Character connections - continuation: Muravyovs, Muravyov-Apostles and Bestuzhev-Ryumin. Muravyov-Apostol, Matvey Ivanovich

Muravyov-Apostol Sergey Ivanovich

(1795-1826), Decembrist, one of the founders of the Union of Salvation and the Union of Welfare, lieutenant colonel (1820). Brother of I. I. and M. I. Muravyov-Apostolov. Participant Patriotic War 1812 and foreign campaigns. One of the directors of the Southern Society, the head of its Vasylkiv council. Organizer and leader of the uprising of the Chernigov regiment. Wounded in battle. Hanged on July 13 (25) in St. Petersburg.

MURAVYOV-APOSTOL Sergei Ivanovich

MURAVYOV-APOSTOL Sergei Ivanovich (1795-1826), Decembrist, lieutenant colonel. Brother of I. I. and M. I. Muravyov-Apostolov. Participant in the Patriotic War of 1812 and foreign campaigns. One of the founders of the Union of Salvation and the Union of Prosperity. One of the directors of the Southern Society, head of the Vasilkovsky council. Republican. Organizer and leader of the uprising of the Chernigov regiment. Wounded in battle. Hanged on July 13(25).
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MURAVYOV-APOSTOL Sergei Ivanovich, Decembrist.
Military career
Son of I.M. Muravyov-Apostol - diplomat, senator, writer. He received his education in Paris, where his father was on a diplomatic mission. In 1810 he entered military service in the Corps of Railway Engineers, participant in the Patriotic War of 1812 (cm. PATRIOTIC WAR OF 1812) and foreign campaigns of 1813-14, participated in the battles of Vitebsk, Borodino, Tarutino, Maloyaroslavets, Krasny, Bautzen, Leipzig, Fer-Champenoise, Paris, and had military awards. In 1817-18 he was a member of the Masonic Lodge of the Three Virtues. He served in the Semenovsky Life Guards Regiment; during the uprising of the regiment's soldiers in 1820, he kept his company from performing, but, like all Semenovsky officers, after the regiment was dismantled, he was transferred to the army, first as a lieutenant colonel in the Poltava and then in the Chernigov infantry regiment. quartered in the city of Vasilkov, Kyiv province, where he received command of a battalion. Contemporaries unanimously spoke of him as a person great mind, rare charm and kindness. Muravyov was a resolute opponent of corporal punishment, did not resort to it himself and fought against it in every way (they said that he even bribed the regimental executioner so that he would not be zealous during executions). He was loved by both soldiers and fellow officers, had a reputation as an exemplary officer, and knew how to get along even with such odious personalities as his regimental commanders Schwartz and Gebel, who were distinguished by cruelty and narrow-mindedness.
Decembrist
Muravyov was one of the founders of the Union of Salvation (cm. SALVATION UNION), participated in the Moscow conspiracy of 1817, when the proposal of I. D. Yakushkin was discussed (cm. YAKUSHKIN Ivan Dmitrievich) about the attempt on the life of Alexander I (cm. ALEXANDER I Pavlovich), was one of the leading members of the Union of Welfare (cm. UNION OF WELFARE)(member and guardian of the Root Council). Transfer to provincial service for some time alienated Muravyov from the activities of the secret society, and after the dissolution of the Union of Welfare he joined the Southern Society (cm. SOUTH SOCIETY), but until 1823 did not show much activity. Since 1823, Muravyov, together with his close friend M. P. Bestuzhev-Ryumin (cm. BESTUZHEV-RYUMIN Mikhail Petrovich) launched active activities; The Vasylkiv council headed by them became the largest in Southern society. At meetings of the leaders of the southern Decembrists, Muravyov and Bestuzhev-Ryumin insisted on the earliest possible start of an uprising in the troops (led by officers - members of the Southern Society), and they referred to the experience of the revolution in Spain in 1820, which began with a military uprising in the provinces, and argued with P.I. Pestel (cm. PESTEL Pavel Ivanovich), who believed that the coup should begin in the capital, and proposed plans for a speech. In the summer of 1825 they added the Society of United Slavs to their council (cm. SOCIETY OF THE UNITED SLAVS). In the fall of 1825, Muravyov was introduced to the Directory of the Southern Society. The names of Sergei and Matvey Muravyov-Apostles were named in Mayboroda’s denunciation, and on December 19, 1825 the St. Petersburg investigative committee ordered their arrest. On December 29, they were arrested by Colonel Gebel of the Chernigov Regiment, but the officers of the regiment - members of a secret society - released them by force, Gebel was wounded, and Muravyov led the uprising of the Chernigov Regiment that thus began (cm. CHERNIGOV REGIMENT UPRISING). During the uprising, the regimental priest read out the “Orthodox Catechism” compiled by Muravyov during the perestroika, which argued that the duty of a Christian is to fight the unjust authorities, and republican ideals were confirmed by quotations from the Bible. Muravyov remained at the head of the rebels until the very end; during the suppression of the uprising, he was seriously wounded, arrested and brought to St. Petersburg. He was sentenced to death and hanged.
Muravyov was not married, but in a letter to his father from the fortress, he asked him to take care of the two boys he had adopted. Most likely, these were his illegitimate sons; their further fate is unknown.

Encyclopedic Dictionary. 2009 .

