Dondukov-Korsakov Alexander

Alexander Dondukov-Korsakov [12(24) September 1820, Saint Petersburg – 15(27) April 1893, village of Polonaya, Pskov Governorate] was the Governor of the Caucasus from 1882 to 1890. He held the noble title of prince, was appointed Adjutant general in 1869, and became a general of cavalry in 1878. He graduated from the Faculty of Law at Saint Petersburg University and then entered military service.

He took part in the Caucasian War (1845–51), the Crimean War (1853–56), and the Russo-Ottoman War (1877–78). In 1878–79 he was Supreme Commissioner in Bulgaria, and from 1880 to 1882, Governor-general of Kharkov.

Following the ascension of Alexander III to the Russian throne in 1881, the entire empire — and especially its colonies — entered a period of political changes. In 1882, the Viceroyalty of the Caucasus was abolished, stripping the region of its limited administrative autonomy. Dondukov-Korsakov, a loyal servant of Tsarism, was appointed civil governor of the Caucasus and commander of the military district. Under his leadership, a new statute for the administration of the Caucasus was written and it came into force in 1883.

He pursued a reactionary colonial policy. At the initiative of K. Yanovsky, teaching in the Georgian language was first restricted in schools, and from 1885 was completely banned. In an effort to fragment the Georgian nation, Mingrelians, Svans, and Adjarians were declared non-Georgian. Reactionaries began compiling alphabets and textbooks for Mingrelian and Svan (these languages previously did not have a dedicates script) based on the Russian alphabet. The Georgian Orthodox Church was persecuted, the Georgian press was subjected to strict censorship, and Georgian national figures were marginalized. On Dondukov-Korsakov’s orders and accusations, the prominent Georgian intellectual D. Kipiani was exiled to Stavropol.

In 1890, Dondukov-Korsakov was removed from the Caucasus and appointed as a member of the State Council.

Literary works: Записки о положении Закаспийской области, СПб., 1887; Мои воспоминания, ч. 1–2, СПб., 1902–03.

Literature: საქართველოს ისტორიის ნარკვევები, ტ. 5, თბ., 1970.