Head of the Pravittelstvo: the first Prime Minister of the Russian Empire, Sergei Yulievich Witte, in satirical graphics from 1905-1908

The publication is dedicated to the 170th anniversary of the birth of the first Prime Minister of the Russian Empire-Count Sergei Yulyevich Witte (1849-1915), which was one of the fathers of the Russian Constitution. The book presents and commented on 270 cartoons on Witte, selected from the domestic satirical magazines of 1905-1908-the period of the first Russian revolution. These years were characterized by an unprecedented boom in satirical magazines that arose throughout the country, despite censorship prohibitions, confiscation and repression.
Appeal to the satirical graphics gives the reader a unique opportunity to look at Russian society, which has just experienced a tremendous transformation: for the first time in the history of the country, the highest officials of the empire and even the emperor himself were involved in wide sections of the population. Often, these caricature images determined the political life of Prime Minister S. Yu. Witte and the attitude of society to the actions of his government. The materials of satirical publications dedicated to the figure of Witte - a little -studied, but most valuable layer of visual historiography, are first introduced into circulation