Kiev Governorate

{{Short description|1802–1925 unit of Russia}}

{{Distinguish|Kiev Governorate General|Kiev Governorate (1708–1764)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2012}}

{{Infobox settlement

| name = Kiev Governorate

| native_name = Киевская губерния
Київська губернія

| native_name_lang = ru

| settlement_type = Governorate

| image_shield = Coat of Arms of Kiev Governorate.png

| image_map = Kiev in Russian Empire (1914).svg

| mapsize = 225px

| map_caption = Location in the Russian Empire
before World War I

| subdivision_type = Country

| subdivision_name = Russian Empire
Ukrainian People's Republic
Ukrainian State
Ukrainian People's Republic→
Ukrainian SSR
Soviet Union

| subdivision_type1 = Krai

| subdivision_name1 = Southwestern (in the Russian Empire)

| established_title = Established

| established_date = 1802

| extinct_title = Abolished

| extinct_date = 1925

| seat_type = Capital

| seat = Kiev (modern-day Kyiv)

| area_total_km2 = 50957

| population_as_of = 1897

| population_total = 3,559,229

| population_density_km2 = auto

| population_urban = 12.90%

| population_rural = 87.10%

| total_type = Total

}}

Kiev Governorate{{efn|{{bulleted list|{{Langx|ru|Киевская губерния, pre-1918: Кіевская губернія, romanized: Kiyevskaya guberniya|label=Russian}}|{{langx|uk|Київська губернія|Kyïvsʼka huberniia}}}}}} was an administrative-territorial unit (guberniya) of the Russian Empire (1796–1917), Ukrainian People's Republic (1917–18; 1918–1921), Ukrainian State (1918), and the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (1919–1925; part of the Soviet Union since 1922). It included the territory of the right-bank Ukraine and was formed after a division of the Kiev Viceroyalty into Kiev and Little Russia Governorates in 1796. Its capital was in Kiev. By the early 20th century, it consisted of 12 uyezds, 12 cities, 111 miasteczkos and 7344 other settlements. After the October Revolution, it became part of the administrative division of the Ukrainian SSR. In 1923 it was divided into several okrugs and on 6 June 1925 it was abolished by the Soviet administrative reforms.[http://leksika.com.ua/14970504/legal/kiyivska_guberniya Article] from the Legal Encyclopedia. Volume 3, main editor Yuri Shemshuchenko, 2001 {{ISBN|966-7492-03-6}} (in Ukrainian)[https://bigenc.ru/domestic_history/text/3794432 Article] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210801153532/https://bigenc.ru/domestic_history/text/3794432 |date=August 1, 2021 }} from the Great Russian Encyclopedia. Volume 13, main editor Yury Osipov, 2009 {{ISBN|978-5-85270-344-6}} (in Russian)

File:Kiev Governorate (1913).png

History

Kiev Governorate on the right bank of Dnieper was officially established by Emperor Paul I's edict of November 30, 1796. However it was not until 1800 when the first governor was appointed. Prior to such, the territory was governed by the Kiev Viceroy Vasiliy Krasno-Milashevich (in 1796 –1800).

Three existing Left-bank Ukraine viceroyalties were merged into one Little Russia Governorate centered on Chernigov, while the Kiev Governorate now centered on Right-bank Ukraine. With Kiev still the capital, the governorate included the right-bank parts of the former Kiev Viceroyalty merged with territories of the former KievDespite the loss of Kiev almost three centuries earlier, Poland still designated an administrative unit centered in Zhitomir as the Kiev Voivodeship and Bracław Voivodeships which were gained by the Russian Empire from the partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (the lands of the Polish Crown province).{{lang|ru|Иван Фундуклей. "Статистическое описание Киевской Губернии", Часть I. Санкт-Петербург, 1852.}} (Ivan Fundukley. Statistical Description of Kyiv Governorate. St. Petersburg, 1852) The edict took effect on August 29, 1797, bringing the total number of uyezds to twelve.