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Muravyov-Apostol Sergey Ivanovich- (17951826), Decembrist, lieutenant colonel (1820). Born in St. Petersburg, from 1810 he served in the Corps of Railway Engineers. Participant in the Patriotic War of 1812 and foreign campaigns of 181314. In 181520 he served in St. Petersburg in life guard… … Encyclopedic reference book"Saint Petersburg"

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Sergey Muravyov Apostol Muravyov Apostle, Sergey Ivanovich (1796 1826), lieutenant colonel, one of the leaders of Decembrism. Born in St. Petersburg on September 28 (October 9), 1795. He was the fourth child in the family of a writer and statesman Ivana... ...Wikipedia

Muravyov Apostol: Muravyov Apostol, Ivan Matveevich (1768 1851) Russian writer, statesman and public figure, senator. Muravyova Apostol, Anna Semyonovna (1770 1810, ur. Chernoevich) wife of the previous one. Their children: Muravyov Apostol ... Wikipedia

The uprising took place in St. Petersburg on December 14, 1825, the day of the coronation of Emperor Nicholas I. An uprising brutally suppressed. After him, several dozen people were left lying in the frosty square, one and a half hundred were exiled to Siberia, five more participants in the uprising were hanged on the orders of the tsar, thereby violating the moratorium on the death penalty that had been in effect for half a century. But in fact, the Decembrist uprising had its continuation - and the second act of dramatic events unfolded on the territory of Ukraine, several tens of kilometers from Kyiv. And he is connected with the activities of the brothers Matvey, Sergei and Ippolit Muravyov-Apostles.

The Muravyov-Apostol family traces its roots back to the Cossack hetman Daniil Apostol, a very enterprising and economic hetman. During his reign, he achieved so many rights and liberties for representatives of the Cossack elders that even the St. Petersburg nobles were jealous of the Little Russians: money from entrepreneurial activity flowed into the pockets of the Cossack nobility and created conditions for the development of the Ukrainian nobility. The grandson of Daniil the Apostle, Matvey Artamonovich, married a representative of the Russian noble family of the Muravyovs, and their son Ivan, famous writer and a statesman of the late Catherine - early Alexander era, already bore a double surname: Muravyov-Apostol. In literary circles, Ivan Matveevich was known under the pseudonym Vievarum - a mirror anagram of the name Muravyov.

Of the entire large family of Ivan Matveyevich, we were interested in three sons: the eldest, Matvey, born on April 25, 1793, the middle one, Sergei, born on September 28, 1795, and the youngest, Ippolit, born on July 13, 1806. All three brothers subsequently became active participants in the Decembrist movement.

Muravyov-Apostle Sergey Ivanovich

In 1812, Matvey and Sergei took part in the war with Napoleon and in the campaign of Russian troops in Europe. They took part in a number of battles: near Vitebsk, at Maloyaroslavets, Tarutin, Borodino, Bautzen, Leipzig, Fer-Champenoise, Paris... The brothers returned, covered in glory, with officer ranks and military awards.

In 1817, Matvey and Sergei became members of the Three Virtues Masonic Lodge. True, Sergei admitted during the investigation that he took part in the work of the lodge very reluctantly and irregularly. Later, both brothers become active in the secret societies “Union of Salvation” and “Union of Welfare”. Matvey Muravyov-Apostol in 1823-1825 was a representative of the Southern Society of Decembrists in St. Petersburg, conducted active negotiations regarding the unification of the Northern and Southern societies...

Muravyov-Apostle Matvey Ivanovich

Very soon, Sergei Muravyov-Apostol turned into a real leader of the secret movement, one of the main opponents of Pavel Pestel. Pestel and Muravyov were irreconcilable disputants. The fact is that Pestel’s “Russian Truth” as a draft of the future Constitution of Russia was not progressive, but reactionary in nature. Sometimes the thought arises: thank God that the Decembrists did not win during the uprising! Otherwise, Russia would have faced the same path that France went through during the Jacobin dictatorship. Pestel refused the role of “Russian Washington”. He certainly wanted to be the “Russian Cromwell” or the “Russian Robespierre.” The chauvinism of Pestel's Constitution was striking. Not a single people on the territory of Russia had the right to self-determination - all had to merge into a single Russian people. Caucasians, divided into “violent” and “peaceful”, were subject to assimilation. Muslims were deprived of traditional customs, in particular polygamy. The exception was Poland - but on condition that a revolution was carried out there and large landowners were eliminated. Only in this case would Poland receive the right to secede from Russia.

The progressive aspects of the Constitution faded into the background. And the abolition of serfdom, and the introduction of private and communal land ownership, and the declaration of private property as inviolable, and the republican form of government - all this pales in comparison to the truly dictatorial regime proclaimed by Pestel, as well as to the emergency measures against the population planned for implementation in Russia. Later, two female historians argued about the role of the Decembrist movement. Militsa Nechkina in her scientific works argued that the Decembrists were an extremely progressive movement. Sophia de Toll adhered to a different point of view, treating the Decembrists in Voltaire’s style: “Crush the reptile!” Obviously, the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

Sergei Muravyov-Apostol not only opposed Pestel. He decided to write a separate chapter of the Constitution - the one that dealt specifically with land reform. In 1823 - only after the inclusion of Muravyov's amendments - the Constitution was adopted as a document. At the same time, Sergei Muravyov-Apostol insisted on the need to immediately raise an uprising. “Delay is like death” - a hundred years before Lenin, these words were constantly repeated by Sergei Muravyov-Apostol. He was ready to commit an assassination attempt on Tsar Alexander during a review of troops in Bobruisk - but his comrades in the secret society were categorically against it. This is not the time! Pushkin later wrote: “And Muravyov, bowing him down, / Filled with audacity and strength / Hastened the flash minutes”...

Matvey Muravyov-Apostol said during the investigation: “Sergei always had the idea of alienating Pestel from St. Petersburg at the beginning of his actions, so as not to allow him to fulfill his intention regarding the extermination of the entire royal family... His relations with Pestel were rather cold, and, to make matters worse, not to move away from him, he did not openly tell everyone, but, however, he spoke very openly about this to Pestel.”

