Count Mikhail Nikolayevich Muravyov (; 12 October 1796 in

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 ...

– 12 September 1866 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 ...

) was a Russian imperial statesman of the 19th century, most known for brutally putting down of Polish and Lithuanian uprisings and leading subsequent cultural and social depolonization of

Northwestern Krai Northwestern Krai () was a ''krai'' of the Russian Empire (unofficial subdivision) in the territories of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania (present-day Belarus and Lithuania). The administrative center was in Vilna (now Vilnius). Northwestern ...

(today's

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

and

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

). He should not be confused with his grandson, Mikhail Nikolayevich Muravyov, who served as Russian Foreign Minister between 1897 and 1900.

Early years

During his years at the

University of Moscow Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, and six branches. Al ...

, Muravyov set up the Mathematical Society, of which he would later become president. He volunteered during the Patriotic War of 1812 and was wounded at Borodino. In 1816 he became a co-founder of the first Decembrist societies, and, although he didn't actively participate in the movement after 1820, he was briefly apprehended by the police after their failed uprising in December 1825. By some sources he was cooperating with the investigation buying out his freedom this way. Upon the intercession of his high-placed relatives, Muravyov was appointed Vice-Governor of

Vitebsk Vitebsk or Vitsyebsk (, ; , ; ) is a city in northern Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Vitebsk Region and Vitebsk District, though it is administratively separated from the district. As of 2025, it has 358,927 inhabitants, m ...

in 1826, and appointed Governor of Mogilyov in 1828. At these posts, he became known for his harsh policy of

Russification Russification (), Russianisation or Russianization, is a form of cultural assimilation in which non-Russians adopt Russian culture and Russian language either voluntarily or as a result of a deliberate state policy. Russification was at times ...

. Muravyov's experiences during the

November Uprising The November Uprising (1830–31) (), also known as the Polish–Russian War 1830–31 or the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in Russian Partition, the heartland of Partitions of Poland, partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. ...

of 1830 persuaded him that two principal agents responsible for the spread of the Polish nationalism were the Roman Catholic priests and Polish students. As a consequence, he made it his priority to close

Vilnius University Vilnius University ( Lithuanian: ''Vilniaus universitetas'') is a public research university, which is the first and largest university in Lithuania, as well as one of the oldest and most prominent higher education institutions in Central and Ea ...

and to expel Catholic priests from other educational facilities. He was reported as saying that, "What Russian rifle did not succeed in doing, will be finished off by Russian schools." In 1831 Muravyov governed Grodno, only to be moved to

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

the following year. In 1850, he was made a member of the State Council of the Russian Empire. In the 1850s he served as Vice-President of the

Russian Geographical Society The Russian Geographical Society (), or RGO, is a learned society based in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It promotes geography, exploration and nature protection with research programs in fields including oceanography, ethnography, ecology and stati ...

. Alexander II appointed him Minister of State Properties, a position which Muravyov used to lead the reactionary party opposed to the emancipation of the serfs. His administration of state-owned peasant households proved catastrophic and effectively reduced many of them to bankruptcy.

Governor General

During the

January Uprising The January Uprising was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at putting an end to Russian occupation of part of Poland and regaining independence. It began on 22 January 1863 and continued until the last i ...

of 1863, Muravyov was appointed Governor General of Vilna (former

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...

, now

and part of

). He instituted a complete ban on the Latin alphabet and the

Lithuanian language Lithuanian (, ) is an East Baltic languages, East Baltic language belonging to the Baltic languages, Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family. It is the language of Lithuanians and the official language of Lithuania as well as one of t ...

in printed content. The ban was lifted in 1904. He managed to promptly subdue the rebellion. About 9000 insurgents were resettled to

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

, 127 were demonstratively

hanged 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 ...

Konstanty Kalinowski Konstanty Kalinowski, or Wincenty Konstanty Kalinowski ( – ), was a Polish-Belarusian writer, journalist, lawyer and revolutionary. He was one of the leaders of the 1863 January Uprising on the lands of the former Polish–Lithuanian Commonwea ...

, Zygmunt Sierakowski and

Antanas Mackevičius Antanas Mackevičius (; 26 June 1828 – 28 December 1863) was a Lithuanians, Lithuanian Roman Catholic priest who was one of the leaders and initiators of the January Uprising in Lithuania. Mackevičius was born to a family of Petty nobility, ...

were among the rebel leaders executed on his orders. Those settlements where the rebels were reported had to pay enormous contributions. As a consequence, for Poles and liberal Russian circles Muravyov became known as the "hangman of

Vilnius 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 ...

