zemstvo

American  

[zemst-voh, zyem-stvuh] / ˈzɛmst voʊ, ˈzyɛm stvə /

noun

Russian History.

plural

zemstvos

1. one of a system of elected local assemblies established in 1864 by Alexander II to replace the authority of the nobles in administering local affairs after the abolition of serfdom: became the core of the liberal movement from 1905 to 1917.

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zemstvo British  

/ ˈzɛmstvəʊ, ˈzjɛmstvə /

noun

1. (in tsarist Russia) an elective provincial or district council established in most provinces of Russia by Alexander II in 1864 as part of his reform policy

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Etymology

Origin of zemstvo

1860–65; < Russian zémstvo, derivative of zemlyá land, earth; see humus

Example Sentences

One reason: officials, lest they appear to lack revolutionary fervor, stayed at their offices 24 hours a day, were consequently too sleepy to tell a kulak from a zemstvo.

From Time Magazine Archive

But I work for the zemstvo, I am a member of the district council, and I consider my service as worthy and as high as the service of science.

From Plays by Anton Chekhov, Second Series by West, Julius

The assembly appointed an executive committee which is in permanent session, but the zemstvo assembles once a year.

From The Story of Russia by Bergen, R. Van

A town-duma or zemstvo member is supported by the amorphous mass of electors, which entrusts its full powers to him for a year and then breaks up.

From From October to Brest-Litovsk by Trotzky, Leon Davidovich

Finally, many of the liberal zemstvo leaders formed themselves into a political party—the Union of Liberation—with a special organ of its own, called Emancipation.

From Bolshevism The Enemy of Political and Industrial Democracy by Spargo, John