“…The Noblemen who are Kind to the People”: Representation Reform of 1861 in the Beginning of the Emancipation Reform of 1861 in the Letters of Vasyl Tarnovsky Sr. to Hryhoriy Galagan

Abstract

The article refers to the letters of Vasyl Tarnovsky Sr. (1810–1866) to Hryhoriy Galagan (1819–1888) as a source for the research of the Emancipation Reform of 1861, which became one of the most important events in the history of Ukraine in the 19th century, as it stimulated socio-economic modernization, and the concepts of “pre-reform period” and “post-reform period” are still relevant to historiographical discourse. The aim of the article is to publish Vasyl Tarnovskys letters to Hryhoriy Galagan, written during February–May of 1861. Due to this, it is possible to investigate more deeply the implementation of the reform in the Left-Bank Ukraine, considering that Tarnovsky and Galagan were named as members from Government to provincial presence of peasant affairs (the first — in Poltava, and the second one — in Chernihiv). The biographical information which was given in the article show that Vasyl Tarnovsky and Hryhoriy Galagan, who belonged to the top of the Ukrainian local nobility, were interested in the “peasant question” for a long time, also were principled supporters of the abolition of serfdom and together took an active part in preparing the Emancipation Reform. As members of the Chernihiv Provincial Committee for Peasant Affairs, and then as members of the Editorial Commissions in St. Petersburg. Vasyl Tarnovskys epistolary heritage, which refers to the first half of 1861, helps to characterise the network of social communications, which played a key role in the implementation of the Emancipation Reform in Poltava and Chernihiv. This correspondence reveals the attitude of local officials and local nobility to the reform, and shows what problems the reformers had to face at this time. The texts of the letters given in the article are accompanied by comments, which were aimed at contextualization these epistolary materials (regarding the characteristics of the personalities mentioned in them, etc.)

Keywords

• vasyl tarnovsky sr.
• hryhoriy galagan
• emancipation reform
• poltava province
• chernihiv province
• correspondence