Alexey Kharuzin
Encyclopedia
Alexey Nikolayevich Kharuzin ' onMouseout='HidePop("50190")' href="/topics/Tallinn">Reval
– May 8, 1932, Moscow
) was a Russian
ethnographer, anthropologist, and statesman.
Kharuzin was born in Reval (present-day Tallinn
, Estonia
) to a Russian merchant family. Between 1873 and 1883, he attended the Reval Gymnasium. He later graduated from the Moscow State University Faculty of Physics and Mathematics
. The Imperial Natural Science Lovers Society (INSLS) sent him on numerous missions to the South Caucasus
, Crimea
and the Aegean Sea
, and Central Asia
. In 1889, he became a Russian Geographical Society
envoy to Bosnia and Herzegovina
. Between 1889 and 1891, Kharuzin was an editor of the INSLS Department of Anthropology Journal.
In 1891, Kharuzin was appointed a special assistant to the governor of Estonia
and later as a secretary for the former peasant committee, the provincial statistics committee, the provincial body for peasant affairs. In 1902, he was appointed head of the Vilno Governor General's office.
Between 1904 and 1906, Kharuzin served as a governor of Bessarabia
and later as the director of the Department for Religious Affairs of Foreign Faiths. In 1911, he became Russia's Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs.
Unlike many high-ranking Russian statesmen, Kharuzin did not choose to immigrate after the October Revolution
of 1917. He worked at the Shatilov agricultural base which he helped establish near Tver
. In 1924, he returned to Moscow where he was hired as a gardening teacher at the Agricultural Polytechnicum.
In 1927, Kharuzin was arrested by the State Political Directorate
, only to be released soon without any charges. In 1931, he was arrested for the second time together with his son Vsevolod for allegedly "spreading Anti-Soviet
propaganda." On April 3, 1932, the Special Council of the NKVD
found him guilty of the charge and sentenced him to three years in exile. A month later, Kharuzin died in the Butyrka prison
from heart failure.
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
– May 8, 1932, Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
) was a Russian
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
ethnographer, anthropologist, and statesman.
Kharuzin was born in Reval (present-day Tallinn
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
, Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
) to a Russian merchant family. Between 1873 and 1883, he attended the Reval Gymnasium. He later graduated from the Moscow State University Faculty of Physics and Mathematics
MSU Faculty of Physics
The Faculty of Physics of Moscow State University is the largest faculty of Moscow State University.-Nobel winners:*Igor Tamm *Ilya Frank *Lev Davidovich Landau...
. The Imperial Natural Science Lovers Society (INSLS) sent him on numerous missions to the South Caucasus
South Caucasus
The South Caucasus is a geopolitical region located on the border of Eastern Europe and Southwest Asia also referred to as Transcaucasia, or The Trans-Caucasus...
, Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
and the Aegean Sea
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
, and Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
. In 1889, he became a Russian Geographical Society
Russian Geographical Society
The Russian Geographical Society is a learned society, founded on 6 August 1845 in Saint Petersburg, Russia.-Imperial Geographical Society:Prior to the Russian Revolution of 1917, it was known as the Imperial Russian Geographical Society....
envoy to Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
. Between 1889 and 1891, Kharuzin was an editor of the INSLS Department of Anthropology Journal.
In 1891, Kharuzin was appointed a special assistant to the governor of Estonia
Governorate of Estonia
The Governorate of Estonia or Estland, also known as the Government of Estonia or Province of Estonia, was a governorate of the Russian Empire in what is now northern Estonia.-Historical overview:...
and later as a secretary for the former peasant committee, the provincial statistics committee, the provincial body for peasant affairs. In 1902, he was appointed head of the Vilno Governor General's office.
Between 1904 and 1906, Kharuzin served as a governor of Bessarabia
Bessarabia Governorate
Bessarabia was an oblast and later a guberniya in the Russian Empire. It was the eastern part of the Principality of Moldavia annexed by Russia by the Treaty of Bucharest following the Russo-Turkish War, 1806-1812...
and later as the director of the Department for Religious Affairs of Foreign Faiths. In 1911, he became Russia's Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs.
Unlike many high-ranking Russian statesmen, Kharuzin did not choose to immigrate after the October Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
of 1917. He worked at the Shatilov agricultural base which he helped establish near Tver
Tver
Tver is a city and the administrative center of Tver Oblast, Russia. Population: 403,726 ; 408,903 ;...
. In 1924, he returned to Moscow where he was hired as a gardening teacher at the Agricultural Polytechnicum.
In 1927, Kharuzin was arrested by the State Political Directorate
State Political Directorate
The State Political Directorate was the secret police of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1934...
, only to be released soon without any charges. In 1931, he was arrested for the second time together with his son Vsevolod for allegedly "spreading Anti-Soviet
Anti-Sovietism
Anti-Sovietism and Anti-Soviet refer to persons and activities actually or allegedly aimed against the Soviet Union or government power within the Soviet Union.Three different flavors of the usage of the term may be distinguished....
propaganda." On April 3, 1932, the Special Council of the NKVD
Special Council of the NKVD
Special Council of the USSR NKVD was created by the same decree of Sovnarkom of July 10, 1934 that introduced the NKVD itself. By the decree, the Special Council was endowed with the rights to apply punishments "by administrative means," i.e., without trial...
found him guilty of the charge and sentenced him to three years in exile. A month later, Kharuzin died in the Butyrka prison
Butyrka prison
Butyrka prison was the central transit prison in pre-Revolutionary Russia, located in Moscow.The first references to Butyrka prison may be traced back to the 17th century. The present prison building was erected in 1879 near the Butyrsk gate on the site of a prison-fortress which had been built...
from heart failure.