Nikolay Gondatti

Nikolay Lvovich Gondatti (December 3, 1860 – April 5, 1946) was a Russian statesman, a researcher of Northern and Northeastern Siberia. Stallmeister of the Court of His Imperial Majesty Nicholas II, Active State Councillor. A member of many Russian scientific societies.

Biography Early years Nikolay Gondatti was born in 1860 in Moscow to the family of an Italian professional sculptor Ludwig Gondatti and a Russian woman Yekaterina of a simple origin from Tula

In 1887 he graduated with honors from the Faculty of Law and Faculty of Physics and Mathematics (Natural History Department) of Moscow University.

Governor of Tomsk Governorate (1908–1911) On September 15, 1908 he was appointed Tomsk governor, arrived in Tomsk on October 18, 1908.

With his participation in the city of Tomsk opened the Higher Women's Courses. In 1909, participates in a meeting in Saint Petersburg on the needs of Siberia.

An honorary citizen of the city of Novonikolayevsk (now Novosibirsk). The title was awarded on May 3, 1910 for numerous achievements in helping the city in the fire of May 1909. Here is how it is stated on the official website of the city of Novosibirsk: On May 11, 1909, a terrible disaster happened in Novonikolayevsk – a large fire that started in the central part of the city, which quickly spread in the direction of the Ob. The city burned for four days. According to the city council, 794 courtyards were burned out. 8 thousand people were left homeless. A major administrator, a researcher of Northern and Northeastern Siberia, and Tomsk Governor Nikolay Lvovich Gondatti, who began the investigation of the causes of the disaster and questioned city officials, arrived to inspect the fire. After the trial, the governor took effective measures: he assisted in obtaining insurance, participated in organizing the release of building materials for the restoration of the city at the expense of the treasury, helped the city government in implementing the urban planning policy. For these services, Nikolay Gondatti became an Honorary resident of the city of Novo-Nikolaevsk. The city soon recovered and continued to grow with even greater rapidity.

By the decision of the Tomsk City Council of February 9, 1911, Nikolay Gondatti was awarded the title of Honorary Citizen of the city of Tomsk.

In 1910 he was appointed head of the Amur Expedition. The Amur expedition under the leadership of Gondatti was the last scientific action of pre-revolutionary Russia, and the results were very significant. On the expedition treasury released 600 thousand rubles. This well-organized and equipped expedition, contrary to expectations, had almost no effect on the tsarist government's resettlement policy, although its works (more than 40 volumes) were promptly published.

Amur Governor-General (1911–1917) In this post, he did a lot for the economic, social and cultural development of the region, firmly defended it against the expansion of Japan and China. Under the governorship of Gondatti in the Amur region, social activity intensified, the Kedrovaya Pad nature reserve was established, a teacher's institute was opened in Khabarovsk in 1914, schools were built in the villages. Gondatti paid special attention to the life of the indigenous population of the Amur region, prohibited the sale of alcoholic beverages in camps. He was a direct participant and chief guardian of the construction of a unique bridge across the Amur River and the Amur Railroad, thanks to which the Amur Territory overcame its isolation and was able to become part of the economic system of Russia. He succeeded in realizing plans for connecting the Ussurian railway with the Amur railway with access to the Trans-Baikal railway. He initiated the construction of the port of Vladivostok and the clearing of the mouth of the Amur River near Nikolayevsk, and in every way encouraged the development of trade, crafts, agriculture and industry. Negative about the influence of China, Korea and Japan in the Russian Far East, At the end of 1924, he was chairman of the Manchurian Agricultural Society, whose main task was the dissemination of agricultural knowledge and work to improve local livestock and agricultural crops in Northern Manchuria. Thus, while in exile, Nikolay Gondatti held major administrative and public posts, doing his best for the good of the Russian people who found themselves not in their will in a foreign country.

Nikolay Gondatti died in Harbin in April 1946. He was buried at the New Cemetery, which to this day has not survived.

Awards For service, Gondatti was awarded the Order of Saint Vladimir, 3rd and 4th classes, Order of Saint Stanislaus, 2nd and 3rd classes, including one for studying the Siberian suburbs, Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky, a silver medal in memory of the reign of Emperor Alexander III and a bronze medal "For the works on the first General Population Census of 1897".

In 1898, the Russian Geographical Society awarded Gondatti the Fyodor Litke Large Gold Medal for Ethnography (for all the work that he transferred during his stay among the Chukchi and for the research already published). In 1901, the Imperial Academy of Sciences – the Big Golden Medal named after Academician Ber (1901). Tyumen, Tomsk, Novo-Nikolaevsk, Yekaterinburg, Khabarovsk, Surgut.

Remembrance In the Tobolsk Governorate, in the Tarsky district of the Atir volost, the Gondatyevsky settlement was named after him. Since July 1909, the name of the governor Gondatti was given to one of the volosts on the Tomsk Railway (part of the Trans-Siberian Railway): Gondatiev volost of the Tomsk Governorate. Now it is the territory of the modern Bolotninsky District. From 1912 to 1920, his name (Gondatti) was the city of Shimanovsk – a new station of the Amur railway (part of the Trans-Siberian Railway), the administrative center of the Gondatiev volost of the Amur Oblast. In the new district of Tyumen there is Nikolay Gondatti Street (located in the Tyumen microdistrict; the name was given in 2007). The meeting of the Governor-General with Semeiskie Old Believers – settlers from Transbaikalia in one of the villages near the town of Alekseevsk (present-day Svobodny) is depicted. Part of a series of 5 photos. In the foreground is an arch of poles entwined with branches, decorated with tricolor flags. Under the arch, Nikolay Gondatti and his retinue of immigrant officials, on the edges the group of Old Believers.