On January 22, 1832, the Kiev Governorate, along with the Volhynia and the Podolia Governorates formed the Kiev Governorate General, also known as the Southwestern Krai.{{Cite web |url=http://whp057.narod.ru/kievs-gg.htm |title=Киевское, Подольское и волынское генерал-губернаторство (Юго-Западный край) 22.01.1832–1915 |access-date=April 25, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311004618/http://whp057.narod.ru/kievs-gg.htm |archive-date=March 11, 2007 |url-status=dead}} At the time, Vasily Levashov was appointed the Military Governor of Kiev as well as the General Governor of Podolia and Volhynia. In 1845, the population of the Governorate was 1,704,661.

At the turn of the 20th century, the governorate included twelve uyezds named by their centers: Berdychiv, Cherkasy, Chyhyryn, Kaniv, Kiev, Lipovets, Radomyshl, Skvyra, Tarashcha, Uman, Vasylkiv and Zvenyhorodka.

By the 1897 Russian Census, there were 3,559,229 people in the guberniya making it the most populous one in all of the Russian Empire.[http://www.vehi.net/brokgauz/all/051/51025.shtml Киевская губерния] and [http://www.vehi.net/brokgauz/all/051/51026.shtml Киевская губерния (дополнение к статье)] in Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary Most of the population was rural. There were 459,253 people living in cities, including about 248,000 in Kiev. According to individuals' mother tongue, the census classified the respondents as follows: 2,819,145 Malorossy (Ukrainians) representing 79.2% of the population, 430,489 Jews representing 12.1% of the population, 209,427 Velikorossy (Russians) representing 5.9% of the population, and 68,791 Poles representing 1.9% of the population.[http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/rus_lan_97_uezd_eng.php?reg=529 The First General Census of the Russian Empire of 1897. Breakdown of population by mother tongue and districts* in 50 Governorates of the European Russia] Demoscope Weekly, Institute of Demography at the National Research University "Higher School of Economics." The Russian census grouped "Little Russians" (Ukrainians), "Great Russians" (Russians) and "White Russians" (Belarusians) together for an all-"Russian" total of 3,034,961 By faith, 2,983,736 census respondents were Orthodox Christians, 433,728 were Jews and 106,733 were of the Roman Catholic Church.The 1897 Russian Census classified the population by the responses to the questions on religion and mother tongue. See, e.g. Маргарита Григорянц, [http://www.ecsocman.edu.ru/mirros/msg/300946.html "Первый демографический автопортрет России"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721210557/http://www.ecsocman.edu.ru/mirros/msg/300946.html |date=July 21, 2011 }}, Мир России, 1997, Т. VI, № 4, С. 45–48

The estimated population in 1906 was 4,206,100.{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Kiev (government) |display=Kiev |volume=15 |page=788}}

Kiev Governorate remained a constituent unit of the larger Governorate General with Kiev being the capital of both well into the 20th century. In 1915, the General Governorate was disbanded while the guberniya continued to exist.

Administrative division

Kiev Governorate consisted of 12 uyezds (their administrative centres in brackets):