" even in modern Polish historiography he is sometimes referred to by his contemporary nickname, 'Wieszatiel' ('hangman'). To many nationally minded Russians, Muravyov was a hero and the de facto head of the "Russian Party". They flooded Muravyov with congratulatory telegrams on his nameday, November 8, 1863, a form of public expression previously unknown in Russia. After defeating the rebels militarily, Muravyov began a series of deep reforms which aimed at the liquidation of the breeding grounds for future uprisings. He strengthened the economic, educational and social positions of Orthodox Belarusian peasants who made up the majority of the Krai's population at these times. He paid much attention to the restoration of the Orthodox character of Belarus since he regarded this as the best means against potential disloyalty and because he was convinced that he was liberating ancient Russian (Rus') lands from Polish subjugation. On May 1, 1865, Muravyov was relieved from his duties. For his vital services to the Empire, he received a comital title and spent late 1865 and early 1866 writing his memoirs. At the time of his death, Muravyov was investigating Dmitry Karakozov's attempt to assassinate the tsar.

Contemporary reactions

In the long term, Muravyov's policy proved mixed. In 1905 Polish rebellion once again took place against the Russian Empire. He was however instrumental in rooting out

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

in Belarus, prohibiting construction of new churches and converting the existing ones to Eastern Orthodox chapels. Muravyov justified his Russification policies by claiming that Polish and Lithuanian administration undertook

Polonization Polonization or Polonisation ()In Polish historiography, particularly pre-WWII (e.g., L. Wasilewski. As noted in Смалянчук А. Ф. (Smalyanchuk 2001) Паміж краёвасцю і нацыянальнай ідэяй. Польскі ...

measures. Assessment of Muravyov's activity by the educated strata of the Russian society varied from enraptured odes by

Fyodor Tyutchev Fyodor Ivanovich Tyutchev (, ; – ) was a Russian poet and diplomat. Ancestry Tyutchev was born into an old Russian noble family in the Ovstug family estate near Bryansk (modern-day Zhukovsky District, Bryansk Oblast of Russia). His f ...

to caustic satires by

Nikolai Nekrasov Nikolay Alexeyevich Nekrasov ( rus, Никола́й Алексе́евич Некра́сов, p=nʲɪkɐˈlaj ɐlʲɪkˈsʲejɪvʲɪtɕ nʲɪˈkrasəf, a=Ru-Nikolay_Alexeyevich_Nekrasov.ogg, – ) was a Russian poet, writer, critic and publ ...

. After the suppression of the 1863 uprising, the celebrated emigre writer

Alexander Herzen Alexander Ivanovich Herzen (; ) was a Russian writer and thinker known as the precursor of Russian socialism and one of the main precursors of agrarian populism (being an ideological ancestor of the Narodniki, Socialist-Revolutionaries, Trudo ...

, bitterly joked that Muravyov should replace Alexander II on the throne as a more consistent and forceful nationalist. In

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 ...

and

he has been viewed as a personification of tsarist repression and Russification.

Notes

* See A.N. Mosolov, "Vilenskie ocherki", in ''Russkaia starina'' no. 11, 1883, p. 405. quoted in Mikhail Dolbilov, "''We are at one with our tsar who serves the Fatherland as we do'': The Civic Identity of Russifying Officials in the Empire's Northwestern Region after 1863

References

*Adam Bruno Ulam, ''Prophets and conspirators in prerevolutionary Russia'', Transaction Publishers, 1998
Google Print: p.8

External links

Muravyov Diaries
scan of first Polish edition, 1916 {{DEFAULTSORT:Muravyov-Vilensky, Mikhail 1796 births 1866 deaths Politicians from Moscow People from Moskovsky Uyezd Counts of the Russian Empire Government ministers of the Russian Empire Senators of the Russian Empire Members of the State Council (Russian Empire) Governors-general of Lithuania Governors of Kursk Governorate Governors of Grodno Governorate Governors of Mogilev Governorate History of the Lithuanian language Russification Founding members of the Russian Geographical Society Russian people of the January Uprising Recipients of the Order of St. Andrew Recipients of the Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky Recipients of the Order of St. George of the Fourth Degree Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 1st class Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 4th class Burials at Lazarevskoe Cemetery (Saint Petersburg)