DEPUTIES OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE DEPUTIES OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE,
representatives of Jewish communities in Russia to the
government during the reign of *Alexander I (1801–25). After
parts of *Poland-Lithuania had been annexed by Russia, the large
communities sent shtadlanim to the court at St. Petersburg to
represent them and defend their rights. Most of the shtadlanim
were merchants or contractors who visited the city on business.
When a committee was set up to frame a "Jewish constitution" in
1802–04 it was joined by several government-appointed Jewish
advisers (N.N. *Notkin, A. *Peretz, and J.L. *Nevakhovich). The
government also requested some important communities to send
representatives to the committee. Together they tried to
influence the committee in favor of Jewish rights. In 1807 the
government appointed a "Jewish committee" to implement the
inimical "Jewish constitution" of 1804 and proposed that the
communities elect deputies to represent the Jews before the
provincial governors. The memoranda of thes