The Procurator (russian: прокурор, ''prokuror'') was an office initially established in 1722 by

Peter the Great Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...

, the first

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother ( e ...

of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...

, as part of reforms to bring the

Russian Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...

more directly under his control. The Russian word also has the meaning of

prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal tria ...

. The Chief Procurator (also Ober-Procurator; обер-прокурор, ''ober-prokuror'') was the official title of the head of the

Most Holy Synod The Most Holy Governing Synod (russian: Святѣйшій Правительствующій Сѵнодъ, Святейший Правительствующий Синод) was the highest governing body of the Russian Orthodox Church betwee ...

, effectively the lay head of the Russian Orthodox Church, and a member of the Tsar's cabinet.

Konstantin Pobedonostsev Konstantin Petrovich Pobedonostsev ( rus, Константи́н Петро́вич Победоно́сцев, p=kənstɐnʲˈtʲin pʲɪˈtrovʲɪtɕ pəbʲɪdɐˈnostsɨf; 30 November 1827 – 23 March 1907) was a Russian jurist, statesman ...

, a former tutor both of Alexander III and of

Nicholas II Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Polan ...

, was one of the most powerful men to hold the post, from 1880 to 1905. The General Procurator (Procurator General) and the Chief Procurator were major supervisory positions in the Russian

Governing Senate The Governing Senate (russian: Правительствующий сенат, Pravitelstvuyushchiy senat) was a legislative, judicial, and executive body of the Russian Emperors, instituted by Peter the Great to replace the Boyar Duma and last ...

, which functioned from 1711 to 1917, with their meaning changing over time. Eventually Chief Procurator became the title of the head of a department of the Senate.

List of Most Holy Synod Ober-Procurators

* 1722–1725 Ivan Boltin * 1725–1730

Aleksei Baskakov Alexey, Alexei, Alexie, Aleksei, or Aleksey (russian: Алексе́й ; bg, Алексей ) is a Russian and Bulgarian male first name deriving from the Greek ''Aléxios'' (), meaning "Defender", and thus of the same origin as the Latin Al ...

* 1730–1740 ''no appointments'' * 1740–1741 Nikita Krechetnikov * 1741–1753

Yakov Shakhovskoy Prince Yakov Petrovich Shakhovskoy (russian: Яков Петрович Шаховской) (8 October 1705 – 23 July 1777) was a Russian statesman. Prince Yakov Shakhovskoy was born in the family of Prince Pyotr Ivanovich Shakhovskoy, who d ...

* 1753–1758 Afanasiy Lvov * 1758–1763 Aleksei Kozlovskiy * 1763–1768

Ivan Melissino Ivan () is a Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John) from Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. The earliest person known to bear the name was Bulga ...

* 1768–1774 Pyotr Chebyshyov * 1774–1786

Sergei Akchurin Sergius is a male given name of Ancient Rome, Ancient Roman origin after the name of the Latins, Latin ''gens'' Gens Sergia, Sergia or Sergii of Roman Kingdom, regal and Roman Republic, republican ages. It is a common Christian name, in honor of S ...

* 1786–1791 Apollos Naumov * 1791–1797

Aleksei Musin-Pushkin Aleksei Ivanovich Musin-Pushkin (Russian:Алексей Иванович Мусин-Пушкин; 27 March 1744, Moscow - 13 February 1817, Moscow) was a Russian statesman and historian, known for his large art and book collections. Biography ...

* 1797–1799

Vasiliy Khovanskiy Vasili, Vasily, Vasilii or Vasiliy (Russian: Василий) is a Russian masculine given name of Greek origin and corresponds to ''Basil''. It may refer to: *Vasili I of Moscow Grand Prince from 1389–1425 *Vasili II of Moscow Grand Prince fr ...

* 1799–1802

Dmitry Khvostov Count Dmitry Ivanovich Khvostov (russian: граф Дми́трий Ива́нович Хвосто́в, – ), was a Russian poet, representing the late period of classicism in Russian literature. Count Khvostov, as he was widely known, was an ...

* 1802–1803 Aleksandr Yakovlev * 1803–1817

Aleksandr Golitsyn Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

* 1817–1833 Pyotr Meshcherskiy * 1833–1836

Stepan Nechayev Stepan Dmitriyevich Nechayev (russian: Степа́н Дми́триевич Неча́ев; 1792–1860) was a Procurator of the Most Holy Synod and a senator. Nechayev was the first one to study the materials about the Kulikovo Field. He picke ...

* 1836–1855

Nikolay Protasov Count Nikolay Aleksandrovich Protasov (27 December 1798 – 16 January 1855) was a Russian general and Ober-Procurator (Attorney-General) of the Most Holy Synod The Most Holy Governing Synod (russian: Святѣйшій Правите� ...

* 1855–1856

Aleksandr Karasevskiy Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

* 1856–1862

Aleksandr Tolstoy Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

* 1862–1865 Aleksei Akhmatov * 1865–1880

Dmitry Tolstoy Count Dmitry Andreyevich Tolstoy (russian: Дми́трий Андре́евич Толсто́й; , Moscow – , Saint Petersburg) was a Russian statesman, a member of the State Council of Imperial Russia (1866). He belonged to the comital b ...

* 1880–1905

* 1905–1906 Aleksei Obolenskiy * 1906–1906 Aleksei Shirinskiy-Shikhmatov * 1906–1909 Pyotr Izvolskiy * 1909–1911

Sergei Lukianov Sergius is a male given name of Ancient Roman origin after the name of the Latin ''gens'' Sergia or Sergii of regal and republican ages. It is a common Christian name, in honor of Saint Sergius, or in Russia, of Saint Sergius of Radonezh, and ha ...

* 1911–1915 Vladimir Sabler * 1915–1915 Aleksandr Samarin * 1915–1916

Alexander Volzhin Alexander Volzhin (born 2 February 1971; Russian: Александр Волжин) is a Russian chess grandmaster. Chess career Alexander Volzhin was born on 2 February 1971 in the southern Russian city of Makhachkala. He started playing chess ...

* 1916–1917 Nikolai Raev * 1917–1917 Vladimir Lvov * 1917–1917

Anton Kartashev Anton Vladimirovich Kartashev ( Russian: Антон Владимирович Карташёв; 1875–1960) was a Russian professor of Church History and a journalist. Briefly in 1917 he was the last Ober- Procurator of the Most Holy Governing Syn ...

List of Most Holy Synod Ober-Procurators

See also