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Glite Dictionary
zemstvo

zemstvo

9.9
A local council in Russia before 1917 that ran schools and health care
  • noun
  • /ˈzɛmstəvō/
  • Archaic
translation icon : zemstvo
  • The decisions made by the zemstvo profoundly affected the quality of education in rural areas.
  • zemstvo doctor

Examples

  • The manifestations of sobornost were the zemski sobor, all systems of zemstvo, noblemen and officers' meetings, and a trial by jury.

    Academic text (1996)

  • He has repeatedly called for the establishment of genuinely democratic institutions of local self-government and has appealed to the prerevolutionary experience of the zemstvo, an institution that needs to be modernized in light of Russia's nonaristocratic social state.

    Academic text (1998)

  • As a zemstvo doctor, she worked tirelessly to improve community health services in her village.

  • During the 19th century, the zemstvo played a crucial role in local governance in Russia.

Synonyms

soviet
vszemstvo
  • Archaic
1 7.4

An elected council that runs local government in a communist country

is a local council in the older empire managing services like education and health
Mir
vszemstvo
  • Archaic
1 9.9

A group of farmers in old Russia who managed land together

is a state-run local council handling public services and administration

Surface Forms

zemstvo singular
zemstvos plural

Etymology

Zemstvo comes from the Russian zemlya meaning 'land' and the ending -stvo meaning 'a group or office'. So a zemstvo was literally a 'land group', a local council that handled community tasks like schools and health.