Anatoly Fedorovich Koni (Russian: Анатолий Фёдорович Кони; 9 February 1844 – 17 September 1927) was a Russian jurist, judge, politician and writer. He was the most politically influential jurist of the late

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

and a leading Russian liberal. Anatoly Koni was the son of the noted dramatist Fyodor Koni. Among the public offices Koni held was prosecutor at the district court of

Kharkov Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

since 1867, vice director of the Ministry of Justice since 1875, presiding judge of the district court of

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

since 1878, and member of the State Council since 1907. He taught at the Imperial School of Law and at the University of Saint Petersburg. Koni led the investigation into the 1888 Borki train disaster and presided over the 1878 jury trial against the revolutionary and attempted assassin

Vera Zasulich Vera Ivanovna Zasulich (; – 8 May 1919) was a Russian socialist activist, Menshevik writer and revolutionary. She is widely known for her correspondence with Karl Marx, in which she put into question the necessity of a capitalist industriali ...

. As a jurist, Koni was instrumental in liberalizing Russian criminal law, notably in the form of the revised criminal code of 1903. As a member of several reform commissions, he defended

judicial independence Judicial independence is the concept that the judiciary should be independent from the other branches of government. That is, courts should not be subject to improper influence from the other branches of government or from private or partisan inte ...

and the

trial by jury A jury trial, or trial by jury, is a legal proceeding in which a jury makes a decision or findings of fact. It is distinguished from a bench trial, in which a judge or panel of judges makes all decisions. Jury trials are increasingly used ...

. Due to his influence, prison sentences were reduced and special establishments for juvenile criminals were introduced towards the end of the 19th century. While he supported the liberals' call for a constitutional order in Russia, he declined an appointment as Minister of Justice in the government of

Pyotr Stolypin Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin ( rus, Пётр Аркадьевич Столыпин, p=pʲɵtr ɐrˈkadʲjɪvʲɪtɕ stɐˈlɨpʲɪn; – ) was a Russian statesman who served as the third Prime Minister of Russia, prime minister and the Ministry ...

in 1906. Koni was a member of the State Council of the Russian Empire from 1907 to 1917. After the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

which abolished the State Council, Koni was dismissed from his position. After reconciling with the new Soviet government, Koni became a professor at the Petrograd University from 1918 and 1922. He also gave many public lectures until his retirement. As a writer, Koni composed poems, works of literary criticism and multiple volumes of

memoirs A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobio ...

References

Sources

Балышев М.А., Шандула А.О. Анатолий Федорович Кони и харьковчане (2007). UNIVERSITATES. Наука и Просвещение. 2007. №3. С. 26-36.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Koni, Anatoly Fedorovich Russian judges Russian jurists Russian male poets Russian male writers 19th-century politicians from the Russian Empire Members of the State Council (Russian Empire) Burials at Tikhvin Cemetery Burials at Volkovo Cemetery