zemstvo

American  

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

noun

Russian History.

zemstvos plural

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.

---

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

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• zemstvos
  plural

Etymology

Origin of zemstvo

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

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

zemstvo zemstvos

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

The zemstvo of former times was made up of only class representatives; the elections to the new zemstvos were effected by universal suffrage, equal, direct, and secret.

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

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

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

When I said that my father had been a judge of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia I might have been calling him a voivode of Montenegro or the president of a zemstvo.

From The High Heart by King, Basil

When the government left the army without munitions, the local authorities—the zemstvos and unions of towns—stepped in and organized their supply.

From America's War for Humanity by Russell, Thomas Herbert

Taking advantage of the new conditions, the leaders of the zemstvos organized a national convention.

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

It must be remembered that the zemstvos were the only representative public bodies elected by any large part of the people.

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

Unfortunately for him, however, the unions of zemstvos and of towns remained patriotic.

From The Minister of Evil The Secret History of Rasputin's Betrayal of Russia by Le Queux, William

The united action of the zemstvos, and the final issue of the war in the Far East, may have important results.

From The Story of Russia by Bergen, R. Van