Nikolay Alekseyev
Encyclopedia
Nikolay Aleksandrovich Alekseyev ' onMouseout='HidePop("13674")' href="/topics/Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">OS
13), 1893) was the elected mayor of Moscow
in 1885–1893. Alekseyev is credited with construction of the city's first sanitation
system, the first pressurized water supply network
reaching individual houses, a psychiatric hospital
and 30 new public schools. Alekseyev reorganized the city finances, significantly increasing the share of non-tax revenue
from city-owned commercial ventures, and was known for unorthodox and successful fundraising
campaigns for the municipal charities. Alekseyev was a long-time sponsor of Moscow Conservatory
and local musicians; during his tenure the city acquired the Tretyakov Gallery
.
Alekseyev was shot in his office by an insane visitor. He remains the only mayor of Moscow to be assassinated.
. The area was a traditional Old Believers
community, however, Alekseyevs were mainstream Orthodox
. Their main asset in Moscow, a copper
foundry
with wire-making plant, was placed one block to the north from the family mansion. The family was connected through marriages to Tretyakov, Mamontov, Chetverikov business clams, the Sheremetev
s and the Greek diaspora. A distant relative, Alexander Vasilyevich Alekseyev, has served as the mayor of Moscow in 1840–1841, although then the mayor's role was far less significant than in 1880s.
Alekseyev's mother was an ethnic Greek
; Boris Chicherin
, mayor of Moscow in 1882–1885, said that "Alekseyev's character merged cunning and refinement of a Greek with the arrogance of a Russian" . Actor and theater director Konstantin Stanislavsky, also born Alekseyev, was Nikolay's cousin; he chose a different stage name to disassociate the family from his theatrical endeavours.
musical circles. A close friend of Nikolay Rubinstein
, Alekseyev co-financed Moscow Conservatory
and independent Moscow Opera together with his older mentor Sergey Tretyakov (mayor of Moscow in 1876–1882) and frequently acted as a manager for musicians. At the same time, Alekseyev in his twenties managed the textile
assets of the family and was responsible for retooling the factories with modern machinery and technologies. His proactive, assertive attitudes were not always welcomed by Moscow elite; influential banker and philantropist, head of Moscow commodity exchange Nikolay Naidenov remained outspokenly hostile to Alekseyev throughout his life.
This exposure to real-life business problems eventually led Alekseyev to seek public office. In 1880 he was elected to Moscow Governorate
Duma, in 1881 to the Moscow City Duma; as the member of Duma he participated in various municipal activities from the school board to the coronation of Alexander III
(1883).
were eligible to vote; however, to dilute the share of small homeowners, the eligible voters were split into three unequal groups based on their tax assessment. In the 1880s these groups numbered 2–3, 5–6 and 12–15 thousand voters for a population of 753 thousand. Each group elected 60 representatives to the City Duma. 180 members of the Duma elected the Mayor who, ex officio, presided over the Duma sessions. Boris Chicherin
described the members of the Duma as "absent nobles, indifferent merchants and arrogant democracy". The latter group consisted of uneducated petty traders, laborers and farmers, and was known as the black hundred. Savvy beyond reasonable limit, the black hundred regularly blocked legitimate municipal projects as too expensive or unnecessary.
The number of candidates at the Duma election was unlimited; election by list
voting with black and white balls was time-consuming, causing voter absenteeism. Contemporaries estimated that only 3 to 6% of less than 20 thousand eligible voters showed up at the 1880 elections. Politics were dominated by around 300 wealthy families, many of them parts of historical business clans. In 1885, Alekseyev, then only 32 years old, succeeded in bringing the sleeper voters to the elections, thus reducing the weight of black hundred and easily winning the mayoral ballot in November. He succeeded in shaping up a loyal majority coalition; balancing between a strongman administration and continuous mediation of the rivalling clans, Alekseyev managed to maintain support for his initiatives in the Duma and among the business circles.
. The building, erected in 1815 by Joseph Bove
, was torn down in 1889 and replaced with the new Upper Trade Rows, designed by Alexander Pomerantsev
, in 1890–1893. In 1890 he launched construction of a new Duma building
on the nearby Voskresenskaya Square; the project was criticized for its outward pseudo-Russian
style and cost overruns.
