Berdichev Municipal Duma; Berdichev, Kiev Province

Collection

Holding institution (official language):: Державний архів Житомирської області

Title (official language):: Бердичевская городская дума, г. Бердичев Киевской губ.; Бердичівська міська дума, м. Бердичів Київської губ.

Scope and content:: Included are record books of townspeople and merchants for 1847, containing lists of townspeople of the Jewish community of Berdichev not subject to the candle tax, and of Jewish merchants of Berdichev (of the first, second, and third guilds) subject to the candle tax, as well as lists of merchants from other cities and their families registered to the local Jewish community, and of merchants residing in nearby taverns and villages. There is also the case file of complaints by local Jewish craftsmen against the head of the Berdichev General Craftsmen’s Administration and its clerk for the incorrect apportionment of taxes and the misappropriation of state funds, including from the candle tax.

Administrative/biographical history:: Established as an administrative organ of municipal self-government, this was under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It consisted of councilors and was headed by the mayor. Originally, it elected from among its own members a standing staff – a six-councilor duma (one representative from each of the six categories of “city residents” [gorodskie obyvateli]), but with the adoption of the City Statute (1870), when the estates principle of representation was replaced by a property qualification, the municipal administration became its executive body. The duma supervised the activities of various societies, including Jewish ones, and the state of trade; decided issues pertaining to land development; set the amount of local bonds and taxes (including the particular Jewish ones, the korobka [kosher meat tax] and candle tax); established taxes on food items; etc. It was liquidated in 1919.

Subject terms:: Guilds; Jewish community; Professions; Professions--Crafts; Taxation; Taxation--Candle tax; Trade and commerce

System of arrangement:: The fonds includes a single inventory systematised chronologically.