Startsev, Nikolai Alexandrovich

He came from the townspeople of the city of Arkhangelsk, the son of a sawmill clerk at the White Sea Company, a personal nobleman.

He graduated from the Arkhangelsk Gymnasium, Faculty of Law, St. Petersburg University (1898).

Since 1898 - candidate for judicial positions at the Arkhangelsk district court, assistant secretary, secretary of the Arkhangelsk district court. He was a magistrate of the 2nd section of the Shenkur district of the Arkhangelsk province (until 1906), was considered unreliable because of his speeches in support of peasant demands. He was the founder and leader of the provincial committee of the Constitutional Democratic Party (Party of People’s Freedom), was considered a strong organizer, participated in the publication of the newspaper "Northern Leaf", and edited the newspaper "Arkhangelsk". Since 1911 - a sworn attorney, had an extensive practice.

In 1912-1913 - member of the IV State Duma from the Arkhangelsk province. He was a member of the cadet faction, the Duma commissions on requests, on the working matter, in the direction of legislative assumptions, on fishing. He advocated the adoption of legislation on the introduction of zemstvo institutions in the Arkhangelsk province and the establishment of clear maritime borders near the Murmansk coast. In connection with the rejection of the relevant law, the State Council organized a number of public actions - a meeting of the Arkhangelsk community in St. Petersburg, an extended meeting of the society for the study of the Russian North in Arkhangelsk. In 1913, he resigned from parliament “for personal reasons,” criticizing the work of the State Duma. He was the vowel of the city council of Arkhangelsk.

He reacted negatively to the activities of the socialists; in one of his private letters he stated that “he does not digest this breed of humanity”. In the summer of 1917 he became a fellow chairman of the Arkhangelsk city government. After the Bolsheviks came to power, he was their decisive opponent, after the prohibition of the newspaper Arkhangelsk by the Soviet authorities in late 1917, he arranged for the publication of new publications - Belomor, then Northern Region. Since the spring of 1918, he actively participated in underground anti-Bolshevik activities, and became the leader of the Arkhangelsk branch of the liberal organization All-Russian National Center. In his illegal activities, he worked closely with the captain of the 2nd rank, George Chaplin , who arrived from Petrograd, who later recalled:

Of the local public figures, N. A. Startsev, a local native who perfectly knows the population of almost the entire province, a man of exceptional intelligence and courage, was especially distinguished. I owe a lot to Startsev for success, during my one and a half year stay in the region I was connected with a feeling of deep respect and friendship.

After the overthrow of the power of the Bolsheviks in Arkhangelsk, on August 2, 1918 he was appointed Arkhangelsk provincial government commissioner. By his orders, he appointed county government commissioners with great powers, created a special commission of inquiry, re-established city government, eliminating the city council.

Together with Chaplin, he came into conflict with the moderate socialist government created in Arkhangelsk. On the night of September 6, 1918, they organized a coup, as a result of which the ministers were arrested, and Startsev took over as civilian chief of the region. However, the coup was not supported by the main political forces (even Startsev’s colleagues in the cadet party distanced himself from him), representatives of the allied diplomatic corps located in Arkhangelsk also opposed him. As a result, Chaplin and Startsev were forced to resign.

Startsev was later at the front, and in February 1920 left Russia . He lived in exile.

• Ovsyankin E. At the peak of the revolution // Arkhangelsk, January 28, 2006.
• State Duma of the Russian Empire. 1906-1917. M., 2006.S. 605.
• Biographical data