrived in Nizhny Novgorod, Balakhna, Gorbatov, Makariev. Not everyone found work right away; often the families of those who left for work were in poverty without help from the breadwinners; inevitable industrial injuries led to the emergence of more and more "crippled", which the monastery almshouses could no longer support. These processes were aggravated in the 18th century, when the first large industrial enterprises-manufactories appeared in the Nizhny Novgorod province, in particular, iron and rope production. In such a situation, private charity turned out to be ineffective, which led to well-known social upheavals (peasant wars of St. Razin and E. Pugachev, urban uprisings and actions of robber bands on the Volga until the end of the 18th century, etc.). In other words, the economic development of the region led to an increase in population, among which the number of poor people became more and more.

Adopted in 1775, the "Institution of Provinces", among other things, tried to outline ways of solving the problems of social security. First, individuals were officially granted the right to establish charitable institutions. Secondly, the state took over part of the social security of the population. So, on the basis of the "Institution of provinces" in the Nizhny Novgorod province in 1779 was created Public Charity Order, which was entrusted with the responsibility of organizing almshouses, orphanages, work and restraining houses, as well as public schools, pharmacies and hospitals. The order was headed by the governor (ex officio), and the leadership included prominent provincial officials. Similar Orders were instituted in other provinces of Russia. The creation of the Order of Public Charity was the first step towards the emergence of a system of guardianship bodies, which, a century later, were already widespread in Russian society.

Concept "Guardianship"(Old Russian "pechisya" - to take care) has a centuries-old history in Russia, but by the beginning of the 19th century it was expanding its significance - from caring for the fate of a particular person to caring for entire branches of society. As conceived by the ruling circles Russian Empire, trusteeships were intended to become a link between benefactors and administrative bodies. This determined the status, goals and objectives, as well as the composition of the trusteeship bodies both in the Nizhny Novgorod province and throughout the country. The board of trustees (less often councils) operating since the beginning of the 19th century were created primarily as advisory bodies under the governor. The purpose of their creation was to improve administrative management in the humanitarian sphere, that is, in education, social security, etc. Therefore, usually the top officials of the province were included in the composition of the provincial board of trustees, and with the right of an advisory vote or with the rights of honorary members - representatives of the public, specialists in the field of education and health. The structure of the county guardianship committees was similar, which were always headed (ex officio) by the administrative head of the county, and also included representatives of the public and merchants known for their charitable activities. By creating bodies of trusteeship, the provincial and district administrations received an effective means of directing and distributing charitable aid to precisely those industries where this aid, in the opinion of the authorities, was needed first of all. And the personal participation of senior officials of the province and district in the trusteeship committees not only ensured control over the receipt and expenditure of funds, but was also intended to stimulate wider participation of the inhabitants of various classes (noblemen, merchants, bourgeoisie, commoners, wealthy peasants) in charitable activities.

It was in this spirit that Russian legislation on charitable institutions, adopted in the second half of the 19th century, was sustained. As you know, before the abolition of serfdom (1861), which marked the beginning of the era of "great reforms" of Alexander II, charitable societies existed only in 8 cities of Russia. The liberation of the peasants from serfdom led, among other things, to the emergence of a large number of socially unprotected people - former courtyard servants who became unnecessary in the deserted aristocratic economy, "temporarily liable", who could not quickly find earnings and pay arrears, and the ruined and impoverished nobles themselves, predominantly from small landowners, who quickly squandered the redemption certificates and drank "bitter" out of grief. And along with this, the reforms ensured the rapid growth of Russian industry, which again and again attracted thousands of workers to the Nizhny Novgorod province. Our region was rapidly changing its appearance, becoming from a commercial developed industrial-industrial.

The population growth became more and more significant: according to official statistics, in 1866 1,257,601 people lived in the Nizhny Novgorod province, in 1878 - 1,347,708 people, and by 1900 the number of inhabitants exceeded 1,650,000 people. Add to this seasonal workers, persons not registered, but permanently residing in the province ... And all people needed housing (at least temporary), food (at least the most modest), work (even the hardest!), And also the opportunity if necessary, receive medical assistance, teach children crafts and literacy, which has become more and more in demand. The economic success of the region and the emergence of a noticeable social group successful entrepreneurs were given the opportunity to generously allocate funds for charitable purposes, and the trusteeship bodies operating by that time made it possible to quickly direct funds to social needs. The legislative basis here was the decree of 1862, which provided the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) with the right to authorize the creation of charitable societies, and the Imperial Order of 1869 given in its development, which gave the Ministry of Internal Affairs the right to independently establish these societies. At the same time, the created charitable society, the charter of which was approved by the Minister of Internal Affairs (after 1905 - by the governor), was obliged to regularly submit to the provincial government reports on its actions, capital, income and expenses, institutions and the number of those who were in them. Thus, the administrative bodies of the provinces and counties (all of them until 1917 were part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs) determined the priorities in charitable activities and organized the investment of funds, constantly monitoring this process. Of course, not all of the plans were successful (and in the end they did not succeed - this is evidenced by the social conflicts of the early XX century, crowned with the revolution that led to the collapse of the Russian Empire), but there was in the chain of relations "administrator - board of trustees - benefactors" and its rational corn. Let's try to extract this useful historical experience by analyzing the specific areas of trusteeship and charity in the Nizhny Novgorod province.

Guardianship in the field of education

Chronologically the earliest (1803) was guardianship in the field of education . The territory of Nizhny Novgorod and a number of other provinces was initially included in the Kazan, then the Moscow educational district, which was headed by a trustee - a high-ranking official of the Ministry of Public Education (MNP). At the level of the province, Nizhny Novgorod was subordinate to the trustee. provincial school council, also belonging to the department of the MNP and headed (ex officio) by the provincial leader of the nobility and the director of the provincial public schools. The council consisted of representatives from the MNP (usually the director of a gymnasium), from the spiritual department (rector of the cathedral), from the Ministry of Internal Affairs (adviser to the provincial government), one or two representatives from the zemstvo. Judging by the preserved archival documents, the council monitored the financial and economic issues of the activities of educational institutions, monitored the observance of general standards of reliability of teaching staff and students, resolved controversial issues of appointment and dismissal of teachers, petitioned the trustee to encourage teachers. In its activities, the provincial school council relied on a network county school councils.

In addition, each secondary educational institution (gymnasium, noble institute) had its own board of trustees- an advisory body under the director, which had some analogy with modern parental committees. The board of trustees included (ex officio) a governor or a vice-governor, several high-ranking officials whose children studied at this gymnasium, as well as members of the public (usually from the zemstvo); in women's gymnasiums, the council also included the wives of these persons. Judging by the surviving "attendance logs" (meeting minutes), the board of trustees decided issues of exemption from tuition fees, considered the possibility of introducing additional lessons, and coordinated the reception of teachers. The competence of the council also included the coordination of reports on the educational and economic state of the educational institution, applications for the encouragement of teachers, consideration of applications of various persons for the admission of their children to study outside the general framework. In addition, in the affairs of the board of trustees of the Nizhny Novgorod Mariinsky female gymnasium for 1900-1908, there are examples of decisions of the council on organizing the teaching of the Law of God for female students of non-Orthodox faith, on conflict situations between the class and the teacher, but such questions rarely arose in the council's activities.

In general, in the field of public education, charity was a noticeable phenomenon. Thus, the well-known Nizhny Novgorod figure, merchant Ya.E. Bashkirov completely at his own expense expands the building of the Nizhny Novgorod Kulibinsk vocational school and boarding school with him, for which on October 13, 1906, he was thanked by the Nizhny Novgorod City Duma. The documents mention that the widow of a hereditary honorary citizen Ermolaev in February 1912 bequeathed all her property in favor of the People's University that was opening in Nizhny Novgorod.

Knyagininsky 2nd guild merchant P.I. Karpov, at his own expense at the Stroganov Church in Nizhny Novgorod, opened and maintained a school for 70 students. In addition, he donated 25 thousand rubles for the construction of a number of schools in the districts of the Nizhny Novgorod province. Nizhny Novgorod merchant F.A. Blinov donated his own house with wings at the corner of Ilyinskaya and Sergievskaya streets for a real school. The Nizhny Novgorod Stock Exchange Society, at the expense of its members, approves the Mininsky Stock Exchange Charitable Society of grants to underprivileged students of Nizhny Novgorod. The society provided funds to needy pupils and female students of Nizhny Novgorod educational institutions for renting an apartment, food, clothing, textbooks; arranged school holidays, excursions, trips for students with their capital. Each member of the society contributed at least 1,000 rubles to the cashier. Aid societies for poor students in Nizhny Novgorod also operated at the Nizhny Novgorod women's gymnasium Gerken, at the Khrenovskaya, Torsuevskaya gymnasiums, and at the Milov real school. A society for the needy pupils of the Varnavin women's gymnasium and the Varnavin city school existed in Varnavin since 1910 at the expense of local benefactors. At a number of educational institutions of the province, there were scholarships for students, bearing the names of the benefactors of this educational institution.

In addition to the educational process itself, the trusteeship bodies in the field of education also encouraged charity aimed at supporting the teaching staff of educational institutions in the Nizhny Novgorod province. The board of trustees of gymnasiums and schools almost always exempted teachers from paying for the education of their children. To help improve the welfare of teachers, the provincial government in 1894 supported the initiative of the intelligentsia to create "Societies for the mutual assistance of teachers and female teachers of the Nizhny Novgorod province"... By January 1, 1903, the Society had 1,262 members in its ranks and had branches in Arzamassky, Gorbatovsky, Makaryevsky and Nizhny Novgorod districts. The best members of the local community were on the board; among them - the outstanding Russian statistician Nikolai Fedorovich Annensky (founder of the Society), Pavel Arkadievich Demidov (chairman of the provincial zemstvo council, long years- Chairman of the Board of the Company), as well as G.R. Kelewein, A.A. Savelyeva and others. The authority of the Society's leadership and the support of the provincial authorities made it possible, with an obvious lack of funds from the treasury, to actively attract private donations. So, when completing a dormitory for the children of teachers, the MNP was able to allocate only 300 rubles out of the required 5,000 rubles. The missing funds were provided by collections from concerts and lectures held for the benefit of the Society, from books and brochures published for charitable purposes. Among those who helped the teachers of Nizhny Novgorod with their labors were outstanding people of that time: historian professor (later academician) S.F. Platonov, artist
V. Petrova-Zvantseva, writers A.I. Kuprin, T.L. Shchepkina-Kupernik, L.N. Andreev and, of course, the idols of local youth - Maxim Gorky and Fyodor Chaliapin. There were also other, non-monetary forms of assistance to teachers and their families, including free medical care (almost all doctors in Nizhny Novgorod provided it to members of the society), the provision of medicines from pharmacies at discounted prices and apartments for teachers who came on holidays and vacations, the maintenance of libraries, etc. replenishment of them with periodicals and special editions. Wealthy residents of Nizhny Novgorod considered it very prestigious for themselves to transfer considerable sums to the Society's account to pay scholarships to children of low-income teachers (in 1912 - 62 people, 11 rubles a month), to organize meals for them (“Lunch consists of two courses: the first is always meat ... "). The representatives of the administration regularly attended the meetings of the Society, supervised the reports of the board.

Interestingly, not all types of education received active support from the authorities. The provincial administration was primarily concerned with primary, classical and real (including technical) education. It was in educational institutions of this profile - public schools, gymnasiums and real schools - that in the first place, the board of trustees were created. And, for example, musical education in Nizhny Novgorod and the province did not have trusteeship bodies, probably because it was considered not as priority as the general education of the population. Of course, the lack of official care of the authorities does not mean that there was no charity in this area. On the contrary, thanks to the generous help of patrons of art, musical life in Nizhny Novgorod at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries flourished, giving Russia a number of famous musicians.

Children's shelters

From the middle of the 19th century, documents of the Nizhny Novgorod provincial guardianship of orphanages, belonging to the department of institutions of the Empress Maria, which later entered the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The governor was ex-officio chairman of this body; the guardianship also included the vice-governor, the provincial leader of the nobility, the director of public schools, the chairman of the provincial zemstvo council, the mayor, the directors of the orphanages, and also usually the wives of the highest provincial officials. The provincial guardianship relied on the network of the county guardianship of orphanages. The composition of the district bodies was similar: the district leader of the nobility, the police chief, the mayor and other officials. The guardianship included representatives of the merchants and intellectuals on the rights of "honorary members", with the payment of an annual fee and after approval by the authorities.

The provincial guardianship included the Alexandrovsky orphanages (opened on April 21, 1845), the Mariinsky (opened on November 20, 1851), a vocational school at the Alexandrovsky orphanage, as well as an almshouse in the village. Keys (opened April 23, 1905). The number of pupils in them was relatively small: for example, in 1914 (the beginning of the First World War) there were 45 boys in the Alexandrovsky orphanage, 114 girls in the Mariinsky, 14 inmates were in the Klyuchishchenskaya almshouse. At the same time, these charitable institutions possessed very significant real estate, including stone buildings. The budget for the guardianship of orphanages was formed mainly from the treasury, and partly from charitable activities (for some years, the documents, for example, recorded a ratio of 5/1, respectively). There are cases when some state institutions took part of the cost of maintaining shelters on themselves (for example, the provincial administration of excise duties). Usually the membership fee was 200 rubles per year; some members of the board of trustees, who were not involved in entrepreneurship, provided assistance to shelters in a different form (for example, medical care for inmates was free). In addition, many Nizhny Novgorod merchants, even not being members of the trusteeship, donated food, delicacies, holiday gifts to shelters, paid for children to attend entertainment events, etc.

