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Description

This talk examines military philanthropy in 19th-century Russian representations of the 17th-century grassroots organizer Koz’ma (Kuz’ma) Minin, a key character in representations of the Time of Troubles. Minin is famous as a national hero for forming the second people’s volunteer corps and helping to defeat the Polish-Lithuanian forces that occupied Moscow between 1610 & 1612. Considering the enduring legacy of Minin’s fundraising, I will argue that 19th-century public monuments, paintings, and drama reimagined the financial and moral worth of private wealth during times of war and occupation. The Nizhegorodian people’s patriotic relinquishing of capital fuels the monarchy’s power and, in turn, offers a model for emulation that endures to the present.