Artemy Petrovich Volynsky (; 1689–1740) was a

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n statesman and diplomat. His career started as a soldier but was rapidly upgraded to ambassador to

Safavid Iran The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the begi ...

, and later as Governor of Astrakhan during the reign of

Peter the Great Peter I (, ; – ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...

(r. 1682–1725). He was later accused of corruption and stripped of nearly all his powers, before

Catherine I of Russia Catherine I Alekseyevna Mikhailova (born Marta Samuilovna Skavronskaya; – ) was the second wife and Empress consort of Peter the Great, whom she succeeded as Empress of Russia, ruling from 1725 until her death in 1727. Life as a servant Onl ...

sent him to govern the vast Governorate of

Kazan Kazan; , IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzanis the largest city and capital city, capital of Tatarstan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka (river), Kazanka Rivers, covering an area of , with a population of over 1. ...

Anna of Russia Anna Ioannovna (; ), also russified as Anna Ivanovna and sometimes anglicized as Anne, served as regent of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia from 1711 until 1730 and then ruled as Empress of Russia from 1730 to 1740. Much of her administratio ...

appointed Volynsky one of her three chief ministers in 1738. After beating the noted poet

Vasily Trediakovsky Vasily Kirillovich Trediakovsky (; – ) was a Russian poet, essayist and playwright who helped lay the foundations of classical Russian literature. Biography The son of a poor priest, Trediakovsky became the first Russian commoner to rec ...

, Volynsky was arrested on charges of conspiracy and misconduct. Volynsky's archenemy

Ernst Johann von Biron Ernst Johann von Biron (; ; ) was the duke of Courland and Semigallia from 1737 to 1740 and again from 1763 to 1769. He was also briefly the regent of the Russian Empire in 1740. Early years Biron was born as Ernst Johann von Bühren in Ka ...

had him sentenced to death and beheaded on 27 June 1740.

Military youth

Artemy Volynsky was a male-line descendant of Prince Bobrok and thus the Lithuanian

Gediminid The House of Gediminas (), or simply the Gediminids, were a dynasty of monarchs in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania that reigned from the 14th to the 16th century. A cadet branch of this family, known as the Jagiellonian dynasty, reigned also in the ...

dynasty. His father was one of the dignitaries at the court of

Feodor III Feodor or Fyodor III Alekseyevich (; 9 June 1661 – 7 May 1682) was Tsar of all Russia from 1676 until his death in 1682. Despite poor health from childhood, he managed to pass reforms on improving meritocracy within the civil and military stat ...

, and also a voivod in Kazan. He entered a

dragoon Dragoons were originally a class of mounted infantry, who used horses for mobility, but dismounted to fight on foot. From the early 17th century onward, dragoons were increasingly also employed as conventional cavalry and trained for combat wi ...

regiment in 1704 and rose to the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

, by 1711; then, exchanging the

military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job (volunteer military, volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Few nations, such ...

for diplomacy, he was attached to the suite of Vice-

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

Peter Shafirov. He was present during the Pruth Campaign and shared Shafirov's captivity in the Seven Towers in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

Minister for Peter the Great

In 1715, by orders of

he was sent to

Isfahan Isfahan or Esfahan ( ) is a city in the Central District (Isfahan County), Central District of Isfahan County, Isfahan province, Iran. It is the capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is located south of Tehran. The city ...

, Persia, (which he reached in March 1717) as the new

Russian ambassador This is a list of diplomatic missions of Russia. These missions are subordinate to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Russia), Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Russia, Russian Federation has one of the largest networks of embassies and cons ...

. During his travels he was supposed to redirect the silk trade route in Persia to Russia with the Armenians' help. During his stay in Isfahan, Volynsky signed the Russo-Iranian treaty of 1717 with Shah

Soltan Hoseyn Soltan Hoseyn (; 1668 – 9 September 1727) was the Safavid shah of Iran from 1694 to 1722. He was the son and successor of Shah Suleiman (). Born and raised in the royal harem, Soltan Hoseyn ascended the throne with limited life experience a ...

. In 1718 Peter made him one of his six adjutant generals, and governor of

Astrakhan Astrakhan (, ) is the largest city and administrative centre of Astrakhan Oblast in southern Russia. The city lies on two banks of the Volga, in the upper part of the Volga Delta, on eleven islands of the Caspian Depression, from the Caspian Se ...

. In this post Volynsky displayed distinguished administrative and financial talents. In 1722, he married

Alexandra Naryshkina Alexandra () is a female given name of Greek origin. It is the first attested form of its variants, including Alexander (, ). Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; GEN , ; meaning 'man'). Thus ...

, Peter's cousin.Pushkin, Aleksandr Sergeevich. (1999) ''Tales of the Late, Ivan Petrovich Belkin, the Queen of Spades, the Captain's Daughter, Peter the Great'S, Blackamoor'', Oxford University Press. 336 pages. . The same year he was accused of

peculation Embezzlement (from Anglo-Norman, from Old French ''besillier'' ("to torment, etc."), of unknown origin) is a type of financial crime, usually involving theft of money from a business or employer. It often involves a trusted individual taking ...

and other offences to the emperor, who caned him severely and deprived him of his

plenipotentiary A ''plenipotentiary'' (from the Latin ''plenus'' "full" and ''potens'' "powerful") is a diplomat who has full powers—authorization to sign a treaty or convention on behalf of a sovereign. When used as a noun more generally, the word can als ...

powers, despite his undeniable services in Persia, but for which Peter could never have emerged so triumphantly from the difficult Persian War of 1722–1723.

