Stavropol Duma and charity (based on the materials of the XIX-XX centuries)

Introduction. The article notes that charity has long become an integral and very significant part of Russian culture, dating back centuries in its history and having strong traditions by the time the Caucasian province appeared on the map of the Russian Empire, which included the territory of present-day Stavropol. By the time of the establishment of the Stavropol province, charitable activities in the country began to gradually acquire, as part of the manifestation of a number of features of the emerging civil society, the status of an object of special interest from a society that was becoming more active in organized nonpolitical activities.
Materials and Methods. Evidence of the special importance of charity in the socio-cultural history of the country is the special demand for its study both before 1917 and in modern historical science. The research was carried out on the materials of the State Archive of the Stavropol Krai and using traditional methods of historical research.
Analysis. The authors show that, despite the absence of a direct obligation of city governments to take care of charity, the Stavropol City Duma, in conditions of scarcity of the city budget, took over actions to raise funds and organize events not only in the field of improving urban infrastructure, but also in the field of improving the quality of life of poor and low-income citizens. Among the most frequent and significant events in charity in the entire history of the Duma in pre–revolutionary Stavropol is the organization among merchants of Stavropol of permanent subscriptions in favor of the needs of poor citizens and the organization of a number of social institutions for their individual categories. There was regular active care of the heads of Stavropol about the needs of the city and, especially, its insufficient population, expressed in frequent large personal donations. Charitable participation in the affairs of the city and the life of its socially insufficient population of the majority of the Stavropol Duma members was an integral part of their private life. One could observe active participation of the Duma in the creation of guardianship and a number of charitable societies in Stavropol. Coordination of events related to the organization of charity evenings, concerts, lotteries, fundraising and clothing for refugees and wounded soldiers in the context of military events, including as a member of the All-Russian Union of Cities helping Sick and Wounded Soldiers took place. There was announcement and collection of money and clothes for the benefit of the starving provinces, etc.
Results. The optional nature of the obligations of city self-government in relation to charitable practice, laid down in the basic normative documents of pre-revolutionary Russia, did not exclude the active activity of city Councils in organizing and coordinating charitable practice in conditions when cities became the main supplier of poverty as economic relations became more complicated and capitalism developed in the country.

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