Annotation

The article is devoted to the analysis of scientific discussions about the legal nature of the marriage contract that developed among Russian pre–revolutionary lawyers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. During the preparation of the new codified civil legislation in 1882, the issue of the permissibility and limits of contractual regulation of property relations between spouses became the subject of acute controversy. The author explores the main opposing concepts: from the complete denial of the possibility of a marriage contract within the framework of the existing Code of Laws to its recognition as a special (family-legal) agreement or a type of civil law transaction. The focus is on the arguments of prominent pre – revolutionary lawyers (A.O. Gordon, A.F. Kazimir, D.A. Naumov, K.A. Nevolin, K.P. Pobedonostsev, P.A. Yurenev, and others), reflecting the clash of conservative principles of family law with the ideas of freedom of contract and the principle of separation of property status of spouses. Based on the analysis of scientific works, the material of discussions in the periodical shows how theoretical debates reflected the search for a balance between similar-patriarchal traditions, religious conceptions about the mystery of marriage and the needs of developing society.