Moscow of 1885 had no sanitation
and no water supply network
in present sense: water flowed from Mytishchi
in the open trench of the Rostokino Aqueduct
and was distributed to a limited number of fountain
s on the central squares. In 1870s the city built three local water networks of inadequate capacity that were abandoned by 1885. After long disputes between supporters of municipal and private water supply, in 1888 the city settled on building a single pressurized water system. Key element of the system – two tower-like water reservoirs near present-day Rizhsky Rail Terminal
– were partially financed with Alekseyev's personal funds. The main distribution pipeline, 108 verst
s long, was completed during Alekseyev's tenure in 1892. In 1896 the system reached individual houses along the Garden Ring and in 1912 the city was able to require mandatory hookup to running water for all new buildings within the city limits.
In 1886–1889 Alekseyev sponsored detailed feasibility study of various sewage
system layout. The modular plan, adopted in 1889, divided the city into practically independent parts (central and peripheral), making a provision for subsequent expansion of the city. The project was delayed by budget constraints; in 1892 the city raised money through a 49-year loan. The first 37 verst
s of large-bore sewage pipes were operational in 1894, half a year since Alekseyev's death; by the end of 1895 half of the system was complete and the city laid out its first sewage treatment
facility.
Alekseyev supervised construction of a large municipal slaughterhouse
placed beyond the city limits (present-day Mikoyan meat-processing plant); with its completion all inner city slaughterhouses were shut down.
Alekseyev, personally attached to the fate of the mentally sick, called for construction of a new psychiatric hospital
in 1889; existing psychiatric hospital in Preobrazhenskoe, built before the war of 1812, was inadequate for the growing city. Alekseyev personally rallied wealthy muscovites for donations, his fundraising antics became a source of anecdotes. Nevertheless, he raised enough money to finance the first stage of the hospital which opened in 1894. Contemporary studies of Moscow charities assert that Alekseyev's efforts radically changed the pattern of business donations to the charities; they became a standard of business practice and continued to grow for two decades after his death.
In seven and half years of Alekseyev's tenure Moscow acquired 30 new schools, its first asphalt
pavement, first permanent electrical power plant (1888), unified tram system (1891) and the Tretyakov Gallery
(1892).
Constrained with political connections, Alekseyev was reluctant to increase taxes; property taxes grew proportionate to city expansion, while the business tax rates decreased (collection remained at the same nominal amount despite rapid growth of the economy).
The city arranged for its first public loan in 1882; in 1886 Alekseyev diverted the proceeds to build the municipal slaughterhouse. He was reluctant to borrow more due to the Duma opposition against loans; the first major loan of this tenure was approved in 1892 to finance sewage system.
, appointed Governor of Moscow in February 1891, initiated a royal order for deportation of Jews
from the city into the Pale of Settlement
. The decree directly affected nearly half of estimated 20 thousands Moscow Jews, even including retired soldiers. According to the Western sources, Alekseyev supported the deportation and provided the city resources to the police action managed by the Grand Duke. The operation continued at the time of Alekseyev's death and installed "an eternal hatred for him among the Russian-Jewish diaspora." S. M. Dubnow, author of "History of Jews in Poland and Russia" (1918) even branded Alekseyev "an ignorant merchant with a shady reputation", and alleged that his efforts were motivated by rivalry with Jewish banker Lazar Polyakov
(incorrectly described as the owner of a "rural bank").
On the contrary, Alekseyev sided with prime minister Witte
in his campaign in support of Bukharan Jews
. This may be explained by long-standing ties between Moscow textile industry and the Central Asian cotton
traders (including Bukharan Jews).
9), 1893, a man named Andrianov fatally shot the mayor in his City Hall study. Early reports called the shooter a nihilist
, but he was later attested to be insane. After four days of agony, Alekseyev died on March 25 (OS 13). Shortly before his death he instructed his wife to pledge 300,000 roubles of their personal wealth to the completion of the psychiatric hospital; the wish was fulfilled, and the hospital, inaugurated in 1894, was named in Alekseyev's honour.
