The elites of Bessarabian bourgeoisie: Armenian and Greek wholesale merchants (1812-1868)

In the given article, based on the published monographic literature and unpublished archival sources, the authors make a brief description of the concept of the elite and by the examining the Armenian and Greek wholesale merchants raise the issue of the commercial elite of Bessarabia, which was formed shortly after its annexation to the Russian Empire in 1812. The authors state that the genesis and evolution of Bessarabian bourgeoisie in general, and the commercial-industrial in particular, was influenced by multiple factors, both economic and political, both internal and external. A special place in this respect belongs to the immigration of alien merchants to Bessarabia – Armenians, Greek, Jews, Bulgarians, and those from the interior provinces of Russia, many of whom settled in the province for permanent residence, filling the ranks of the commercial bourgeoisie of Bessarabia as a consequence of national-commercial policy promoted by the imperial government in the newly annexed territory. Based on the example of Armenian merchants, but also on the history of Panteleimon Sinadino – the Greek merchant of the first guild from Chisinau, whose commercial capital reached in the 1830-ies the value of 2 million rubles, the authors analyze the process of establishment of commercial bourgeoisie in Bessarabia.