Our beloved city has been a melting pot of many nationalities for centuries. Kharkiv’s commercial and industrial potential has always attracted citizens of other countries and their capital. However, the topic of foreign consulates in pre-revolutionary Kharkiv remains largely unexplored to this day. So how many consulates were there, and what were their distinctive features? We will attempt to find answers to these and other questions in these brief notes.

In total, there were seven foreign consulates in our city between 1893 and 1917.
The oldest consulate in our city was the Persian Consulate General, established in 1893. Grigory Isaakovich Rubinstein, a resident of Kharkiv, served as Consul General for His Imperial and Royal Highness the Shah of Persia for 24 years. The consulate’s staff included a secretary and a doctor.

In 1893, the consulate’s secretary was an Austrian subject named Emanuel Maksimovich Rechenberg. The practical-minded Grigory Isaakovich kindly made the houses he owned available to serve as the consulate building. In 1909, this led to a rather remarkable incident.

His house at Sumska Street, 31 housed two consulates, along with all their staff:

1) Persian Consulate General

2) French Vice Consulate

Nine years after the Persian consulate opened in our city, the French arrived in Kharkiv. Stephen Lavolle became the first French vice-consul in Kharkiv in 1901.

However, in 1902, there was no French consul in our city. There was only Petr Kalvier, the acting head of the vice-consulate, and Raoul Girodru, the vice-consul’s representative.

Between 1903 and 1917, our city had four vice-consuls.
From 1903 to 1904, Raoul Girodru (a French citizen).
From 1905 to 1910, it was Ludwig Lorentievich Rabu (a French citizen).
From 1911 to 1913, it was Marinas Kavallas.
In 1914, Georg Lavrentievich Eber served as acting vice-consul.
From 1915 to 1917, it was Georg Pizhono.

The jurisdiction of the French vice-consuls in Kharkiv extended to other provinces as well.
For example, the following can be found in newspapers from 1911:

By decree of the Senate, the Governor of Kharkiv was informed that His Imperial Majesty had graciously commanded that the French citizen Marinass-Kavalass be recognized as the French resident consul for the provinces of: Voronezh, Yekaterinoslav, Kursk, Kharkiv, and the Don Military District, with his residence in the city of Kharkiv. The Senate proposes that Mr. Marinas-Kavalas be afforded due process and justice in cases of need and justifiable claims.

For reasons that remain entirely unclear, French diplomats frequently changed the consulate’s address, moving from one location to another. However, the most remarkable aspect of this story is that, on more than a few occasions over the course of several years, the consulate was housed in hotels in the city of Kharkiv.

To be continued…