The first pension systems of the Russian empire

The article deals with the history of the Russian pension system from the moment of its separation from charitable and other social activities until the retirement statutes of the late XIX - early XX century. The article analyzes the progressive expansion of the number of citizens covered by this system of social protection from naval officers and their families to employees of state agencies with attempts to cover people of civil professions (clerics, scientists, teachers, artists, employees of some private enterprises, etc.). Along with pensions paid from the state budget, attempts were made to create pensions on the basis of emerital cash desks. The author does not agree with researchers who believe that the pension in pre-revolutionary Russia was of exclusively class character.