Розвиток біржової справи України другої половини ХІХ ст. у творчості письменника Шолома-Алейхема

Abstract

The article presents an analysis of the views of the famous Ukrainian writer of Jewish origin Sholom-Aleichem (1859–1916) on the development of the stock exchange business of Ukraine in the second half of the 19th century. The creativity of this writer allows to consider in the most detail various aspects of this issue, to identify negative and positive aspects of the functioning of stock exchange institutions on Ukrainian lands under the authority of the Russian Empire. It is noted that the writer had unsuccessful experience on the exchanges of the country. In 1909 he published the book "Menachem-Mendl," in which he analyzed his experience of stock exchange work. The book is built in the form of letters to the wife of the main character of the book, the prostate and the stock novice Menachem-Mendl. During his short-term stock exchange career, the hero of the book managed to work in various positions in the leading stock exchange institutions of Ukraine, in particular, in Odessa and Kiev. However, despite all efforts, all his attempts to get rich were not justified. The unfortunate fate of Menachem-Mendl described in the novel makes it possible to assess the inner world of the exchange, an unofficial part of its activities, which is impossible to do by analyzing other types of sources. The text presents the professional slang used by the participants of the exchange trades, ways to conclude informal agreements and establish commercial contacts, which existed in Odessa and Kiev. The "world of cafe-shantans," where the "real" stock exchange activity took place, is shown in detail. Sholom-Aleichem created, above all, a literary work in which he described his life experience in satirical form. He did not set himself the task to cover in detail and objectively the activities of the leading stock exchange institutions of Ukraine. This somewhat reduces the scientific value of the source and requires it to be considered only in conjunction with other documentary materials, which in turn allows for an objective consideration of the issue under study.