1. Establishment

Mykolaiv (Nikolayev or Nikolaiev) is a town in Ukraine. It was established in 1788 as a shipyard at the point where the Bug (ancient Greek: Hypanis) and Ingul rivers converge, at a distance of 65 km from the Black Sea. The aim was for it to comprise a mooring point for the Russian naval fleet in the Black Sea. The city was named after Saint Nicholas, the patron saint of seamen. Over the years, the dockyard centre of the city evolved into the largest one in southern Russia and, in 1828, the first Russian steamship was built there. At the level of the city, the Bug River has a width of 3 km and at the point where it flows into the salt-marsh of Dnieper it reaches a width of 8-9 km.¹ Mykolaiv evolved into a major naval and trade centre of southern Russia, being second in the volume of traffic only to Odessa during the 19^th century.

2. Population

Mykolaiv attracted a considerable number of immigrants from the Russian hinterland, but mainly from the southern Balkans, Greece and Europe, due to the increase in its commercial activity. The majority of the Greek settlements in ‘New Russia’ was recorded after the Russo-Turkish War (1788-1792), during the Greek War of Independence (1821-1830) and every time a military operation was conducted in the Eastern Mediterranean, which forced the population to abandon their homes. The Russian settlement policy itself encouraged the establishment of Christian populations in the new settlements since they were accompanied by pledges advantageous to life conditions and employment. Many of the Greeks were from Macedonia, Epirus, Asia Minor and from the Aegean islands. These people formed a network of commercial correspondents, associates and shipowners. On this base they built up their operations concerning the purchase, transport and sale of wheat.

3. Demographic Features

Mykolaiv belonged to the extensive region of ‘New Russia’ which comprised an area whereby the Russian government applied a successful and intensive settlement programme. In 1819, Mykolaiv had a population of 7,000-8,000 and a small shipyard.² The growth of the city was rapid owing to the activities of the shipyard and exports of wheat. In 1863, 65,000 residents were recorded; in 1897, the number reached 92,000 and in 1914, 103,000, 40,000 of which were Jewish and only 100 were Greek.³

4. The Port

The port of Mykolaiv, in the interior of the river Bug, was difficult for ships to reach as it was intercepted by a salt-marsh, the mouth of which did not exceed a depth of 1.5 metres. Thus, the wheat was loaded onto barges and conveyed to Odessa where it was transferred onto ships lying in the anchorage. From 1821 a steam-dredger was placed on the river Ingul in order to deepen the river floor and thus facilitate the movement of the barges. These efforts, however, were not always successful. This resulted in Odessa gaining from the trade activities of Mykolaiv.

5. The Economy

The soil of the hinterland was exceptionally fertile. From the ports of Mykolaiv and Odessa large quantities of wheat, which had been produced in the hinterland, were exported to the ports of the Western Mediterranean and to those of Northern Europe. The increase in the importance of these two ports is connected to the Industrial Revolution in Western Europe and the continuous demand for wheat. The great boost in the export of the wheat was given by the disastrous potato harvest in Ireland, in 1845 (‘Irish Famine’) and the failure of the wheat harvest in England, both occurring at approximately the same time. In order to facilitate exports, the British government took steps to abolish the ‘Corn Laws’ which placed restrictions on the import of the wheat. In addition, in 1849, the ‘Navigation Acts’, which restricted the transport of goods into Britain under a foreign flag, were abolished. These developments resulted in the enhancing of the role of southern Russian wheat in the trade of Great Britain. British, Jewish and Greek merchants were dynamically involved in the export activities of wheat from the port of Mykolaiv. The multi-etnic profile of the city was assisted by a series of internal changes which occurred in Russia and had an adverse effect on the commercial importance of Odessa. More specifically, in 1861 serfdom was abolished in Russia; as a consequence, owners of small properties who were unable to survive on their meagre holdings were obliged to sell it. This development led to a rise in the price of wheat. The local merchants of the south gained the same rights with the foreigners and, in 1871, the port of Odessa ceased to be free, resulting in a recession in its commercial activity and the subsequent expansion not only of the neighbouring Mykolaiv, but also other cities of the Azov Sea, such as Rostov on the Don.