class="wikitable sortable"
colspan="2"| Countyrowspan=2| County Townrowspan=2| Arms of County Townrowspan=2| Arearowspan=2| Population
(1897 census)
Transliteration nameRussian Cyrillic
BerdichevskyБердичевскийBerdichevFile:Berdichev COA (Kiev Governorate) (1846).gif{{convert|3361.7|km2|mi2|disp=br()|abbr=on}}279,695
VasilkovskyВасильковскийVasilkovFile:Coat of arms of Vasylkiv.png{{convert|4508.6|km2|mi2|disp=br()|abbr=on}}315,823
ZvenigorodskyЗвенигородскийZvenigorodkaFile:Zvenigorodka COA (Kiev Governorate) (1852).gif{{convert|3293.3|km2|mi2|disp=br()|abbr=on}}274,704
KanevskyКаневскийKanevFile:Kaniv historical CoA.png{{convert|3264.6|km2|mi2|disp=br()|abbr=on}}268,860
KievskyКиевскийKievFile:Coat of arms of Kyiv (1782).gif{{convert|5642.5|km2|mi2|disp=br()|abbr=on}}541,483
LipovetskyЛиповецкийLipovetsFile:Lipovets COA (Kiev Governorate) (1796).gif{{convert|2891.3|km2|mi2|disp=br()|abbr=on}}211,825
RadomyslskyРадомысльскийRadomyshlFile:Radomysl COA (Kiev Governorate) (1796).gif{{convert|9592.7|km2|mi2|disp=br()|abbr=on}}315,629
SkvirskyСквирскийSkviraFile:Skvira COA (Kiev Governorate) (1791).gif{{convert|3721.5|km2|mi2|disp=br()|abbr=on}}251,257
TarashchanskyТаращанскийTarashchaFile:Tarashcha COA (Kiev Governorate) (1852).png{{convert|3339.4|km2|mi2|disp=br()|abbr=on}}245,752
UmanskyУманскийUmanFile:Uman COA (Kiev Governorate) (1845).gif{{convert|4295.2|km2|mi2|disp=br()|abbr=on}}320,744
CherkasskyЧеркасскийCherkassyFile:Cherkassy COA (Kiev Governorate) (1852).gif{{convert|3599.6|km2|mi2|disp=br()|abbr=on}}307,542
ChigirinskyЧигиринскийChigirinFile:Chigirin COA (Kiev Governorate) (1852).jpg{{convert|3273.8|km2|mi2|disp=br()|abbr=on}}225,915

Demographics

class="wikitable sortable"

|+ Population by spoken language in Kiev Governorate (1897){{Cite web |url=https://datatowel.in.ua/pop-composition/language-counties-1897 |access-date=2025-03-07 |website=www.datatowel.in.ua|language=uk|script-title=uk:Мовний склад населення повітів Рос. імперії за переписом 1897 року

|trans-title=Linguistic composition of the population of the counties of the Russian Empire according to the 1897 census}}{{Cite web |title=Первая всеобщая перепись населения Российской Империи 1897. Демоскоп Weekly - Приложение. Справочник статистических показателей. |trans-title=The first general census of the population of the Russian Empire in 1897 |url= https://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/rus_lan_97_uezd.php?reg=529|access-date=2025-03-08|website= www.demoscope.ru}}

LanguageNative speakersPercentage
Ukrainianalign="right" |2,819,145align="right" |79.2%
Yiddishalign="right" |430,489align="right" |12.0%
Russianalign="right" |209,427align="right" |5.8%
Polishalign="right" |68,791align="right" |1.9%
Germanalign="right" |14,707align="right" |0.4%
Belarusianalign="right" |6,389align="right" |0.1%
Czechalign="right" |3,294align="right" |0.09%
Tataralign="right" |1,954align="right" |0.05%
Romanialign="right" |884align="right" |0.02%
Other languagesalign="right" |4.149align="right" |0.1%
Total3,559,229100.00

Principal cities

Russian Empire Census of 1897[http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/rus_lan_97_uezd_eng.php?reg=0 Breakdown of population by mother tongue and districts in 50 Governorates of the European Russia] at Demoscope Weekly, project by National Research University – Higher School of Economics

  • Kiev – 247,723 (Russian – 134 278, Ukrainian – 55 064, Jewish – 29 937, Polish – 16 579, German – 4 354, Belarusian – 2 797)
  • Berdichev – 53,351 (Jewish – 41 125, Russian – 4 612, Ukrainian – 4 395)
  • Uman – 31,016 (Jewish – 17 709, Ukrainian – 9 509, Russian – 2 704)
  • Cherkassy – 29,600 (Ukrainian – 12 900, Jewish – 10 916, Russian – 4 911)
  • Skvira – 17,958 (Jewish – 8 905, Ukrainian – 7 681, Russian – 956)
  • Zvenigorodka – 16,923 (Ukrainian – 8 337, Jewish – 6 368, Russian – 1 513)
  • Vasilkov – 13,132 (Ukrainian – 7 108, Jewish – 5 140, Russian – 820)
  • Tarascha – 11,259 (Ukrainian – 5 601, Jewish – 4 906, Russian – 575)
  • Radomysl – 10,906 (Jewish – 7 468, Ukrainian – 2 463, Russian – 778)