Especially friendly relations Sergei Muravyov-Apostol developed a relationship with the nineteen-year-old ensign of the Poltava Regiment, Mikhail Bestuzhev-Ryumin. It was Muravyov and Bestuzhev who formed the opposition to Pestel and demanded that he abandon the idea of destruction royal family and the entire upper class of the empire if the coup was successful. Later, Bestuzhev tried to shield his friend during the investigation: “Here I repeat that, by captivating Muravyov with my ardent disposition, I plunged him into everything criminal. I am ready to prove this to Muravyov himself in the presence of the Committee with striking arguments. The only thing he agreed to before he became friends with me was to join the Society. But since he was of an inactive nature and always had an aversion to cruelty, Pestel often asked me to persuade him to do this or that. Unfortunately, Muravyov had too favorable an opinion of me and believed me much more than himself. The Society knows all this.”

...Most of the Decembrists did not burden themselves family relationships. Of the five hanged Decembrists, only Kondraty Ryleyev started a family (after his execution, Nicholas I appointed an allowance for his widow, Natalya Tevyashova, and daughter - they were in the imperial boarding house until their daughter came of age). Pestel was thinking about marriage. Bestuzhev and Kakhovsky experienced unhappy love. Sergei Muravyov-Apostol had two illegitimate children - with a certain Ukrainian peasant woman from the village of Khomutets near Mirgorod. Shortly before the Decembrist uprising, he even tried to take one of the boys to the Caucasus for treatment.

After the suppression of the uprising on Senate Square, Sergei Muravyov-Apostol, by order of the tsar, was arrested in the village of Trilesy and taken to the garrison prison of the city of Vasilkov. The younger Muravyov-Apostol, Ippolit, who arrived in Vasilkov, started a riot, and several officers released Sergei from custody.

When a message about the suppression of the uprising in St. Petersburg arrived in the district town of Vasilkov, where the Chernigov regiment, part of the 9th division, was stationed, the Muravyov-Apostol brothers - Lieutenant Colonel Sergei Muravyov-Apostol, retired Lieutenant Colonel Matvey Muravyov-Apostol, Lieutenant Ippolit Muravyov-Apostol. The Apostle (who was not yet 20 years old) - together with warrant officer Mikhail Bestuzhev-Ryumin - decided to act without delay. Having disarmed the command and sent some of the officers who disapproved of the uprising to the guardhouse, Sergei Muravyov-Apostol addressed the soldiers of the Chernigov regiment: “We, brothers, are going to do a good deed!” The soldiers fully supported Muravyov. On December 30, the 2nd Grenadier and 5th Musketeer companies of the regiment under the command of Sergei Muravyov-Apostol entered Vasilkov, seized weapons, ammunition, food and the regimental treasury; Three more companies of the regiment joined the rebels.

On December 31, 1825, a strange document was read out in the center of Vasilkov - Tsar Nicholas was declared deprived of power, and Jesus Christ was declared the only king of the Universe. All other monarchs are only usurpers of His power. Later, the Catechism, the main document of the uprising, was distributed to all those present:

"Question. Why did God create man?

Answer. In order for him to believe in him, to be free and happy.

Question. Why are the Russian people and the Russian army unhappy?

Answer. Because the kings stole their freedom.

Question. How can everyone take up arms? with a pure heart?

Answer. Take up arms and follow those who speak in the name of the Lord... and, having overthrown the unrighteousness and wickedness of tyranny, restore a government similar to the law of God.”

The surrounding peasants received the uprising with enthusiasm. They honored Sergei Muravyov as a liberator, wished him health, and in churches, rural priests (many of whom would later be defrocked) ordered prayer services for the health of Muravyov the Apostle. But Muravyov himself considered it unnecessary to involve peasants in the uprising - he was afraid of a repetition of Pugachevism and that the peasants would fall out of subordination.

Meanwhile, the officers of the Kyiv garrison refused to support the uprising. Sergei Muravyov-Apostol's cousin, hussar colonel Artamon Muravyov, also refused. In Kyiv, several leaders of the uprising were detained while distributing the Catechism. Bestuzhev-Ryumin barely escaped arrest.

About 1,000 soldiers and 17 officers moved to Brusilov and Zhitomir, trying to connect with the rebel regiments stationed in Zhitomir. The command sent by the tsar to suppress the uprising understood: a union of rebels must be avoided at all costs. On January 2, 1826, government troops stopped the rebels on the approaches to Brusilov and forced them to turn towards Bila Tserkva. General Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky wrote: “If Muravyov had acted decisively, he could have come to the White Church, where Countess Branitskaya’s countless treasures were located and where four thousand people, dissatisfied with their position, were waiting for him to join him. These were for the most part old Little Russian Cossacks, whom Branitskaya strengthened behind her in an unfair way.” On January 3, soldiers up to their waists in snow tried to move a second time towards Zhitomir, where the 8th Army was already waiting for them. infantry division ready for an uprising.