Many private benefactors followed the example of the provincial guardianship of orphanages. Makarievsky 2nd guild merchant A.S. Kalinin-Shushlyaev donated his dacha worth 10 thousand rubles for an orphanage. At the expense of a hereditary honorary citizen M.V. Bochkareva, since 1911, a school for blind children operated in Nizhny Novgorod, located on Ilyinskaya Street in the philanthropist's own estate. In 1892, in Nizhny Novgorod opened Asylum for the charity of poor children at the city Society for the Aid to the Poor, designed for 100 pupils of both sexes aged 4 to 12 years. Nizhny Novgorod city educational house named after M.F. and E.P. Sukharevs (he acted together with the women's almshouse of the same name) totaled 59 children of both sexes by 1905. For the charity of poor children "Millionka" (an area inhabited by the urban poor and tramps), an orphanage under the Zhivonosnovsky parish trusteeship operated since 1906, bearing the name of Archbishop Nazariy since 1911. This orphanage brought up 48 children of both sexes from 2 to 13 years old. Orphanage Trustee A.N. Zaitseva (the wife of a well-known merchant in the city), with her personal donations and the involvement of benefactors, not only contributed to the material well-being of the shelter, but also helped to arrange Christmas trees, sent toys and gifts for the children. It is interesting to note that the whole Zaitsev family took part in the charity: the young children of the trustee, Manya, Kolya and Olya, also donated annually to the shelter for their little fellows. Finally, even the orphanage of foundlings of the Nizhny Novgorod provincial zemstvo, which was in the most difficult conditions, was not ignored by benefactors. The names of the trustees of this shelter were preserved in the reports: merchants Palkin, Ermolaev, and also Agniya Nikolaevna Markova provided a lot of help with food, but no less help came from unknown donors.

In general, the guardianship of orphanages dealt mainly with the financial and economic maintenance of the orphanages (heating, lighting, clothing and food for the inmates), and also considered applications for placement in orphanages, on the encouragement of the ministers of the orphanages and donors. Forms of encouragement were usually gratitude "with publication", promotion, a medal (for example, in 1912, an honorary member of the Semyonovsky district trusteeship, PS Stroinsky, was awarded a gold medal "for wearing on the Annenskaya ribbon").

The most striking example of child care was the history of the Nizhny Novgorod city name of Countess O.V. Kutais shelter for minors. In 1874 Olga Vasilievna Kutaisova, wife of the then Governor of Nizhny Novgorod, Count P.I. Kutaisova, donated a capital of 25 thousand rubles for the creation and financing of an orphanage for little orphans. The high social status of the trustee provided her undertaking with the support of not only the governor, but also the emperor Alexander II, who in 1877 ordered the orphanage to be named after Countess Kutaisova. When looking through the archival documents, one gets the impression that after the Highest "good" private donors seemed to be competing with each other, who would do more for the orphanage. Thus, the owner M.N. Kolchigin for the first three years kept an orphanage in his house free of charge. Then, when laying the foundation for his own orphanage building, which provided for the placement of a school and an infirmary there, the merchant Ya.E. Bashkirov donated significant funds to the orphanage and was elected an honorary member of its board of trustees. In 1880 (the year of completion of PI Kutaisov's service as governor of Nizhny Novgorod), the founder of the orphanage and her husband were elected honorary trustees of the institution for life. And besides them, the richest Nizhny Novgorod industrialists Ustin Savvich Kurbatov, Fedor Andreevich Blinov, Nikolai Alexandrovich Bugrov, merchants Andrei Evlampievich Zaitsev, Nikolai Nikitich Zhadovsky, as well as the mayor Alexei Maksimovich Gubin were elected to the board of trustees. Under them, the size of donations to the orphanage amazed even the capital's benefactors: there were years when up to 60 thousand rubles were transferred to the institution - in money (personal scholarships were especially prestigious), bank notes, building materials for repairs, food ... the best teachers for whom the board of trustees established a special increase in salary. Within the walls of the orphanage, designed for 300 pupils, over the years of its existence, thousands of orphans have grown and studied - boys and girls, offended by fate at the very beginning of life, but warmed by the warmth of the hearts of benefactors and returned to society.

The success of charitable activities in orphanages was so obvious that this form of guardianship continued under Soviet rule. After 1917, the board of trustees at orphanages were public bodies with the aim of assisting in the upbringing, education and maintenance of orphans. The Council also monitored the quality of children's nutrition, the distribution of clothing and its safety, and the spending of funds allocated by the state for the maintenance of orphanages.

Social Security

Aged and low-income welfare philanthropy builds on centuries of tradition Ancient Rus... And in the 19th - early 20th centuries, as before, caring for the poor and ailing fellow countrymen was extremely important for the people of Nizhny Novgorod. Since 1779, these issues in the province were centrally dealt with by the Order of Public Charity, mentioned above, but in 1866 it was abolished in connection with the creation of a system of local self-government bodies. Since that time, social security was transferred to the jurisdiction of the zemstvo and city councils, and a centralized administrative and advisory body for control (the provincial board of trustees) was not created.

The decentralization of social welfare philanthropy did not mean that the focus on the issue was diminishing. After the transfer of social institutions from the jurisdiction of the Order of public charity to the management of the zemstvo, the Nizhny Novgorod provincial zemstvo continued to actively attract funds from private philanthropists for the maintenance of hospitals, almshouses, obstetric institutions, etc. At the same time, such public charitable organizations as, for example, Nizhny Novgorod Society for Helping the Poor... As a result, in the second half - the end of the 19th century, a whole network of almshouses and societies to help the poor emerged in the Nizhny Novgorod province. Almost all of these institutions were supported by private donors, and to attract and monitor the correct spending of funds in institutions, their own board of trustees were created. The board of trustees included representatives of local government (city and zemstvo councils) and the benefactors proper, who, as a rule, established this almshouse. It was on this principle that the activities of the largest social security institutions in Nizhny Novgorod - "Widow's House" and "House of Labor", were organized. Much has been written about these establishments, but it is still worth briefly recalling the main stages of their history and the merits of their founders.

The building on Lyadov Square (formerly Monastyrskaya) still makes an impression with its size and thoughtfulness of forms. It is not hard to imagine what respect this house aroused with its design and implementation more than a hundred years ago: probably not everyone believed that such an impressive building would not accommodate public places and not even an institute, but only an almshouse, under which wooden huts were usually given away. wreckage. Meanwhile, the "Charter the city public name of the Blinovs and Bugrovs of the Widow's House in Nizhny Novgorod " (1887) read: "The purpose of the Widows House is to deliver comfortable free apartments to indigent widows with their young children." The building was designed for 160 apartments (in fact, over 600 people lived in it), a hospital (with a children's department) and a pharmacy were created under it. Later, in 1907-1908, a vocational school was built at the Widows House, designed to give a profession to children living here with widowed mothers. And all this institution, which required unheard-of capital investments at that time, was entirely built at the expense of private donors - the Nizhny Novgorod merchant families of the Blinovs and Bugrovs. The importance of charity was enshrined in the Regulations on the Committee, which was supposed to manage the Widow's House: general control was vested in the city duma (the mayor was the chairman of the board of trustees), and "philanthropists, whose care and funds the Widow's House was established," became life-long members of the committee. It was determined in the Regulations that members of the committee (except for the founders - Bugrovs and Blinovs) may include, in particular, "those persons who make significant donations worth at least one thousand rubles for the maintenance of the House." And donations were made annually - both in the form of cash "from different persons, for distribution into hands" (note the modesty of the donors who did not consider it necessary to indicate their names!), And in the form of deductions of interest from the capital deposited in the bank and bequeathed To the Widow's House (the documents mention the Goryachevsky, Blinovsky, etc. funds). Of course, there were other forms of gratuitous aid to those who were in the House: events for children on the occasion of the holidays, the supply of food (and again, the Zaitsev family is mentioned here among the most generous benefactors), free renovation of premises, etc. The philanthropists took care of preparing the younger inhabitants of the Widow's House for an independent life, paying for their education not only in primary schools, but also in secondary educational institutions (gymnasium, a real school, the Noble Institute). The thoughtfulness of the architectural appearance, layout and internal equipment ensured the building a long life: the Widow House, which became a student dormitory, and still remains a remarkable historical and cultural monument of Nizhny Novgorod. Once in the lobby of the building, guests were greeted by "portraits of donors and builders of the Widow's House, hereditary guests of honor of the citizens of Nizhny Novgorod Aristarkh and Nikolai Andreevich Blinov and Nikolai Alexandrovich Bugrov - on a marble board under glass". Isn't it time to pay this tribute to the great benefactors of Nizhny Novgorod again? ..

Bugrov and the Blinov brothers were not alone in their labors and plans for the benefit of the poor compatriots. In 1893, the Nizhny Novgorod Society for Helping the Poor came up with an initiative "to arrange a shelter for beggar children for 100 people." As a result, it was decided to open "House of industriousness" , the purpose of which is to give "to all those in need in Nizhny Novgorod short-term assistance by providing them with labor, food and shelter, until a more lasting arrangement of their fate is determined by permanent employment or placement in permanent care." The idea was brought to life only thanks to the disinterested help of the merchant family of the Rukavishnikovs. Hereditary honorary citizens Ivan, Mitrofan, Sergei, Nikolai Mikhailovich Rukavishnikovs and their sisters Varvara Mikhailovna (married Burmistrova) and Yulia Mikhailovna (married Nikolaev) equipped and provided the Company with three two-story stone buildings, a three-story stone service and a large outbuilding piece of land. The House of Diligence, opened on the corner of Varvarskaya and Mistrovskaya Streets, was named after Mikhail and Lyubov Rukavishnikov, the parents of the donors. The family's help, of course, was not limited to this: the Rukavishnikovs regularly donated significant funds for the maintenance of the House of Labor, took an active part in improving production activities, in organizing the education of children (to a large extent, a parish school was opened here at their expense), in the organization libraries, etc. The results were not slow to affect: at the 16th All-Russian Industrial and Art Exhibition, which took place in Nizhny Novgorod in 1896, the products of the House of Industriousness received diplomas that corresponded to gold and bronze medals. The public recognition of the usefulness and merits of the new institution was evidenced by the visit to the House of Industriousness by Emperor Nicholas II and his wife on July 19, 1896. Following this visit, which prompted a series of follow-up visits from dignitaries, charitable donations have been very significant. This made it possible by 1905 to equip a new building of the House (in a somewhat rebuilt form it has survived to the present day), to increase the number of people in attendance (usually there were 500-550 people here, and, for example, in 1903, 63,594 people dined) and to expand production (mats, mops, tow, lifebuoys, etc., exhibited at the Paris Exhibition in 1900). There were so many donors that only individual names can be cited: in addition to the Rukavishnikovs, whose donations amounted to tens of thousands of rubles, merchants Kurepin and Ermolaev, the steamer Kamensky, Archbishop Makarii, the Merchant Bank of Nizhny Novgorod, senior stockbroker Lelkov, the Bashkir firms, provided assistance to the House of Industriousness, Zhuravlev, Polyak and even. .. a Chinese troupe! In general, according to the chronological list of members of the Trusteeship Society about the House of Industriousness, one can study the history of the Nizhny Novgorod merchants.

With private donations, a number of almshouses were opened for single, sick, elderly and crippled women. Among them: the Nikolaev-Minin public almshouse (supported by the contributions of the merchants Vyalov and Perepletchikov), the Aleksandrovsk city public female almshouse (existed on deductions from the profits of the Nikolaev public bank and on the collection from merchants of the 1st and 2nd guilds, established by the verdict merchant society, as well as on the benefits of the zemstvo). According to the decision of the board, the Aleksandrovsky noble bank transferred 1,500 rubles annually for the maintenance of the orphanage. The Nizhny Novgorod bourgeois society maintained the House of Charity for the poor bourgeoisie, the funds of which consisted of donations and income from society events. Small almshouses in the districts of the Nizhny Novgorod province are well known: in Balakhninsky (the village of Gorodets - at the expense of the merchant of the 2nd guild Lazutin), Semenovsky (the village of Filippovo - at the expense of N.A.Bugrov), etc. For example, to create the Filippovskaya women's almshouse (1894) Bugrov contributed capital of 80 thousand rubles to state credit institutions, on the interest from which the almshouse existed. At the same time, using the right of a benefactor, Bugrov stipulated in the charter the confessional nature of the institution: "An almshouse ... is appointed for the care of forty elderly or crippled females from among the Old Believers who accept the priesthood"; the construction of a church or chapel in its building was not allowed. The history of the establishment, founded in 1902, is also interesting. Society for the care of the poor in the village. Sormovo Balakhninsky district (at that time Sormovo was not part of Nizhny Novgorod). Industrial development with. Sormovo made it possible for its wealthy residents to provide regular assistance to their poor fellow countrymen. The income of the Society headed by V.N. Meshcherskaya (on her initiative it was created) and representatives of the intelligentsia (mainly employees of factories), was usually calculated in 2-3 thousand rubles a year and consisted of donations from individuals, charity performances and concerts, as well as organized "collection of unnecessary papers" (the only mention in documents of this kind about the collection of waste paper!). Assistance was provided, as a rule, in the form of cash benefits for food and medical treatment, in the supply of clothing and footwear; in addition, material assistance was provided to students from poor families. But at the same time, the board of the Society paid attention to the cause of poverty (for example, illness or lack of work for the head of the family) and refused to help drunkards.

