«THE LAST CIVIL GOVERNOR OF OLD FINLAND» – OFFICIAL ACTIVITY OF IVAN IVANOVICH WINTER ACCORDING TO THE DOCUMENTS OF THE RUSSIAN STATE HISTORICAL ARCHIVE

Abstract

The study of the pre-revolutionary institution of governorship, its interaction with the central authorities is extremely important. Objective coverage of historical events predetermines a diverse interest in both national and local characters. Military and civilian governors of Imperial Russia have always been at the center of the political, economic and cultural life of individual provinces. They had a significant impact on provincial life not only due to personal qualities, but also due to the prevailing attitude towards them in public consciousness. In terms of importance, the governor for local officials and ordinary people was in second place after the monarch, and sometimes on the same level with him. However, such a perception by the local society of the figure of the governor did not exclude the fact that people could be enrolled in this position only by coincidence. The decisive role was played by the position taken by the monarch and his immediate entourage, and the real volume of power and the well-being of the region depended on the degree of trust of the central authorities in this or the new governor. Not only talented leaders were appointed to the governor’s posts in the Finnish province (Old Finland), but officials who necessarily had organizational and administrative-managerial experience. Based on the preserved archival documents, the article tells about one of them — Ivan Ivanovich Vintere, whose administrative «rise» and «fall» reveal the peculiarities of interaction of various levels in the vertical of power at the beginning of the 19th century.

Keywords

• institute of governorship
• old and new finland
• administrative management
• higher institutions of state power in russia