Irina N. Lobacheva

PhD in History, Teacher of History and Social studies, «Center of Education – Gymnasium No. 30

Center of Education – Gymnasium No. 30

(Tula, Russia)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.22405/27128407_2021_1_6

Abstract. The article analyzes the class and gender composition of entrepreneurs in the Belevsky, Venevsky, Kashirsky and Krapivensky districts of the Tula Province (Central European Region of Russia) in 1868 – 1870 on the basis of the materials of fiscal documentation. It was found that lower middle class people predominated among the entrepreneurs in towns, and peasants – in rural areas. The presence of such uncommon businesspersons as officials, military and retired soldiers among the entrepreneurs of the city or rural areas largely depended on the degree of development of trade in a town or district. The deployment of large military formations in a certain area directly influenced the appearance of soldiers and officers among businesspersons. The analysis of the gender composition of entrepreneurs allowed us to establish that the share of women entrepreneurs in rural areas exceeded that in the city. We put forward the hypothesis that this tendency is due to a smaller variety of survival strategies for widows in rural areas compared to the city. There is a small representation of peasant women among businesswomen in comparison with lower middle class women and merchantresses. The article also analyzes the practice of engaging additional managers – clerks to participate in business. It was found that only merchants in towns engaged additional management staff at an average of more than one person per facility. The author notes that representatives of most social groups preferred to use their close relatives as clerks, since this saved them from paying their salaries. The exceptions were entrepreneurs from among the military, landowners and officials, who preferred to resort to the services of professional managers. The tendency became visible among the merchants to use sons and brothers as clerks rather than wives. The author sees this pattern as a reflection of the high degree of financial well-being of the merchant class, and the preservation of the traditions of teaching the sons of the family business.
Keywords: business management, city, countryside, women entrepreneurs, post-reform period.

Full text of the article (PDF)

For citation: Lobacheva, IN 2021, ‘Owners and stewards: analysis of social and gender composition of the enterpreneurs of the Tula province of the late 60s of the 19th century’, Tula Scientific Bulletin. History. Linguistics, issue 1 (5), pp. 6–23, http://doi.org/10.22405/27128407_2021_1_6 (in Russ.)

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