The Role of P.A. Stolypin in the Creation of the People’s House in Kovno in 1898–1899

Abstract

The article presents a little-known episode in the biography of P. Stolypin, associated with his stay in Kovno Governorate in 1889–1902 and concerning the construction of the People’s House in Kovno in 1898–99. The article is based on the materials from Russian and Polish periodicals of the late 19th – early 20th centuries. The author analyses the motives that prompted Stolypin to start building and equipping with the necessary facilities the People’s House in Kovno, which became the center of Russian culture and at the same time a place for putting into practice the slogans of the Guardianship of Public Sobriety. P. Stolypin is shown as an effective organizer of construction and a government official who defended the interests of Russia in the western governorates of the Empire.

Keywords

• p. stolypin
• kovno governorate
• marshal of nobility
• guardianship of public sobriety
• people’s house in kovno