Metadata: The Provincial Board (Gubernskoe Pravlenie) 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. 4
- Title:
- The Provincial Board (Gubernskoe Pravlenie) of Livland
- Title (official language):
- Vidzemes guberņas valde
- Creator/accumulator:
- Provincial Board of Livland
- Date(s):
- 1710/1918
- Language:
- German
- Russian
- Extent:
- 88,337 files
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
-
The collection comprises the records of the provincial board of Livonia. In 19th century Russia provincial boards were legally designated as the main administrative bodies of the governorates. In practice, however, they were completely subordinate to the governors and had rather limited authority. The boards addressed various administrative issues and were responsible, among other things, for supervising the enforcement of laws throughout the governorates and for arbitration between individuals and institutions. The collection of the provincial board of Livonia contains a considerable body of Jewish-related materials.
Several files refer to the question of Jewish residence in Riga and the governorate of Livonia. Certain files mention arrests and expulsions of Jews who were caught in the governorate without a passport or residence permit, such as 1831 papers on the expulsion of Jewish tin miners from Daugavpils who were illegally staying and working in Valmiera). Several files mention the expulsion of Jews accused of thieving and other offences.
Various materials reflect the shaping of government policies concerning the rights of Jews to settle in Riga and the surrounding area. These include, among other materials, papers of a commission to supervise Jewish settlement in the 1840s, correspondence, official circulars and other materials from other periods of the 19th and early 20th centuries, including papers from the period of World War I.
Several files include lists of Jewish residents of Riga and other localities in the governorate, as well as lists of Jewish artisans and merchants. Jewish names can be also found in lists and statistical accounts on the general population of the governorate, such as the 1829 data sheet on the residents of Riga, a list of donations made by residents of the governorate of Livonia during the Napoleonic invasion and a list of students of the Riga Polytechnical Institute from 1887.
Several files include documents referring to Jewish institutions, such as a correspondence from the second half of the 19th century on Jewish prayer houses, an 1851 correspondence on the certification of Jewish teachers and a file from 1916-17 with data on the elections of the functionaries of the old synagogue in Riga.
The collection also includes materials that reflect Jewish economic life in the region. Several files include data on business disputes involving Jews that were brought before the provincial board. These include papers on money owed by or to Jewish merchants and correspondence on the establishment and functioning of Jewish-run businesses – taverns, print houses and so on – in the governorate. Papers from 1910 mention the granting of honorary citizenship to a Jewish merchant who served as manager of a paper-making factory.
- 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 number of its files are kept in the Estonian Historical Archives (see EAA.297).
- Administrative/biographical history:
- The area of Livonia was incorporated into Russia as a result of the Great Northern War (1700-21). During 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. Until 1852 it was divided into Russian and German departments. During World War I 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 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
