Mikhail Nikolayevich Ostrovsky (; 1827–1901) was a Russian statesman who served as Minister of State Property (a post roughly equivalent to the American position of

Secretary of the Interior Secretary of the Interior may refer to: * Secretary of the Interior (Mexico) * Interior Secretary of Pakistan * Secretary of the Interior and Local Government (Philippines) * United States Secretary of the Interior See also

*Interior ministry ...

) during the reign of Alexander III.

Early life and career

Ostrovsky was born March 30 (April 11

new style Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) indicate dating systems before and after a calendar change, respectively. Usually, they refer to the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar as enacted in various Europe, European countrie ...

), 1827, in the

Zamoskvorechye District Zamoskvorechye District () is a district of the Central Administrative Okrug of the federal city of Moscow, Russia. It has a population of up from The district contains the eastern half of the historical Zamoskvorechye District, its weste ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. His father was a first-generation nobleman of the church estate, and his older brother

Alexander Ostrovsky Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky (; ) was a Russian playwright, generally considered the greatest representative of the Russian realistic period. The author of 47 original plays, Ostrovsky "almost single-handedly created a Russian national repe ...

became a noted playwright. Ostrovsky studied at the First Moscow Gymnasium and in 1848 was graduated from Moscow Imperial University. He entered government service in the office of the Civil Governor of

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 ...

, assisting Auditor General V. A. Tatarinov in the introduction of auditing reforms. From April 17, 1871, to 1878, Ostrovsky was Associate State Comptroller. He was assigned to perform audits in

Vladimir Vladimir (, , pre-1918 orthography: ) is a masculine given name of Slavic origin, widespread throughout all Slavic nations in different forms and spellings. The earliest record of a person with the name is Vladimir of Bulgaria (). Etymology ...

, Tula,

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 ...

Yaroslavl Yaroslavl (; , ) is a city and the administrative center of Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, located northeast of Moscow. The historic part of the city is a World Heritage Site, and is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Kotorosl rivers. ...

Kostroma Kostroma (, ) is a historic city and the administrative center of Kostroma Oblast, Russia. A part of the Golden Ring of Russian cities, it is located at the confluence of the rivers Volga and Kostroma. In the 2021 census, the population is 267, ...

Pskov Pskov ( rus, Псков, a=Ru-Псков.oga, p=psˈkof; see also Names of Pskov in different languages, names in other languages) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in northwestern Russia and the administrative center of Pskov O ...

Vilna Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

Grodno Grodno, or Hrodna, is a city in western Belarus. It is one of the oldest cities in Belarus. The city is located on the Neman, Neman River, from Minsk, about from the Belarus–Poland border, border with Poland, and from the Belarus–Lithua ...

Kovno Province Kovno Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire, with its capital in Kovno (Kaunas). It was formed on 18 December 1842 by Tsar Nicholas I of Russia, Nicholas I from the western part of Vilna Govern ...

, and the former Kingdom of Poland (then a Russian possession). In 1877 he performed a field audit of the Caucasus Army.

Later achievements and honors

In 1872, Ostrovsky was a made a senator, and in 1878 a member of the

State Council of Imperial Russia The State Council ( rus, Госуда́рственный сове́т, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj sɐˈvʲet) was the supreme state advisory body to the tsar in the Russian Empire. From 1906, it was the upper house of the parliament under t ...

. From May 4, 1881, to January 1, 1893, Ostrovsky was Minister of State Property. He was in office in 1888 when an important law on the protection of forests was proclaimed. From January 1, 1893, to October 3, 1899, Ostrovsky was chairman of the Department of Legislation of the

State Council State Council may refer to: Government * State Council of the People's Republic of China, the national cabinet and chief administrative authority of China, headed by the Premier * State Council of the Republic of Korea, the national cabinet of S ...

. By an Imperial

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of April 26, 1899, Ostrovsky was made a Chevalier of the

Order of St. Andrew The Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle the First-Called () is the highest order conferred by both the Russian Imperial Family (as an order of chivalry) and by the Russian Federation (as a state order). Established as the first and highest order ...

. Ostrovsky was an honorary member of the

Imperial Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation; and additional scientific and social units such ...

, Chairman of the Museum of Applied Knowledge in St. Petersburg, and (from May 15, 1883) an Actual Privy Counsellor, a civilian rank equivalent to full general or admiral. Ostrovsky died July 25 (August 7

), 1901, in

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 ...

. His funeral was held July 28 in the Dukhovskaya Church of the

Alexander Nevsky Lavra Saint Alexander Nevsky Lavra or Saint Alexander Nevsky Monastery was founded by Peter I of Russia in 1710 at the eastern end of the Nevsky Prospekt in Saint Petersburg, in the belief that this was the site of the Neva Battle in 1240 when Alexa ...

, and was attended by

Ivan Durnovo Ivan Nikolayevich Durnovo (, the patronymic is also transcribed as Nikolaevich; – ) was a Russian politician. He served as Russian Council of Ministers, Chairman of the Committee of Ministers between 1895 and 1903, the precursor to the po ...

(Chairman of the

Council of Ministers Council of Ministers is a traditional name given to the supreme Executive (government), executive organ in some governments. It is usually equivalent to the term Cabinet (government), cabinet. The term Council of State is a similar name that also m ...

) and others. He was buried in the Lavra's

Nikolskoe Cemetery Nikolskoe Cemetery () is a historic cemetery in the centre of Saint Petersburg. It is part of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, and is one of four cemeteries in the complex. The third cemetery to be established in the monastery complex, the Nikolskoe ...

References

Notes

External links

* *Obituary, Правительственный Вѣстникъ. , No. 163, p. 3 {{DEFAULTSORT:Ostrovsky, Mikhail Nikolayevich 1827 births 1901 deaths Politicians from Moscow Politicians from the Russian Empire Members of the State Council (Russian Empire) Burials at Nikolskoe Cemetery