Orphanages (entry)

Categories / Social Life/Charity
ORPHANAGE for children, charitable educational institutions established in 1837-1917, offering 24-hour or day only shelter and primary education for poor children from 3 to 10 years of age. The first Russian orphanage, which housed 16 children, was opened in 1837 at a Demidov establishment at 108 Moika River Embankment on the initiative of Court Doctor E.I. Rauch, in collaboration with Countess Y.P. Stroganova, and first directed by famous surgeon I.F. Bush. Children of both sexes from the ages of 3 to 10 were accepted without fee and stayed in the orphanage from morning till seven or eight in the evening. Older children studied the Law of God, reading and counting, singing and crafts. By 1838-39, orphanages were already working all over St. Petersburg. In 1838, Nicholas I put forth an edict to organize a Committee for Orphanages in Russia under Chairman Prince S.M. Golitsyn, and the Statute for Orphanages was ratified in late 1839. Orphanages were headed by a female tutor and a director, while a matron, her assistants and a priest worked with the children. The first model orphanage, established by the Grand Duchess Alexandra Nikolaevna, was founded in St. Petersburg in 1844, aiding the development of educational techniques. The Nursery Orphanage for Workers' Children was founded by the Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna in 1864. Nineteen children orphanages operated under the guidance of the Public Assistance Board in St. Petersburg by 1865, and after the board was abolished the Petersburg Orphanage Council was created. Its first head was Countess Stroganova, who opened a school for orphanage matrons and their assistants, which trained at the excellent Demidovsky Orphanage. The kinds of orphanages included day orphanages, 24-hour orphanages, labour orphanages, orphanages for children with deceased parents, for challenged and delinquent children, and penal orphanages. By 1917, there were several different types of orphanages in the capital: private ones run by church parishes and confraternities; those run by the Imperial Compassionate Society; and by the Society for Poor and Ill children (also called the Blue Cross). A state-run education system was created after October 1917, with nurseries, kindergartens and boarding schools.

References: Бари Э. Я. О детских приютах: Ист. очерк. СПб., 1889; Детские приюты Ведомства учреждений императрицы Марии (1839-1889 гг.). СПб., 1889; Социальная помощь детям в Санкт-Петербурге / Сост. и ред.: О. Минкина и др. СПб., 1995; Масанова М. Д. Ребенок в кризисной ситуации: Приюты - выход из ситуации, или Новые проблемы С.-Петербурга // Преемственность поколений: Диалог культур: Материалы междунар. науч.-практ. конф. СПб., 1996. Вып. 2. С. 125-127.

S. V. Boglachev. Alexandra Nikolaevna, Grand Princess
Bush Ivan Fedorovich
Elena Pavlovna, Grand Princess
Golitsyn Sergey Mikhailovich, Duke
Nicholas I, Emperor
Rauch Egor Ivanovich
Stroganova Yulia Petrovna, Countess
Moika River Embankment/Saint Petersburg, city, house 108
Социальная помощь детям в Санкт-Петербурге / Сост. и ред.: О. Минкина и др. СПб., 1995
Масанова М.Д. Ребенок в кризисной ситуации: Приюты - выход из ситуации, или Новые проблемы С.-Петербурга // Преемственность поколений: Диалог культур: Материалы ... конф. СПб., 1996
Бари Э. Я. О детских приютах: Ист. очерк. СПб., 1889
Детские приюты Ведомства учреждений императрицы Марии (1839-1889 гг.). СПб., 1889