The relative decline of Odessa after the Crimean War (1853-1856) allowed Mykolaiv to become the fastest growing port in the region. As a result, Greek families settled there and later distinguished themselves in the wheat trade . Among those mentioned are the Rodokonakis and Sevastopoulos families from Chios, the Lykiardopoulos, Karidias, Dendrias families from Kefalonia, and the Mavros family from the Cyclades. In 1882, these families distributed half the exports of the city.⁴ The trade of trade, colonial products, alcohol and other food products, in combination with banking activities, comprised the main occupations of the Greek merchants.

The merchants of Mykolaiv organised a local network of agents who undertook the responsibility of purchasing or pre-purchasing the produce of the hinterland villagers at a low price. The transport of the cargo was conducted via sailboats, the captains of which belonged to the extensive network of relatives. The captains conveyed the goods to their final destination which might well be Livorno, Genoa, Marseilles or London. In the middle of the 19^th century, since sailboats were slow and stopped at particular ports, the captains received their instructions as to the final destination of the cargo via telegraph. A sample of the cargo was sent before or together with the sail-boat to a representative in London who then presented it to potential buyers, usually at the Baltic Centre, where the sale was made. Therefore, as the captain approached certain ports along the route towards Northern Europe, he was informed, during the voyage, as to the final buyer of the cargo and the final destination of the ship, where he was to make the delivery. In the last third of the 19^th century, sailboats were gradually replaced by steamships which were often owned by the merchants who distributed the cargo of wheat from Mykolaiv to Western and Northern Europe.

The decline of the Greek enterprises in the large commercial centres, among them Mykolaiv, began in the second half of the 19^th century. There are numerous internal and external reasons for this: the competition between ethnic-religious groups, for example the British and the Jews; the centralized economic policy of the tsarist regime and the movement of the population to other areas within and out of Russian territory; the shift in the direction of international demand in the trade of wheat; changes in navigation.

In 1863, the Jewish exporters of Odessa and other exporting centres of ‘Southern Russia’, among them Mykolaiv, had surpassed the Greeks and the Italians with regards to business activities, obliging them to change their professional course or transfer the base of their activities. At the end of the century, the commercial activities of the Jews in Mykolaiv (who accounted for 1/3 of the city’s population) led to the closure of 19 of the 20 general stores owned by the Greeks.⁵ A substantial number moved to Taganrog and to Rostov on the Don.

From the 1880’s a new protectionist policy was introduced by the Russian government, which was accompanied by isolationist tendencies. This situation, together with a series of bankruptcies of Greek and Italian firms in Odessa, led foreign merchants in urban centres to seek other markets and, in so doing, to leave Russia. Those who left were the richest and the most powerful, while the poorer strata of the Greek population remained in the city and were reinforced by the influx of new workers and seamen from Greece.

At the beginning of the 20^th century, the Greek presence in Mykolaiv had decreased dramatically, as its members had been reduced to 100, while the Greek church of Saint Nicholas, which had been built in 1819, was in the hands of the Russians.⁶

6. Community Organisation

In Mykolaiv the Greek merchants organized themselves into a community relatively late, at the end of the 19^th century. In 1898, the journalist G. P. Paraskevopoulos delivered a speech on the decline of the Greek community of Mykolaiv. Among others he stated: “the Greek community flourished in the past; there were 15 merchant houses once. Today, only five or six have survived. Ah, those happy years! Lastly, especially the monopoly of vodka, the trade from which thousands of Greeks became rich in the past, has made the industrious Greeks suffer. Moreover, since not many steamships are available, the lower working classes become deprived. The few offices of Al. Inglesis, Kalogeras, the Ortentzatos brothers, Zygomalas, Koupas and others assist their fellow-countrymen and provide them with work; but they cannot meet the necessities of the hungry and deprived population. And here’s how the Greek community is reduced and diluted in Russia. You’ll find, of course 200 Greeks in Nikolayev; however, 9 out of 10 are striving to survive”.⁷

Two years later, D. Metaxas Laskaratos wrote: “There were many Greeks here once and over 20 first-class general stores. Today, however, they have decreased significantly and of the old stores only one has remained, that of Epam. Koupas. […] The Greeks do not exceed 100 souls and therefore are not strong enough to form a community as in the other cities. There is a Greek church (in name only), in honour of Saint Nicholas, which was built in 1819 with the permission of the empress Catherine the Great and under the care of Greek officers serving in the Russian navy. Today, this church is in the possession of the Russians and this came about because the offsprings of its Greek founders were Russicized. […] The absence of an organized Greek community has as an effect the non-existence of a Greek school and, such being the case, the Greek children are being educated at the local schools”.⁸