Of course, not always living conditions the poorhouses were as good as the Widows' House or the House of Diligence. An example is the "Bed shelter in Nizhny Novgorod", which has become widely known thanks to the work of M. Gorky, established by the city duma on May 30, 1880. Designed to provide an opportunity "to spend the night not in the open air" and intended "for all who come regardless of condition, gender and age," the shelter was designed for 450 men and 45 women. The meager funds of the city budget were not enough for its maintenance, and again they had to resort to charitable assistance. Only donations to N.A. helped to make ends meet. Bugrov, in honor of whose father the orphanage was named “after A.P. Bugrov "(" Bugrovskaya shelter "). Raising additional funds turned out to be extremely difficult for the trustees - well-known Nizhny Novgorod merchants Akifiev, Frolov and Chernov.

Donations were usually made in two forms: either the targeted transfer of some amount (I.M.Rukavishnikov donated 2 thousand rubles to pay arrears from the property of poor homeowners), or the money was placed in a bank, and the interest from the deposit went purposefully for the maintenance of the shelter, almshouse etc. (for example, the Widow's House and the House of Diligence were maintained, including at a fixed percentage of capital placed in banking institutions). A characteristic and remarkable fact is that not only very wealthy citizens, but also people of average income, were involved in charity work. For example, the collegiate registrar P.O. Troitsky in 1911, in an address addressed to the trustee of the Moscow educational district, declares that he is ready to support financially poor students and the educational institution itself, opened in Nizhny Novgorod by his son V.P. Troitsky.

Health care

In the health sector, examples of charity are as frequent as in the field of social welfare, although there has never been a provincial stewardship committee. Apparently, there was simply no need for such an administrative and advisory body to attract donations to health care. The rather generous gift of the Nizhny Novgorod landowner, retired Colonel S. Martynov, is known, who in the first half of the 19th century donated the land that belonged to him to the Order of Public Charity for the organization of a hospital. After that, for many years, the Nizhny Novgorod provincial hospital was called "Martynovskaya" as, indeed, the street on which it was located (now Semashko street). The rapid development of medicine in the second half - the end of the 19th century led to the opening of new hospitals, the demand for which was very high. And here the role of private donations became even more pronounced. So, the vowel of the Nizhny Novgorod Duma, the merchant of the 1st guild D.N. Babushkin donated buildings, land and 20 thousand rubles for the device of a city hospital in the Makaryevskaya part in his own house. After the death of D.N. His grandmother's memory was immortalized by the installation of a memorial plaque on the building of his hospital and the introduction of a nominal bed in one of the wards. Knyagininsky 2nd guild merchant P.I. Karpov kept an infirmary and a refugee shelter in Reshetikha until his death. Nizhny Novgorod 1st guild merchant A.I. Kostromin donated 4 thousand rubles for the repair of the 1st Gradskaya Hospital.

To understand the role of private and public philanthropy in health care, let us turn to history Mariinsky obstetric institution... It was established in memory of the visit to Nizhny Novgorod in 1869 by the heir to the throne, Alexander Alexandrovich (future Tsar Alexander III) with his wife Maria Fedorovna (the institution was named after her). In those days, it became an urgent need "to provide women in labor with a shelter at the time of childbirth, with free maintenance and obstetric benefits", and to ensure "the continued existence of orphaned babies." The management committee of the institution, headed by the mayor (ex officio), tried to attract not only private, but also public donations. As a result, the income of the Mariinsky obstetric institution and the orphanage department founded under it in 1878 consisted mainly of deductions from the city budget and donations from the Nikolaev public bank. In 1873, the merchant Yakov Makarovich Korolev bequeathed 20 thousand rubles for the construction of a house at the Mariinsky obstetric institution for the stay of infants who have lost their mother. The interest on this capital invested in the public bank provided a significant part of the institution's expenses. At the same time, the annual increase in the number of patients at the Mariinsky institution (from 800 in the 1890s to 1800 in the 1900s) led to a significant increase in costs, which made private charity clearly insufficient.

And yet, the tradition of private donations in the field of health care proved to be in demand in the extreme conditions of hostilities waged by the Russian Empire. Reception from military hospitals and medical care for the sick and wounded required significant efforts not only by the state, but also by the public. Leafing through the archived reports of the Nizhny Novgorod local government and the ladies' committee of the Society for the Care of the Wounded and Sick Warriors (1878), hospitals during the Russo-Japanese (1904-1905) and World War I (1914-1918) wars, we again find on their pages the familiar names of benefactors : merchants Bugrov, Zaitsev, Markova, Khlebnikov, representatives of the intelligentsia Karelin, Oliger, Torsueva ...

Confessional charity

The Russian Orthodox Church was a constant object of charity of citizens, regardless of the size of their capital: the most famous people of the city donated to the church (Zhivonosovskaya church on Rozhdestvenskaya street was repaired and equipped with funds from the Rukavishnikov family, Spasskaya - from the Bashkirov family), but also ordinary citizens, names which history has not preserved.

For the period from the second half of the 19th century in the Nizhny Novgorod province, documents have been preserved about diocesan trusteeship. So, during the spiritual consistory there was diocesan trusteeship for the poor in clergy, subordinate to the ecclesiastical department and headed (ex officio) by a bishop - bishop (archbishop). The trusteeship included representatives of the spiritual consistory (the body of the diocese leadership). The duty of this body was to take care (“charity”) of the families of poor clergymen, to pay them material allowances, to place their children in educational institutions on preferential terms, and so on. The budget of the guardianship was formed at the expense of deductions from the treasury for the maintenance of the spiritual department, as well as at the expense of private donations (the ratio of these two parts of the budget cannot be traced in the documents).

For the purposes of religious and moral education and enlightenment in the Nizhny Novgorod province, a number of brotherhoods were established, whose members were actively involved in charity. Nizhny Novgorod Orthodox Brotherhood in the Name of the Holy Blessed Grand Duke Georgy Vsevolodovich, established in 1883 "with the aim of maintaining existing and opening new parochial schools" and governed by a council mainly of clergy, managed to attract and direct financial assistance to the needs of schools from many landowners in the provincial counties. So, according to a report for 1889-1890, Count A.D. Sheremetev, N.E. Stogov, L.I. Turchaninov, who provided premises and building materials for schools; monetary donations were made by the merchants A.F. Sapozhnikov, P.A. Soklov, A.I. Nikolaev; The bourgeoisie, village priests, and retired military personnel provided all possible material assistance to schools through the brotherhood. Brotherhood of Saints Cyril and Methodius, created "to promote the religious and moral education of the poor students of the Nizhny Novgorod gymnasium" and providing them assistance with cash benefits, clothing and footwear, free medical care, etc., also attracted generous benefactors to cooperation. Large subsidies were allocated by the aforementioned Rukavishnikov family, each member of which paid a personal stipend to the gymnasium students who lived in the brotherhood's hostel. MM. Rukavishnikov, who took over the duties of chairman of the Council of the Brotherhood, made the main contribution of 17 thousand rubles, the interest from which went to the support of the brotherhood; he also built at his own expense a house for a fraternal hostel. Cash donations made by representatives of the local clergy, intelligentsia, merchants. An increase in the flow of donations was also facilitated by the fact that the Nizhny Novgorod ruler and governor officially adopted the name “patrons of the brotherhood of Saints Cyril and Methodius”. The goals were similar. Minin brotherhood, which contained in Nizhny Novgorod a city primary school, a vocational school, and a shelter for the poorest students. The most prominent benefactors here were the merchant A.A. Zaitsev (chairman of the brotherhood council and caretaker of a craft school) and D.A. Ceremonials, bequeathed capital to the brotherhood, from which more than 1.5 thousand rubles of interest were received annually. A considerable part of the income came from the annual contributions of members of the brotherhood - officials, teachers, wealthy townspeople. In addition, the fraternity received subsidies from city and estate government.

The province also acted parish trusteeship, consisting of local clergymen and volost elders as "indispensable members" (that is, by office), as well as parishioners elected for a certain number of years. These guardianships played the role of an advisory body for managing the parish and resolved issues of financing and maintaining churches, transferring money to almshouses, and control over parish schools. According to the documents, private donations played a significant role in the budget of these trustees. An example of a parish charity is, for example, the activities trusteeship at the Nizhny Novgorod Trinity Upper Posad Church... According to the report for 1913-1914, the trusteeship, which consisted mainly of clergy, using its authority, managed to collect 1,351 rubles 99 kopecks in a year (the last pre-war). In addition to large contributions from merchants D.G. Morozov and V.M. Burmistrova, as well as rental income, small donations (up to 10 rubles) from less well-off parishioners were not uncommon. The collected money was spent on helping poor parishioners and beggars, burying the poor, as well as for repairing the church, buying liturgical literature, etc. Both income and expense were public: annual reports were required to be published (this was the general rule). Of course, parish trusteeships in the districts acted in exactly the same way (it is curious that in some of them Father John Ilyich Sergeev - John of Kronstadt, who usually donated 100 rubles at a time) is listed among the benefactors.

In the Nizhny Novgorod province, confessional charity until 1917 was widespread not only among the parishioners of the Russian Orthodox Church, but also in all national-religious communities that existed at that time in our region. And this is no coincidence: after all, in all religions of the world, helping poor fellow believers is the first commandment. And this commandment was sacredly observed by the Nizhny Novgorod Old Believers - zealots of ancient Orthodox piety. Here again there is a reason to recall the Bugrovs and Blinovs families, who channeled large funds both for the common good ("The Widow's House") and for the good of the Old Believers (churches and chapels, almshouses in the Semyonovsky district, schools for teaching icon painting and book-writing, skillful embroidery, liturgical singing according to the ancient canon). And how many generous donors, who preferred to remain anonymous, annually sent funds and supplies to the trans-Volga monasteries “to feed the elders and elders”! Today, only the ancient skete synodikas keep the names of those benefactors for whom prayers were offered up in the Kerzhen deserts for many years ...

The commandment to help the needy was always observed by the Muslims of the Nizhny Novgorod province - mainly Tatars-Mishars, usually referred to in documents of those years as "Sergach Tatars" (until 1917 their number was about 70-80 thousand people with a noticeable predominance of the rural population). Funds collected annually among prosperous traders at the fair and wealthy peasants, mosques and madrassas were opened in the villages of the Sergach district and in Nizhny Novgorod itself, and assistance was provided to needy families. Archival documents have preserved the name of the Akhun of the Nizhny Novgorod Mosque Sokolov - the spiritual mentor who contributed huge contribution to the organization of charity among Muslims. Relatively small but very influential communities of Catholics and Lutherans had their own parish charitable societies in Nizhny Novgorod (their total number did not exceed 1.5-2 thousand people .; ethnic composition- respectively, Poles and Lithuanians, Germans). And although among the parishioners of the church and the church there were many people with material wealth (nobles, officials, officers), donations were always collected here too - for the maintenance of the church, to help families who have lost their breadwinner, to pay scholarships to low-income students, for a dowry for brides and etc. The organizers of the parish charity were almost always representatives of the clergy. Today, in an old, inferior photograph in the Address-Calendar, you can see priest Pyotr Varfolomeevich Bitnoy-Shlyakhto - a young man with a lush head of blond hair and a wide smile. It was to him that the Nizhny Novgorod Catholics owed so much, but today even we, archivists, do not know how his life developed after 1917 ... society in the Jewish religious community (the number of Jews in the province ranged from several hundred people in the 1880s to 3 thousand people in 1914). On the initiative of B.I. Zakhodera, the building of the Nizhny Novgorod synagogue (1881-1883, Bolotov per., No. 5) was built on the private donations of all parishioners - an interesting architectural monument; at the expense of the merchant G.A. Poyalka and his sons, the Talmud-Torah spiritual school was opened and operated; a society for helping the poor also arose, the first chairman of which was famous philanthropist merchant of the 2nd guild G.M. Becker. There is evidence that donations for the benefit of the poor were also collected in the very small Armenian and Karaite communities of Nizhny Novgorod.

