Mikhail Bestuzhev-Ryumin
Encyclopedia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n officer, one of the organizers of the Decembrist revolt
Decembrist revolt
The Decembrist revolt or the Decembrist uprising took place in Imperial Russia on 14 December , 1825. Russian army officers led about 3,000 soldiers in a protest against Nicholas I's assumption of the throne after his elder brother Constantine removed himself from the line of succession...
. He was the youngest of the five hanged Decembrists.
Biography
Mikhail Bestuzhev-Ryumin was born in the village Kudryoshky of Gorbatov uyezdUyezd
Uyezd or uezd was an administrative subdivision of Rus', Muscovy, Russian Empire, and the early Russian SFSR which was in use from the 13th century. Uyezds for most of the history in Russia were a secondary-level of administrative division...
, Nizhny Novgorod Governorate (guberniya
Guberniya
A guberniya was a major administrative subdivision of the Russian Empire usually translated as government, governorate, or province. Such administrative division was preserved for sometime upon the collapse of the empire in 1917. A guberniya was ruled by a governor , a word borrowed from Latin ,...
) on June 4, 1801 (according to other sources 1803). His father was the Mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of the town of Gorbatov, owner of 640 serfs and a muslin
Muslin
Muslin |sewing patterns]], such as for clothing, curtains, or upholstery. Because air moves easily through muslin, muslin clothing is suitable for hot, dry climates.- Etymology and history :...
factory.
Despite his obscure position as a provincial mayor, Bestuzhev-Ryumin belonged to a branch of an ancient noble family (mentioned in chronicles since the 14th century), which included, among others, Count Alexey Bestuzhev-Ryumin (1693-1766) and Mikhail's nephew, historian Konstantin Bestuzhev-Ryumin
Konstantin Bestuzhev-Ryumin
Konstantin Nikolayevich Bestuzhev-Ryumin was one of the most popular Russian historians of the 19th century. He held a chair in Russian History at the University of St. Petersburg and was elected into the Petersburg Academy of Sciences in 1890...
.
Mikhail started his military career in 1818 at the Horse-guard regiment, then at the Semenovsky regiment
Semenovsky Regiment
Semenovsky Life-Guards Regiment was one of the two oldest guards regiments of the Imperial Russian Army.- History :...
. After the uprising of the Semenovsky regiment he was transferred to the Poltava
Poltava
Poltava is a city in located on the Vorskla River in central Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Poltava Oblast , as well as the surrounding Poltava Raion of the oblast. Poltava's estimated population is 298,652 ....
infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
regiment. In 1824, he became a podporuchik
Poruchik
Poruchik was a military rank in several Slavic countries, such as the Russian Empire and the Republic of Poland, equivalent to Lieutenant. "Poruchik" means "messenger", "officer for orders". This is a Slavic copy of the term "Lieutenant" .In Russia this rank was first introduced in Strelets New...
.
In 1823, he joined the South Society
South Society
The South Society , was the largest literature and poetry organization during the late Qing Dynasty China and the early period of the Republic of China....
of Decembrists and became one of the main assistants to Sergey Muravyov-Apostol
Sergey Muravyov-Apostol
Sergey Ivanovich Muravyov-Apostol was a Russian Lieutenant Colonel, one of the organizers of the Decembrist revolt. He was the brother of other Decembrists Ippolit Muravyov-Apostol and Matvey Muravyov-Apostol...
on Vasilkovskaya Uprava of the South society. He was a participant in conferences of the South society in Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
and Kamenka
Kamenka
Kamenka may refer to:People*Eugene Kamenka, an Australian philosopher, socialistPlaces*Kamenka, Russia, name of several inhabited localities in Russia*Kamenka, an alternative name of the town of Taskala, Kazakhstan...
, and negotiated with secret Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
society. He was the author of the Decembrists' Proclamation that was read to the troops and local peasants. He also was known to dress in the clothes of lower classes and agitate people to revolt against the monarchy
Monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...
. Bestuzhev-Ryumin was the most extreme republican among the Decembrists; he insisted on the need to execute the Emperor
Emperor
An emperor is a monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife or a woman who rules in her own right...
and his entire family. At least four other members of the Bestuzhev family were involved in the Decembrist conspiracy.
On December 27, 1825 Mikhail was an assistant to Sergey Muravyov-Apostol
Sergey Muravyov-Apostol
Sergey Ivanovich Muravyov-Apostol was a Russian Lieutenant Colonel, one of the organizers of the Decembrist revolt. He was the brother of other Decembrists Ippolit Muravyov-Apostol and Matvey Muravyov-Apostol...
, who headed the uprising of the Chernigov regiment. Mikhail was caught on January 3, 1826, and transferred to Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
on January 20. He was one of the five sentenced to quartering
Hanged, drawn and quartered
To be hanged, drawn and quartered was from 1351 a penalty in England for men convicted of high treason, although the ritual was first recorded during the reigns of King Henry III and his successor, Edward I...
, but later this sentence was replaced with hanging
Hanging
Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...
. He was executed in a Peter and Paul Fortress
Peter and Paul Fortress
The Peter and Paul Fortress is the original citadel of St. Petersburg, Russia, founded by Peter the Great in 1703 and built to Domenico Trezzini's designs from 1706-1740.-History:...
on July 25, 1826 and interred with the rest of the five in a secret grave on Goloday Island
Goloday Island
Dekabristov Island , known before 1926 as Goloday Island is an island in Vasileostrovsky District of Saint Petersburg, Russia, to the north of Vasilievsky Island, separated from it by Smolenka River ....
in Saint Petersburg.
External links
- Biography of Mikhail Bestuzhev-Ryumin - in Russian
- Another biography of Mikhail Bestuzhev-Ryumin - in Russian