His funeral at Novospassky Monastery
cemetery was attended by 200 thousand mourners. The cemetery was destroyed in 1930s, and the site of his grave was lost.
Alekseyev's achievements and charismatic personality became a yardstick for evaluation of municipal officers until World War I
. His immediate successor, Konstantin Rukavishnikov, completed the projects launched by Alekseyev and got rid of budget deficit, but lost the 1897 reelection to the public opinion of "not matching his too splendid forerunner".
The city remained divided into pro-Alekseyev and anti-Alekseyev factions; his memories were frequently invoked by politicians for support of their own and for denigration of their opponents' initiatives.
Old Style and New Style dates
Old Style and New Style are used in English language historical studies either to indicate that the start of the Julian year has been adjusted to start on 1 January even though documents written at the time use a different start of year ; or to indicate that a date conforms to the Julian...
13), 1893) was the elected mayor of 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...
in 1885–1893. Alekseyev is credited with construction of the city's first sanitation
Sanitation
Sanitation is the hygienic means of promoting health through prevention of human contact with the hazards of wastes. Hazards can be either physical, microbiological, biological or chemical agents of disease. Wastes that can cause health problems are human and animal feces, solid wastes, domestic...
system, the first pressurized water supply network
Water supply network
A water supply system or water supply network is a system of engineered hydrologic and hydraulic components which provide water supply. A water supply system typically includes:# A drainage basin ;...
reaching individual houses, a psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, are hospitals specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialise only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients...
and 30 new public schools. Alekseyev reorganized the city finances, significantly increasing the share of non-tax revenue
Non-tax revenue
Non-tax revenue or non-tax receipts are government revenue not generated from taxes. Examples include:* Aid from another level of government - for example, in the United States, federal grants may be considered non-tax revenue to the receiving states, and equalization payments* Aid from abroad *...
from city-owned commercial ventures, and was known for unorthodox and successful fundraising
Fundraising
Fundraising or fund raising is the process of soliciting and gathering voluntary contributions as money or other resources, by requesting donations from individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies...
campaigns for the municipal charities. Alekseyev was a long-time sponsor of Moscow Conservatory
Moscow Conservatory
The Moscow Conservatory is a higher musical education institution in Moscow, and the second oldest conservatory in Russia after St. Petersburg Conservatory. Along with the St...
and local musicians; during his tenure the city acquired the Tretyakov Gallery
Tretyakov Gallery
The State Tretyakov Gallery is an art gallery in Moscow, Russia, the foremost depository of Russian fine art in the world.The gallery's history starts in 1856 when the Moscow merchant Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov acquired works by Russian artists of his day with the aim of creating a collection,...
.
Alekseyev was shot in his office by an insane visitor. He remains the only mayor of Moscow to be assassinated.
Family roots
Nikolay Alekseyev belonged to the fourth generation of an old and wealthy family of traders and industrialists that settled in Alekseyevskaya Street (no direct connection) of Tagansky District after the Fire of 1812Fire of Moscow (1812)
The 1812 Fire of Moscow broke out on September 14, 1812 in Moscow on the day when Russian troops and most residents abandoned the city and Napoleon's vanguard troops entered the city following the Battle of Borodino...
. The area was a traditional Old Believers
Old Believers
In the context of Russian Orthodox church history, the Old Believers separated after 1666 from the official Russian Orthodox Church as a protest against church reforms introduced by Patriarch Nikon between 1652–66...
community, however, Alekseyevs were mainstream Orthodox
Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...
. Their main asset in Moscow, a copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
foundry
Foundry
A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal in a mold, and removing the mold material or casting after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals processed are aluminum and cast iron...
with wire-making plant, was placed one block to the north from the family mansion. The family was connected through marriages to Tretyakov, Mamontov, Chetverikov business clams, the Sheremetev
Sheremetev
The Sheremetev family was one of the wealthiest and most influential noble families of Russia.The family held many high commanding ranks in the Russian military, governorships and eventually the rank of Count of the Russian Empire...
s and the Greek diaspora. A distant relative, Alexander Vasilyevich Alekseyev, has served as the mayor of Moscow in 1840–1841, although then the mayor's role was far less significant than in 1880s.