Thus, the individual initiative of the residents of Nizhny Novgorod played, apparently, a large role in the trusteeship at the local level - in parish councils (both Orthodox and other confessions), as well as in district trusteeships for the poor. Unfortunately, the documents of district trusteeships about the poor, subordinate to local governments (city councils and councils, volost boards), are poorly preserved (there are, for example, mentions of charitable concerts by the Fourth Kanavinsky City District Trusteeship for the Poor). It can only be stated that the work of these bodies intensified during the First World War (1914-1918). The budget of these trusteeships, as well as the refugee councils and committees operating in Nizhny Novgorod since 1915 (Tatianinsky, national-religious, assistance to the families of the victims, etc.) was formed not so much at the expense of the treasury as at the expense of private charity.

Charity in the penitentiary system

It so happened in Russia that from time immemorial people imprisoned in prisons evoked the most sincere compassion. And therefore it was considered a manifestation of high piety "to give alms to the unfortunate with prayer" (remember "Provincial Essays" by ME Saltykov-Shchedrin!), To find funds "to help the prison inmates", or even just say a sympathetic word to them. Perhaps there was a not fully conscious desire to prevent the condemned from becoming embittered with the whole world, to alleviate their sinful souls with mercy and repentance. Or maybe there was also an understanding of the innocence of many of the poor fellows who were imprisoned and imprisoned: after all, this often happened in Russia. It was not for nothing that in all social strata of Russian society there was a proverb: "Do not excuse yourself from prison and from your bag" ... Be that as it may, but in the Nizhny Novgorod province in XVIII-XIX centuries it was customary to release prisoners on Sundays to collect alms and feed - from prison, county "prison castles", from prison companies ...

Since 1819, guardianship in the penitentiary (prison and correctional) system... During this period, the Nizhny Novgorod Provincial Prison Trustees Committee, subordinate to the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD), and later to the Ministry of Justice (MOJ). The minister who headed the trusteeship in this area on a national scale was called the "president of trusteeship"; the provincial committee was headed by the governor (less often the vice-governor), who was called the “vice-president”; the members of the committee (the highest provincial officials of the departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Justice) were called “directors”. In its activities, the provincial committee relied on a network of county committees, which included the administrative and police leadership of the counties. For guardianship in women's prisons, the wives of the highest officials of the province were included in the committees. In addition to committees, in the period before the reforms of the 1860-1870s. existed guardianship at the Nizhny Novgorod prison company led by the commander of a garrison battalion (that is, local internal troops), with similar functions.

The committees decided almost exclusively the economic issues of the maintenance of prisoners, and also considered the requests of prison officials for incentives, conducted business correspondence on the repair of prison buildings. The budget of the committees was formed at the expense of funds allocated for the correctional system by the treasury. A significant part of the documentation of the committees is made up of financial statements and reports, from which, for example, it follows that in 1863, 7 kopecks of daily allowance were released for the maintenance of one prisoner in the Nizhny Novgorod province (for comparison: in Moscow - 6 kopecks, St. Petersburg - 9 kopecks, Kazan - 4 kopecks). Much attention was paid to increasing the profitability of the prison department at the expense of the labor of the prisoners themselves; private donations, judging by the documents, were negligible. In the protocols of the provincial committee, there are acts of inspection of the sanitary and hygienic state of the cells (there are complaints about stuffiness, stale air, etc., a ban on drying clothes in cells on stoves); there are also recommendations to read more often with prisoners literature on religious and moral topics, but such materials in archival funds are relatively rare.

As a result of the actions of the system of guardianship bodies, private charity practically disappeared from the penitentiary system by the beginning of the 20th century. The committees on prisons, having become purely administrative and advisory bodies, stopped attracting donations from individuals, interrupting the centuries-old tradition of merciful assistance to prisoners. Therefore, it is natural that in the memoir literature there are numerous complaints about the abuse of these officials, and in general about the members of the committees of guardians of prisons.

Charity and concern for people's sobriety

In 1894-1897, organs are created guardianship of popular sobriety subordinate to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. We must immediately admit that this business was relatively new: the tradition of charity in this area did not develop, and the usual church teachings about the dangers of drunkenness were practically not supported by private donations (for the non-Orthodox communities of our region, the problem of drunkenness was not at all relevant). And the level of development of medicine until the end of the 19th century was such that there was no need to count on a cure for alcoholism, and therefore there was no need to donate to special hospitals. But by the end of the 19th century, the problems of alcoholism in Russia began to be clearly understood by the authorities, which caused the "initiative from above".

In the Nizhny Novgorod province was created and began to operate provincial committee of guardianship of popular sobriety, relied on a network of county committees. The provincial committee was headed ex officio by the governor (in fact, at the beginning of the 20th century it was headed by the vice-governor; in particular, many of the committee's initiatives are associated with the name of the vice-governor S.I.Biryukov). The committee, also ex officio, included the highest provincial officials of various departments: manager of the provincial committee of state property, manager of excise duties, head of the provincial gendarme administration, chairman of the district court, bishop, director of public schools (from the Ministry of Public Education), as well as representatives of the zemstvo and the head of local government - the mayor. The composition of the county committees was similar, where all the administrative-police and spiritual leadership of the county was also present. The committees (especially the uyezd ones) also included rival members from the merchants and the intelligentsia, but their influence was insignificant.

The tasks of the committees were: to organize outreach on the dangers of drunkenness, the creation of conditions for sober leisure (permission to open tea houses, the organization and conduct of theatrical performances, folk festivals, etc.), control over compliance with the rules of alcohol trade. The budget for the guardianship of people's sobriety was formed at the expense of deductions from the treasury, fees from the sale of moralizing literature, from the financial activities of opened tea houses, as well as private donations. However, according to the documents, public participation in the activities of these committees was negligible (apart from the attempts noted by the gendarmerie to use legal meetings in teahouses for revolutionary work). The archival funds preserved the estimates of the committees. For example, the Nizhny Novgorod Provincial Committee of Trusteeship of People's Sobriety approved in 1909 a parish in the amount of
25,000 rubles (mainly funds from the treasury and from teahouses) and an expense in the same amount (for the maintenance of the same teahouses and free public libraries). At the same time, the charitable fees amounted to 600 rubles, and the expenses for the office work of the committees were 500 rubles a year! It is characteristic that the committees annually asked to increase the receipts from the treasury.

The situation on the ground was no better. So, "Special Nizhny Novgorod Fair Committee of Guardianship of People's Sobriety", founded in 1901, filed almost all reports with a significant excess of the expenditure side over the income. An example is a tea house on Samokatskaya Square: in 1907, income - 627 rubles 08 kopecks, expenses - 945 rubles 05 kopecks; in the Lubyanka Garden in the same year, the income was 7143 rubles 08 kopecks, and the expense was 10 765 rubles 75 kopecks. It became clear that without regular private subsidies, just selling tea with sugar and lecturing on the dangers of alcoholism, guardianship for people's sobriety could not exist for long. And there were practically no private donations - and this despite the solid representation of fairmen in the committee (P.M. Kalashnikov, F.A.Mazurkevich, A.A. at the behest of the soul). Sobriety societies were also opened in rural areas, for example, in the villages of Pavlovo (1899) and Shapkino (in the parish of the Kazan Church, 1908) of the Gorbatovsky district, in the village of Bolshoye Pole (in the parish of the Zosimo-Savvatievskaya Church, 1912) of the Makaryevsky district, etc. , but it seems that the matter did not go further than registration of statutes ...

The activities of guardianships for popular sobriety in the late 19th and early 20th centuries are negative, but still a very important historical experience, testifying to the deliberate doom of any undertaking that does not rely on popular support.

Emergency charity

Some charities were of an extraordinary nature, with funding from both private donations and the treasury. An example is Nizhny Novgorod Provincial Charity Committee, actively operating during the famine of 1892. The committee included: Governor
N.M. Baranov (chairman), bishop, a number of prominent officials of the provincial government, representatives of the merchants (in particular, N.A.Bugrov, P.I. Lelkov), intelligentsia
(V.G.Korolenko), zemstvos (N.F. Annensky), doctors, etc. The Committee organized the opening of free public canteens, the issuance of loans in cash and grain to those in need, controlled the dispatch of medicines (through the society of doctors), and encouraged donations in every possible way. It is interesting to note that thanks to the governor's support, significant funds were received not only from individuals, but also from officials of official institutions and educational institutions (“subscription fees”).

Essays by V.G. Korolenko "In a Hungry Year", written in hot pursuit of events (they were published as a separate book in 1893), make it possible to get to know more closely the activities of the Nizhny Novgorod Provincial Charity Committee and its results, feel the atmosphere of the Committee meetings, see that practical work, which was carried out by people who were not indifferent to someone else's misfortune. Among them was Vladimir Galaktionovich himself: “At the end of February 1892, on a clear frosty evening, I left Nizhny Novgorod along the Arzamas tract. I had about a thousand rubles with me [comparable to the annual income of a small parish trusteeship. - BP], given by kind people at my disposal for direct assistance to the starving, and an open sheet from the provincial charitable committee, which pleased, for its part, to supply me with instructions that completely coincided with my intentions. (...) I had to spend three months in the district, without interrupting this addictive work, and then return there again, before the new harvest ... ". A talented writer and deeply decent person, Korolenko described what the preserved official documents of those years are silent about. From the pages of essays appear before the reader a thirteen-year-old peasant girl Feska, who “does not eat according to the law” (because she was not included in the list of diners in the free canteen), the inhabitants of the village of Dubrovka (“Write all of them in a row! .. We are all poor! residents! "), the peasant Maxim Savoskin, who died of hungry typhus (" Nutro "did not accept anything, and soon Savoskin died"), the need of the Pralevian peasants ("Liszt is dying ..."). And next to this - the heartlessness of bureaucratic orders that doomed entire villages to starvation (“Alas! - it turned out that gentlemen zemstvo chiefs rushed to cut loans in all families in which someone used the canteen. I already knew about this, but hoped to achieve (and achieved) the cancellation of a strange order that made all private charity completely pointless. "); the arbitrariness of the county authorities, whose actions nullified the results of private charity (“... From the province, people are indicated on the spot who agreed to take over the management of canteens, and these people, upon submitting their estimates, were sent through the county guardianship money to open canteens. But then something completely unexpected happened: the trusteeship, instead of transferring the money to its intended purpose, sequestered it and transferred it to the zemstvo plots. those who were sent to a certain cause were isolated from the people who asked them ").

Reflecting on his experience of participating in the work of the Nizhny Novgorod Provincial Charitable Committee, V.G. Korolenko wrote: “There are two possible methods of helping the population within the framework of private charity. The first is when an intelligent person who lives or even settled for a long time in a village in need, enters into direct, more or less close communication with those whom he helps. TO material assistance in this case he can add moral support, he can give to people whom he knows and who know him, everything that he is capable of, everything that is at his disposal from moral and material resources. (...) Without a doubt, this is the most sympathetic, complete and humane form of charity, establishing a certain reciprocity between the recipient and the giver, finally bringing the greatest satisfaction to both parties. (...) However, there is another trick, and it fell to my lot, due to the circumstances. No matter how good, no matter how beneficial moral communication and reciprocity, however, directly a piece of bread, in itself, constitutes a great blessing where it is lacking ... ".

The essays of the great writer-righteous Russian land, cited in such detail here, help to understand a very simple, in essence, thing: private charity, stumbling upon bureaucratic obstacles and prohibitions of the authorities, is doomed to failure, but any good undertakings of the administration are likewise doomed to failure. not relying on broad public support.

Thus, charity and trusteeship in the Nizhny Novgorod region have long traditions, and their manifestations were multifaceted. It was a very honorable business, and people who showed themselves in this field were highly respected in society. There are cases when the titles of honorary trustees were specifically requested. For example, documents show that in 1866 an official of the excise department A.K. Kirkor donated 100 rubles in silver to the orphanages and, pledging to transfer 50 rubles in silver each year, he applied to the Nizhny Novgorod provincial guardianship of orphanages for admission to the number of honorary members of the guardianship. The official's request was granted.

It should be noted that the Nizhny Novgorod governors and officials of the provincial government bodies welcomed the manifestation of charity. There were several possible forms of reward for regular, large-scale charity: a written expression of gratitude, a welcome address, a diploma, cash incentives (lump sum or "pay raise"). The Board of Trustees had the right to present the most distinguished "honorary members" to government awards: a written "expression of the Highest gratitude", a valuable gift (for example, a ring with an imperial monogram), orders and medals. Information about all forms of encouragement was obligatory entered into the “form list” (personal file). It is known from archival documents that V.E. Sapozhnikov for his "excellent zeal" service was awarded the Orders of St. Stanislaus, 2nd and 3rd degree, St. Anna, 2nd degree; merchant of the 2nd guild A.A. Vesnin, who donated 10,000 rubles to the Nativity Church in Nizhny Novgorod, received "gold medals for wearing on the chest on the Stanislavovskaya and Anninskaya ribbons." As the highest recognition of merits in the cause of charity, the Nizhny Novgorod industrialist Ya.E. Bashkirov, who was awarded the title of "honorary citizen" in 1898, was elevated to hereditary nobility by the decree of Emperor Nicholas II of June 13, 1912 ("in consideration of outstanding charity and social activities").

And in conclusion, let us try to answer the question: why in those distant times did our fellow countrymen so actively strive to help their neighbors? What motivated people who donated money (sometimes considerable!) For the benefit of the poor? This question, which inevitably arises when working with documentary materials on the history of Nizhny Novgorod charity, deserves special consideration.

