zemstvon.
/ˈzɛmstvəʊ/, U.S. /ˈzɛmst(ˌ)voʊ/, /ˈzɛmstvə/ Now historical.
Any council belonging to a system of elected district and provincial assemblies established in Russia by Tsar Alexander II in 1864 for the purposes of local government.In the early years of the 20th cent., the zemstvos agitated for political and constitutional reform, and were instrumental in sparking revolutionary activity. They were abolished in the period after the October Revolution of 1917.Recorded earliest in attributive use; cf. Compounds.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > territorial jurisdiction or areas subject to > an administrative division of territory > [noun] > in Russia
rayon1830
oblast1844
zemstvo1865
volost1889
kray1938
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > local government body > [noun] > district council > in Russia
zemstvo1865
1865 Saunders's News-let. 8 Feb. 1/5 He..sneered at the upstart ambition of the Zempstwo class, by which is meant the mere owners of certain acreable amount of the soil.
1896 Jewish Chron. 17 Jan. 8/1 The Zemstwo of Odessa.
1958 Times Lit. Suppl. 10 Jan. 14/3 The history of the pressure for political freedom was closely interwoven with the development of the organs of local self-government, the Zemstva.
1983 P. Ustinov My Russia xi. 122 Members of local zemstvos might soon enjoy a voice in the internal government of the country.
2002 O. Figes Natasha's Dance (2003) iv. i. 226 The zemstvos were run by paternal squires of the sort who fill the pages of Tolstoy and Chekhov—liberal, well-meaning men who dreamed of bringing civilization to the backward countryside.
Compounds
General attributive, as zemstvo assembly, zemstvo council, zemstvo government, etc.
ΚΠ
1865 Saunders's News-let. 8 Feb. 1/5 He..sneered at the upstart ambition of the Zempstwo class, by which is meant the mere owners of certain acreable amount of the soil.
1877 D. M. Wallace Russia xv. 248 Though he rarely speaks in the Zemstvo assembly, he is a most useful man in committees.
1904 Spectator 31 Dec. 1069/2 An official communiqué administering a severe rebuke to the leaders of the Zemstvo movement.
1923 Polit. Sci. Q. 38 562 Organs of Zemstvo government were replaced by Soviet organizations, but Zemstvo schools and Zemstvo hospitals still continue to exist.
1974 Canad. Slavonic Papers 16 573 Rusanov..was appointed statistician to the Zemstvo council, and thus was able to support himself and his family quite reasonably.
1997 G. Hosking Russia (1998) iv. v. 451 At a speech to zemstvo delegates in 1916, L'vov identified his organization as representing le pays réel, displaying both real competence and genuine patriotism.
2006 Law & Hist. Rev. 24 35 With the consent of the provincial zemstvo assembly, it announced a cut in the hospital's capacity from 550 to 386 patients.
Derivatives
ˈzemstvoist n. a member of a zemstvo or a supporter of the zemstvos, esp. one involved in agitating for political and constitutional reform.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > local government body > [noun] > member of local government council > member of district council in Russia
zemstvoist1904
1904 Daily Northwestern (Oshkosh, Wisconsin) 24 Nov. 1/4 The reactionists and bureaucrats profess to see no danger in the present situation, declaring their belief that the agitation provoked by the zemstvoists will soon sink out of sight.
1907 Times 17 Sept. 6/2 The Zemstvoists who played a leading part in the reform movement, and who then controlled the Zemstvos..have almost everywhere been swept out of office.
2012 A. K. Wise in A. K. Wise et al. Cultural Identity & Civil Soc. in Russia & Eastern Europe Introd. 15 The initial party program..incorporated..resolutions approved by zemstvoists in September.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1865