Governor of Kazan

Catherine I Catherine I Alekseyevna Mikhailova (born Marta Samuilovna Skavronskaya; – ) was the second wife and Empress consort of Peter the Great, whom she succeeded as Emperor of all the Russias, Empress of Russia, ruling from 1725 until her death in 1 ...

made Volynsky governor of the Kazan Governate for a short time, and he held the same post for two years (1728–1730) under Peter II. But his incurable corruption and unbridled temper so discredited the government that he was deprived of the post shortly after the accession of

Anne Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), Annie a ...

. From 1730 to 1736 Volynsky served in the army under Munnich. In 1737 he was appointed the second Russian

at the abortive congress of

Nemirov Nemyriv ( ; ) is a historic city in Vinnytsia Oblast (province) in Ukraine, located in the historical region of Podolia Podolia or Podillia is a historic region in Eastern Europe located in the west-central and southwestern parts of Ukraine and ...

held for the conclusion of peace with the Porte.

Condemned under Anne

Ministers_Cabinet_of_Empress_Anna_Ivanovna

In 1738 he was introduced into the Russian cabinet by Biron as a counterpoise against Andrei Osterman. Volynsky, however, now thought himself strong enough to attempt to supersede Biron himself, and openly opposed the favorite in the State Council in the debates as to the indemnity due to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

for the violations of her territory during the

War of the Polish Succession The War of the Polish Succession (; 1733–35) was a major European conflict sparked by a civil war in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth over the succession to Augustus II the Strong, which the other European powers widened in pursuit of ...

, Biron advising that a liberal indemnity should be given, whereas Volynsky objected to any indemnity at all. Biron thereupon forced Anne to order an inquiry into Volynsky's past career, with the result that he was tried before a

tribunal A tribunal, generally, is any person or institution with authority to judge, adjudicate on, or determine claims or disputes—whether or not it is called a tribunal in its title. For example, an advocate who appears before a court with a singl ...

of Biron's men. The charges faced were that he, as a minister, and Andrey Khrushchyov (1691—1740), as an assistant minister, tried to dethrone Empress Anne for Peter the Great's daughter,

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Empress Elisabeth (disambiguation), lists various empresses named ''Elisabeth'' or ''Elizabeth'' * Princess Elizabeth ...

.Pushkin, Alexandr Sergeyevitch. (1968) ''The Complete Prose Tales of Pushkin'', W. W. Norton & Company. 504 pages. . He was arrested on 23 June 1740 and thus condemned to be

broken on the wheel The breaking wheel, also known as the execution wheel, the Wheel of Catherine or the (Saint) Catherine('s) Wheel, was a Torture, torture method used for Capital punishment#Public execution, public execution primarily in Europe from Classical ant ...

and then beheaded. On the scaffold, by the clemency of the empress, his punishment was mitigated to the severing of his right hand followed by

decapitation Decapitation is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and all vertebrate animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood by way of severing through the jugular vein and common c ...

on 27 June 1740. The sentence was executed exactly 31 years after the

Battle of Poltava The Battle of Poltava took place 8 July 1709, was the decisive and largest battle of the Great Northern War. The Russian army under the command of Tsar Peter I defeated the Swedish army commanded by Carl Gustaf Rehnskiöld. The battle would l ...

. Volynsky had by his side architect

Pyotr Yeropkin Pyotr Mikhailovich Yeropkin (ca. 1698–1740) was a Russian architect credited with replanning Saint Petersburg after Peter the Great's death. It was Yeropkin who designed the famous Trident of the Nevsky, Voznesensky, and Gorokhovaya thoroughf ...

and .

Legacy

A tombstone in their honour was erected in 1741 by order of

Elizabeth of Russia Elizabeth or Elizaveta Petrovna (; ) was Empress of Russia from 1741 until her death in 1762. She remains one of the most popular List of Russian rulers, Russian monarchs because of her decision not to execute a single person during her reign, ...

over their burial place beside St. Sampson Cathedral. That was the only thing that was visible over their grave until 1885 when a monument was placed as they were seen as national heroes because they opposed German ideas, as represented by Biron. This point of view would have been quite amazing to their contemporaries and reflects more the concerns of the next century than of Biron's and Volynsky's time. The charge of conspiracy appears to have been untrue. Volynsky was tortured twice but even under torture he refused to admit to conspiracy, while admitting the ancillary charge of taking bribes (of which no Russian official of the time was innocent). Volynsky's draft of a ''General Project of Internal Affairs of the State'' contained many suggestions for reforms of administration but avoided altogether the subject of imperial succession and prerogatives.Igor Kurukin, Biron, 2006.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Volynsky, Artemy Petrovich 1689 births 1740 deaths Russian untitled nobility Gediminids Politicians from the Russian Empire Executed Russian people Ambassadors of the Tsardom of Russia to Safavid Iran People executed by the Russian Empire by decapitation 18th-century executions by Russia 18th-century diplomats of the Russian Empire Ambassadors of the Russian Empire to Safavid Iran