First of all, it is necessary to firmly reject the version of granting benefactors the right to preferential taxation. There were no tax benefits for those involved in charity in pre-revolutionary Russia and could not have been! (The introduction of the principle of "compensation for losses incurred from charitable activities" is incompatible with the very concept of a good creation). Further, it must be understood that both before 1917 and after all people were different, which means that everyone could have their own, personal incentives that did not coincide with the rest. And very often one can only guess about these motives, because people not only did not explain them in official documents, but often could not explain them, acting unconsciously, obeying the dictates of the soul and the traditions of previous generations. It is quite obvious that for many Nizhny Novgorod residents, the main reason for significant donations for the public good was the desire to fulfill the religious commandment to help one's neighbor (it is no coincidence that we began this essay by mentioning these commandments). But it is also quite obvious that at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, for that part of Nizhny Novgorod society that moved away from religion (and there were many of them among the intelligentsia), religious motives did not play a decisive role. But after all, atheistically-minded revolutionary democrats have always made their contribution to helping their neighbors: let us recall the selfless work of V.G. Korolenko in that hungry year 1892, let us remember M. Gorky, who was never mentioned in the "duty cage" of Nizhny Novgorod benefactors, who, with his literary fees, helped everyone who turned to him, literally saved people from starvation, paid for education and treatment for those in need; let us also recall the selfless devotion of many teachers, doctors, agronomists, engineers ... Therefore, it would be more correct, apparently, to talk about moral motives of charitable work: after all, the ideals of selfless service to society were equally dear to people with a wide variety of beliefs.

It is very likely that some personal circumstances and subjective motives could have influenced participation in charitable activities. Judging by the documentary evidence of those years, among the trustees who generously donated large sums of money, there were many single people who did not have heirs or families at all (vivid examples are N.A.Bugrov and V.M.Burmistrova), and therefore sought to secure posthumous gratitude fellow countrymen with good deeds. By the way,
ON. Bugrov, distinguished by his great worldly wisdom and instinct, in the last years of his life spoke of the possibility of a social cataclysm in Russia (“The authorities, the police, and the army will sweep everything away”); It is not excluded that these sentiments explain the amazing generosity of the "advisor manufactory" in relation to the Seima peasants and the absolutely paradoxical assistance to the revolutionary movement.

In some cases, class solidarity could become an incentive. As you know, until 1917 Russia was an estate state, which could not but affect charity. In our province, examples of collective estate charity are known: for example, the Nizhny Novgorod noble deputy assembly allocated funds for the creation of a female noble hostel, to help families of low-income noblemen and support their children in Nizhny Novgorod. cadet corps and the Alexander Noble Institute. There were also examples of private charity: for example, the widow of Staff Captain Karataev, E.D. Karataeva, transferred to the creation of a hostel for the charity of poor nobles and a shelter for their children the buildings that belonged to her, and both institutions were supported, including on interest from the capital she placed in the Aleksandrovsky noble bank. To the shelter for the charity of the poor noblemen M.B. Prutchenko, vice-governor and former manager of the Treasury, donated 15 thousand rubles at a time. Finally, spending on social benefits could become a kind of repentance: it seems that the generosity of the landowner S. Martynov and his family members was caused by the desire to atone for the sin of his son Nikolai, who killed the poet M.Yu. Lermontov.

An analysis of the composition of trustees in various committees and societies of the Nizhny Novgorod province made it possible to reveal an interesting feature: from the merchants, they were almost exclusively represented by baker had a monopoly on manufactured products. To survive in the fierce competition on the Russian market in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, these entrepreneurs were helped by government contracts (“state orders,” in modern terms). The decision to grant government contracts was made locally by the administrative authorities, that is, ultimately, the governor - the “head of the province” and the indispensable (ex officio) chairman of almost all trusteeship committees, obliged to report to the Ministry of Internal Affairs for their work. Is it not in the desire to gain fame and favor with the authorities (and in the end to get the longed-for contract) is the secret of the activity with which some Nizhny Novgorod entrepreneurs rushed into custody? vodka king "A.V. Dolgov or the owners of chemical plants of the joint-stock company "Salolin" are "not noticed" in active charity work ...

And yet, I think, the main thing was not in this, but in the system of mutual assistance that literally permeated Nizhny Novgorod society until 1917. Almost all residents of the Nizhny Novgorod province, young and old, were involved in this system to one degree or another, participating in the work of trusteeships with monetary contributions, providing free services, raising funds and attracting donors. Not only merchants, but also officials of all ranks, the intelligentsia (noblemen and commoners), the clergy, students, townspeople and rural residents became participants in charity events. People who have been disinterestedly helping the needy strata of the population for years were surrounded by honor. It is in fostering the traditions of highly moral public service that, in our opinion, lies the most important historical experience of Nizhny Novgorod charity.

The formation of a system of merchant guilds was accompanied by an active state policy in relation to the merchant class. On the one hand, the state sought to raise the legal and economic status of the merchants, giving them new privileges in industrial and commercial activities. On the other hand, it increased tax pressure, periodically increasing the size of the declared capital and introducing new duties. This policy largely had a significant impact on the number of the merchant class, its guild composition and the formation of large merchant dynasties.

In the last decade, a number of dissertation studies have appeared on various aspects of the history of the provincial merchants. Among them are the problems of the formation of the professional activity of the merchants, charity, the mentality of the merchants of county towns, the emergence and development of large merchant dynasties, the folding of guild capitals. Questions are raised about the social sources of the merchant class. An important issue is the organization of economic ties between provincial and capital cities, the role of the merchant class in this process. The most controversial point in Russian historiography is the question of the influence of state policy on the formation and development of the merchant class. Various authors, using the example of individual regions, try to trace the process of the formation of local merchants in the conditions of the contradictory economic and estate policy of the state at the end of the 18th - first quarter of the 19th century. The main task of our work is to consider how this process took place in Nizhny Novgorod.

Key words and phrases: merchants, class, guild, dynasty, capital.

Annotation

Nizhny Novgorod merchant class in the end of XVIII - first quarter of XIX century.

Formation of system of merchant guilds, accompanied by active government policy in relation to the merchant class. On the one hand, the government has sought to improve the legal and economic status of merchants, giving him new benefits to industrial and commercial activities. On the other hand, increased the tax pressure, periodically increasing the size of the declared capital and introducing new duties. In turn, this policy, in many ways has a significant impact on the number of merchants, his guild composition and the formation of large merchant dynasties.

In the last decade there was a number of dissertation research on various aspects of the history of the provincial merchant class. Among them, the problem of the formation of the professional activities of the merchants, charity mentality merchants county-level cities, the origin and development of large merchant dynasties, folding guild capital. Raises questions about the social sources of the merchant class. Not less important is the problem of the organization of economic relations between provincial and capital cities, a role in this process, the merchant class. The most controversial point in the national historiography, is the question of the impact of public policy on the formation and development of the merchant class. Modern researchers are trying to take a position with respect to the average. Singling, both positive and negative aspects of the interaction of the merchants and the state by various authors on the example of some regions, trying to trace the process of formation of local merchants in a contradictory economic and social class policy, the end of the first quarter of the XVIII – XIX century. The main objective of our work is to consider how this process took place in Nizhny Novgorod.

Key words and phrases: the merchant class, guild, dynasty, capital.

About publication

The problem of the influence of state policy on the formation of guild merchants is posed in many modern dissertation studies. Their authors, using the example of individual regions, try to trace the process of the formation of local merchants in the context of the contradictory economic and class policy of the state. The main task of our work is to consider how this process took place in Nizhny Novgorod.

In accordance with the Manifesto of March 17, 1775, the entire merchant population was recorded in three guilds according to the size of the declared capital. For the first guild, it was from 10 to 50 thousand rubles, for the second from 1 to 10 thousand, for the third from 500 rubles to 1 thousand. To enroll in a guild, a merchant had to pay one percent of the declared capital. The poll tax, payable per round, was replaced by a contribution to the treasury (1% of the declared capital).

In Nizhny Novgorod in 1780, there were 687 male merchants with a total capital of 383,142 rubles. 62 merchants of the second guild with a capital of 33,500 rubles, and 625 of the third guild with a capital of 349,642 rubles. Of these, 17 certificates were issued for the second guild, and 258 certificates for the third. It is worth noting that the guild composition of the Nizhny Novgorod merchants of this period was not yet represented by members of the first guild, this is largely due to the weak continuity of capital, as well as the absence of stable merchant dynasties (largely influenced by the high size of the declared capital for 1 guild). Among the representatives of the second guild, it is worth highlighting Mikhail Kholezov and Ivan Ponarev with capitals of 5 thousand rubles each.

In terms of their numbers, the Nizhny Novgorod merchants ranked second among the urban estates, significantly inferior to the bourgeois class and exceeding the guild class. For comparison, in Nizhny Novgorod in 1780 lived 1587 bourgeoisie with a total capital of 1904 rubles.

The main source of the formation of the Nizhny Novgorod merchant class, as well as of the All-Russian class in general, was the peasant class. The relatively low property qualification for the third guild gave its representatives the opportunity to enroll in the merchant class.

According to archival data, in 1780-1781. 177 peasants entered the Nizhny Novgorod merchants of the third guild, most of them living in the Blagoveshchensk settlement. Among them are the founders of future merchant dynasties: Ivan Serebryannikov with his son Peter, Ivan Voronov with his son Matvey, Ivan Shchepetelnikov with his brothers Andrei, Boris and Ignatius. It is worth noting that during the same period, only 19 representatives of the bourgeois class fit into the Nizhny Novgorod merchants.

Wide representation peasant element, created instability in the third guild. As of 1785, 14 Nizhny Novgorod merchant families - 54 merchants of both sexes (including 26 children and 11 wives), who left the peasants - were declared insolvent (that is, about half of all peasants who signed up in 1780-1781). Among them: Dmitry Demyanov, Peter Gorbatov, Matvey Lobov, Andrey Bashmashnikov, Matvey Chaparin, Peter Egorov and others. In most cases, the peasants who were in the third guild did not directly engage in trading activities... Having enrolled in the merchant class, they, first of all, sought to raise their legal and social status.

By 1783, the guild composition of the Nizhny Novgorod merchants had already changed significantly, there was a tendency for its consolidation. In 1783, 428 merchants from Nizhny Novgorod received guild certificates. Of these, 1 - the first guild, 37 - the second and 390 - the third. Along with the old merchant surnames of the Holezovs and Ponarevs, new ones appeared. It is worth highlighting the merchant of the 1st guild, Andrei Mikhailovich Bespalov, who announced a capital in the amount of 13,500 rubles, the merchants of the second guild, Job Steshov (with a capital of 5,500 rubles), Ivan Nikiforovich Kosarev (with a capital of 5,000 rubles), Nikolai Nikolaevich Izvolsky (with a capital of 3,000 rubles). ... In 1787, Pyotr Tikhonovich Perepletchikov moved from 3 to 2 merchants' guild, announcing the capital of more than 17,000 rubles.

To establish himself in the merchant class, the future merchant had to declare capital corresponding to a certain guild. This procedure is well reflected in the document below: "The announcement of the Nizhny Novgorod merchant of the 2nd guild, Ivan Nikiforovich Kosarev, about his capital on December 1, 1783".

To the Nizhny Novgorod city magistrate from the Nizhny Novgorod merchant Ivan Nikiforovich Kosarev.

Announcement

In pursuance of the all-merciful Her Imperial Majesty of March 17, 1775 from the Governing Senate of 1776 on the separation of the merchants and the bourgeoisie of decrees, through this announcement that I have my own capital of five thousand rubles, in my family my own son, Ivan living with me and grandchildren Ivan, Peter, Dmitry. I signed this Kosarev. December 1, 1783 .

As can be seen from the contents of the document, all his direct relatives could be recorded in one certificate with the head of the family.

In 1785, Russia adopted the "Certificate of Merit for the Rights and Benefits of the Cities of the Russian Empire." She significantly increased the declared capital for the 2nd and 3rd guilds. The minimum declared capital for guild 2 increased from 1000 to 5000 rubles, for 3 from 500 to 1000 rubles. Many merchants were unable to redeem merchant certificates, which had risen sharply in price. This was especially true for merchants of the most unstable 3rd guild.

The results of legislative policy had a significant impact on changes in the guild composition of the Nizhny Novgorod merchants and their numbers.

In particular, in the period from 1783 to 1797, the dynamics of the issuance of guild certificates significantly decreased. This is reflected in the following table.

Table 1. Dynamics of issuance of guild certificates in Nizhny Novgorod in 1783-1797.

From the above table, it follows that the total number of issued guild certificates in the period 1783-1797 decreased by more than half, for the 1st and 3rd guilds more than two times, and for the second five times.

As a result of a sharp decline in the dynamics of issuing guild certificates, the total number of the merchant class and its capital significantly decreased. As can be seen in the example below the presented table.

