Metadata: Governor-General of Livonia, Estland and Kurland
Collection
- Country:
- Estonia
- Holding institution:
- Historical Archives of Estonia
- Holding institution (official language):
- Eesti Ajalooarhiiv
- Postal address:
- Tartu, J. Liivi 4, 50409
- Phone number:
- (+372) 738 7500
- Web address:
- https://www.ra.ee/et/kes-me-oleme-2/
- Email:
- rahvusarhiiv@ra.ee
- Reference number:
- f. 291
- Title:
- Governor-General of Livonia, Estland and Kurland
- Title (official language):
- Eesti-, Liivi- ja Kuramaa kindralkuberner
- Creator/accumulator:
- Governor-General of Livonia, Estland and Kurland
- Date(s):
- 1783/1876
- Language:
- German
- Russian
- Extent:
- 17,988 files
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
-
The collection includes the records of the Chancellery of the Governor General of Riga, the chief Russian civilian and military administrator (the latter between 1864 and 1870) in the governorates of Livonia, Estonia and Courland – the approximate area of contemporary Estonia and Latvia. The collections of the Chancellery of the Governor General include a large body of materials that give insight into the interactions between the local authorities and the Jews and sheds light on numerous aspects of Jewish life in the region.
A substantial part of the collection includes materials on the government’s policies towards the Jews: legislative acts concerning the Jewish population, decisions and orders of the State Senate (from the years 1835, 1840-1859 and later); papers on the meetings of the Rabbinical Commission in the 1850s and 1860s, and on the appointment of crown rabbis in the Baltic region (Neiman, Reichman and others). The employment of "learned Jews" – Jewish advisors to the authorities – is also mentioned in the files.
More than a few documents include data on travelling, residence and working permits. Papers from various years throughout the 19th century mention the question of Jewish settlement in the region: surveillance of foreign Jewish visitors; residence permits for retired Jewish soldiers and for other Jewish residents in Riga, Tallinn and Tartu; and residence and employment permits for teachers, rabbis, merchants, students and others. Permits to open Jewish prayer houses in Tallinn and elsewhere are also discussed in the documents, as well as the establishment of hospitals and other communal institutions.
Certain files contain data on the taxation of the Jews, including instructions concerning tax exemptions (such as an 1843 order to exempt Jewish soldier from the box tax) and other regulations (including an 1865 file on the abolition of the candle tax). Several files mention the recruitment of Jews to the Russian army, including an 1845 file on the recruitment of two Jews who illegally arrived in St Petersburg and complaints on illegal recruitment of Jews (such complaints, made by the recruits' relatives, were often submitted in the early 1850s).
The government's policy in the field of Jewish education is also reflected in the collection. It includes data on the establishment of Jewish schools, on the government-run education system (established in the 1840s) and on the censorship of Jewish books.
More than a few papers mention cases of conversions to Christianity. Several files include correspondence on the right of Jewish apostates to receive financial aid and to gain residence permits (including a case of an apostate Jewish tailor who asked for a residence permit in Tartu in 1843).
- Archival history:
- From 1828 on, the papers of the Governor General were kept at Riga Castle. In 1915 the archive was partially evacuated to Tartu. From 1933 the independent republics of Latvia and Estonia worked towards the division of the archive according to the geographical relevance of the materials. This work continued under Soviet occupation during the post-World War II period.
- Administrative/biographical history:
-
The Governorship (namestnichestvo) of Riga, headed by a Governor General, was established in 1783. The Governor General of Riga served as the chief Russian civilian and military administrator (the latter between 1864 and 1870) in the governorates of Livonia, Estonia and Courland – the approximate area of contemporary Estonia and Latvia. Courland was included in the jurisdiction of the Governorship from 1795.
In 1801 the Governorship was succeeded by Governorate General of Livonia, Estonia and Courland that existed until its abolition in 1876.
- Access points: locations:
- Riga
- St Petersburg
- Tallinn
- Tartu
- System of arrangement:
- The collection consists of 4 inventories, arranged in chronological order.
- Access, restrictions:
- The collection is open for reference at the Historical Arсhives of Estonia, Tartu.
- Yerusha Network member:
- Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People
- Author of the description:
- Tatjana Schor, Historical Archives of Estonia, and Alex Valdman, Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People, 2015
