Pripisnye peasants

Pripisnye peasants (prypysni seliany). Literally, ‘assigned peasants,’ referring to a large segment of the state peasantry (see State peasants) who, during the 18th and until the mid-19th century, lived on lands owned by the state and were assigned to work in state enterprises or private enterprises in lieu of paying quitrent or a poll tax. In Ukraine the pripisnye peasants were usually employed in state rather than private industries, often in those oriented to manufacturing and river transportation. During the late 18th century the state gradually began to cease the practice of assigning peasants to factories, and by 1822 in Ukraine the pripisnye peasants had been redesignated as ‘indispensable workers’ and incorporated into the category of possessional peasants; the latter category disappeared with the emancipation of the serfs in 1861–3.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 5 (1993).]