Near the village of Ustimovka, government troops met the rebels. At first they shot at the Chernigov residents with grapeshot. Then the cavalry moved in. By midday the outcome of the battle was decided. Several hundred dead and wounded were left lying on the field. 865 soldiers and 6 officers were court-martialed. Ippolit Muravyov-Apostol and several officers committed suicide by shooting themselves to avoid falling into the hands of the Tsar’s supporters. A contemporary described the events: “Bystritsky received a severe concussion in right leg; Bestuzhev's overcoat was shot through in several places. This serves as proof under what murderous fire the Chernigov regiment stood and how little the officers thought about their lives. There were rumors that the hussars made attacks on the unarmed Chernigovites and cut them down without mercy. The duty of truth forces us to say that this is completely unfair. Having caught up with some, they surrounded them, and gathered others who had fled into one place.” The seriously wounded Sergei Muravyov-Apostol and Mikhail Bestuzhev-Ryumin were arrested and sent to St. Petersburg. Matvey Muravyov-Apostol was detained later, but his participation in the active actions of the Chernigov regiment was not proven - by that time he was already retired.

According to the verdict of the tribunal, 4 officers were sentenced to life hard labor, about 100 people were subjected to corporal punishment. 805 people were then transferred to the Caucasus. The regiment was formed anew. In the Uman, Vasilkovsky and Belotserkovsky districts, peasant uprisings lasted for another two years. Eventually depressed. But the rebel villages were declared “royal”, and serfdom was liquidated on their territory.

In St. Petersburg, Ivan Muravyov-Apostol obtained permission to meet with his sons who were in the Shlisselburg fortress. According to historians, he forgave and understood them. After this, the father of the family, who actually lost three sons, left Russia and, formally remaining a senator, lived the rest of his life in Italy and Austria.

Emperor Nicholas later wrote: “Gifted with an extraordinary mind, having received an excellent education, but in a foreign way, he was daring and arrogant to the point of madness in his thoughts, but at the same time secretive and unusually firm. Heavily wounded in the head when he was taken with a weapon in his hands, he was brought in chained. Here they took off his chains and brought him to me. Weakened by a severe wound and shackles, he could barely walk. Having known him as a skillful officer in the Semenovsky regiment, I told him that it was all the more difficult for me to see an old comrade in such a sad situation, that before I personally knew him as an officer, whom the late sovereign distinguished, that now it should be clear to him to what extent he is criminal, which is the cause of misfortune for many innocent victims, and admonished him not to hide anything and not to aggravate his guilt by stubbornness. He could barely stand; we sat him down and started interrogating him. With complete frankness, he began to tell his entire plan of action and his connections. When he expressed everything, I answered him:

Explain to me, Muravyov, how you, an intelligent, educated person, could forget yourself even for one second so as to consider your intention to be achievable, and not for what it is - criminal, villainous extravagance?

He hung his head, did not answer, but shook his head...”

According to contemporaries, during interrogation by Emperor Nicholas, Sergei Muravyov expressed the difficult situation of Russia so sharply that Nicholas extended his hand to him and offered him a pardon if he did not do anything against him in the future. Sergei Muravyov refused any pardon, saying that it was he who rebelled against tyranny and therefore would not accept any arbitrary mercy.

Sergei Muravyov-Apostol and Mikhail Bestuzhev-Ryumin - along with Pavel Pestel, Kondraty Ryleev and Pyotr Kakhovsky - were executed on July 13, 1826. Before his death, Sergei Muravyov-Apostol knelt down, prayed and said loudly: “God! Save Russia and its Tsar!” When the sentence was carried out, three ropes broke - Muravyov, Bestuzhev and Ryleev fell down. Bestuzhev broke his leg in the process. Muravyov exclaimed: “Cursed be the country in which they cannot plot, judge, or hang!” Contrary to regulations and traditions, all three were hanged a second time.

Matvey Muravyov-Apostol was sentenced to 25 years of hard labor. In 1856 he returned - after the amnesty declared after the death of Nicholas. After the return of Matvey Muravyov-Apostol, Nekrasov will write the poem “Grandfather” - according to researchers, it was dedicated specifically to Matvey Ivanovich.
In the 1860-70s, Matvey Ivanovich, who lived first in Tver and then in Moscow, maintained relations with revolutionaries and intelligentsia. For them, he is a symbol of the era. Living legend. At the same time, Matvey Muravyov-Apostol was under secret police surveillance until the end of his life... It is no coincidence that in those years the censored song “How the Fog Has Fallen” was popular:

“It’s not the wind that rustles in the damp forest,

Muravyov goes to a bloody feast...

Horse! my horse! Ride to the holy Kyiv-grad

There are comrades - there is my dear brother...

Take my last breath to them

And say: “I could not bear the chains,

It is impossible to survive sorrowful thoughts,

That he couldn’t buy liberties with blood!”

Matvey Ivanovich died at the age of 94 on February 21, 1886. With him, the heroic and controversial era receded into the past - the Napoleonic wars, secret societies, Masonic lodges, uprising, nobility and courage, Siberian ores... Another page in Ukrainian history as well!

Bright short life S.I. Muravyov-Apostol is inextricably linked with the fateful events of Russia in early XIX century. Leo Tolstoy, who did not share the ideas of the Decembrists, called him one of the best people not only that, but also every other time. Descendant ancient family, related to the famous Ukrainian hetman Daniil Apostol, Sergei Ivanovich, who heads the list of Decembrists, became a staunch republican and an active opponent of serfdom.

Childhood of Muravyov-Apostol

On September 28, 1796, a fourth child, named Sergei, was born into the family of statesman Ivan Matveevich Muravyov-Apostol. Soon after his birth, Ivan Matveevich was sent by Emperor Paul I as an envoy to Hamburg, where he went with his family. After returning to Russia in 1801, Ivan Matveevich soon moved to Madrid on official business. Under pressure from Napoleon, who came to power in France, the Russian mission was recalled from Spain. Leaving his family in Paris, Ivan Matveevich returns to Russia and receives his resignation. Sergei begins his studies at the Hicks boarding school, where he immediately attracted attention with his agility and excellent success in academic disciplines.

