On October 19, 1838, Sergei Mikhailovich Dukhovskoy, governor-general of the Amur region, who went down in the history of its development as a very creative ruler, was born.
Wikipedia
Sergei Mikhailovich Dukhovskoi.
Before that, I studied at the St. Petersburg Cadet Corps, at the Nikolaev Engineering Academy and at the Academy of the General Staff – a brilliant education! And seventeen years of service in the Caucasus, where Dukhovskoy rose from being entrusted to chief of staff of a separate Caucasian corps on the border between the Caucasus and Türkiye. For his personal bravery he received the Cross of St. George. At the age of 39 he became a major general. And in March 1893, Alexander III appointed him governor-general of the Amur region and at the same time commander of the troops and ataman of the Amur Cossack troops.
At that time Khabarovsk could only be reached by river. Laying roads on wheels is a tedious and expensive task. And then yesterday’s military general resorted to a military ploy. He gave the order to the troops to march with artillery to one or another village, and immediately began work: the soldiers opened clearings in the taiga, leveled embankments and built bridges. In a matter of months, the new roads allowed not only artillery pieces to circulate, but also peasant carts.
This was also appreciated by the colonists who arrived in the Far East at the end of the 19th century. Dukhovskoy personally inspected the lands intended for the peasants, visited them at housewarming parties to encourage them, financially support them and even protect them.
It is significant that during the discussion in the Siberian Railway Committee on the issue of the southern part of the Trans-Siberian, Dukhovskoy, the only one among those present, spoke out against the proposal of S.Yu. Witte led the line through Chinese lands in Manchuria. And he strongly supported the construction of the internal Ussuri railway, which was put into operation in 1897 and connected Khabarovsk with Vladivostok. Transport in the Far East decides everything – the Governor General principle, under which the first railway school beyond the Urals was opened here.
In the “Most Submissive Report of 1893, 1894 and 1895.” He emphasized that “living conditions in the Amur region cannot be considered attractive. Here there is neither a fertile climate, nor a luxurious poetic atmosphere, as in the Caucasus and Turkestan, nor everyday freedom and cheapness. Here, on the contrary, everything is. hard and there are shortcomings and difficulties.” That is why Dukhovskoy demanded from the government a special attitude towards the Far East. And first of all, to the small peoples of the Amur region, which “due to their natural qualities do not deserve to be doomed to extinction ”.
Governor General SM Dukhovskoy talks with veterans of the Peter and Paul Defense. Photo: Wikipedia
Under the patronage of Dukhovsky, the Committee of Popular Readings was established, a society of photography lovers, a society of lovers of gardening and horticulture, and much, much more for the “little man”. The moral character of the Amur Governor-General can serve as an example for current officials. Sergei Mikhailovich Dukhovskoy was abstinent in his personal life, did not tolerate rude flattery, resolutely suppressed attempts even at bribes disguised as a “gift” and was honest and incorruptible. The military surveyor IK Vanin rightly noted that his internal qualities did not at all correspond to his visible dryness: “The doors to his apartment were always wide open for a peasant. This was considered by many as a drawback: “For mercy, what a habit they took. ” Almost all the peasants now – “I will go to Dukhovsky.” But this was not so fashionable today for bureaucratic public relations.
Having devoted five years of his life to the rapid development of Russia’s Pacific outskirts, Sergei Mikhailovich became Governor-General of Turkestan in March 1898. And three years later he left this world, resting in the Nikolskoye cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in Saint Petersburg.
