Arkady A. Tolochanov: A biography of a bibliophile and a government offi cial (new enquiries)

Abstract

Arkady A. Tolochanov (1830–1897) arrived in the Kingdom of Poland in 1864, as a Russian government offi cial delegated to work in the special commission to implement the new tsarist law that granted to the peasants the land they hitherto cultivated. In 1866, he was appointed deputy governor of the Radom Governorate. During the years 1872–1879, he was deputy governor of the Suwałki Governorate, to be promoted to governor of the Łomża Governorate in 1881. In 1883 he moved back to Radom as its governor. In 1888 he received the post of the president of the Central Directorate of the Land Credit Company in Warsaw, at which position he remained until his death in 1897.

A. Tolochanov was a bibliophile and an enthusiast of literature and fi ne arts. He is best known for his book collection, which he donated as a legacy to the Imperial University of Warsaw. Today, his donation is considered one of the most important of the gifts received by the University Library. Although, this collection was described in considerable detail by Maria Brykalsa, as early as in 1959, the biography of Tolochanov, in particular the fi rst part of his life, the one spent in Russia, has remained virtually unknown. Nevertheless, Tolochanov deserves more thorough enquiries, because he was an interesting personality, and belonged, unfortunately, to the rare exceptions among tsarist government officials who left positive recollections with the Poles.

The article, based predominantly on Russian archival materials, discusses Tolochanov’s biography. Most interesting, among the new materials discovered by I. Troyak, is the correspondence of Tolochanov with Jan Baudouin de Courtenay, a prominent Polish linguist and social activist of the turn of the 19th century.