Alekseyev's mother was an ethnic Greek
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
; Boris Chicherin
Boris Chicherin
Boris Nikolayevich Chicherin was a Russian jurist and political philosopher, who worked out a theory that Russia needed a strong, authoritative government to persevere with liberal reforms...
, mayor of Moscow in 1882–1885, said that "Alekseyev's character merged cunning and refinement of a Greek with the arrogance of a Russian" . Actor and theater director Konstantin Stanislavsky, also born Alekseyev, was Nikolay's cousin; he chose a different stage name to disassociate the family from his theatrical endeavours.
Early years
Nikolay was home schooled, spoke three foreign languages, but never attended university or received any formal qualification. Like his cousin Konstantin, he leaned to the performing arts, spending his youth in the bohemianBohemianism
Bohemianism is the practice of an unconventional lifestyle, often in the company of like-minded people, with few permanent ties, involving musical, artistic or literary pursuits...
musical circles. A close friend of Nikolay Rubinstein
Nikolai Grigoryevich Rubinstein
Nikolai Grigoryevich Rubinstein was a Russian pianist, conductor and composer. He was the younger brother of Anton Rubinstein and a close friend of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.-Life:...
, Alekseyev co-financed Moscow Conservatory
Moscow Conservatory
The Moscow Conservatory is a higher musical education institution in Moscow, and the second oldest conservatory in Russia after St. Petersburg Conservatory. Along with the St...
and independent Moscow Opera together with his older mentor Sergey Tretyakov (mayor of Moscow in 1876–1882) and frequently acted as a manager for musicians. At the same time, Alekseyev in his twenties managed the textile
Textile
A textile or cloth is a flexible woven material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, or other material to produce long strands...
assets of the family and was responsible for retooling the factories with modern machinery and technologies. His proactive, assertive attitudes were not always welcomed by Moscow elite; influential banker and philantropist, head of Moscow commodity exchange Nikolay Naidenov remained outspokenly hostile to Alekseyev throughout his life.
This exposure to real-life business problems eventually led Alekseyev to seek public office. In 1880 he was elected to Moscow Governorate
Moscow Governorate
Moscow Governorate , or Government of Moscow, was an administrative division of the Russian Empire, which existed in 1708–1929....
Duma, in 1881 to the Moscow City Duma; as the member of Duma he participated in various municipal activities from the school board to the coronation of Alexander III
Alexander III of Russia
Alexander Alexandrovich Romanov , historically remembered as Alexander III or Alexander the Peacemaker reigned as Emperor of Russia from until his death on .-Disposition:...
(1883).
1885 election
The municipal election of 1885 was regulated by the City Statute of 1870. According to the law, all payers of property taxProperty tax
A property tax is an ad valorem levy on the value of property that the owner is required to pay. The tax is levied by the governing authority of the jurisdiction in which the property is located; it may be paid to a national government, a federated state or a municipality...
were eligible to vote; however, to dilute the share of small homeowners, the eligible voters were split into three unequal groups based on their tax assessment. In the 1880s these groups numbered 2–3, 5–6 and 12–15 thousand voters for a population of 753 thousand. Each group elected 60 representatives to the City Duma. 180 members of the Duma elected the Mayor who, ex officio, presided over the Duma sessions. Boris Chicherin
Boris Chicherin
Boris Nikolayevich Chicherin was a Russian jurist and political philosopher, who worked out a theory that Russia needed a strong, authoritative government to persevere with liberal reforms...
described the members of the Duma as "absent nobles, indifferent merchants and arrogant democracy". The latter group consisted of uneducated petty traders, laborers and farmers, and was known as the black hundred. Savvy beyond reasonable limit, the black hundred regularly blocked legitimate municipal projects as too expensive or unnecessary.
The number of candidates at the Duma election was unlimited; election by list
Election by list
An election by list is a system of election of political representatives by which the electors of an area vote for lists of candidates. If the system is an election by majority , the list that win get all the representatives for that area...
voting with black and white balls was time-consuming, causing voter absenteeism. Contemporaries estimated that only 3 to 6% of less than 20 thousand eligible voters showed up at the 1880 elections. Politics were dominated by around 300 wealthy families, many of them parts of historical business clans. In 1885, Alekseyev, then only 32 years old, succeeded in bringing the sleeper voters to the elections, thus reducing the weight of black hundred and easily winning the mayoral ballot in November. He succeeded in shaping up a loyal majority coalition; balancing between a strongman administration and continuous mediation of the rivalling clans, Alekseyev managed to maintain support for his initiatives in the Duma and among the business circles.
