Bogdan Matveyevich Khitrovo () ( – 27 March 1680) was a high-placed

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, or

boyar A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Bulgaria, Kievan Rus' (and later Russia), Moldavia and Wallachia (and later Romania), Lithuania and among Baltic Germans. C ...

, who served

Tsar Alexis Alexei Mikhailovich (, ; – ), also known as Alexis, was Tsar of all Russia from 1645 until his death in 1676. He was the second Russian tsar from the House of Romanov. He was the first tsar to sign laws on his own authority and his council ...

and his son Fyodor III, supporting the party of

Maria Miloslavskaya Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya (, 1 April 1624 – 18 August 1669) was a Russian tsaritsa as the first spouse of tsar Alexis of Russia. She was the mother of tsar Feodor III of Russia, tsar Ivan V of Russia, and the princess regent Sophia A ...

. He is also noted for his patronage of icon-painter

Simon Ushakov Simon (Pimen) Fyodorovich Ushakov (; – 25 June 1686) was a Russian Icon, icon painter. Together with Fyodor Zubov and Fyodor Rozhnov, he is associated with the comprehensive reform of the Russian Orthodox Church undertaken by Patriarch Ni ...

and

Simeon of Polotsk Symeon (Simeon) of Polotsk or Symeon Polotsky (; born as ''Samuel Piotrowski-Sitnianowicz'', ; December 12, 1629 – August 25, 1680) was an academically-trained Baroque poet, dramatist, churchman, and enlightener of Belarusian descent who came fr ...

, the first Russian poet. It appears likely that Khitrovo was born in Grigoryevskoye, his father's estate in the region of

Kaluga Kaluga (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Kaluga Oblast, Russia. It stands on the Oka River southwest of Moscow. Its population was 337,058 at the 2021 census. Kaluga's most famous residen ...

. He later would endow the Lyutikov Monastery in nearby Vorotynsk with a number of generous gifts, including an icon featuring his own portrait. He made a name for himself in the mid-1640s as a governor of

Temnikov Temnikov (; , ''Temnikav''; , ''Čopolt oš'') is a town and the administrative center of Temnikovsky District in the Republic of Mordovia, Russia. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 7,243. History The oldest town in the Republic ...

. At that time he established a chain of forts along the

Volga The Volga (, ) is the longest river in Europe and the longest endorheic basin river in the world. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchment ...

river, including

Simbirsk Ulyanovsk,, , known as Simbirsk until 1924, is a city and the administrative center of Ulyanovsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Volga River east of Moscow. Ulyanovsk has been the only Russian UNESCO City of Literature since 2015. The city wa ...

, which has an equestrian monument in his honor. Starting in 1648, Khitrovo pursued a brilliant career at court. He was in charge of many

prikaz A prikaz (; , plural: ) was an administrative, judicial, territorial, or executive bureaucracy , office functioning on behalf of palace, civil, military, or church authorities in the Grand Duchy of Moscow and the Tsardom of Russia from the 15th ...

es between 1649 and 1664 and he held the office of Master of Arms, or Lord of the

Kremlin Armoury The Kremlin ArmouryOfficially called the "Armoury Chamber" but also known as the cannon yard, the "Armoury Palace", the "Moscow Armoury", the "Armoury Museum", and the "Moscow Armoury Museum" but different from the Kremlin Arsenal. () is one of ...

, from 1654 until his death. This position allowed him to oversee the activities of major icon-painters in the employ of the Tsar. In the face of opposition from such eminent personages as

Avvakum Avvakum Petrov (; 20 November 1620/1621 – 14 April 1682; also spelled Awakum) was a Russian Old Believer and protopope of the Kazan Cathedral on Red Square who led the opposition to Patriarch Nikon's reforms of the Russian Orthodox Church. H ...

, Khitrovo encouraged the artists' interest in Western art, which resulted in an unprecedented flowering of naturalism in Russian icon-painting. Khitrovo was related through his mother to the powerful

Fyodor Rtishchev Feodor Mikhailovich Rtishchev (; April 16, 1625, Chekalinsky uyezd – July 1, 1673, Moscow) was a boyar and an intimate friend of Alexis I of Russia who was renowned for his piety and alms-deeds. He was the founder of the so-called Andreevsky S ...

, with whom he shared a keen interest in Western culture and a penchant for philanthropy. He led Russian forces during a prolonged war with Poland and took part in the negotiations that led to the

Treaty of Andrusovo The Truce of Andrusovo (, , also sometimes known as Treaty of Andrusovo) established a thirteen-and-a-half year truce, signed on between the Tsardom of Russia and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, which had fought the Russo-Polish War sin ...

. During the last 16 years of his life he performed the task of administering

the Kremlin The Moscow Kremlin (also the Kremlin) is a fortified complex in Moscow, Russia. Located in the centre of the country's capital city, the Moscow Kremlin comprises five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Kremlin Wall along with the K ...

palaces, as well as other state estate, including several million of serfs. The old boyar made a bequest of the Khitrovo Gospel, as well as other books and icons, to the

Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra The Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius () is a lavra and the most important Russian monastery, being the spiritual centre of the Russian Orthodox Church. The monastery is situated in the town of Sergiyev Posad, about to the northeast from Mosco ...

and other monasteries. According to his will, all his

kholop A ''kholop'' ( Ukrainian and Russian холо́п; , ) was a type of feudal serf (dependent population) in Kievan Rus' in the 9th and early 12th centuries. Their legal status in Russia was essentially the same as slaves. They were sold as ...

s (slaves) were set free. His tomb is in the crypt of the

Novodevichy Convent Novodevichy Convent, also known as Bogoroditse-Smolensky Monastery (), is probably the best-known cloister of Moscow. Its name, sometimes translated as the ''New Maidens' Monastery'', was devised to differ from the Ascension Convent, Old Maidens ...

cathedral.

References

*
Khitrovo's Biography, by V. A. Gurkin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khitrovo, Bogdan Russian art collectors Boyars Russian philanthropists 1610s births 1680 deaths People from Peremyshlsky District 17th-century philanthropists City founders from the Tsardom of Russia