A Study of Ya.D. Kazimirsky's Activities as a Gendarme Field Officer at the Gold Mines of Eastern Siberia

The aim of the article is a comprehensive analysis of the activities of Yakov Dmitrievich Kazimirsky, the first gendarme officer at the gold mines in Eastern Siberia. The relevance of this research is connected with the fact that the activities of the officers of the Corps of Gendarmes have not been sufficiently studied. This also applies to the gendarme supervision of the private gold mining industry in Siberia, which was carried out within the framework of the government policy. To achieve this aim, the following objectives were set: (1) to identify the circumstances of the appointment of Kazimirsky to the mentioned position; (2) to analyze the annual reports drawn up by Kazimirsky on the state of the gold mining industry in Eastern Siberia; (3) to determine the main issues in the reports and Kazimirsky's proposals for improving matters in the gold industry, to detect the proposals that were implemented; (4) to evaluate the effectiveness of Kazimirsky's work on the supervision of the private gold mining industry in Eastern Siberia. The research is based on the study of archival materials of "gendarme" funds of the State Archive of the Russian Federation and the Department of Mining Affairs of the Russian State Historical Archive. In the course of the research, the author came to the following conclusions. Kazimirsky's appointment as a gendarme officer at the gold mines in Eastern Siberia was associated with his almost 10-year service in Siberia and with the fact that he was in good standing with the gendarme authorities. Kazimirsky's annual reports on the state of the local gold mining industry evoked great interest among the gendarme, central and regional authorities. This interest was caused especially by the trustworthy nature of the information contained in these documents, which was collected by Kazimirsky during the annual tours around the gold mines. Kazimirsky constantly made suggestions for improving the state of gold mining. A special interdepartmental committee, which included Kazimirsky himself, was created to consider his proposals in 1844. Some of Kazimirsky's proposals were implemented in practice, such as the emergence of mining police officers at the gold mines; some measures were taken to protect the workers on their way out of the taiga after the end of the mining season. Over the 11 years of his service at the gold mines, Kazimirsky did not receive any complaints from his superiors, but only various kinds of encouragement, which testifies to his responsible performance of his duties. In conclusion, it is necessary to express a positive evaluation of Kazimirsky's activities, because, in addition to his proposals, for the 11 years of his service, there was a decrease in the number of workers' unrest at gold mines.

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