zemstvo

American  

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

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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

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

Above the district zemstvo is the goubernko� zemstvo or provincial assembly, whose members are elected from the district zemstvos.

From The Story of Russia by Bergen, R. Van

The zemstvo of Kiew had done this previously; but suddenly it discharged them from the municipal offices.

From The Modern Woman's Rights Movement A Historical Survey by Schirmacher, Kaethe

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