Olga Solodyankina (Cherepovets, Russia)

Charity Societies, Supporting Governesses in the Russian Empire

Home education and upbringing was rather popular in the noble and middle class families in Russia from the beginning of the XVIII century to the revolution of 1917. Thus from the last third of the XVIII century to the middle of the XIX century there was home education boom in the country. There were a great number of men and women who worked as tutors, or governors/ governesses but women definitely dominated in this profession in the Russian empire. Gender difference was obvious in this occupation as well as in practically all others. Men could change their profession easily: one day they were druggists, the other day - booksellers, tutors, cooks or musicians. As for women there were almost no variants of professional choice, and if a man could change his occupation, a woman, in most cases, had to work as a governess till the end of her life. Young educated man (for example, from Switzerland) could choose the profession of a tutor in order to see the world. He could live during some years in a middle class Russian family (and in a case of fortune, in aristocratic family, who spent winter in Petersburg, and summer - in numerous manors in different parts of the country, who traveled abroad for a long trip to Paris, German resorts area or Italy). After some years, having earned the definite sum of money, a man came back home as a pastor, university professor, lawyer or somebody else. As for a young girl, if she became a governess, prospects of marriage for her practically disappeared, and in fact at that time the marriage was considered as main women’s vital strategy.

Due to different reasons Russian parents preferred young men as tutors and elderly women as governesses. As a result, rather old and sick governesses who were not able to carry out their duties, became deprived part of the society, and first of all it was a great problem for women, but not for men – former tutors. Usually aged governesses were not only very poor, but seriously ill. According to the law of 1853, aged governesses could receive state pensions only if they confirmed their poverty.

Another problem for governesses was the problem of place to live between their engagements. Where should a governess live when she finished her service at the former place, but had not yet found a new place of service in a private house? A man could live alone, and it was normal, but what could people say about lonely woman living without elder woman, without brother or other relatives, without servant? It was simply indecent, and for a governess as a person obliged to think of her reputation, it was fatally dangerous. In such cases she could lose her prospective for future work.

The charity societies were created on a wave of reforms in the Russian empire in 1860 – 1870-s, and their aim was to provide the minimum of protection to governesses as deprived category of the population. Governesses’ Mutual Assurance Society was founded in 1866 in Moscow; in Petersburg in 1866-1870 there was a Philanthropic Governesses’ Benevolent Society. Societies based on the idea of mutual aid were short-lived and unsuccessful. The Moscow-based Governesses’ Benevolent Society was founded in 1870. Among trustees and Managing Directors there were well-known persons. The positions of treasurer and managers were occupied by men. The society offered temporary housing to unemployed governesses, a registration of governesses seeking employment; they had a library and pedagogical museum, cheap apartments, the shelter for aged governesses. However this society could only help to some governesses: they had to enter the society and make payments for some years before they received the right to be granted in difficult situation. Some years later this society opened a boarding house for governesses. By January, 1st, 1897 there were 1176 members in the Society, including 722 valid members and 420 candidates to become full members; the capital of the Society was more than 140000 roubles.

The Petersburg-based Intelligent Female-toilers’ Benevolent Society was founded in 1901. Its purpose was to assist aged governesses, home teachers who were «not able to earn money for living because of old age or illnesses». The rank of an honorary member was given to the persons paying large capital, the rank of a valid member - to the persons paying 5 roubles per year or 100 roubles flat. The honorary member of the Society became Princess Evgeniya Oldenburgskaya, the member of the Emperor’s family. Her name should be attractive for sponsors. But in reality the annual budget of the society in 1903 was about 600 roubles. It was enough for 4 rooms in the house only with cheap apartments. Next year the budget exceeded 1000 roubles, due to 300 roubles from the St.-Petersburg merchant assembly, and the society was able to rent one more room for two persons. In 1907 the society received some money from performance (158 roubles), from a home lottery (214 roubles), from lectures (53 roubles), from charity-box (142 roubles); membership dues from full members were 575 roubles. Then General N.P. Fedorov gave 1000 roubles to the society, and this sum was enough to increase the number of supported persons up to 10. In 1913 the society supported 13 women. Among them there were teachers of music and the French language, one home teacher, the governess, employees of a clinic for insane persons, a telegrapher. Additionally 4 women received constant allowances.

To attract money Societies applied different ways: student's balls, concerts, sales of colors («day of a daisy»).

Foreigners began to do something for their compatriots much earlier. Different measures of help to governesses were undertaken by friendly association and charitable societies, founded by the Germans, British, French and Swiss who lived in Russia. Usually such societies were connected with churches (Catholic and Lutheran ones).

The Lutheran church created in Petersburg in 1875 «Evangelic city mission» which supported about twenty charity institutions among which there were a refuge for prostitutes, doss- house for apprentices, «the House of seamen», three shelters for governesses. Heads of the organization saw their task both in financial help and in care of morals. The whole army of volunteers (members of the society prepared by skilled instructors especially invited from Germany), carried out a role of spiritual pastors, preaching in hospitals, almshouses, prisons, among soldiers and sailors, inhabitants of the city’s "bottom" in aspiration to return to the church everyone who had kept away from the church, «having run in defect and poverty ». In 1881 the similar organization - « the Evangelic missionary society » - appeared in Moscow.

The Swiss charity society was created at the Reformed church in St.-Petersburg in 1814, in 1890 they opened in Petersburg the Swiss shelter where old governesses and governesses without work could live. The shelter was placed in the house on 16 lines of Vasilevskii island. In 1902 there 76 governesses and 9 elderly Swiss women lived; in 1910 - 11 women at the age of 60 and more, and also within a year about 70 persons (men and women), who lived when they tried to find job (it took from one to two months).

In 1870-s years the Society of mutual assistance of Swiss people appeared in St.-Petersburg in addition to the Swiss charity society. The primary goal of the Society was to help compatriots: free-of-charge visiting of the doctor, free medicines, allowances during illness. The annual payment to the Society was 12 roubles for men and 6 roubles for women. In 1886 the Society opened the shelter for the governesses, it was situated on Pokrovskaya square (Turgenev’s square /Sadovaya Street, 107). The shelter was sponsored by the widow of the chocolate manufacturer S. Konradi, and it was placed in the chocolate factory of M. Конради. 14 governesses lived there.

The Catholic Charity Society was created in Petersburg in 1884, in 1890 they opened the boarding house of governesses.

So we see, there were different ways of rendering assistance, including general methods for different categories of deprived persons (hiring of cheap apartments, arranging of boarding houses, mutual aid of people of different occupations, cash departments of mutual aid) and specific, focused on governesses activity (a recommendatory office, a pedagogical museum, a library).

Many societies were organized under the initiative of clergymen, and their success was connected with the status of the church in the Russian empire (It was much easier for Protestant organizations to establish such societies in comparison with the Catholic ones).

The Russian society of the second half of the XIX century discussed "women's issue" roughly, and the destiny of female workers (including governesses) was a great interest to the public. However the interest to governesses’ destiny was not long-lived, and all attempts to create specialized magazines to discuss their professional problems, quickly came to an end (in 1862 magazine "Governess" in Petersburg had only 6 issues and finished its existence).

Nevertheless, charity societies became the institutes of a formed civil society at the second half of the XIX century in Russia.