The Sheremetev almshouse in 1810 - 1812: arranging a modern institution in a pre-modern urban society

2014.

Lavrinovich M.

Thе paper examines an attempt to implement modern disciplinary practices in the Sheremetev Almshouse in early 19th century Moscow. It was the first charity institution in Russia use practice of outdoor relief which was exploited patterns of relief employed in Central and Western Europe since Reformation. The focus of administrators on evaluating the social and moral conditions on the poor indicates that the Sheremetev Almshouse played a role generally associated with the state institutions established during the Catherine II’s reign in order to extend the modernizing efforts to a wider strata of the Empire's population.

Keywords: Russia, Moscow, early modern state, the Sheremetev Almshouse, Malinovsky, poor relief, social discipline

Publication based on the results of: Elite Transformation and Institutional Environment in Early Modern Russia: Sources of Study, Interdisciplinary Approach, and Comparative Context (2014)