Dmitry Bludov
Encyclopedia
Count Dmitry Nikolayevich Bludov (1785-1864) was a Russian imperial
official who filled a variety of posts under Nicholas I
- Deputy Education Minister (1826-28), Minister of Justice (1830-31, 1838-39), Minister of the Interior (1832-38), Chief of the Second Section (1839-62). Alexander II
appointed him President of the Academy of Sciences (1855) and Chairman of the State Council
(1862).
Despite his distinguished official career, Bludov is also notable for his literary background. He was related by blood to Gavrila Derzhavin and Vladislav Ozerov
. He was also a founding member of the Arzamas Society
, with Cassandra as his alias. Bludov's personal friends included Nikolay Karamzin and Vasily Zhukovsky
. It was Bludov who edited and published their posthumous works. Antonina Bludova
, a writer and salon-holder, was his daughter.
Bludov headed the Russian embassy in London in 1817-20. Although on friendly terms with many of the Decembrists, Bludov presided over the court that condemned them to death. During Nicholas I's reign he was considered one of the more liberal officials. He was in charge of reorganizing the courts and drafting a new criminal code
(adopted in 1845). Bludov's extensive diaries have never been published.
Leo Tolstoy
described Bludov's house on Nevsky Avenue as the place "where writers, and in general, the best people of the time would gather. I remember that I read Two Hussars there for the first time. Bludov was a man who was at one time close to the Decembrists and sympathetic in spirit to the whole progressive movement. All the same he continued in government service under Nicholas".
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
official who filled a variety of posts under Nicholas I
Nicholas I of Russia
Nicholas I , was the Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855, known as one of the most reactionary of the Russian monarchs. On the eve of his death, the Russian Empire reached its historical zenith spanning over 20 million square kilometers...
- Deputy Education Minister (1826-28), Minister of Justice (1830-31, 1838-39), Minister of the Interior (1832-38), Chief of the Second Section (1839-62). Alexander II
Alexander II of Russia
Alexander II , also known as Alexander the Liberator was the Emperor of the Russian Empire from 3 March 1855 until his assassination in 1881...
appointed him President of the Academy of Sciences (1855) and Chairman of the State Council
State Council of Imperial Russia
The State Council was the supreme state advisory body to the Tsar in Imperial Russia.-18th century:Early Tsars' Councils were small and dealt primarily with the external politics....
(1862).
Despite his distinguished official career, Bludov is also notable for his literary background. He was related by blood to Gavrila Derzhavin and Vladislav Ozerov
Vladislav Ozerov
Vladislav Aleksandrovich Ozerov was the most popular Russian dramatist in the first decades of the 19th century....
. He was also a founding member of the Arzamas Society
Arzamas Society
The Arzamas Society was a literary society in Saint Petersburg in 1815-1818. The society received its name after a humorous work by a Russian statesman Dmitry Bludov called A Vision at the Inn at Arzamas, Published by the Society of Scholars...
, with Cassandra as his alias. Bludov's personal friends included Nikolay Karamzin and Vasily Zhukovsky
Vasily Zhukovsky
Vasily Andreyevich Zhukovsky was the foremost Russian poet of the 1810s and a leading figure in Russian literature in the first half of the 19th century...
. It was Bludov who edited and published their posthumous works. Antonina Bludova
Antonina Bludova
Antonina D. Bludova , was a Russian writer, philanthropist, salonist and lady in waiting.Antonina Bludova was the daughter of the politician and writer Dmitry Bludov. She became a lady in waiting in 1863...
, a writer and salon-holder, was his daughter.
Bludov headed the Russian embassy in London in 1817-20. Although on friendly terms with many of the Decembrists, Bludov presided over the court that condemned them to death. During Nicholas I's reign he was considered one of the more liberal officials. He was in charge of reorganizing the courts and drafting a new criminal code
Criminal Code
A criminal code is a document which compiles all, or a significant amount of, a particular jurisdiction's criminal law...
(adopted in 1845). Bludov's extensive diaries have never been published.
Leo Tolstoy
Leo Tolstoy
Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist...
described Bludov's house on Nevsky Avenue as the place "where writers, and in general, the best people of the time would gather. I remember that I read Two Hussars there for the first time. Bludov was a man who was at one time close to the Decembrists and sympathetic in spirit to the whole progressive movement. All the same he continued in government service under Nicholas".