Birth of Nikolai Pavlovich Volkov, Lieutenant General, Governor of Olonets Governorate

Nikolai Pavlovich Volkov was born on December 8 (20), 1812 in a noble family in Vologda Governorate.

He received his early education at the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum. In 1829, after graduating from the school of guards podpraporshchiks and cavalry junkers in St. Petersburg, he was enlisted in the Life Guards Supper Battalion as junker. In 1830, he was promoted to officer; in 1845, he received the rank of colonel, and in 1853 – of Major General.

From 1847 to 1854, Nikolai Volkov commanded a training sapper battalion. He also participated in the Crimean War (1853-1856). In 1854-1856, Volkov acted as Assistant Chief of Staff, and later – as Chief of Staff of the Life Guards Grenadier Corps. His colleagues noted his “rare humanity in the treatment of the lower ranks and just severity”.

On December 6, 1856, by decree of Alexander II, Nikolai Pavlovich Volkov was appointed Governor of Olonets Governorate. Under his administration, the Olonets Provincial Statistical Committee began issuing the Olonets Governorate Commemorative Book at the Petrozavodsk printing house. It was an annual reference publication containing information on statistics, history, ethnography, public administration of the region. Thanks to the “enlightened care of His Excellency for the dissemination of accurate and detailed information about the region Most Highly entrusted to him”, the reference book Olonets Governorate Commemorative Book began to be published in an expanded version. Today, this reference publication serves as a unique historical source, indispensable in the study of the state and development of Olonets Governorate in the XIX century.

During the governor’s rule of Nikolai Volkov, buildings were built in Petrozavodsk which complemented the architectural image of the city. In 1858, a building for a boarding house for children of clerical servants was established in the central Cathedral Square in accordance with the project of the provincial architect V. V. Tukhtarov. The building has been preserved to this day and is a monument of the historical and cultural heritage of the city. Now, it is used by the national song and dance ensemble of Karelia “Kantele”.

In 1858, Nikolai Pavlovich Volkov became the initiator of the construction of a guardhouse building on English Street of Petrozavodsk. Since 1895, there was located the Alexeyevsky Public Library (currently, the National Library of Republic of Karelia).

Under the administration of Governor Volkov, on January 2, 1860, a public library was reopened in the halls of the Noble Assembly of Petrozavodsk. One of the initiators of the resumption of its work was the folklorist, student of the Moscow University Pavel Nikolayevich Rybnikov, who was exiled to Olonets Governorate and assigned to the staff of the provincial chancellery.

In 1858, Alexander II visited Olonets Governorate. On June 24-26, 1858, the emperor stayed in Petrozavodsk. In his honour, “the state buildings on Cathedral Square and English Street, which formed the best part of Petrozavodsk, were decorated with greenery, flowers, flags and emblematic images”. The emperor visited the Alexandrovsky Factory, the Holy Spirit Cathedral, the Nikolayevsky Orphanage, the provincial gymnasium, reviewed the Petrozavodsk garrison battalion. In addition, Alexander II accompanied by Governor Volkov visited the Marcial Waters and Kivach Falls.

On October 17, 1860, Nikolai Volkov resigned as governor. His further service took place in St. Petersburg, where he acted as an official of special assignments for the army in the Department of General Affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Nikolai Pavlovich Volkov died on November 7 (19), 1866 in St. Petersburg.

He was awarded the Orders of Saint Anna of the 1st Class, the 2nd Class with swords, the 3rd Class with the ribbon, the Order of Saint George of the 4rth Class, the Order of Saint Vladimir of the 4th Class, the Order of Saint Stanislaus of the 2nd Class.

Lit.: Кораблёв Н. А. Олонецкие губернаторы и генерал-губернаторы: биографический справочник. Петрозаводск, 2006. (Из содерж.: Волков Н. П. – С. 58–62); Пашков А. М. Петрозаводск. СПб., 2001. (Из содерж.: [О посещении Петрозаводска императором Александром II]. – С. 47–49); Петрозаводск: 300 лет истории: документы и материалы. В 3 кн. Кн. 2. 1803–1903 / Архивное управление Республики Карелия, Национальный архив Республики Карелия; сост.: Т. А. Варухина [и др.]. Петрозаводск, 2001. (Из содерж.: Именной указатель (Волков Н. П.). – С. 386); Предисловие: новая программа для Памятной книжки Олонецкой Губернии // Памятная книжка Олонецкой губернии на 1858 год: год третий. СПб., 1858. С. I–VI.

Based on the Presidential Library’s materials:

Republic of Karelia: Pages of History: [digital collection].

Based on the article of the National Library of Republic of Karelia