Charity work of Altai merchants in the second 155 half of the 19th - early 20th centuries

The article deals with the charity work of Altai merchants of the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries. The information sources for the article were reference books, first of all, encyclopedias, funds of the State Archive of Altai Krai - documents of the Barnaul Municipal Council, of the Barnaul Branch of the State Bank (customers' personal files), service lists of the Mines Department office workers who were engaged in commerce, periodicals. The author notes that merchants' charity work was determined by their religiosity, striving to gain rewards, including orders. The charity increase was influenced by an increase of the educational level of some merchants; in the main it concerns representatives of the second and third generations of merchants' families. There was a special group of merchants in the second half of the 19th century composed of retired office workers of the Mines Department. As a rule, they had higher or secondary education and were distinguished by a higher cultural level in comparison with the majority of guild merchants. First of all, they donated money to public education. I.K. Platonov and M.B. Prang set up schools for children of workers of their plants. Together with their wives, the merchants were members of the Board of Trustees for elementary education. N.A. Davidovich-Nashchinsky bought a house for a municipal trade school in Barnaul for his own money. A larger number of Altai business owners were guild merchants. Their social activity was positively influenced by the Municipal Reform of 1870. Working in public Municipal Councils, they were elected trustees of schools and trade schools, hospitals and libraries, which stimulated the financial support of the institutions. The author pays attention to another interesting aspect: donation for different purposes to not only their own, but also other towns or provinces of Siberia. So, the famous merchant from Irkutsk I.M. Sibiryakov gave a considerable sum of money to Barnaul, the merchant A.F. Morozov from Biysk donated money to Tomsk, Barnaul and Tobolsk provinces. Further the author points out that typical charities to which merchants gave money were the financial support of churches (construction and arrangement of temples and monasteries), public education and public health. Among the most generous benefactors in Altai were the Sukhovs, the Platonovs, Ye.I. Sudovskaya in Barnaul, the Morozovs, M.S. Sychev, N.I. Assanov, A.D. Vasenev in Biysk, S.E. Popov in Kuznetsk. On the whole, charity work of merchants had a positive effect on the situation in social and cultural spheres.

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