Metadata: Chancellery of the Governor of Livland
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. 3
- Title:
- Chancellery of the Governor of Livland
- Title (official language):
- Vidzemes Gubernatora kanceleja
- Creator/accumulator:
- Chancellery of the Governor of Livland
- Date(s):
- 1726/1917
- Language:
- German
- Russian
- French
- Extent:
- 29,435 files
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
-
The Civil Governor was the highest administrative position at the governorate level in Livonia. The collection of the governor's chancellery includes records on government activities in the governorate as well as data on economic, social and religious issues which were brought before the Russian officials in Riga. Several parts of the collection include Jewish-related materials.
Several materials reflect Russian policies concerning the rights of Jews to reside in Riga and other parts of Livonia. These include regulations on the residence of Jews in Riga; correspondence and administrative paperwork on the expulsion of Jews lacking a residence permit, and on the issuance of passports and residence permits; and lists of Jewish residents and of requests for residence permits (such as a 1906 list which includes, among other requesters, Jewish students studying in Riga and Tartu). Materials from the period of World War I mention mass expulsions of Jewish populations carried out by the Russian authorities.
Several files reflect the government's policies in the fields of culture and education: regulations on the wearing of traditional Jewish dress (papers from the mid-19th century mention a ban on the shaving of Jewish women's heads; correspondence from 1850 includes a list of elderly Jewish residents of Riga who were allowed to pay a toll for the right to keep wearing traditional dress), censorship of Jewish books and the supervision of Jewish communal and educational activities. The latter include materials ranging from an 1838 file that refers to the relationship between Hasidim and Mitnagdim in the town of Sloka to papers and correspondence on modern Jewish cultural activities in pre-World War I Riga, such as documents on the Jewish cultural society Carmel that include a list of the society's members, the statute, and a request to host a literary evening with the participation of S. Rabinovich (Shalom Aleichem).
The government's relations with the Jewish population are also reflected in such materials as an 1805 document on a Jewish resident of Riga who assisted the Russian authorities in tracing illegal activities including counterfeiting and illegal residence after the annexation of Courland in the late 18th century. Papers from 1819 mention the rejection of a request by Jewish residents from Courland and Livonia to send official deputies to St Petersburg.
Certain files mention cases of Jewish apostasy, including correspondence on the rights of Jewish apostates and lists and regulations from different periods. Papers from the mid-19th century mention a Jewish doctor who decided to convert to Christianity after being accused of negligence and theft during a cholera epidemic. Singular papers mention cases of people returning to the Jewish faith, such as papers from 1870 that refer to a search for a retired soldier who allegedly reconverted to Judaism.
Jewish business life is shown in such documents as a 1910 list of Riga merchants and records on the city's tavern-keepers from the same year. Jewish merchants and businessmen are also mentioned in files documenting the investigation of business disputes brought before the authorities (such as a file on an 1831 complaint made by two butchers from Riga against a Jewish resident of Sloka, including protocols and correspondence).
Some of the Jewish-related materials mention criminal activities – violence, burglary and counterfeiting. These include offences both committed by Jews and against them: for instance, a file from 1822 mentions a search for a gang accused in the robbery and murder of five Jews near a tavern in Bauska. Indications of illegal political activities involving Jews can be found in documents from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
- Archival history:
-
After World War I and the establishment of an independent Latvia the archival materials of the Tsarist administration were consolidated in 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 archive was moved to Ryazan, Russia and to Tartu during World War I. A significant part of these files are kept in the Estonian Historical Archives (see EAA.296).
- Administrative/biographical history:
- The area of Livonia was incorporated into Russia as a result of the Great Northern War (1700-21). For most of the 18th century the area was part of the governorate of Riga and of the governorship (namestnichestvo) of Riga. The governorate of Livonia was created in 1796 and existed for the rest of the Tsarist period. During World War I a part of the governorate was occupied by the German army. After the war the territory of the governorate was divided between the independent states of Latvia and Estonia.
- Finding aids:
- For additional data see the website of 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
