Grigory N. Bibikov «Here It Is Not the Authorities Who Rule over Individuals, but Individuals Who Rule over the Authorities»: Two Memoranda by Lieutenant Colonel F.I. Bek of the Corps of Gendarmes on Officials of Volhynia Governorate in the 1830s

Abstract

This article publishes two reports by Lieutenant Colonel Fyodor I. Bek, the gendarmerie staff officer assigned to Volhynia Governorate. The first memorandum, On Persons Whose Personal Qualities Exert Either a Harmful or a Beneficial Influence on Society, is dated 11 July 1836 and was addressed to the Chief of Gendarmes, Alexander Kh. Benckendorff. The second memorandum, On Volhynia Governorate, addressed to the Inspector of the Settled Cavalry, Ivan O. Witt, may be dated tentatively to early 1838. The introductory study reconstructs the principal stages of Bek’s official career and examines the semiannual reports as the principal form of reporting employed by gendarmerie officers in carrying out their supervisory duties. Written in vivid and expressive language, the documents present a gallery of the leading figures of the provincial administration, including three governors – Alexander P. Rimsky-Korsakov, Nikolai V. Zhukovsky, and Alexander I. Zvegintsov – as well as the presidents of the provincial chambers, the provincial prosecutor, the marshal of the nobility, and the chief of police. Of particular interest are Bek’s observations on the family and personal connections among officials and on the informal conflicts within the provincial administration. The documents vividly illustrate the distinctive regional character of Volhynia Governorate and the Western Krai more generally. Whereas gendarmerie officers serving in the interior governorates rarely commented on the political views or reliability of officials, Bek considered it necessary to evaluate their loyalty to the government, distinguishing in particular between supporters of the Russian and Polish «principles.» In the second memorandum, he also offered his assessment of the overall condition of the Governorate under his supervision and proposed a series of immediate measures aimed at strengthening its administrative and legal integration into the empire. These documents constitute an important source for the study of provincial administration and broaden our understanding of the activities of gendarmerie officers during the 1830s. At the same time, the article emphasizes the need to take into account the inherently subjective character of these reports, which inevitably reflect the author’s personal sympathies as well as the lingering effects of his official conflicts with the provincial authorities.

Keywords:

Russian Empire; Corps of Gendarmes; provincial administration; high/higher/secret/political police; Volhynia Governorate; officialdom; bureaucracy; Fyodor Ivanovich Bek

For сitation:

Grigory N. Bibikov. “Here It Is Not the Authorities Who Rule over Individuals, but Individuals Who Rule over the Authorities”: Two Memoranda by Lieutenant Colonel F.I. Bek of the Corps of Gendarmes on Officials of Volhynia Province in the 1830s. The Historical Reporter. 2026. Vol. 59. P. 238–265. DOI: 10.35549/HR.2026.2026.59.009

Received 16.03.2026. Revised 16.04.2026. Accepted 18.05.2026.

Grigory N. Bibikov

C.Sc. (History), Senior Researcher in the Institute of Russian History, Russian Academy of Sciences. Moscow, Russian Federation.

e-mail: grigoriy_bibikov@mail.ru

SPIN-code: 2834-0966

ORCID: 0000-0003-1569-2508

ResearcherID: M-3174-2016

Scopus ID: 56805168600

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