Municipal projects
Alekseyev started his tenure with the controversial shutdown of the Upper Trade Rows on the Red SquareRed Square
Red Square is a city square in Moscow, Russia. The square separates the Kremlin, the former royal citadel and currently the official residence of the President of Russia, from a historic merchant quarter known as Kitai-gorod...
. The building, erected in 1815 by Joseph Bove
Joseph Bové
Joseph Bové was a Russian neoclassical architect with Italian roots who supervised reconstruction of Moscow after the Fire of 1812.-Biography:...
, was torn down in 1889 and replaced with the new Upper Trade Rows, designed by Alexander Pomerantsev
Alexander Pomerantsev
Alexander Nikanorovich Pomerantsev was a Russian architect and educator responsible for some of the most ambitious architectural projects realized in Imperial Russia and Bulgaria at the turn of the 20th century...
, in 1890–1893. In 1890 he launched construction of a new Duma building
Moscow City Hall
The former Moscow City Hall is an ornate red-brick edifice situated immediately to the east of the State Historical Museum and notable in the history of architecture as a unique hybrid of the Russian Revival and Neo-Renaissance styles. During Soviet times it served as the V. I...
on the nearby Voskresenskaya Square; the project was criticized for its outward pseudo-Russian
Russian Revival
The Russian Revival style is the generic term for a number of different movements within Russian architecture that arose in second quarter of the 19th century and was an eclectic melding of pre-Peterine Russian architecture and elements of Byzantine architecture.The Russian Revival style arose...
style and cost overruns.
Moscow of 1885 had no sanitation
Sanitation
Sanitation is the hygienic means of promoting health through prevention of human contact with the hazards of wastes. Hazards can be either physical, microbiological, biological or chemical agents of disease. Wastes that can cause health problems are human and animal feces, solid wastes, domestic...
and no water supply network
Water supply network
A water supply system or water supply network is a system of engineered hydrologic and hydraulic components which provide water supply. A water supply system typically includes:# A drainage basin ;...
in present sense: water flowed from Mytishchi
Mytishchi
Mytishchi is a city and the administrative center of Mytishchinsky District of Moscow Oblast, Russia, which lies to the northeast of Russia's capital Moscow, on the Yauza River and the Moscow–Yaroslavl railroad. The city is the oblast's largest center for industry and education...
in the open trench of the Rostokino Aqueduct
Rostokino Aqueduct
Rostokino Aqueduct, also known as Millionny Bridge, is a stone aqueduct over Yauza river in Rostokino District of Moscow, Russia, built in 1780-1804. It is the only remaining aqueduct in Moscow, once a part of Mytishchi Water Supply, Moscow's first centralized water utility.-History:The aqueduct...
and was distributed to a limited number of fountain
Fountain
A fountain is a piece of architecture which pours water into a basin or jets it into the air either to supply drinking water or for decorative or dramatic effect....
s on the central squares. In 1870s the city built three local water networks of inadequate capacity that were abandoned by 1885. After long disputes between supporters of municipal and private water supply, in 1888 the city settled on building a single pressurized water system. Key element of the system – two tower-like water reservoirs near present-day Rizhsky Rail Terminal
Rizhsky Rail Terminal
Rizhsky Rail Terminal is one of the nine rail terminals in Moscow, Russia. It was built in 1901.-Long distance:-Other destinations:-Suburban destinations:...
– were partially financed with Alekseyev's personal funds. The main distribution pipeline, 108 verst
Verst
A verst or werst is an obsolete Russian unit of length. It is defined as being 500 sazhen long, which makes a verst equal to 1.0668 kilometres ....
s long, was completed during Alekseyev's tenure in 1892. In 1896 the system reached individual houses along the Garden Ring and in 1912 the city was able to require mandatory hookup to running water for all new buildings within the city limits.