Return to homeland

Despite the fact that the children grew up abroad and spoke French, under the influence of their mother they had a highly developed sense of patriotism and love for Russia. However, when in 1809 the family returned to St. Petersburg and the children joyfully accepted this return, Anna Semyonovna, their mother immediately warned that Russia was a country of slaves, meaning serfdom. Sergei's brilliant mathematical abilities allowed him to easily enter the newly formed school of railway engineers in 1810.

Participation in the War of 1812

After Napoleon's attack on Russia, the student was sent to serve at the main headquarters of the army, commanded by Kutuzov. In June 1812, 15-year-old Sergei received baptism of fire in the battles for Vitebsk, and then the young second lieutenant took part in the Battle of Borodino. Army commander M.I. Kutuzov tried to keep him close main apartment, but at a critical moment, a young officer as part of a sapper company, under hurricane fire from the French, built and defended fortifications-redoubts.

Tarutino fight

The significance of the Tarutino battle, in which a second lieutenant who had not yet reached his 16th birthday also distinguished himself, lay not only in the fact that successful results were achieved for the first time, but also in raising the spirit of the Russian troops. Historians believe that the Battle of Tarutino, with its success in October 1812, forced Napoleon to decide to withdraw from captured Moscow. Then there was a fierce battle that led to Napoleon abandoning further advance to Kaluga; the main forces of the Russian army began pursuing the retreating French troops. After Maloyaroslavets, colleagues from among those sent from the school to the war returned to St. Petersburg to continue their studies, but Muravyov-Apostol Sergei Ivanovich decided to stay in active army. The participation of Muravyov-Apostol in further battles for the liberation of the Fatherland from the French invasion was marked by the awarding of the Golden Sword and the rank of lieutenant. After Napoleon was expelled from Russia, he was awarded the Order of St. Anna III degree.

Foreign trip

Wanting to participate in a foreign campaign, the 16-year-old officer achieved an appointment to the Jaeger battalion. For the case near Lutzen (Germany), Muravyov-Apostol Sergei Ivanovich, whose biography was very difficult, was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir, 4th century. with a bow. Since 1814, under his command, he took part in many battles, and for the battle near Paris, the young captain received the Order of Anna, 2nd degree. In Paris, he meets with his older brother Matvey, and together in March 2014 they return to Russia, where their father and eight-year-old brother Ippolit are waiting for them.

Organization of the first secret societies

The unanimous uprising of the Russian people against foreign invasion in 1812 showed the strength of spirit ordinary people, including serfs. After the glorious military campaign, when Russia liberated Europe from the yoke of Napoleon, the enlightened part of the advanced Russian nobility was awaiting the liberation of the peoples of their Fatherland from the yoke of autocracy. According to S.I. Muravyov-Apostol, the liberation of Russia from its own yoke will lead to the liberation of the whole world and will contribute to the development and prosperity of the country.

The desire to help the people free themselves from the tyranny of their masters, escape from hopeless poverty and at the same time avoid repeating the horrors of the “Pugachevism” led the best representatives of the privileged class to the need for unification. The first decade of the 19th century was generally rich in various secret societies, including Masonic lodges, with the help of which the nobles could fill the spiritual vacuum after active participation in global events. One of these societies that was created in 1815 was the “Artel of Officers of the Semenovsky Regiment,” organized by N. M. Muravyov. S.I. Muravyov-Apostol, who, after returning from a campaign abroad, transferred to serve in the army, became a member of the artel together with his brother Matvey. The goals of this society, consisting of 15-20 people, were vague and unclear. Soon, by order of the emperor, the artel was dissolved, but meetings of its members continued, and it could be considered the basis for further development revolutionary movement.

"Union of Salvation"

First secret organization officers (“Union of Salvation”) was created in 1816 in the house of the Muravyov-Apostol brothers, where Prince Trubetskoy, Alexander and Yakushkin were also present. The organization of young officers, renamed in 1817 after Pestel P.I. was accepted into its membership as the “Society of True and Faithful Sons of the Fatherland,” was and remains small in number (30 people), but with more clearly defined goals. The main task of the society was the struggle for the liberation of peasants from serfdom and the elimination of autocracy, which is enshrined in the charter of the society. In an effort to widely spread their influence, not only nobles, but also townspeople, merchants, clergy and free peasants were accepted into society as members.

The society was led by the so-called Root Council, which included Muravyov-Apostol Sergei Ivanovich. Along with the growing discontent of the masses within the country and the strengthening of the pan-European revolutionary situation in the Union of Welfare, supporters of a decisive military attack on the autocracy and the establishment of a republican system gained more and more influence. The correctness of this approach was confirmed by the spontaneous action of the Semenovsky regiment soldiers in 1820. After suppressing the indignation in the Semenovsky regiment, it was disbanded, and Sergei Ivanovich Muravyov-Apostol was transferred with the rank of colonel to the Chernigov infantry regiment. The congress of the Root Council of the Union of Welfare, which was created in January 1821, announced the dissolution of the society. However, in fact, it was not liquidation that was carried out, but a reorganization of the “Union”, which resulted in the organization of two societies coordinating joint actions.

"Southern Society"

The secret organization in Ukraine, the initiator of the creation of which were members of the Tulchin government of the “Union of Welfare”, was called the “Southern Society”. It was headed by P.I. Pestel, and Sergei Muravyov-Apostol (Decembrist) became the head of the largest Vasilyevskaya council. The program goals and objectives of the society, which was joined by the “Society of United Slavs” in 1825, are set out in “Russian Truth” by Pavel Ivanovich Pestel.