;Smaller cities

  • Chigirin – 9,872 (Ukrainian – 6 578, Jewish – 2 921, Russian – 343)
  • Kanev – 8,855 (Ukrainian – 5 770, Jewish – 2 710, Russian – 303)
  • Lipovets – 8,658 (Jewish – 4 117, Ukrainian – 3 948, Russian – 397)

After 1917

In the times after the Russian revolution in 1917–1921, the lands of the Kiev Governorate switched hands on several occasions. After the last Imperial governor {{ill|Alexey Ignatyev|uk|Ігнатьєв Олексій Миколайович}} (who ruled until March 6, 1917) fell from power, the local leaders were appointed by competing authorities. At times, the Governorate appointed by the Central Rada and the Governorate appointed by the Communists both claimed sole authority over the Governorate, while some of the short-lived ruling regimes of the territory did not establish any particular administrative subdivision.{{Cite web |url=http://whp057.narod.ru/kievs.htm |title=Киевская область |access-date=April 25, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080106154702/http://whp057.narod.ru/kievs.htm |archive-date=January 6, 2008 |url-status=dead}}

The Soviet Ukrainian authority re-established the Governorate, whose leading post was titled the Chairman of the Governorate's Revolutionary Committee (revkom) or of the Executive Committee (ispolkom).

In the course of the Soviet administrative reform of 1923–1929 the Kiev Governorate of the Ukrainian SSR was transformed into six okruhas in 1923. In 1932, the Kyiv Okruha was transformed into an oblast.

=List of okruhas=

  • Berdychiv Okruha
  • Bila Tserkva Okruha
  • Kiev Okruha
  • Malyn Okruha (1923–24)
  • Uman Okruha
  • Cherkasy Okruha
  • Shevchenko Okruha (1923–25, initially as Korsun)

Governors of Kiev

=Russian Empire=

  • 1839–1852 Ivan Funduklei
  • 1852–1855 Andrei Krivtsov (acting)
  • 1855–1864 Pavel Gesse
  • 1864–1866 Nikolai Kaznakov
  • 1866–1868 Nikolai Eiler
  • 1868–1871 Mikhail Katakazi
  • 1881–1885 Sergei Gudim-Levkovich
  • 1885–1898 Lev Tomara
  • 1898–1903 Fyodor Trepov
  • 1903–1905 Pavel Savvich
  • 1905–1905 Aleksandr Vatatsi
  • 1905–1906 Pavel Savvich
  • 1906–1906 Aleksei Veretennikov
  • 1906–1907 Pavel Kurlov (acting)
  • 1907–1909 Pavel Ignatiev
  • 1909–1912 Aleksei Girs
  • 1912–1915 Nikolai Sukovkin
  • 1915–1917 Aleksey Ignatyev

=Russian Republic=

as Governing Commissioners

  • 1917–1917 Mikhail Sukovkin
  • 1917–1918 Oleksandr Salikovsky

=Ukrainian State=

as Governing Elders

  • 1918–1918 I.Chartoryzhski

=South Russia=

  • 1918 –1919 Andrei Cherniavsky

=Soviet governors=

{{see also|Kiev Gubernatorial Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine}}

Maps

Kievskaya guberniya 1896.jpg|Kiev Governorate as of 1896.

Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary b29 256-0.jpg|Kiev Governorate as of c. 1900

See also

Notes and references

= Notes =

{{Notelist}}

= References =

{{Reflist}}

Further reading

  • {{Citation |publisher=Russian Outlook |author=William Henry Beable |publication-date=1919 |publication-place=London |title=Russian Gazetteer and Guide |via=Open Library |chapter=Governments or Provinces of the Former Russian Empire: Kiev |year=1919 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/russiangazetteer00beabiala#page/26/mode/2up}}