Благотворительная деятельность представительниц дома Романовых в делопроизводственной переписке и источниках личного происхождения (1914-1917 гг.)

Abstract

This article discusses a brief history of the evolution of the charitable activities of members of the Romanov dynasty from the end of the 18th to the beginning of the 20th centuries, anticipating the main topic of the study. Further, on the basis of sources of personal origin (memoirs and personal correspondence) and clerical archival correspondence (reports from senior and middle officers, letters of petition from representatives of the masses), the question of the evolution of the charitable and medical activities of women of the Romanov dynasty during the First World War is studied. The biographies of the Grand Duchesses who performed the work of sisters of mercy during the First World War are studied. Much attention is paid to such important personalities for this period as Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna Sr., who was engaged in supplying the front and the evacuees, Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna, widely known for her charitable activities of the Martha and Mary Convent of Mercy, Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna and Maria Pavlovna the Younger, Princess of the Imperial blood Elena Petrovna, who performed the work of sisters of mercy at the front. In addition, the activities of the eldest daughters of Nicholas II, Olga and Tatiana, are considered. The list of functions that the Romanovs performed in hospitals and at the front, as well as their circle of contacts is reconstructed: the highest ranks, the nobility, the masses, etc. Attention is also drawn to how the status and degree of influence at court are associated with the decision of certain issues and challenges, as well as the theme of changing the position of women of the Romanov dynasty at the beginning of the 20th century and expanding their personal space beyond the framework of court life and culture.