The goals of the society remained consonant with the goals of the Union of Welfare, but it was proposed to act more decisively, using the murder of the tsar to decapitate the monarchist party. At the same time, Pestel believed that the uprising should take place in the capital and be carefully prepared, and Sergei Ivanovich Muravyov-Apostol, Decembrist, insisted on speedy action using troops under the command of officers - members of the “Southern Society”.

Uprising of the Chernigov Regiment

After the failure of the military performance on Senate Square (St. Petersburg), at the end of December 1815, a revolt of soldiers began in the Chernigov regiment, stationed in the Kyiv province. The reason for the uprising was the arrest of Lieutenant Colonel S.I. Muravyov-Apostol, which was carried out personally by the regiment commander after receiving news of the uprising in St. Petersburg. The next day, the rebels occupied Vasilkov and then Motovilovka. In Motovilovka, a proclamation of the rebels (“Orthodox Catechism”), composed by Muravyov-Apostol and Bestuzhev-Ryumin, was read out before the formation. The Chernigov regiment began moving towards St. Petersburg with the hope that it would be supported by other military units. However, these hopes turned out to be unfounded, and near Bila Tserkva the regiment was surrounded by a detachment of hussars and artillerymen. On January 3, 1826, they were defeated by government troops. younger brother Sergei Ivanovich, Ippolit, not wanting to be captured, shot himself, and he himself, seriously wounded, was captured. During the investigation, he behaved courageously and nobly, trying to shield his comrades and take full blame upon himself.

Decembrist movement in Russia

The Decembrist movement in Russia was special in that they did not rely on a specific social stratum and, taking mortal risks in the name of the liberation of the people, did not seek its support. The situation of interregnum after the sudden death of Alexander I allowed the Decembrists to bring the Guards regiments to Senate Square in order to force the Senate to proclaim the destruction of the autocracy, the abolition of serfdom and the establishment of political freedoms.

The indecisiveness and fragmented actions of the conspirators led to the fact that the Decembrist uprising (1825) was defeated. The Supreme Criminal Court, created to try participants in the military mutiny, sentenced 121 people. In accordance with the degree of guilt, everyone who was on the Decembrist list was divided into 11 categories. 31 people were convicted under the first category, which initially provided for the death penalty and then was replaced with eternal hard labor. Five people recognized by the investigative commission as outside the ranks were sentenced to hanging, including Sergei Ivanovich Muravyov-Apostol. In July 1826, the sentence was carried out.

House of Muravyov-Apostol

The Muravyov-Apostol estate in Moscow was located on Staraya Basseynaya Street. After the Decembrist uprising occurred (1825), the house was sold. Lunacharsky, who was planning to open a museum of the Decembrists in the house-estate, also thought about perpetuating the memory of the first Russian revolutionaries. The implementation of this plan took place only in 1986, but five years later it was closed due to the building's disrepair. The descendants of the Muravyov-Apostles, invited in 1991, decided to restore the building through the efforts of the family. After almost ten years of hard work, the main house of the estate was restored and leased to the Decembrist Museum. Currently, exhibitions and excursions are regularly held there.

The past year is 1795. Like a ghost he disappeared... It seems he had never been...

Has he increased in any way the sum of human well-being? Have people now become smarter, more peaceful, happier than before?

...The world is theater, people are actors, chance makes plays, fortune distributes roles... The drama has the title Eternal the same.

From the book “A Pleasant and Useful Pastime of Time.” Part IX, published in the fall of 1796

...Born September 28, 1796. September 28 (October 9), 1796, or the 5th of the month of Rabi al-Sani, 1211 Muslim year; or on the 7th day of the 11th month of the year of the sheep according to the Mongolian calendar, according to the chronology of revolutionary France - the 18th of Vendémière, the 5th year of the one and indivisible republic...

The boy barely looked at the world - and he already found himself in a whirlpool of calendars, religions, names, opinions, which are too crowded together.

And what happens in the world on the day a hero is born!

The Russian monthly journal of 1796 talks about the recently discovered seventh planet Uranus, “and it may turn out that beyond Uranus there are more planets belonging to our system, which turn with quiet feet near the sun.”

Goethe wanders around Switzerland with his beautiful beloved Christina Vulpius.

Tbilisi is being revived after last year's Persian devastation...

220 soldiers and 78 cannons guard in the Shlisselburg fortress two counterfeiters, one deserter and blasphemer, one brawler (who has a sign on his forehead “to the extent of a large egg” from frequent prostrations), one lieutenant, “for selling strangers, making seals and passports of a prisoner before the end of the Swedish war" (the war ended six years later, they forgot about him), as well as the freethinker Fyodor Krechetov. IN damp chamber former Emperor Ivan Antonovich, without the right to walk and shave his beard, the publisher of a third of all Russian books, Nikolai Novikov, and Doctor Bagryansky, who voluntarily shared his imprisonment, are placed...

On September 28 (October 9), despite the fact that exactly eight months of the Jiaqing era had passed, the new emperor of the Celestial Empire, who, as expected, gave the name new era, intensively indulges in intoxicating drinks and is in melancholy, since he does not dare to forget that he is only the fifteenth son of Emperor Qian Lun, who abdicated the throne eight months ago, but interferes in everything.

And on the island of Vanikoro for the ninth year they have been waiting for random deliverers and the handful of surviving members of the expedition of Jean François Antoine La Perouse are already losing hope, unaware of either the revolution or General Bonaparte...

General Bonaparte continues the difficult siege of Mantua in Italy and, in a letter dated 18 Vendemier, demands quick measures from the Paris directory: “Reduce the number of your enemies!” He complains about his health and threatens resignation: “I only have courage, which alone is not enough for the current situation.”

