Kherson
gubernia
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Kherson gubernia, about 1882
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An administrative-territorial unit in Russian-ruled Southern Ukraine
between the Dnieper River and Dniester River. One of the three new gubernias
created after New Russia gubernia was abolished in 1802, it was called
Mykolaiv gubernia until 1803, when Kherson became the new capital. From
1809 the gubernia had five counties: Kherso, Oleksandriia, Olviopil,
Tyraspil, and Yelysavethrad. Odesa county was added in 1825. A seventh
counthy, Bobrynets, existed from 1828 to 1865. Ananiv replaced Olviopil
as a county center in 1834. The cities of Odesa and Mykolaiv (in 1803-61)
and their vicinity were govrrned separately: Odesa by a gradonachalnik answerable
directly to the txar and (from 1822) the governor-general of New Russia
and Bessarabia, and Mykolaiv by a military governor. A third of the population
(military settlers, admiralty settlements, foreign colonists) was subject
to martial law until 1858.
The gubernia had a population of about 245,000 in 1812, 893,000 in 1851,
1,330,000 in 1863, 2,027,000 in 1885, 2,733,600 in 1897, and 3,744,600
in 1914. In the 1850s, it consisted of Ukrainians (68-75 percent), Rumanians
(8-11 percent), Russians (3-7 percent), Jews (6 percent), Germans (4
percent), Bulgarians (2 percent), Serbs, Greeks, and Gypsies. In 1914
Ukrainians composed only 53 percent of the population, while Russians
made up 22 percent and Jews 12 percent. Urban dwellers made up 10-20
percent of the population until the 1850s; in 1897 they composed almost
30 percent. In-migration accounted for much of the population growth;
eg, in 1897, 46 percent of the population was born outside the gubernia.
The gubernia's economy was predominatly agricultural. Thousands of agricultural
laborers from the other Ukrainian gubernias found work there during
the grain harvest. Industry, consisting primarily of flour milling,
distilling, metalworking industry, iron mining, beet-sugar processing,
and brick industry, was underdeveloped.
Under Soviet rule, in 1920 the gubernia's territory (70,600 sq km) was
divided to form the new Odesa gubernia. Kherson gubernia was renamed
Mykolaiv gubernia in 1921 and amalgamated with Odesa gubernia in 1922.
In 1925 Odesa gubernia was abolished, and its territory was divided
into six okruhas: Kherson, Kryvyi Rih, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Pershomaiske,
and Zinoviivske. In 1932 much of this territory was incorporated into
the new Odesa oblast, which was divided to form Mykolaiv oblast in 1937.
The latter was divided in 1944 to form the new Kherson oblast.
I. Myhul, R. Senkus
From the Encyclopedia of Ukraine: www.encyclopediaofukraine.com
Map from www.generacionesmv.com
Postcards from Kherson gubernia
Towns in Kherson gubernia
| Elisabethgrad |
|
Lvov |
| Odesa |
|
Kirovgrad |
| Mykolaiv |
|
Uman |
ShtetLinks in Kherson gubernia
Lvovo
Ananiev
For more on the history of Kherson gubernia, and how
it figured into the colonization of the Southern Ukraine, read Chaim
Freedman's pages on the Colonies
of the Ukraine.
Other TownLinks (not ShtetLinks)
Web Site of Odessa City
Odessa Web
The Elizavetgrad
site on Millman Family Page
The Novy
Bug site on Millman Family Page
Elisavetgrad
Kirovgrod, the former Elisavetgrad
Click on the English language button for access to a site with great postcard pictures and a superb 1913 map of the area. More, it posts a list of Jews who graduated the local high school and of Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust. We had had it listed with a different address with the note "This is a site supported by those hoping to encourage investment in Kirovgrad. Nicely done English-language site with good photographs and historical information."
