THE STATE ORPHAN CARE SYSTEM IN THE CITIES OF THE RUSSIAN PROVINCE AT THE END OF THE XVIIITH - THE FIRST QUARTER OF THE XIXTH CENTURY (BASED ON THE MATERIALS OF SMOLENSK PROVINCE)
The article analyzes the state policy implementation in the field of orphan care system in the cities of Russian provinces based on the example of Smolensk city. The author has set a goal, according to the analysis of the narrative sources not included in a wide scientific use and stored in the State Archive of the Smolensk Region and the Russian State Historical Archive, to restore the history of creation and activities of Orphans’ (hereinafter Educational) home in Smolensk in the 1802s-1820s. The article studies current record keeping documentation of both the highest state bodies (Economic Department of the Ministry of the Interior, the Office of the Prosecutor General), and local authorities (Smolensk Provincial Government, Smolensk Public Care Order) and Smolensk Theological Seminary. The author supposes that the ideas of Education were reflected in the activities of the Public Care Orders, which, controlled and financed the sphere of orphan care system. During the reign of Catherine II and Paul I, the state system of guardianship over illegitimate children and orphans began its formation. The philanthropists’ contribution (primarily the local noble corporation) to the establishment process of orphanages in Russian province is significant. Smolensk governors (Gideonov, Ash) had a great number of initiatives in this field, some of which were not implemented. Names of employees and teachers of Educational home at that period have been restored and their competencies have been determined. The article has studied the construction history of the building, which housed an orphan educational institution. The paper traces the pupils’ lives during the Great Patriotic War of 1812 and the post-war period. The author concludes that until 1846 Educational home was the only institution for orphans in Smolensk province.