Why is history among the Russian intelligentsia. History of the intelligentsia in Russia

Employees of the “Drop of Milk” point give milk to the needy and hungry. Minsk. 1914–1916. From the site http://charity.lfond.spb.ru

By the end of the 19th century, charity in Russia received massive development. Charity societies for peasants, nurseries and shelters, and various zemstvo organizations were opened in the villages. A system of care for the poor was established in the cities. Special committees were created within the city government.

New scale of charity

The basis of this work was private charity, which was rapidly gaining strength, and not only wealthy people donated to charity. “Mug” collections were very popular: iron mugs hung on the walls of shelters and shops - alms were thrown into them. And organ grinders, before receiving permission to walk the streets, had to make a contribution to the construction of orphanages.

Figures of well-known and respected philanthropists in society appeared. For example, Prince Peter of Oldenburg devoted 42 years to charity, founding the first night orphanage in St. Petersburg. During his life, the volume of donations from Peter of Oldenburg exceeded 1 million rubles. A monument to him was erected on Liteiny Prospekt - “Enlightened Philanthropist” (after the revolution the monument was demolished).

The “competition” of private charity was parish charity: by the end of the 19th century there were parish trustees in almost every Russian city. There were also numerous charitable organizations that worked in certain areas (for example, the “Union to Combat Infant Mortality in Russia”).

By the end of the 19th century, charity in Russia had become such a large-scale social phenomenon that in 1892 a special commission was created, which was in charge of the legislative, financial and even class aspects of charity. The most important result of the commission’s work can be considered to be ensuring transparency of charitable activities in Russia, openness and accessibility of all information (including financial) for all segments of society.

Since the end of the 19th century, public control over charity has been established in the country, which has resulted in an increase in public confidence in the activities of philanthropists and, as a consequence, a new unprecedented increase in the number of donors.

The peak of development of Russian charity: names and figures

At the end of the century, among wealthy industrialists and wealthy merchants, it became fashionable to invest money in the development of culture and art. Museums, libraries, schools, art galleries, exhibitions - this is the range of charitable activities of Russian philanthropists, whose names will forever go down in the history of Russia: Tretyakovs, Mamontovs, Bakhrushins, Morozovs, Prokhorovs, Shchukins, Naydenovs, Botkins and many others.

For every 100 thousand inhabitants of the European part of Russia there were 6 charitable institutions. In 1900, 82% of charitable institutions were created and were under the patronage of private individuals, the share of class institutions was 8%, urban 7%, and zemstvo - 2%. In total, in 1902, 11,040 charitable institutions were registered in the Russian Empire (in 1897 - 3.5 thousand) and 19,108 parish boards of trustees.

In March 1910, the All-Russian Congress of Charity Workers stated that 75% of funds for charitable purposes came from private voluntary donations and only 25% from the state. At the same time, at least 27 million rubles were distributed annually in the form of alms.

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Ekaterina II: golden age bcharity work in Russia

After the death of Peter I, there was a certain lull in the field of charity (as well as in others). It was still unclear how far the reforms of the first Russian emperor would take root and where his descendants would lead the country. The reign of Peter II, Anna Ioannovna Elizabeth and Peter III was remembered only for the fact that the penalties for professional begging became even more severe. Moreover, some of the shelters for newborns were closed because the money previously spent on these purposes went into the pockets of alternating favorites. Until the accession of Empress Catherine II to the throne in 1762, we see stagnation in matters of charity.

Born princesses of Anhalt-Zerbst, the future empress had nothing to do with Russia except that she was the wife of the Russian Emperor Peter III, who hated everything Russian. At the same time, among the representatives of the Romanov dynasty it is difficult to find someone who could do more for Russia than Catherine II. As we already wrote, after the death of Emperor Peter I, very little attention was paid to charity issues. Of course, representatives of the ruling dynasty tried to follow the precepts of their great ancestor, but this was not enough. There was a lack of government will. Catherine II tried to change the current state of affairs. What actions were taken to achieve this?

During the first period of her reign, Catherine II did not pay much attention to issues of charity, since she first needed to gain a foothold on the throne and there were other matters of primary importance. At this time, decrees were issued on liability for begging, but the form of punishment was somewhat softened. According to a decree of February 1764, police could detain beggars. At the same time, until their case was considered in court, the detainees were entitled to a small monetary subsidy.

