ИЗ ИСТОРИИ СТАНОВЛЕНИЯ И РАЗВИТИЯ БЛАГОТВОРИТЕЛЬНОЙ ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТИ В РОССИИ

Abstract

This article is about the charity and patronage in Russia, its formation process and essential features. It provides a retrospective analysis of the two main stages in the formation of the patronage movement and gives examples of charity of the royal family, Russian nobility, merchants, and princes. The enormous role of patronage in the development of Russian culture and the inextricable connection with the beginning of the spiritual life of the Russian person, which is inextricably linked with the traditions of charity, is noted. The authors consider relations of the Imperial Philanthropic Society and a private charitable institution – the Poor Visitation Society, founded in 1846 in St. Petersburg. On the basis of the office materials contained in the fund of the Imperial Philanthropic Society, periodical press data and memoirs they study the reasons for the inclusion of the voluntarily founded the Poor Visitation Society into the Philanthropic one also they analyze the assigned to it powers and duties before the Council of the Imperial Philanthropic Society and the relationship that developed between the members of the two institutions. Attention is also paid to the reasons that made the Government fear the activities of private individuals in helping the poor and it had to establish control over the voluntary initiative, and the ways in which the state influenced the charitable activities carried out by private individuals, for example, the work of the Poor Visitation Society. The study of the relationship established between the members of the Poor Visitation Society and the Council of the Imperial Philanthropic Society in 1848-1855, during which the Poor Visitation Society operated in a position accountable to the Philanthropic Society, allows us to determine the general trend of state policy towards private initiative in the field of charity in the second quarter – the middle of the 19th century. The article reports on the current state and significance of patronage in the Russian Federation defining the three of the most famous charitable foundations of Russia and their contribution to modern patronage and charity