In 1886–1889 Alekseyev sponsored detailed feasibility study of various sewage
Sewage
Sewage is water-carried waste, in solution or suspension, that is intended to be removed from a community. Also known as wastewater, it is more than 99% water and is characterized by volume or rate of flow, physical condition, chemical constituents and the bacteriological organisms that it contains...
system layout. The modular plan, adopted in 1889, divided the city into practically independent parts (central and peripheral), making a provision for subsequent expansion of the city. The project was delayed by budget constraints; in 1892 the city raised money through a 49-year loan. The first 37 verst
Verst
A verst or werst is an obsolete Russian unit of length. It is defined as being 500 sazhen long, which makes a verst equal to 1.0668 kilometres ....
s of large-bore sewage pipes were operational in 1894, half a year since Alekseyev's death; by the end of 1895 half of the system was complete and the city laid out its first sewage treatment
Sewage treatment
Sewage treatment, or domestic wastewater treatment, is the process of removing contaminants from wastewater and household sewage, both runoff and domestic. It includes physical, chemical, and biological processes to remove physical, chemical and biological contaminants...
facility.
Alekseyev supervised construction of a large municipal slaughterhouse
Slaughterhouse
A slaughterhouse or abattoir is a facility where animals are killed for consumption as food products.Approximately 45-50% of the animal can be turned into edible products...
placed beyond the city limits (present-day Mikoyan meat-processing plant); with its completion all inner city slaughterhouses were shut down.
Alekseyev, personally attached to the fate of the mentally sick, called for construction of a new psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, are hospitals specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialise only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients...
in 1889; existing psychiatric hospital in Preobrazhenskoe, built before the war of 1812, was inadequate for the growing city. Alekseyev personally rallied wealthy muscovites for donations, his fundraising antics became a source of anecdotes. Nevertheless, he raised enough money to finance the first stage of the hospital which opened in 1894. Contemporary studies of Moscow charities assert that Alekseyev's efforts radically changed the pattern of business donations to the charities; they became a standard of business practice and continued to grow for two decades after his death.
In seven and half years of Alekseyev's tenure Moscow acquired 30 new schools, its first asphalt
Asphalt
Asphalt or , also known as bitumen, is a sticky, black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid that is present in most crude petroleums and in some natural deposits, it is a substance classed as a pitch...
pavement, first permanent electrical power plant (1888), unified tram system (1891) and the Tretyakov Gallery
Tretyakov Gallery
The State Tretyakov Gallery is an art gallery in Moscow, Russia, the foremost depository of Russian fine art in the world.The gallery's history starts in 1856 when the Moscow merchant Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov acquired works by Russian artists of his day with the aim of creating a collection,...
(1892).
Municipal finance
Alekseyev's projects unbalanced the city budget, which operated at a significant deficit throughout the 1880s. He responded with investments into revenue-generating municipal enterprises. 1888, the year when the new central slaughterhouse became operational, is considered a breakthrough year: the city acquired its first large profitable asset. Income from city enterprises grew slowly but surely and by 1913 accounted for 55% of the city revenue.Constrained with political connections, Alekseyev was reluctant to increase taxes; property taxes grew proportionate to city expansion, while the business tax rates decreased (collection remained at the same nominal amount despite rapid growth of the economy).
| Moscow city budget, 000 roubles | 1887 | 1897 |
|---|---|---|
| Property taxes | |
|
| Business taxes | |
|
| Profit of municipal enterprizes | |
|
| Rental income | |
|
| Subsidies from central government | |
|
| Other income | |
|
| Total revenue | |
|
| Total spending | |
|
| Deficit | |
|
The city arranged for its first public loan in 1882; in 1886 Alekseyev diverted the proceeds to build the municipal slaughterhouse. He was reluctant to borrow more due to the Duma opposition against loans; the first major loan of this tenure was approved in 1892 to finance sewage system.
Relations with the Jews
Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of RussiaGrand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia
Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia was a son of Emperor Alexander II of Russia...
, appointed Governor of Moscow in February 1891, initiated a royal order for deportation of Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
from the city into the Pale of Settlement
Pale of Settlement
The Pale of Settlement was the term given to a region of Imperial Russia, in which permanent residency by Jews was allowed, and beyond which Jewish permanent residency was generally prohibited...