This fact should be focused on, since according to the established tradition, offenders and suspects are placed in pre-trial detention cells (PPC), the conditions in which not only leave much to be desired, but are more reminiscent of a prison where criminals already convicted by a court sentence are kept. The problem of conditions of detention in the correctional facility and especially the cases of death of detainees that were sensational in the press (especially the case of Sergei Magnitsky) have acquired extraordinary severity and debate in society in our country. It is clear that it will not be possible to quickly change the conditions of detention of those suspected of committing crimes in the direction of mitigation, because This requires large funds. But at least it is possible to limit the detention of persons not suspected of committing serious crimes in the penitentiary. Apparently, therefore, the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev, in one of his Messages to the Federal Assembly, spoke about pursuing a “reasonable criminal policy” aimed at decriminalizing society. As a result, laws were passed several years ago that allow for non-custodial penalties. Thus, the state “kills” two birds with one stone: it limits the communication of citizens who accidentally end up in the penitentiary with real criminals, and also does not place suspects (many of whom, as practice shows, will later be acquitted by a court decision) in prison conditions. It is gratifying to see that the experience of humane treatment of detainees, which was first applied under Catherine II and was clearly forgotten during the years of Soviet power, is becoming in demand in our time.

After several years, when potential rivals were eliminated from the political horizon, Empress Catherine II was able to more actively engage in state affairs. The issue of charity did not go unnoticed. In 1764, the “Imperial Educational Society for Noble Maidens” was founded, which later turned into the well-known Smolny Institute. It was created with the aim of forming an educated society and spreading education. According to the plan of the Empress, who until the Great French Revolution was influenced by the progressive ideas of Locke and Montaigne, graduates of the society who returned to their ancestral nests would try to give the education they received to their children. If initially future pupils were selected from the nobility, then a year after the founding of the Society a branch was opened for other classes (only children of serfs were not accepted).

Gradually, more and more educational institutions began to open throughout the country. Responsibilities for their arrangement fell on the Orders of Public Charity, which will be discussed below. Existing educational institutions were reformed in order to improve the quality of education received. These were the first timid steps towards introducing literacy among the common population. And, although the system was still very far from being introduced nationwide, the beginning of public education, according to many historians, was laid precisely under Catherine II, who did everything for its development.

In 1763, they again remembered the shelters for abandoned babies, which were first founded under Peter I, but in recent years had fallen into oblivion. Catherine II was so fired up by this idea that she allocated 100,000 rubles from her own funds, thereby setting an example for other well-wishers and, above all, for her favorites. The operation of the shelter was very successful. Those who brought children were asked to give only the name of the baby and tell him whether he was baptized or not. That is why in just 1765 almost 800 children were brought to the Orphanage, which meant 800 lives saved! At that time, it was not customary to give up children; childbearing and fertility were perceived as a gift from God. Such cases, at first glance, could only have occurred among noble city women who needed to hide their affair on the side. And yet there was another reason to give the baby to the Orphanage. The fact is that the children of serfs after birth were also considered serfs, and according to the Charter of this institution, every baby was considered free from birth. That is why for many peasants, handing over a child to the Orphanage was the only chance to give him freedom.

In our country, in the context of a falling birth rate and a decline in the indigenous population, interest in shelters for abandoned babies has grown again. Discussions around the so-called “baby box” have become especially active. It is an incubator that is built into the wall of the hospital. The baby box has 2 doors: an external one (the baby is placed through it) and an internal one (from where the institution’s staff takes the child). Optimal temperature and humidity are maintained inside the box. Thanks to the special design, it is no longer possible to get the baby back. Immediately after a baby is in the box, the alarm goes off and he is taken out of there, examined and tested. The advantages of baby boxing are obvious. Complete anonymity is maintained (there are no video cameras near the boxing) and, as a result, one of the reasons for abortions is eliminated. In addition, you don’t need to fill out any paperwork or go through complicated procedures. You just need to put the child in the door and that’s it. A mother who abandons a child does not bear criminal liability (of course, no one has yet canceled the reproach of conscience). But the most important thing is that human life is preserved. Now the issue of installing baby boxes is being discussed in the legislative bodies. It is possible that they will be installed not only in hospitals, but also in social centers and monasteries. Thus, Catherine’s idea of shelters for foundlings is gaining new life in our time. Ekaterina charity Russia

The year 1775 was marked by the creation of the Orders of Public Charity. In their functions they resembled modern social welfare authorities, but in their scale they represented the “Ministry of Charity”. Their tasks included organizing schools, orphanages, almshouses, workhouses, homes for the terminally ill (the prototype of modern hospices) and for the insane (straithouses). In essence, a state system was created in which Catherine II managed to unite all types of charitable activities.

It should be noted that some of the ideas contained in the decree were clearly ahead of their time. In particular, there were no shelters for the terminally ill during Soviet times. These were simply discharged from the hospital, and they faded away at home. The idea of hospices was returned to in our country only in 1990. Currently, there are 8 of them in Moscow alone, which is quite enough to accommodate terminally ill patients. The idea of hospices is actively developing and at the beginning of 2012 their number in Russia exceeded 70. One can only be amazed at the breadth of the empress’s state mind, whose decisions in matters of charity have not lost their relevance to this day.

