Metadata: Chancellery of the Governor-General of Livonia, Estland and Kurland
Collection
- Country:
- Latvia
- Holding institution:
- Latvian State Historical Archives
- Holding institution (official language):
- Latvijas Valsts vēstures arhīvs
- Postal address:
- 16 Slokas Street, Rīga, LV-1048
- Phone number:
- +371 67 613 118
- Web address:
- http://www.arhivi.lv/index.php?&16
- Reference number:
- LVVA f. 1
- Title:
- Chancellery of the Governor-General of Livonia, Estland and Kurland
- Title (official language):
- Vidzemes, Igaunijas un Kurzemes Ģenerālgubernatora kanceleja
- Creator/accumulator:
- Chancellery of the Governor-General of Livonia, Estland and Kurland
- Date(s):
- 1762/1904
- Language:
- German
- Russian
- Hebrew
- French
- Extent:
- 36,219 files
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
-
The collection comprises 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 include a substantial 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 series of files reflects the claims and appeals brought before the governor general. Some appeals refer to commercial disputes and other issues related to civil law (for instance, records from 1806 include data on a dispute between Jewish timber merchants that was brought before a court in Riga; papers from the late 1830s and the 1840s mention a complaint by the Christian watchmakers of Jelgava against Jewish watchmakers, who were allegedly forbidden to practice their craft in the city – the documents also include a response from the Jewish craftsmen pleading to revoke a 1611 privilege depriving them of the right to work in the city); records from 1848 include a plea by the Jewish community in Zagare to allow peasants to bring food supplies into town despite a ban imposed by the local landowners due to fear of cholera.
Several files mention family disputes brought before the authorities. In most cases, these are complaints issued by Jewish women who were either deserted by their husbands or whose husbands refused to grant them a divorce (a file from 1823 mentions the case of a Jewish woman who was insulted by members of her community after asking her husband for a divorce).
Other files record complaints and pleas related to the actions of local and regional officials: an 1813 file includes a complaint by a Jewish resident who was allegedly robbed by Russian soldiers; papers from 1823 include a plea by a Jewish resident of Jekabpils who was unlawfully arrested by the local burgomaster after his horse had accidentally killed a piglet belonging to the burgomaster.
Papers dating from 1859 and 1860 include correspondence on a plea submitted by the notable representative of the Haskalah and a teacher in the state-owned Jewish school in Jelgava, Reuven Wunderbar, who wished to receive a medal in recognition of his work as the head of the local Jewish community and his participation in government-sponsored educational activities. Other Jewish residents and functionaries who received medals or were granted honorary citizenship are also mentioned in the documents, including the reform rabbi Dr Avraham Neiman who served in Riga in the mid-19th century.
Documents mentioning the conscription of Jews to the Russian military can also be found in the collection; several documents mention complaints about incorrect registration in the conscription lists (such as an 1849 appeal by a Jewish resident of Palanga).
Several documents include data on travel, residence and working permits: papers from various years throughout the 19th century mention the question of Jewish settlement in Riga (in certain cases, such as the papers from 1822-23, lists of the Jewish residents are included in the files,); a file from 1874 mentions the liquidation of illegal prayer houses which functioned in Riga; correspondence concerning the settlement of individual Jewish residents in Riga and other localities is also included. Several files include records related to the censorship of Jewish publications (such as an 1800 account of the censorship of Jewish books in Riga).
Documents from various years include data on Jewish residents suspected or convicted of criminal activities: smuggling, espionage (files from the early 1820s mention allegations of espionage during the Napoleonic invasion, raised against a Jewish resident of Jonava), counterfeiting and bribery. The files also mention Jewish convicts exiled to Siberia or recruited to the military (as in a case of two Jewish residents convicted of blackmail).
Some files include data on Jewish communal issues: taxation (including correspondence and other papers related to the candle tax, introduced by the Russian government in order to subsidise the state-run Jewish educational system) and the appointment and role of rabbis and other functionaries in various communities (including correspondence from mid-1840s concerning the authorities' refusal to approve Aharon Elkan's as rabbi of Riga).
Numerous papers mention cases of conversions to Christianity. Several files include correspondence on the rights of Jewish apostates to receive financial aid and to reside in Riga and other localities before completing the process of baptism. There are several cases of husbands who decided to be baptised but were not joined by their wives (an 1837 file records a demand by a Jewish woman to receive financial assistance for herself and her children from her baptised husband; another file from the same year mentions a husband who moved to Riga with his children and property, abandoning his wife, who refused to convert to Christianity). Documents from 1819-21 mention the persecution of a Christian couple who chose to convert to Judaism.
- Archival history:
-
After World War I, with the establishment of independent Latvia, the archival materials of the Tsarist administration were consolidated into the newly established Latvian state archive that existed throughout the interwar period and after the Soviet takeover of Latvia. In 1962 the materials originating from the pre-Soviet period were deposited in the Central State Historical Archive of the Latvian SSR, predecessor of the current State Historical Archive.
Part of the collection is kept at the Estonian Historical Archives: EAA f. 291.
For materials of the Russian governorate general in Riga during the 18th century, see LVVA f. 2715, and EAA (Estonian Historical Archives), f. 3.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- The Governorate General of Livonia, Estonia and Courland was established in 1801 (it was preceded by the Viceroyship of Riga, established in 1783). The seat of the governor general, together with the other Russian administrative institutions in the region, was located in the city of Riga. Until 1864, the governors general also served as military commanders of Riga, and between 1864 and 1870 were in charge of the military district of Riga. The governorate general was abolished in 1876 and authority over the governorates of Livonia, Estonia and Courland was transferred to local governors.
- Access points: locations:
- Riga
- Access points: persons/families:
- Wunderbar, Reuben Joseph
- Finding aids:
- For additional data see the website of the Latvian Archives. A description of the Jewish-related materials is available at the Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People in Jerusalem.
- Links to finding aids:
- https://www.arhivi.gov.lv
- Yerusha Network member:
- Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People
- Author of the description:
- Alex Valdman, Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People, 2015
