Polish nobleman of Armenian origin from Bessarabia at the head of the Stavropol province

The article is dedicated to the social and political activities of a Polish nobleman of Armenian de-scent from Bessarabia, namely the actual privy counselor Bronislav Mechislavovich Yanush-kevich. The authors of the article examine his work in three provinces of the Russian Empire: Bessarabia, Tambov, and Stavropol. The primary focus is placed on his role as the governor of the Stavropol province. The authors contend that the personnel policy of the Tsarist government took into consideration not only the class, confessional, but also the ethnic background of applicants for leadership positions within the regions. At the same time, the leader needed to be competent and loyal. When choosing governors and heads of regions, the authorities aimed to avoid the head’s kinship with the local populace, allowing them to follow their own policies in the governed territory. In this regard, in the Caucasus, a significant number of territorial leaders had non-national (German, Polish, etc.) origin. At the head of the Stavropol province, B.M. Yanushevich proved himself to be a «correct administrator». During the ten-year period of his governorship (1906-1915), the central territory of the North Caucasus became an economically prosperous and politically stable province in Southern Russia.