Along with the creation of a new state charitable system, all forms of private charity were encouraged in every possible way, but donations were prescribed in favor of existing charitable institutions in order to avoid donations falling into the hands of professional beggars. Public care orders represented the "upper echelon" of public charity. In the localities, local care bodies, for example, the court for orphans, noble guardianship and others, dealt with the affairs of mercy. In 1785, through the creation of local trustees, other segments of the population were also involved in charity. Russia has matured to the advent of philanthropy.

Catherine II managed to make it fashionable to donate to charity. Patronage is becoming increasingly common. Among their many names, we cannot remain silent about the Orlov brothers, Prince Grigory Potemkin, and the merchant-philanthropists from the Stroganov family. Thus, Alexander Sergeevich Stroganov became famous as the first Russian nobleman to start collecting art. He left behind one of the largest private collections of paintings in Europe and a huge library. His contribution to the maintenance and development of Russian art and librarianship was so great that he became the chief director of the imperial library and president of the Academy of Arts.

Prince Grigory Potemkin was an outstanding statesman of the times of Catherine II. His whole life and works became a blessing for Russia. It was through the efforts of the prince that the constant threat on the southern borders of Russia, which was annually plundered by the predatory hordes of Crimean Tatars, was eliminated. He removed the Crimean Khanate from the political map of the world, making the steppes of ancient Taurida safe for a simple Russian farmer, after which his surname sounded different - Potemkin-Tauride. At the same time, the prince was considered an outstanding connoisseur of art. Like many of his contemporaries, he actively collected paintings by famous world artists, leaving behind a rich collection. But most of all he is remembered for his urban planning activities. Under him, many cities were founded in the south of Russia, and several churches were erected with his personal funds. Prince Potemkin-Tavrichesky was one of those people, thanks to whom the reign of the Empress is referred to as “the golden age of Catherine.”

Finishing the story about the state of charity in Catherine's era, we can only be amazed at the scale of the reforms carried out. Moreover, under what conditions! By the time Catherine II ascended the throne, Russia was still fighting the Seven Years' War. Soon after its end, many years of hostilities began with the Ottoman Empire and Sweden, thirsty for revenge. Huge amounts of money were spent on favorites, and then there were reforms aimed at reorganizing the charity system. Naturally, we are faced with a legitimate question: “Where is the money, Zin?!” Where do funds for charity come from in a country that is in a constant state of war with its neighbors, when the level of corruption and favoritism has broken all records?

The Orthodox Church becomes such an almost inexhaustible source of money for Catherine II. In 1764, a manifesto was issued, according to which the previous system of church land ownership was abolished. From now on, all land plots that the Church had accumulated over several hundred years were subject to transfer to the College of Economy, and the peasants who inhabited them henceforth began to be called “economic”. As a result, about 1,000,000 peasants passed into the hands of the state. 1.366 million rubles in taxes were collected from economic peasants per year. Of this amount, approximately 30% went to the benefit of the Church at first, but later, with an increase in the amount of tax collected, it was reduced to 13%. In fact, this was a legalized form of robbery, but in the absence of the institution of patriarchy, scattered protests of the clergy were easily suppressed. Those who disagreed with the reform were exiled to distant monasteries.

Summing up the reforms in the field of charity during the reign of Catherine II, we can say the following. Being German by origin, she tried in every possible way to make the life of her new subjects easier, whose well-being was paramount to her. How unhypocritical her love for the Russian people was is best evidenced by the fact that when in 1775 they wanted to erect a monument to her, for which over 50,000 rubles were collected, Catherine II replied: “For me, it is more important to erect a monument in the hearts of my subjects.” than in marble." With these words, she ordered that the collected money be sent to organize orphanages.

During the reign of Catherine II, radical changes were carried out in the issue of mercy. In the form of Orders of Public Charity, a “Ministry of Charity” was actually created, within which all its types were united: the organization of almshouses, the establishment of shelters, hospitals, schools and colleges. Moreover, the ideas of creating foundling homes and hospitals for the terminally ill (hospices) were clearly ahead of their time. And now, 250 years later, they are being implemented again in the Russian Federation.

At the same time, the Orthodox Church under Catherine II suffered a severe blow, from which it was never able to recover. The economic independence of the Church was put an end to, but the funds received during the secularization of church lands made it possible to carry out a reform of the entire system of charity, which subsequently proved the viability of many of its ideas.

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Why is history among the Russian intelligentsia. History of the intelligentsia in Russia

New scale of charity

The peak of development of Russian charity: names and figures

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