September 28 (October 9). On this day, Immanuel Kant, as always, at half past three goes out for a walk in a gray frock coat, with a cane in his hand, and the old servant Lampe with an umbrella under his arm follows him at some distance so as not to disturb the professor’s thoughts. Kant is preparing the second edition of his treatise, which begins: “Towards eternal peace, to whom is this satirical inscription addressed on the sign of a Dutch innkeeper next to the cemetery depicted on this sign? To people in general, or perhaps only to philosophers who have this sweet dream.” The 72-year-old professor, however, knew when eternal peace would be established: when it would be beneficial. Selfishness gives rise to both evil and good; wise nature will someday unite peoples and states “by the power of selfish interests” (a draft of the future treatise is attached)…

The French Republic, in rivalry with Kant, has just passed a law abolishing the death penalty. The law comes into force the day after the establishment of eternal peace on the planet.

But what is all this for?

Isn’t it already clear that everything in the world is linked to everything, and that Sergei Muravyov the Apostle, who came into the world on an autumn St. Petersburg day in 1796, immediately, by the mere fact of his appearance, entered into a relationship with 50-year-old Francisco Goya, who had recently lost his hearing (which is why, perhaps, his vision is improving so much that he is already beginning to distinguish the nightmarish “caprichos” around him); and with 64-year-old George Washington, who is president for the last fall in boring Philadelphia and will soon retire to a secluded Virginia estate; and from the Bryansk regiment by soldier Pyotr Chernyshev, by the highest personal decree sent to the Nerchinsk mines; and with the little Gambian negro, Demba, whose name appears in several geographical reports; and with the father of seven children, Gracchus Babeuf, confidently awaiting the meeting with the guillotine to exclaim: “Farewell forever! I am falling into the sleep of an honest man."

Of the listed persons, only Goya learns shortly before his death about the five hanged in St. Petersburg on July 13, 1826. Five, ten, thousand people taken at random will barely meet Sergei Muravyov, even in thoughts and memories. However, they are his humanity, his n-1, if n is all people...

There is no doubt (checked!) that anyone who goes to the library and asks for a newspaper (central, local) published on his birthday will thereby order his horoscope: he will definitely find in those sheets something surprising large number hints that seemed to clearly predict even on his birthday how the reader’s whole life would turn out... Let unfulfilled versions of the same fate be lurking nearby in the same issue of the newspaper. In such horoscopes, let the answer always be known before the riddle.

And we know very well (we cannot forget even for a moment!) what will happen to that boy from the autumn of 1796. But is it really so useless to solve problems with a known answer?

So - to St. Petersburg in the last days of September 1796.

Newspaper

Newspaper - notebook, small, thick - 11 sheets, 22 pages. Under the double-headed eagle is the heading “St. Petersburg Gazette” No. 78. On Friday, September 26, 1796. On Tuesday, the 30th day of September, issue 79 was published. Ours, September 28, therefore, was Sunday: the newspaper was not published. But just in time for Tuesday, news arrived that “on the morning of the 28th in the capital at noon it was +9, in the evening +6, southwest wind, headwind, cloudy sky, heavy rain, thunder and lightning."

Let's remember the rare thunderstorm at such a late time (according to the new calendar, October 9th!), it will appear in our story.

Thunderstorm, bad weather “over darkened Petrograd”... Of course, we can easily find out that on that day the sun rose in the northern capital at five minutes to seven, and set at 5:15. And the same late autumn suddenly we notice in the advertisement that “on the Moika opposite New Holland, at building No. 576, late and early hyacents are sold” (that’s right - hyacents); and on Vyborgskaya - “Provence roses, bouquets of roses and, in addition to them, a tree of God.”

But St. Petersburg has no time to watch sunrises, “hyacents” and “bouquets of roses”. That autumn, several hundred workers dig the ground and light fires, starting construction for seven years: the Military Medical Academy, the Public Library. The city is young, less than a century old, there are four to five times fewer inhabitants than in London and Paris, and they are still getting used to the monument to the city’s founder. However, Major Masson, a Frenchman in Russian service, is dissatisfied with the cliff-pedestal, because because of it “the king, who should contemplate his empire even more extensive than he intended, can barely see the first floors of neighboring houses.”

However, Nikolai Karamzin, who at this time was preparing “Letters of a Russian Traveler” for publication, thinks completely differently: “On this occasion I will say that the idea of putting a statue of Peter the Great on a wild stone is for me a wonderful, incomparable idea, for this stone serves as a striking image of that the state of Russia in which it was before the time of its transformation."

