Office of the Institutions of Empress Maria
The Office of the Institutions of Empress Maria (Ведомство учреждений императрицы Марии) was the name of the Imperial government office of charity in Imperial Russia, and the 4th branch of His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancellery between 1828 and 1917. It was named after empress Maria, who united her management of the Moscow Orphanage with that of the orphanage and the Foundling Hospital (St. Petersburg) on 2 May 1797. After the death of Maria in 1828, it was incorporated into the office of the Tsar: it was given the above name in 1854. The office was abolished in 1917.
The office managed orphanages, care of the invalids, the blind and the deaf, education for women and children and young boys, poor houses and hospitals, many of the institutions originally founded by empress Maria.
References
- Благотворительность и милосердие Санкт-Петербурга: Рубеж XIX—XX вв. / Авт.-сост. В. Н. Занозина, Е. А. Адаменко. —СПб., 2000.