Table 2. The number and guild composition of the Nizhny Novgorod merchants (male, including the total amount of capital) in the period 1780-1797

The example of this table shows that the total number of the Nizhny Novgorod merchants (male) has significantly decreased: in the period from 1780-1797, it decreased by more than a quarter (200 people). Its guild composition also changed significantly. The number of guilds 2 and 3 has been reduced by almost a third. By 1797, only representatives of large merchant families retained their membership in the second guild. Among them are Nikolai Ivanovich Izvolsky, Job Andreevich Steshov, Ivan Ivanovich Kosarev (son of Ivan Nikiforovich Kosarev, merchant of the 2nd guild). The merchant families of the Holezovs and Ponarevs ceased to exist. Others have moved from 2 to 3 guilds. In particular, Alexander Dmitrievich Borodin, according to 1781, was listed as a merchant of the 2nd guild with a capital of 3,510 rubles, and since 1798, he was also a merchant of the 3rd guild, while lowering his capital to 2,500 rubles. The number in 1 guild also did not increase. The only representative of the first guild merchants, Andrei Mikhailovich Bespalov, after 1785, together with his family, moved from 1 to 2 guild.

Thus, it can be stated that the guild composition of the Nizhny Novgorod merchants in the period 1775-1800 thinned significantly. As before, the number of merchants of the most unstable 3 guilds, who were not able to redeem the sharply increased prices of merchant certificates after the city reform of 1785, continued to decrease. The decrease in the number of 1 and 2 guilds can also be explained by this reason. Due to the sharply increased property qualification, even very wealthy merchants (Steshovs, Izvolsky, etc.) could not increase their membership in the guild, while significantly increasing their capital. The trend towards a decrease in the number of guild merchants, which manifested itself at the end of the 18th century. in Nizhny Novgorod, did not have an all-Russian character, since in the country as a whole, the number of merchants in the period between the IV and V revisions increased from 89.1 to 120.4 thousand souls rm, i.e. by a third (largely due to the Moscow and St. Petersburg merchants). This primarily testifies to the weak stability of the capital of the Nizhny Novgorod merchants (as well as the provincial merchants in general), many of whom were left outside the merchant class by the next increase in guild fees. This process was generally typical for the entire provincial merchants of Russia.

The decline in the number of the Nizhny Novgorod merchants, in turn, dramatically affected the decrease in their capital. In the period 1780-1797, the total merchant capital decreased by 150,000 rubles on average. At the same time, its main reduction took place in the 3rd guild, by more than 100,000 rubles (this is largely due to its instability). The merchants of the 2nd guild slightly increased their capital (by 17,000 rubles), which, first of all, was due to a sharp increase in its minimum size (for the 2nd guild, it increased from 1,000 to 5,000 rubles). In particular, I.I. Kosarev, I.A. Steshov, N.N. Izvolsky, on average increased their capital in the period 1780-1797 from 4500 rubles to 8100 rubles.

In the first quarter of the XIX century. the process of the formation of the system of merchant guilds as a whole depended on the financial and economic conjuncture both in the domestic and foreign markets.

As a result of socio-economic processes, the composition of the merchant class changed, and the process of replacement of merchant dynasties took place. The decline of the old merchant class was noticeably felt in many Russian cities Nizhny Novgorod was no exception.

For the Nizhny Novgorod merchants, as well as for the merchants of other regions of the country, in general, the process of changing merchant generations of the late 18th - first quarter of the 19th century was characteristic.

To replace the old merchant dynasties of the Kholezovs, Ponarevs, Bespalovs, Steshovs, Kosarevs (the latter, according to data for 1804, moved from 2 to 3 guilds: Job Andreevich Steshov, Peter Ivanovich and Dmitry Kosarevs - the sons of Ivan Ivanovich Kosarev - reduced their capital from 8000 to 2500 thousand rubles) new dynasties come - as a rule, people from the peasant environment: the Pyatovs, Perepletchikovs, etc.

According to the book "On the declaration of merchant capital" for 1806, representatives of the future large merchant dynasties are enrolled in the Nizhny Novgorod merchant class: these are merchants of the 2nd guild Semyon Ivanovich Loshkarev, Ivan Ivanovich Plashov (with a capital of 8,000 rubles). They are no longer found even among the merchants of the 3rd guild of the surnames Ponarevs, Bespalovs, Kholekhovs. Along with new merchant dynasties, a number of old dynasties continue to maintain membership in the 2nd guild. Among the merchants of the first generation, it is worth highlighting Ivan Alexandrovich Kostromin, Ivan Nikolaevich Izvolsky, Alexander Dmitrievich Borodin. According to the merchant book of 1818, the composition of the Nizhny Novgorod merchants has already changed significantly. The composition of the 1st guild significantly expanded: it was replenished with new merchant surnames - Ivan Stepanovich Pyatov and his brother Semyon Stepanovich Pyatov with a capital of 50 thousand rubles each (the family originates from Dmitry Pyatov, a merchant of the 3rd guild, then their father Stepan Dmitrievich Pyatov in the 1780s . already a merchant of the 2nd guild). Fyodor Petrovich Shchukin, Mikhail Sergeevich Klimov and Afanasy Petrovich Gubin with capitals of 20 thousand rubles each become members of the 2nd guild. However, already in 1822, significant changes took place in the guild composition of the large Nizhny Novgorod merchants. Semyon Ivanovich Loshkarev and Afanasy Petrovich Gubin move from 2 to 3 guilds, having reduced their capital from 20 to 8 thousand rubles. The merchant families of the Klimovs and Shchukins cease to exist, and they are replaced by new Nizhny Novgorod merchants of the 2nd guild: Pyotr Mikhailovich Yesyrev, Evgraf Ivanovich Chernyshev, Frans Ivanovich Dittel.

Thus, the above data confirm not only the change of merchant generations in the first quarter of the 19th century, but also the instability of merchant families, their weak capital stability and economic insolvency. However, during this period we can already talk about the formation of the main merchant dynasties. Thus, the dynasties of Izvolsky, Pyatovs, Gubins and Perepletchikovs, which emerged at the end of the 18th century, were able to maintain relative stability until the second half of the 19th century.

In the first quarter of the XIX century. the dynamics of the number of Nizhny Novgorod merchants began to wear positive character... However, this growth in general was due to an improvement in the demographic situation in the Nizhny Novgorod region, an increase in the urban population. At the same time, at the beginning of the 19th century, among the Nizhny Novgorod merchants (as well as the all-Russian), there is a process of consolidation of the merchant class, an increase in its capital, which was a consequence of state policy (an increase in the size of merchant capital). However, the relatively favorable time period for the development of the merchants from 1800 to 1807 was replaced by a period of decline of the guild merchants, which lasted until the guild reform of 1824. A sharp reduction in the issuance of guild certificates and, as a result, a decrease in the number of the merchant class was characteristic of most provinces of European Russia. In the country as a whole, the number of merchants from 1811 to 1824 decreased from 124.8 thousand souls m. up to 52.8 thousand (2.4 times).

The crisis of the guild merchants in 1807-1824. was caused primarily by a sharp increase in the property qualification for registration in the merchant class in 1807, in connection with which the minimum capital required to be included in the merchant class in the first guild increased from 16 to 50 thousand rubles. (3.1 times), for the second guild - from 8 to 20 thousand rubles. (2.5 times), for the third guild - from 2 to 8 thousand rubles.

This process, first of all, affected the dynamics of the issuance of guild certificates. Compared to the end of the 18th century, the issuance of merchant certificates, especially for the 3rd guild, has significantly decreased.

How the general dynamics of issuing guild certificates has changed can be seen on the example of the following table.

Table 3. Dynamics of issuance of guild certificates in Nizhny Novgorod in 1797–1822.

From this table it follows that the number of issued guild certificates in the period 1797-1822 decreased by almost half, especially for 3 guilds (twice). At the same time, 2 guilds each increased significantly, on average by 7 certificates.

The development of the Russian economy and commodity-money relations at the beginning of the 19th century contributed to an increase in merchant capital. In the period from 1797 to 1822, the total merchant capital in the city of Nizhny Novgorod increased almost fourfold from 285,915 rubles to 966,000 rubles.

The process of increasing the capital of the Nizhny Novgorod merchants can be traced on the example of this table.

Table 4. The size of merchant capital in the city of Nizhny Novgorod in the period 1797-1822.

From the above data, it follows that the total merchant capital in the period 1797-1822 increased almost three times, while the most significant increase is noticeable for 2 guilds on average four times. The capital of the representatives of the 1st guild has significantly increased (by an average of 100,000 rubles). This, first of all, confirms the process of consolidation of the Nizhny Novgorod merchants.

The scope of application of merchant capital has also significantly expanded. Nizhny Novgorod merchants began to actively invest in various industries. Pyatovs into rope production (I.S. Pyatov in 1818 organized in Nizhny Novgorod one of the first dried factories for the production of ropes and ropes), Perepletchikovs into sulfuric vitriol (in 1810 P.T. Elatmy).

How much the number and guild composition of the Nizhny Novgorod merchants changed in the first quarter of the 19th century can be seen on the example of the following table.

Table 5. The number of Nizhny Novgorod merchants in the late 18th - early 19th centuries (male, including comparative data with the bourgeois and guild)

Analyzing this table, it can be noted that the number of the Nizhny Novgorod merchants (male) at the beginning of the 19th century, compared with the end of the 18th century, slightly increased - on average, the growth was more than 100 people. The number of merchants of the 2nd guild (the most stable) has more than doubled, the growth of representatives of the 3rd guild is also noticeable, but by 1816 their number is noticeably decreasing, in particular, due to another increase in the property qualification in 1807 for registration in the merchant guild. The first guild, as before, continues to be extremely unstable. Among the urban estates, the merchants continue to occupy an average position, significantly inferior to the petty bourgeoisie (almost four times) and almost three times surpassing the guild ones. However, in terms of the volume of their capital and economic viability, the merchants retain their leading position. In particular, according to the data for 1806, the total volume of the merchant's capital was 526,521 rubles, the petty bourgeois capital was only 5195 rubles, and the shop capital was 442 rubles.

In general, the increase in the number of Nizhny Novgorod merchants in the first quarter of the 19th century depended on the growth of the urban population of Nizhny Novgorod. If in 1795 the total number of the urban estate (merchants, bourgeois, guild) was 1826, then by 1806 it increased to 2906 people. The general dynamics of the growth of the composition of merchant families also actively influenced. When all his direct relatives were included in the testimony of the head of the family. As in Russia as a whole, this process took place in Nizhny Novgorod. This is confirmed by the analysis of merchant books on the declaration of capital. At the beginning of the 19th century, an average of 6–8 people were included in one merchant certificate, while at the end of the 18th century there were only 3–5 representatives of a merchant family.

Thus, summing up, the following conclusions can be drawn.

At the end of the 18th - first quarter of the 19th century. under the influence of state policy and the current economic and demographic situation among the Nizhny Novgorod merchants, the process of the formation of merchant guilds took place, accompanied by the enlargement and expansion of the guild composition of the merchant class, an increase in the volume of its capital (with a general decrease in its number at the end of the 18th century, a slight increase at the beginning of the 19th century). c. and thereafter). By the first quarter of the XIX century. In Nizhny Novgorod, despite significant instability in the succession of merchant capital and tax pressure, the main merchant dynasties of the pre-reform period were formed, which existed until the second half of the 19th century.

References / References

In Russian

1. Certificate of Merit for the Rights and Benefits of the Cities of the Russian Empire // Russian Legislation X–XX centuries / ed. O.I. Chistyakov. M .: Legal literature, 1987. V.5. 431 s.
2. Manifesto of Catherine II the Great of March 17, 1775 // Legislation of the heyday of absolutism / ed. E.I. Indovoy. M., 1987. T. 2. 476 p.
3. Makarov I.A. Pocket of Russia. N. Novgorod, 2006.442 p.
4. Acceleration of V.N. Siberian merchants in XVIII–the first half of the 19th century Regional aspect of entrepreneurship traditional type... Barnaul, 1999. 55 s.
5. TsANO (Central Archives of the Nizhny Novgorod Region). F. 116. Op. 33. Case 76. General audit of Nizhny Novgorod merchants for 1780–1781 year. 35 l.
6. TSANO. F. 116. Op. 33. D. 8. Statement of the number of merchants and burghers in the city of Nizhny Novgorod for 1780. 57 l.
7. TSANO. F. 116. Op. 33. D. 42. Bulletin of the number of merchants and bourgeoisie who left the peasants, for 1780–1781 years. 25 l.
8. TSANO. F. 116. Op. 33. D. 596. Book of announcements of merchants and townspeople about their capital for 1783. 125 l.
9. TSANO. F. 116. Op. 33. D. 684. Bulletin of the merchants of Nizhny Novgorod for 1783. 43 l.
10. TSANO. F. 116. Op 33. D. 2767. A statement about the capital, factories and plants owned by merchants and about the issuance of certificates to them for the production of trade for 1798. 123 l.
11. TSANO. F. 116. Op. 34. D. 3282. Statement of merchants and protested bills for 1807. 76 l.
12. TSANO. F. 116. Op. 34. D. 3281. Statement of the number of merchants and bourgeoisie, asking to be a merchant, for 1806. 34 l.
13. TSANO. F. 116. Op. 34. D. 3780. Book of records of merchants about their capitals and correspondence about the reasons for not showing fully merchant capitals for 1817–1818 –143 l.
14. TSANO. F. 116. Op. 34. D. 3984. Book of records of merchants' announcements about their capital for 1822. 128 l.
15. TSANO. Form 116. Op. 33. D. 3707. Correspondence about the capital of merchants and bourgeoisie, about the guild rights of the Nizhny Novgorod merchants, with the attachment of a list of merchants for 1816. 97 l.
16. TSANO. Form 116. Op. 34. D. 2419. A statement about the number of merchants, burghers and guilds in Nizhny Novgorod, Gorbatov and Semyonov and about taxes from them, for 1795. 62 l.