. The decree directly affected nearly half of estimated 20 thousands Moscow Jews, even including retired soldiers. According to the Western sources, Alekseyev supported the deportation and provided the city resources to the police action managed by the Grand Duke. The operation continued at the time of Alekseyev's death and installed "an eternal hatred for him among the Russian-Jewish diaspora." S. M. Dubnow, author of "History of Jews in Poland and Russia" (1918) even branded Alekseyev "an ignorant merchant with a shady reputation", and alleged that his efforts were motivated by rivalry with Jewish banker Lazar Polyakov
Lazar Polyakov
Lazar Polyakov was a Jewish–Russian entrepreneur. Polyakov founded his first bank in 1872 and by 1890s owned an influential financial group; he was informally named "Rothschild of Moscow"...
(incorrectly described as the owner of a "rural bank").
On the contrary, Alekseyev sided with prime minister Witte
Sergei Witte
Count Sergei Yulyevich Witte , also known as Sergius Witte, was a highly influential policy-maker who presided over extensive industrialization within the Russian Empire. He served under the last two emperors of Russia...
in his campaign in support of Bukharan Jews
Bukharan Jews
Bukharan Jews, also Bukharian Jews or Bukhari Jews, or яҳудиёни Бухоро Yahūdieni Bukhoro , Bukhori Hebrew Script: יהודיאני בוכאראי and יהודיאני בוכארי), also called the Binai Israel, are Jews from Central Asia who speak Bukhori, a dialect of the Tajik-Persian language...
. This may be explained by long-standing ties between Moscow textile industry and the Central Asian cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
traders (including Bukharan Jews).
Death and legacy
March 21 (OSOld Style and New Style dates
Old Style and New Style are used in English language historical studies either to indicate that the start of the Julian year has been adjusted to start on 1 January even though documents written at the time use a different start of year ; or to indicate that a date conforms to the Julian...
9), 1893, a man named Andrianov fatally shot the mayor in his City Hall study. Early reports called the shooter a nihilist
Nihilist movement
The Nihilist movement was a Russian movement in the 1860s which rejected all authorities. It is derived from the Latin word "nihil", which means "nothing"...
, but he was later attested to be insane. After four days of agony, Alekseyev died on March 25 (OS 13). Shortly before his death he instructed his wife to pledge 300,000 roubles of their personal wealth to the completion of the psychiatric hospital; the wish was fulfilled, and the hospital, inaugurated in 1894, was named in Alekseyev's honour.
His funeral at Novospassky Monastery
Novospassky Monastery
Novospassky Monastery is one of the fortified monasteries surrounding Moscow from south-east.It was the first monastery to be founded in Moscow in the early 14th century. The Saviour Church was its original katholikon...
cemetery was attended by 200 thousand mourners. The cemetery was destroyed in 1930s, and the site of his grave was lost.
Alekseyev's achievements and charismatic personality became a yardstick for evaluation of municipal officers until World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. His immediate successor, Konstantin Rukavishnikov, completed the projects launched by Alekseyev and got rid of budget deficit, but lost the 1897 reelection to the public opinion of "not matching his too splendid forerunner".
The city remained divided into pro-Alekseyev and anti-Alekseyev factions; his memories were frequently invoked by politicians for support of their own and for denigration of their opponents' initiatives.
See also
- Carter Harrison, Sr.Carter Harrison, Sr.Carter Henry Harrison, Sr. was an American politician who served as mayor of Chicago, Illinois from 1879 until 1887; he was subsequently elected to a fifth term in 1893 but was assassinated before completing his term. He previously served two terms in the United States House of Representatives...
, Carter Harrison, Jr.Carter Harrison, Jr.Carter Henry Harrison, Jr. served as Mayor of Chicago . The City's 30th mayor, he was the first actually born in Chicago....
and Seki Hajime — contemporary mayors of ChicagoChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
and OsakaOsakais a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
analyzed in the Blair A. Ruble book (see References) - Max Hoeppener — lead architect of municipal projects in Moscow during Alekseyev's tenure