Nikita Mikhailovich Muravyov (; – ) was an Imperial Guards staff

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

and plotter in what led to 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 ...

of 1825. Muravyov was active in a number of proto-Decembrist organizations. In 1816, he was among the founders of the

Union of Salvation The Union of Salvation (), formed in 1816, also known as the Society of True and Loyal Sons of the Fatherland () since 1817, was the first secret political society of the Decembrists. In 1816, at the initiative of , a group of young officers of ...

, a secret society. In 1820, he spoke out for

republican government Representative democracy, also known as indirect democracy or electoral democracy, is a types of democracy, type of democracy where elected delegates Representation (politics), represent a group of people, in contrast to direct democracy. Nearl ...

in the Union of Welfare. After the Union of Welfare's 1821 dissolution, Muravyov joined the supreme

duma A duma () is a Russian assembly with advisory or legislative functions. The term ''boyar duma'' is used to refer to advisory councils in Russia from the 10th to 17th centuries. Starting in the 18th century, city dumas were formed across Russia ...

and was a leader in the Northern Society, and was elected to the Southern Society's directory. He wrote a draft constitution for a Russian state, and a tract "Curious Conversation" arguing the need to rise against despotism. He was on leave in the country when the

occurred on 14 December 1825, and did not participate directly in it. But he was complicit, arrested and imprisoned in 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 ...

. He was condemned to death, but the sentence was commuted to 20 years of hard labor. He was assigned to the Nerchinsk Mines, then in 1835 exiled to

Irkutsk Province Irkutsk Oblast (; ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in southeastern Siberia in the basins of the Angara River, Angara, Lena River, Lena, and Nizhnyaya Tunguska Rivers. The administrative center is ...

where he died in 1843.

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