Павло Григорович Ріттер – редактор харківської газети “Утро” (1906–1909 рр.)

Abstract

The article addresses a little-known aspect of the public life of Pavlo Ritter, the lecturer at Kharkiv University and the prominent Orientalist-Indologist – namely, his service as editor of the Kharkiv newspaper Utro (Morning). This episode of the scholar’s biography is reconstructed on the basis of publications in local periodicals and documents of the Kharkiv Governor-General Office preserved at the State Archive of Kharkiv Region.Utro was one of the most influential Kharkiv periodicals of the early twentieth century, competing with The Kharkiv Provincial Gazette and Southern Land. From its founding, Utro continued the tradition of the Kharkiv cadet periodicals of 1905–1906, consistently promoting liberal-democratic views and criticizing reactionary policies of the government of the Russian Empire.Pavlo Ritter served as editor-in-chief of Utro from the moment the newspaper was founded in November 1906 and until April 1909, when he resigned due to ill health. 721 issues of newspaper were published under the editorship of P. Ritter (No. 1, November 21, 1906 – No. 721, April 22, 1909). During this time, Ritter performed his duties professionally and responsibly. He carefully fact-checked materials received by the newspaper for publication and was able to name their sources at the request of government officials.Due to the newspaper’s political stance, Ritter found himself under constant pressure from government officials, most notably Kharkiv Governor-General M. M. Peshkov. The publisher and editor were repeatedly fined substantial sums; criminal cases and lawsuits were brought against Ritter under various pretexts.Significantly, only persecution by executive order was successful in Ritter’s case. All attempts to try and convict him in court failed, because prosecution was unable to either find sufficient grounds for criminal charges at all or prove his guilt in open court. This testifies to the high professionalism of Pavlo Ritter as editor of Utro.