ELITE ALE BURGHEZIEI BASARABENE: NEGUSTORII DE GHILDĂ ANGROSIŞTI DIN CHIŞINĂU (1812-1868)

Abstract

In the given article, based on the published monographic literature and unpublished ar chival sources, the author makes a brief description of the “elite” concept and by the examining the Jewish, Armenian and Greek wholesale merchants raise the issue of the commercial elite of Chisinau, which was formed shortly after the annexation of Bessarabia to the Russian Empire in 1812. The author states that the genesis and evolution of Bessarabian bourgeoisie in general, and the commercial-industrial in particular, was influenced by multiple factors, both econo mic and political, both internal and external. A special place in this respect belongs to the immigration of alien merchants to Bessarabia – Armenians, Greek, Jews, Bulgarians, and those from the interior provinces of Russia, many of whom settled in the province for per manent residence, filling the ranks of the commercial bourgeoisie of Bessarabia as a conse quence of national-commercial policy promoted by the imperial government in the newly annexed territory. Based on the example of allogeneic merchants, but also on the history of Panteleimon Sinadino – the Greek merchant of the first guild from Chisinau, whose commer cial capital reached in the 1830-ies the value of 2 million rubles, the authors analyze the pro cess of establishment of commercial bourgeoisie in Chisinau. The author notes that after application in Bessarabia, starting from 1831, of guild struc ture, there is a continuous movement “up” and “down” on the artificial line separating this so cial state – representatives of the second or third merchant guild, enlisted into the category of first guild merchant and merchants of first guild transfer into second or third guild, and ruined merchants enlisted even into the category of petty bourgeoisie. Possibilities to join this social group, both from the elite “top” (from among aristocratic elements or semi-aristocratic – although their number was quite small) and from the “bottom” (from among inferior ele ments – particularly craftsmen and peasants) will grow continuously, becoming real with the strengthening of economic, social and political development of this social category. Moreover, adapting to the new development trends generated by modernization tendencies of social rela tions and influenced by generic factors – economic, demographic, social and political, the elite of the commercial bourgeoisie from Chisinau, in the process of evolution will be quite active, encompassing and, at the same time, rejecting more and more components. As a result, the elite of commercial bourgeoisie in Bessarabia did not form a homogenous whole, neither from the point of view of composition, nor of the sphere of activity and values and way of life. Along with the wholesaler rich commercial bourgeoisie, of the first and second guild, that, in fact, constituted the elite segment of the commercial bourgeoisie in Chisinau, often we can observe small commercial bourgeoisie – of the third guild, much poorer and weaker