English

1. Zhalovannaya gramota na prava i vygody gorodam Rossiyskoy imperii. Rossiyskoe zakonodatelstvo X–XX vekov / pod red. O.I. Chistyakova. Moscow: Publ. Yuridicheskaya literatura, 1987. Vol. 5.431 p.
2. Manifest Yekateriny II Velikoy ot 17 marta 1775 goda. Zakonodatelstvo perioda rastsveta absolyutizma / pod red. Ye.I. Indovoy. Moscow, 1987. Vol. 2.476 p.
3. Makarov I.A. Karman Rossii. N. Novgorod, 2006.442 p.
4. Razgon V.N. Sibirskoe kupechestvo v XVVIII - pervoy polovine XIX v. Regionalnyy aspekt predprinimatelstva traditsionnogo tipa. Barnaul, 1999.225 p.
5. F. 116. Aboutp. 33. D. 76. Generalnaya reviziya nizhegorodskikh kuptsov za 1780–1781. 35 l.
6. CANO .F. 116.O33. D .. 8. Vedomost o kolichestve kuptsov i meshchan v g. Nizhnem Novgorode za 1780.57 l.
7. F. 116.Op. 3. D. 42. Vedomost o kolichestve kuptsov i meshchan, vyshedshikh iz krestyan za 1780–1781 25 l.
8. F. 116. Aboutp. 33. D. 596. Kniga obyavleniy kuptsov i meshchan ob ikh kapitalakh za 1783.125 l.
9. F. 116. Aboutp. 33. D. 684. Vedomost o nizhegorodskikh kuptsakh za 1783.43 l.
10. F. 116. Aboutp. 33. D. 2767. Vedomost ob imeyushchikhsya u kuptsov kapitalakh, fabrikakh i zavodakh, i o vydache im attestatov dlya proizvodstva torgovl iza 1798.123 l.
11. F. 116. Aboutp. 34. D. 3282. Vedomost 'o torguyushhikh kuptsakh i o oprotestovannykh vekselyakh za 1807.76l.
12. F. 116. Aboutp. 34. D. 3281. Vedomost 'o chisle kuptsov i meshhan, prosyashhikhsya v kupechestvo za 1806.34l.
13. CANO.F. 116. Aboutp. 34.D. 3280. Kniga zapisi kuptsov ob ikh kapitalakh, i perepiska o prichinakh nepokazaniya polnost'yu kupecheskikh kapitalov na 1817-1818. 143l.
14. CANO.F. 116. Aboutp. 34.D. 3984.Kniga zapisi obyavlenij kuptsov ob ikh kapitalakh na 1822.128 l.
15. F. 116. Aboutp. 34. D. 3707. Perepiska o kapitalakh kuptsov i meshhan, o gil'dejskikh pravakh nizhegorodskogo kupechestva, s prilozheniem spiska kuptsov na 1816.97l.
16. F. 116. Aboutp. 34 D. 2419. Vedomost'o kolichestve kuptsov, meshhan i tsekhovykh g. Nizhnego Novgoroda, Gorbatova i Semenova i o nalogakh s nikh, za 1795.62 l.

In the fund of the State Archive of Audiovisual Documentation of the Nizhny Novgorod Region there is a photograph "Nizhny Novgorod City Public Administration of 1897-1900", where the medallions contain portraits of 67 members of the public administration, and along the perimeter there are images of institutions under their patronage. There are surnames with initials under the portraits. Brief annotations are placed under the images. Technique of execution - photo collage, author M.P. Dmitriev, 1901.

The archive contains not only a photographic print, but also a negative on a glass base measuring 50 × 60 cm.

Photo document "Nizhny Novgorod City Public Administration 1897 - 1900" is of great historical importance and is an objective source reflecting the events of the late 19th century.

City public administration operated on the basis of the "City Regulations" of 1892 (which to this day is the main legislative source on the history of city government in Russia at the end of the 19th century)

From the "City Regulations" of 1892, imperially approved by the Emperor Alexander III:

"1. The public administration of urban settlements is in charge of matters of local benefits and needs specified in article 2 of this Regulation.

2. Subjects of the city public administration department include:

I. Administration of taxes and duties established in favor of urban settlements.

II. Managing capital and other property of the urban settlement.

III. Taking care of the elimination of the lack of food resources by means available for this at the disposal of public administration.

V. Care for the charity of the poor and the end of begging; setting up charitable and medical institutions and managing them on the same grounds as zemstvo institutions.

Vi. Participation in measures for the protection of public health, the development of medical aid for the urban population, the search for ways to improve local conditions in sanitary terms, as well as participation, within the limits specified in the Medical Charter, in veterinary and police activities.

Vii. Taking care of the best arrangement of the urban settlement according to approved plans, as well as precautions against fires and other disasters.

VIII. Participation in the management of mutual insurance of city property against fire.

IX. Care for the development of public education and statutory participation in the management of educational institutions.

X. Taking care of the organization of public libraries, museums, theaters and other similar public institutions.

XI. Promoting the development of trade and industry in ways dependent on public administration, setting up markets and bazaars, supervising the correct production of trade, setting up credit institutions in accordance with the rules of the Credit Charter, as well as promoting the organization of exchange institutions.

XII. Satisfaction of the requirements of the military and civil administrations assigned to the public administration in accordance with the established procedure.

XIII. Cases submitted to the conduct of public administration on the basis of special statutes and statutes ...

4. The city public administration is given to take care of the device Orthodox churches and maintaining them in good order and splendor, as well as taking care of institutions aimed at strengthening religious feelings and raising the morality of the urban population ... "

Members of the Nizhny Novgorod public administration convocation of 1897-1900. were (the list is given in accordance with the location of the medallions on the photo):

1 row from left to right:

Akifiev Vasily Vasilievich - Trustee of the A.P. Bugrova Shelter, a member of the Public Library, head of the cashier of the Mutual Credit Society, hereditary Honorary Citizen, Honorary Justice of the Peace, Trustee of the City Widow's House, member of the theatrical committee.

Alemasov Viktor Vasilyevich - an indispensable member of the provincial military affairs Presence at the Governor's office, chairman of the board of trustees of the orphanage named after Sukharevs, almshouses to them. Sukharev.

Bulychev Vasily Vasilievich - Member of the Accounting Committee of the State Bank.

Bashkirov Matvey Yemelyanovich - trustee of the city orphanage named after Countess Olga Vasilievna Kutaisova, hereditary Honorary Citizen, member of the committee for providing charitable assistance to families of persons called up to the war.

Blinov Asaf Aristarkhovich - merchant, honorary member of the provincial guardianship of orphanages.

Bugrov Nikolai Alexandrovich - commercial advisor, honorary member of the city named after Blinovs and Bugrovs of the Widow's House, a member of the council of the Kulibinsk vocational school.

Bashkirov Yakov Yemelyanovich - honorary member of the provincial guardianship of orphanages, commercial advisor, chairman of the board of the Kulibinsk vocational school, administrator of the Druzhina steamship society, trustee of a public education institution.

Vesnin Alexey Alexandrovich - merchant of the 2nd guild.

Vikhirev A.V.

Volkov N.P.

Grebenshchikov Nikan. Ivanovich.

Degtyarev Markel Alexandrovich - merchant - grain merchant.

2 row from left to right:

Dokuchaev Ivan Sergeevich - court councilor, head of the first department of the treasury chamber, member of the provincial tax-paying Presence, member of the provincial administrative committee.

Zarubin Mikhail Pavlovich - homeowner.

Zaitsev Mikhail Andreevich - Trustee of the orphanage named after Countess O.V. Kutaisova, chairman of the Minin Brotherhood, member of the accounting committee of the State Bank, trustee of the Widows' House.

Gorinov Mikhail Alekseevich - trustee of the city Babushkinskaya hospital, member of the committee of the House of Industry named after Mikhail and Lyubov Rukavishnikovs.

Afanasyev Ilya Afanasyevich - trustee of the city Barachnaya hospital, notary of the district court, agent of the insurance company "Yakor".

Baulin Alexander Vasilyevich - State Councilor, Chairman of the Board of the Nizhny Novgorod Merchant Bank, Chairman of the Public Library Committee.

Bogoyavlensky Ivan Vasilievich - Collegiate Secretary of the Congress of Justices of the Peace, Chairman of the Committee for Trusteeship of People's Sobriety.

Remler Ivan Fedorovich - Trustee of the City Barachnaya Hospital, member of the Committee of Trusteeship for People's Sobriety, owner of a pharmacy.

Gorinov Vladimir Andrianovich - a deputy of the City Duma, a zemstvo leader in the Lukoyanovsk district, a vowel of the Lukoyanovsk and Sergach district zemstvos.

Kostin Ivan Afanasevich - trustee of the 3rd city almshouse.

M.N. Ikonnikov

Mikhail Fedorovich Kamensky - hereditary Honorary Citizen, merchant of the 1st guild, steamer, member of the trading house of the Kamensky brothers, honorary superintendent of the Vladimir city school, honorary trustee of the Vladimir real school, chairman of the board of the Mutual Credit Society, chairman of the society for helping poor students of the Vladimir Nizhny Novgorod real school, guardian of the Brothers Brothers Monk Macarius, Treasurer of the Society of Horse Race Hunters.

3 row from left to right:

Kamensky Anatoly Ieronimovich or Alexander Ivanovich - an official or manager of the steamship office of the trading house of the Kamensky brothers.

Zaitsev Alexander Matveyevich - a member of the Mariinsky city obstetric institution, a merchant, an honorary member of the provincial guardianship of orphanages, a member of the board of trustees of the orphanage. Countess O.V. Kutaisova.

Trifonov Yakov Tarasovich - member of the committee of the Mariinsky city obstetric institution, trustee of the Aleksandrovskaya women's public almshouse, agent of the banking office of Juncker & Co, agent of the Russian Insurance Society and the Urban Insurance Company.

Baulin Vasily Vasilyevich - collegiate adviser, acting director of the Mariinsky city obstetric institution, an honorary member of the society of doctors.

Pokrovsky Alexander Pavlovich - a member of the city council, taking the place of the mayor, court councilor, member of the committee of the Mariinsky city obstetric institution.

Glazunovsky Nikolai Ivanovich - court counselor, supervisor of the first district of administration of excise duties in the Nizhny Novgorod and Vladimir provinces, agent of a commercial insurance company, an indispensable member of the Presence for drinking affairs, chairman of the school canteens society.

Yargomsky Petr Dmitrievich - member of the steamship society "Druzhina", member of the Trusteeship Committee for People's Sobriety, Trustee of the Nikolaev-Minin public almshouse, foreman of the Nizhny Novgorod Stock Exchange Committee.

Lebedev Matvey Ivanovich - trustee of the city Barachnaya hospital, head of the Meshchansky council, member of the committee of the House of industriousness, Nizhny Novgorod bourgeoisie.

Ermolaev Grigory Fedorovich - a member of the Provincial Presence for workers' insurance, homeowner.

Zeveke Alexander Alfonsovich - merchant of the 1st guild, chairman of the board and managing director of the Imperially approved Shipping and Trade Company under the firm “A.A. Zeveke ", foreman of the Nizhny Novgorod River Committee.

4 row from left to right:

Muratov Alexey Mikhailovich is a merchant.

Mikhalkin Petr Nikolaevich - Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Children's Hospital. L. and A. Rukavishnikovs, doctor, collegiate assessor, supernumerary resident of the provincial zemstvo hospital.

Lelkov Petr Ivanovich - Chairman of the Board of the Society for the Aid to Private Service Labor, Trustee of the Nikolaev-Minin public almshouse, member of the committee of the House of Industriousness. Mikhail and Lyubov Rukavishnikov, stockbroker of the Nizhny Novgorod Stock Exchange Committee.

Volkov Vladimir Mikhailovich - member of the Trusteeship Committee for People's Sobriety.

Nikolay Aleksandrovich Belov - court councilor, member of the city public administration.

Shadrin V.D. - homeowner.

Smirnov Aleksey Aleksandrovich - trustee of the city orphanage named after Countess O.V. Kutaisova, trustee of the Nikolaev-Minin public almshouse.

Tsvetkov Pavel Platonovich - educator of the noble institute, state councilor, teacher of the Mariinsky women's gymnasium.

Kurepin Nikolay Khrisanfovich - member of the committee of the House of industriousness. Mikhail and Lyubov Rukavishnikovs, a member of the city of the provincial taxable presence.

