Nobles

Categories / Population/Social Classes
NOBLES, a social group within the St. Petersburg population. Nobility was a strict class that was divided by inheritance, and those who had received their title by merit for service (without the right to pass on their title through inheritance). The status of St. Petersburg as the capital attracted a large number of nobles to the city, among whom a large number were of aristocratic birth. In 1869 there were 94,600 nobles in the city (14.2% of the population), in 1897 - 132,200 (10.5%). A large number consisted of civil servants and military officers. The proportion of Russians from the hereditary nobility grew from 77.4% in 1869 to 84% in 1897, among the entitled nobility - from 84% to 89% (the next largest groups were Germans and Poles). According to the Charter of 1785, a class organization was established for the self-regulation of the nobility in the St. Petersburg Province called the St. Petersburg Province Noble Assembly (2/9 Italyanskaya Street, today building for the Philharmonic). Having been chosen as head of the Noble Congress of the province, the nobleman played an important role in the social and political life of St. Petersburg. By the decree of the Assembly of the Peoples' Commissars Concerning the destruction of classes and citizen civil servants from 10(23) November 1917 the noble class was abrogated. During the Civil War, a part of the nobility emigrated. Many who had been nobles remained in St. Petersburg in the 1920-30s suffered repression on account of their noble status. In the course of NKVD operation "Former people" conducted in February and March 1935 after the murder of S.M. Kirov, 11,000 people were repressed and evicted from St. Petersburg.

Reference: Юхнева Н. В. Этнический состав и этносоциальная структура населения Петербурга, вторая половина XIX - нач. XX в.: Стат. анализ. Л., 1984; Иванов В. А. Операция "Бывшие люди" в Ленинграде (февр. - март 1935 г.) // Новый часовой. 1998. № 6/7. p. 118-131.

A. Y. Chistyakov. Kirov (real name Kostrikov) Sergey Mironovich
Italyanskaya Street/Saint Petersburg, city, house 9/2
Юхнева Н. В. Этнический состав и этносоциальная структура населения Петербурга, вторая половина XIX - нач. XX в.: Стат. анализ. Л., 1984
Иванов В. А. Операция "Бывшие люди" в Ленинграде (февр.-март 1935 г.) // Новый часовой, 1998 Civil Servants
Military Personnel
Germans
Poles
Assembly of Nobility