Mikhail Pavlovich Bestuzhev-Ryumin (; – ) was a Russian officer, one of the organizers of the

Decembrist revolt The Decembrist revolt () was a failed coup d'état led by liberal military and political dissidents against the Russian Empire. It took place in Saint Petersburg on , following the death of Emperor Alexander I. Alexander's brother and heir ...

. He was the youngest of the five hanged Decembrists.

Biography

Mikhail Bestuzhev-Ryumin was born in the village Kudryoshky () of Gorbatovsky Uyezd,

Nizhny Novgorod Governorate Nizhny Novgorod Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire, Russian Republic, and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR, roughly corresponding to the Volga region, Upper and ...

('' guberniya'') on June 4, 1801 (according to other sources 1803). His father was the Mayor () of the town of Gorbatov, owner of 640 serfs and a

muslin Muslin () is a cotton fabric of plain weave. It is made in a wide range of weights from delicate sheers to coarse sheeting. It is commonly believed that it gets its name from the city of Mosul, Iraq. Muslin was produced in different regions o ...

factory. Despite his obscure position as a provincial mayor, Bestuzhev-Ryumin belonged to a branch of an ancient noble family (mentioned in chronicles since the 14th century), which included, among others, Count Alexey Bestuzhev-Ryumin (1693–1766) and Mikhail's nephew, historian

Konstantin Bestuzhev-Ryumin Konstantin Nikolayevich Bestuzhev-Ryumin (; – ) was a Russian historian. He was the head of the School of Historiography at the University of St. Petersburg (1864–85) and was elected into the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences in 1890. In 1 ...

. Mikhail started his military career in 1818 at the Horse-guard regiment, then at the

Semenovsky regiment The Semyonovsky Lifeguard Regiment (, ) was one of the two oldest guard regiments of the Imperial Russian Army. The other one was the Preobrazhensky Regiment. In 2013, it was recreated for the Russian Armed Forces as a rifle regiment, its na ...

. After the uprising of the Semenovsky regiment he was transferred to the

Poltava Poltava (, ; , ) is a city located on the Vorskla, Vorskla River in Central Ukraine, Central Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Poltava Oblast as well as Poltava Raion within the oblast. It also hosts the administration of Po ...

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

regiment. In 1824, he became a

podporuchik ''Podporuchik'' ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, потпоручник, potporučnik, , , , , ) is the most junior officer in some Slavic armed forces, and is placed below the rank of lieutenant, typically corresponding to rank of second lieutenant in English ...

. In 1823, he joined the Southern Society of

Decembrists The Decembrist revolt () was a failed coup d'état led by liberal military and political dissidents against the Russian Empire. It took place in Saint Petersburg on , following the death of Emperor Alexander I. Alexander's brother and heir ...

and became one of the main assistants to Sergey Muravyov-Apostol on Vasilkovskaya Uprava of the South society. He was a participant in conferences of the Southern society in

Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

and Kamenka, and negotiated with secret Polish society. He was the author of the Decembrists' Proclamation that was read to the troops and local peasants. He also was known to dress in the clothes of lower classes and agitate people to revolt against the monarchy. Bestuzhev-Ryumin was the most extreme republican among the Decembrists; he insisted on the need to execute the Emperor and his entire family. At least four other members of the Bestuzhev family were involved in the Decembrist conspiracy. On December 27, 1825, Mikhail was an assistant to Sergey Muravyov-Apostol, who headed the uprising of the

Chernigov Chernihiv (, ; , ) is a city and municipality in northern Ukraine, which serves as the administrative center of Chernihiv Oblast and Chernihiv Raion within the oblast. Chernihiv's population is The city was designated as a Hero City of Ukrain ...

regiment. Mikhail was caught on January 3, 1826, and transferred to

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 ...

on January 20. He was one of the five sentenced to quartering, but later this sentence was replaced with

hanging Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature. Hanging has been a standard method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and has been the primary execution method in numerou ...

. He was executed at the

Peter and Paul Fortress The Peter and Paul Fortress () is the original citadel of Saint Petersburg, Russia, founded by Peter the Great in 1703 and built to Domenico Trezzini's designs from 1706 to 1740 as a star fortress. Between the first half of the 1700s and early ...

on July 25, 1826, and interred with the rest of the five in a secret grave on Goloday Island in Saint Petersburg.

External links

Biography of Mikhail Bestuzhev-Ryumin
- in Russian

- in Russian {{DEFAULTSORT:Bestuzhev-Ryumin, Mikhail 1801 births 1826 deaths People from Bogorodsky District, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast People from Gorbatovsky Uyezd 19th-century nobility from the Russian Empire Decembrists People executed by the Russian Empire by hanging Executed Russian people 19th-century executions by the Russian Empire