Morozov Pavel Matveyevich - chairman of the board of the House of industriousness. Mikhail and Lyubov Rukavishnikovs.

5 row from left to right:

Nikolai Alexandrovich Nischenkov - homeowner.

Romashev Konstantin Efimovich - titular adviser, district magistrate of the 6th section of the Congress of Justices of the Peace.

A.P. Sergeev

Sirotkin Dmitry Vasilyevich - merchant of the 1st guild, chairman of the stock exchange committee, chairman of the council of congresses of shipowners of the Volga basin, member of the committee of the Guardianship of People's Sobriety.

Savelyev Aleksandr Aleksandrovich - Chairman of the Nizhny Novgorod Provincial Scientific Archival Commission (NSUAC), member of the Public Library Committee, Chairman of the Zemstvo Council.

Yavorskiy Stepan Aleksandrovich - Titular Counselor, Secretary of the City Council.

Ostafiev Alexander Alekseevich - Nizhny Novgorod district leader of the nobility, collegiate registrar, member of the provincial zemstvo council.

P.K. Sotnikov - merchant.

Toporkov Ivan Nikolaevich - hereditary Honorary Citizen, honorary superintendent of the district school, member of the provincial committee of guardians of prisons, merchant.

Naumov Aleksey Efimovich - Craftsman of the Crafts Administration, merchant of the 2nd guild, a member of the city of the provincial taxable presence.

Postnikov I.Ya.

6 row from left to right:

Tyutin Osip Semyonovich - Trustee of the Babushkinskaya Hospital.

Smolkin I.T.

Frolov Ivan Ivanovich - trustee of the city orphanage named after Countess O.V. Kutaisova, trustee of the N.N. A.P. Bugrova.

Remizov Alexander Yakovlevich - trustee of the Babushkinskaya hospital, assistant director of the Nizhny Novgorod Nikolaev city public bank.

Chernonebov Yakov Stepanovich - homeowner.

Smirnov Nikolai Aleksandrovich - full member of the city named after Blinovs and Bugrovs of the Widow's House, director of the Nizhny Novgorod Nikolaev city public bank, foreman of the hunting society.

Musin Ivan Semyonovich - a member from the city of the provincial taxable Presence, a merchant.

Chesnokov Alexey Nikandrovich - administrator of the Druzhina shipping company.

Pariyskiy Mikhail Ivanovich - teacher of the Kulibinskiy vocational school.

Shcherbakov Sergei Vasilievich - Collegiate Counselor, teacher of the Provincial Gymnasium, teacher of the Mariinsky Women's Gymnasium, chairman of the circle of physics and astronomy lovers.

Sturmer Richard Genrikhovich - Titular Counselor.

In the center -

Aleksandr Mikhailovich Memorskiy - mayor, deputy chairman of the NSUAC, chairman of the city public board, member of the public library committee, attorney at law in Nizhny Novgorod.

Information to clarify the author's annotations was taken from the address calendars of the city of Nizhny Novgorod for 1897, 1911 and 1915. It was not possible to establish the type of activity of some members of the city public administration. Therefore, some of the names indicated in the list above were left without brief comments and require further research.

Members of the Nizhny Novgorod city public administration took an active part in the implementation of charitable projects, the construction of socially significant facilities in the city of Nizhny Novgorod (the photographic document around the perimeter shows views of villages, buildings built and opened with their direct participation).

In the 1890s, Nizhny Novgorod was preparing for the opening of the 16th All-Russian Industrial and Art Exhibition. The Emperor was supposed to attend the opening of the exhibition. The Nizhny Novgorod authorities were faced with the task of landscaping: during this period, the city needed a centralized development of urban infrastructure and landscaping. In addition, it was impossible to ignore the pearl of the city - the Kremlin. In December 1894, the Duma discussed the issue of putting in order its walls and towers. A boulevard was built along the Kremlin wall. Then, according to the project of the architect N.V. Sultanov, a major reconstruction of the Dmitrievskaya tower was carried out. Inside it is the city's Museum of Art and History. The importance of the museum for Nizhny Novgorod residents is evidenced by the fact that not only the City Duma allocated a significant amount for its construction, but more than half of the funds were donated by the residents of the city. The exposition was solemnly opened on June 25 (July 7), 1896 in the presence of Emperor Nicholas II. The idea of ​​opening the City Museum arose in the middle of the 19th century, when, through the efforts of local historians N.I. Khramtsovsky and A.S. Gatsi, the collection of the historical and archaeological collection began. Successful picking up Russian antiquities on the Nizhny Novgorod land is associated with the activities of the Nizhny Novgorod Provincial Scientific Archive Commission. For the first time, the public got acquainted with the historical collection in the "House of Peter I" on Pochaina in 1895. The collection of the museum, replenished with gifts from artists and patrons, numbered about four thousand exhibits. It should be noted that the collection of antiquities and works of art collected during that period became the basis for two currently operating museums: the Nizhny Novgorod State Art Museum and the Nizhny Novgorod State Historical and Architectural Museum-Reserve.

In 1897, the merchant N.A. Bugrov presented the city with a stone building of the former theater bought from the bank, located at the very beginning of Bolshaya Pokrovskaya Street. ON. Bugrov handed over the building to the full disposal of the City Public Administration free of charge, on the condition that it does not house entertainment establishments (including a theater), as well as trade establishments selling alcoholic beverages. It was in this place that it was subsequently decided to place the City Duma. Construction work on the new building began in 1901. It was built according to the project of the academician of architecture V.P. Zeidler. Moreover, Nikolai Alexandrovich Bugrov, paid over 70% of the construction costs. April 18, 1904 took place Grand opening"Bugrovsky Charitable Corps" (now Minin and Pozharsky Square, 1). The City Duma was housed in a building with comfort: on the second floor, in rooms overlooking Blagoveshchenskaya Square, there was a meeting room, around - various services, the city government was now right there, right next to it - it occupied part of the building along the Zelensky Congress. But the first floor on Bolshaya Pokrovskaya was given over to shops, and the rent for the rented premises regularly replenished the city budget.

Vowels of the convocation of 1897-1900 have done a lot to increase the number of municipal enterprises. So, in 1897, Nizhny Novgorod acquired the first specialized slaughterhouse (behind the Soldier Sloboda, near the village of Vysokovo). In 1898, a second one appeared, in the part of the river, next to the territory of the former All-Russian Industrial and Art Exhibition. In 1899, a brick factory was built near Maryina Roshcha.

All this was costly. Other expenses for servicing the municipal economy also increased. More and more funds were spent on water supply. Meanwhile, according to the will of the merchants Bugrovs, Blinovs and Kurbatovs, who donated huge sums of money for the construction of the water supply system, it remained free. Of course, it was impossible to break their will. But the costs of maintaining the water supply had to be reimbursed somehow. In this difficult situation, the city authorities have chosen a compromise option. The city government said in its report that the old water supply system, built with merchants' money, was designed for 200 thousand buckets of water per day. Now, thanks to its reconstruction, carried out with city funds in 1894-1896, residents receive as many as 337 thousand buckets, almost twice as much! Therefore, if the expense of 200 thousand buckets is left free of charge, and money is taken from the rest of the volume, then the covenant of the donors will not be violated. As a result, the City Duma on March 12, 1898 introduced a partial payment for the use of the water supply. Only water from street pumps remained free (it was believed that 100 thousand buckets of it were consumed per day). The same Nizhny Novgorod residents, in whose houses the city water supply was taps, had to pay for services: 15 kopecks for 100 buckets, according to the readings of the water meter. But, in accordance with the decision of the Duma, they paid only for half the amount of water used. Thus, according to the Duma, Nizhny Novgorod residents received another 100 thousand buckets a day for nothing.

By the decision of the City Public Administration in 1899, a Jewell filter was installed on the Makarievsky water supply system. At that time, a significant problem in Nizhny Novgorod was its unsatisfactory sanitary condition, which was caused by the poor quality of tap water. The device of an American filter on the Makaryevsky water supply system has improved the sanitary situation in the city.

During this period, a city folk canteen was opened at the Tolkuchy market, new settlements were built in the Makaryevskaya part, in the upland part of the city, a settlement for urban scavengers, barracks for workers in the city park (the area of ​​the old estate of the Volkonskys). New forest yards and salt barns appeared in the city.

An important issue requiring consideration by the City Duma in 1898 was the construction of the Romodanovskaya railway. It was supposed to connect Romodanovo (now the Krasny Knot - the junction railway station of the Gorkovskaya railway) with Nizhny Novgorod, while the question of the location of the road was being decided. The Society of the Moscow-Kazan Railway, which built the Romodanovskaya line, proposed to build it in the area with. Doskino railway bridge across the Oka and on the left, lower, bank of the river, bring the rails to the Moscow railway station. However, this option ran counter to the needs of the Nizhny Novgorod merchants. There were strong arguments against building a bridge outside the city. They said that a powerful flow of goods from the south of the country to Vladimir and Moscow would go bypassing Nizhny Novgorod. In addition, in the area with. Doskino would inevitably have a transshipment point from the Oka River to the railroad - a very dangerous rival of Nizhny Novgorod. Assessing the situation, the City Duma came up with a proposal that the Romodanovskaya road ends in the upland part of the city. In 1901, trains began to arrive here from the direction of Arzamas. And in 1904 the building of the Romodanovsky station was built. (It was also called Kazan or Arzamas and existed until 1971).

Another decision of the City Duma of this convocation was the transfer of the market. On October 8, 1899, the Duma, at the suggestion of the vowel N.A. Belova, decided to move the bazaar from the cramped Vladimirskaya Square (the area of ​​the modern Circus) to an empty space between the Babushkinskaya Hospital and the Exhibition Highway (modern V. Chkalov St.). New premises were built there, and trade opened on December 15, 1903. This is how the current Central (Kanavinsky) market appeared.

A.M. Memorsky, being at the post of the Mayor, considered the development of public education one of the main tasks. The costs for it have doubled. At the same time, primary education remained general. A.M. Memorsky paid special attention to women's education, having achieved the opening of a number of women's two-year schools. Thanks to his efforts, a number of school buildings were built. They were opened in 1900: The Commercial School, the Male Gymnasium in Kanavino, the Trading School, the Women's Trade School, the City Pushkin Library - Reading Room, the Assumption Primary School, the Sergiev Primary School, the Aleksandrovskoe Primary School, the Aleksandrovskoe Primary School in the Makaryevskaya Part, the Aleksandrovskoe Primary School for Women , primary school named after A.S. Gatsi, city primary school in Kovalikha, Ilyinsky primary school.

Many merchants at the beginning of the twentieth century participated in charitable projects.

In 1901, according to the project of the architect I.O. Bukovsky, at the expense of merchants I.A. Kostina, N.F. Khodaleva and R.N. Tikhomirov, a public almshouse with a temple for the poor of Nizhny Novgorod was built. The current address of this building is st. October Revolution, 25. Currently, the building houses a kindergarten.

A.A. Zeveke, a member of the City Public Administration convocation of 1897-1900, transferred one of his houses to a medical institution - a temporary medical observation post.

Another temporary medical observation post was opened at the hippodrome.

Vowel of the Nizhny Novgorod City Duma, merchant of the 1st guild D.N. Babushkin, donated buildings, land and 20 thousand rubles. for the device of a city hospital in the Makaryevskaya part, in his own house. After the death of D.N. Babushkin, his memory was immortalized by the installation of a memorial plaque on the hospital building and the introduction of a personalized bed in one of the chambers.

This photographic document is of particular interest to users of archival information, since all images in it are signed. However, there are discrepancies in the captions to some photographs with information from the address calendars of the late 19th - early 20th centuries. For example, Vikhirev A.V., indicated in the caption to the photograph, is absent in the Nizhny Novgorod address calendars. However, judging by the minutes of the meetings of the Nizhny Novgorod City Duma for 1900, one of the vowels was A.M. Vikhirev. Perhaps there was a mistake in the signing of the initials.

Volkova N.P. could not be found in calendars. It is found again among the vowels of the Nizhny Novgorod City Duma ("Protocols ..." for 1899). In the "Commemorative Book of the Nizhny Novgorod Province" for 1895, among the vowels of the City Duma, we see Pavel Filatovich Vikhirev and Vladimir Mikhailovich Volkov.

It should be noted that many of the portraits presented in the medallions have been preserved in a single copy only in this photograph - for example, the only photographs of the merchants A.A. Blinova, I.A. Kostin.

12 photographs framing the medallion group have a special meaning. They immortalize the results of the works of the City Public Administration in 1897-1900. Among them are rare images. For example, the Khodalev almshouse and the Aleksandrovskoye primary school can only be found in this photograph - there are no other images of these buildings in the State Archive of Audiovisual Documentation in the Nizhny Novgorod Region. Many of the buildings shown in this image do not currently exist.

The presented photographic document belongs to the category of especially valuable archival documents. For exhibiting at exhibitions, a copy was made from the author's print - a flatbed 100 × 70 cm in size, on which photographs (scanned images) are placed in the same order as on the original. This exhibit has been repeatedly shown at exhibitions, arousing the constant interest of the audience.