Matvey Ivanovich Muravyov-Apostol, a retired lieutenant colonel, was accused of having the intent to commit regicide and preparing himself to commit it; participated in the restoration of the activities of the Northern society and knew the intentions of the Southern throughout their entire space; acted in rebellion and was captured with arms in hand.” Muravyov was born in St. Petersburg on April 25, 1793. He spent his childhood in the same conditions as his brother. During the stay of his father, the Russian Resident Minister, in Hamburg, there were many French emigrants in the Muravyovs’ house, who aroused the boy’s interest in political issues and influenced him in a royalist spirit. During the stay of father and mother in Madrid, where the father, Ivan Matveevich, was an envoy, M.I. and his brother studied in Paris and returned to Russia only in 1802. Having entered the building of the Ministry of Railways, Muravyov did not complete the course there and In 1812 he was assigned as a second ensign in the Semenovsky regiment. For his participation in the Battle of Borodino, Muravyov was promoted to ensign and received the badge of a military order. He took part in the campaign of 1813-1814, near Kulm he was wounded in the right thigh during a flight and in 1814 he returned to Russia. War of 1812 and foreign trips had a huge influence on the beliefs of Muravyov-Apostol, unusually expanded his mental horizons and directed his attention towards social and political issues. Events of 1812-1814 most of all reflected on their main participant - the army, says the biographer of Muravyov-Apostol, Mr. Yakushkin, and especially on guards regiments and mainly in Semyonovsky, in which Muravyov-Apostol served. The desire to eliminate internal disasters, which then seized the advanced military youth after winning brilliant victories over an external enemy, captured, of course, Muravyov, who, together with his brother Sergei, was one of the founders of the “Union of Welfare” in 1817, as well as a member of the Masonic Lodge of the Three Virtues. The so-called Semyonov story, which arose solely from the absurd strictures and oppression of the new regiment commander, Schwartz, affected Muravyov, and he retired. The December disaster captured Matvey Ivanovich in the south when he was visiting his brother Sergei. He had a moderating effect on his brother, since, due to the extreme softness of his character, he had an aversion to bloody and decisive actions and did not believe in the success of the enterprise. In his frequent moments of mental discord, he even thought about suicide. Relegated to category I and sentenced to beheading, M.I., like all the other 31 people of this category, was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in the final sentence. But when, from his correspondence with his brother Sergei, it was discovered that he was constantly energetically rejecting him from decisive actions and extreme plans, M.I. was exiled to an eternal settlement in Vilyuysk, Yakutsk region. At first, however, he was imprisoned in Rochensalm, in Fort Slava, together with Arbuzov. Here they were all kept in dark, damp dungeons, ate rotten ham, not always baked bread, and often drank water mixed with salty sea water, which fell into the only well. What kind of memory the former Semyonovites retained about him is shown, among other things, by the fact conveyed: upon entering the Irkutsk prison, he was suddenly hugged and kissed by a sentry who was his former subordinate from the disbanded Semyonovsky regiment. In winter, in bitter frosts, M.I. had to travel from Yakutsk to Vileisk, and only thanks to warm fur clothes and an English saddle given to him by the Yakut regional chief, he could make this difficult journey of 700 years. Vilyuisk at that time looked like this: wooden church, Yakut yurts and only 4 small wooden houses were scattered around it in disarray and at a great distance from each other. M.I. settled in a yurt with ice-cold windows. “Not needing interlocutors,” he says in his “Memoirs,” recorded by Belyaev, “I easily got used to lonely life in my yurt.” Every day he walked, no matter what the weather. The summer, which he was looking forward to with such impatience, deceived his expectations: he encountered Egyptian execution in mosquitoes and midges and not only could not swim, as he had dreamed of in winter, but he could only stay in the yurt with a constant smoke from manure. Although there was a lot of fish and game, complete absence vegetables depressed him; he only managed to grow potatoes. Wanting to be useful in Vilyuysk, he began teaching literacy to local children, and he had 2 students.

You didn't take your eyes off the star of your counselor

And in the midst of the naked deserts, despising the groan of the storm,

The holy law sought love and truth

And soared into the world of harmony with a winged dream,

A. Bestuzhev wrote to him in July 1829 in Vitim. At the request of his sister, Sofia Ivanovna Bibikova, M.I. was transferred to the Bukhtarma fortress, where he arrived on September 5, 1829. Having received 2000 rubles from his sister, he bought himself a house, started a mill and an apiary. In Bukhtarminsk, Muravyov experienced a lot of trouble, both due to the uncertainty and instability of the rules on supervision over him, and from the false denunciations of some local officials, who took revenge on him for his reluctance to get to know them, as unworthy people. In 1832, he married Marya Konstantinovna Konstantinova, the orphan daughter of a priest, who was raised by the wife of a local customs official, Mrs. Brandt. As in Vilyuisk, in Bukhtarminsk he constantly carried out meteorological observations, which were preserved in his papers. On October 1, 1836, Muravyov, without any special petition on his part, was transferred to Yalutorovsk, although he preferred Kurgan. Having settled in Yalutorovsk, the Muravyovs purchased a small wooden house and lived a modest family life, farming on an allotted plot of 15 acres. Having no children, the Muravyovs took in two orphan girls and took fatherly care of their education and upbringing. As in Bukhtarminsk, M.I. provided medical assistance to the local poor. The hospitable house of the Muravyovs was always a favorite place of unification friendly family Yalutorovsky Decembrists. Subsequently, he recalled with pleasure his 20 years of quiet and pleasant life in Yalutorovsk. Having settled in Moscow in 1860 after the amnesty of 1856, (before that he lived in Tver) Muravyov loved to remember Siberia in general, called it nothing less than “our Siberia,” maintained contacts with it, and was familiar with many Moscow Siberians. Living in Siberia, Muravyov, like almost all the Decembrists, did not lag behind life, did not turn out to be alien to it, outdated, but came from there as an original, useful and living figure. Having retained amazing mental and physical freshness until his death, he read a lot, especially works on modern Russian history, and followed current social issues through newly appearing books, magazines and newspapers. His remarkable memory contained all the past he had seen and experienced. He remained forever faithful to the ideal of his youth. Living in Moscow, he had 15,000 rubles. income and allowed himself not only personal comfort, but also to provide assistance to those in need, especially young people who were striving for education. He was a big music lover and walked a lot. Only towards the end of his life did he begin to have difficulty walking, seeing and hearing. In 1883, on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the Semenov regiment, the Borodino cross was returned to him. Surrounded by universal respect, M.I. Muravyov-Apostol died on February 21, 1886 at 5 a.m. and was buried next to his mother in the Novodevichy Convent.