Sergey Ivanovich Muravyov-Apostol () ( – ) was a

Russian Imperial The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

Lieutenant Colonel and 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 ...

.Материалы следственного дела С. И. Муравьёва-Апостола
/ref> He was one of five Decembrists executed for their roles in attempting to reform the Russian autocracy towards a constitutional form of government.Материалы следственного дела С. И. Муравьёва-Апостола
/ref>

Early life and military career

Sergei was born 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 ...

, the fourth son of Russian diplomat Ivan Muravyov-Apostol. His mother, Anna, was the daughter of a Serbian general, Simon Crnojević. Four of his relatives also became Decembrists: his brothers Ippolit Muravyov-Apostol and Matvey Muravyov-Apostol and his cousins

Nikita Muravyov Nikita Mikhailovich Muravyov (; – ) was an Imperial Guards staff officer and plotter in what led to the Decembrist revolt of 1825. Muravyov was active in a number of proto-Decembrist organizations. In 1816, he was among the founders of the ...

and Artamon Muravyov.Материалы следственного дела С. И. Муравьёва-Апостола
/ref> Sergei spent his childhood in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, then graduated from the Saint Petersburg Institute of Road Engineers before joining in the Russian Army. DecembristsExecutionPlaque

He was a veteran of the

Patriotic War of 1812 The French invasion of Russia, also known as the Russian campaign (), the Second Polish War, and in Russia as the Patriotic War of 1812 (), was initiated by Napoleon with the aim of compelling the Russian Empire to comply with the continent ...

. He took part in the Battle of Vitebsk, the

Battle of Borodino The Battle of Borodino ( ) or Battle of Moscow (), in popular literature also known as the Battle of the Generals, took place on the outskirts of Moscow near the village of Borodino on 7 September 1812 during Napoleon's invasion of Russia. ...

, the

Battle of Tarutino The Battle of Tarutino () was a part of Napoleon's invasion of Russia. In the battle, Russian troops under the general command of Bennigsen (as part of Kutuzov's army), on instructions from Kutuzov, launched an attack and defeated French tro ...

, the

Battle of Maloyaroslavets The Battle of Maloyaroslavets took place on 24 October 1812 as part of the French invasion of Russia. It was Kutuzov's decisive battle to force Napoleon to retreat northwest over Mozhaisk to Smolensk on the devastated route of his advance wit ...

, the

Battle of Berezina The Battle of (the) Berezina (or Beresina) took place from 26 to 29 November 1812, between Napoleon's and the Imperial Russian Army under Field Marshal Peter Wittgenstein, Wittgenstein and Admiral Pavel Chichagov, Chichagov. Napoleon was retre ...

(for which he was awarded the Golden Sword for Bravery), the

Battle of Leipzig The Battle of Leipzig, also known as the Battle of the Nations, was fought from 16 to 19 October 1813 at Leipzig, Saxony. The Coalition armies of Austria, Prussia, Sweden, and Russia, led by Tsar Alexander I, Karl von Schwarzenberg, and G ...

(1813), and the Battle for Paris (1814), for which he was awarded the Order of St. Anna, second degree.Материалы следственного дела С. И. Муравьёва-Апостола
/ref> After the

Napoleonic wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

he served as a

poruchik The rank of lieutenant in Eastern Europe, also called ''poruchnick'' in Slavic languages, is one used in Slavophone armed forces. Depending on the country, it is either the lowest or second lowest officer rank. Etymology The rank designatio ...

, and later as a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of the

Russian Imperial Guard The Russian Imperial Guard, officially known as the Leib Guard ( ''Leyb-gvardiya'', from German ''Leib'' "body"; cf. Life Guards / Bodyguard), were combined Imperial Russian Army forces units serving as counterintelligence for preventing sabot ...

Semyonovsky 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 name ...

. After the uprising of the Semyonovsky regiment in 1820 he transferred as a Lieutenant Colonel to the

Poltava Regiment The Poltava Regiment () was one of ten territorial-administrative subdivisions of the Cossack Hetmanate. The regiment's capital was the city of Poltava, now in Poltava Oblast of central Ukraine. The Poltava Regiment was founded in 1648 during the ...

, and in 1822 to the

Chernigov Regiment The Chernigov Regiment (also known as ''Chernihiv Regiment'' or the ''Regiment of Chernigov'', , ) was one of ten territorial-administrative subdivisions of the Registered Zaporozhian Host, later incorporated as an autonomy in Tsardom of Russia. ...

Decembrist Uprising

In 1817 and 1818, he was a

Freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

, a member and a ritual-keeper of the "Three Virtues" Lodge. He was one of the founders of pre-Decembrist secret societies

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 ...

and Union of Welfare, and a director of the Decembrist Southern Society. He was the coordinator of correspondence between the Southern Society and the pro-

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

Society of United Slavs. Muravyov-Apostol was the author of the Decembrists ''Сatechesis'' and a very articulate supporter of establishing a

republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

and abolishing

serfdom Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery. It developed du ...

in Russia.Материалы следственного дела С. И. Муравьёва-Апостола
/ref> In 1825, he led the uprising of the Chernigov regiment. He was arrested on then freed by his fellow officers. He led an insurgency against government forces on , when he was critically wounded by a

canister shot Canister shot is a kind of anti-personnel artillery ammunition. It has been used since the advent of gunpowder-firing artillery in Western armies, and saw particularly frequent use on land and at sea in the various wars of the 18th and 19th cent ...

. According to the legend, his wounds prevented him from staying in the saddle. So he ordered to be fastened to his horse by ropes so as to lead the desperate cavalry attack on the government artillery battery. The attack was unsuccessful and he was captured. He was delivered to Saint Petersburg and was one of the five Decembrists 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 along with the other 4 in

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 . He was interred with the other four in a secret grave on Goloday Island, though some conspiracy theorists believed that the men were not hanged but put on the island to starve. In the Soviet era, the island was renamed "Decembrists' Island" in memory of the executed men.

References

External links

Biography of Sergey Muravyov-Apostol
- in Russian {{DEFAULTSORT:Muravyov-Apostol, Sergey 1796 births 1826 deaths Military personnel from Saint Petersburg People from Sankt-Peterburgsky Uyezd Decembrists Russian Freemasons Russian military personnel of the Napoleonic Wars Prisoners of the Peter and Paul Fortress People executed by the Russian Empire by hanging Executed Russian people 19th-century executions by the Russian Empire

Early life and military career

Decembrist Uprising

See also

References

External links