Sergei Andreevich Muromtsev (; 5 October O.S. 23 September">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style dates">O.S. 23 September1850 – 4 October 1910) was a Russian lawyer and politician, and chairman of the First Imperial Duma in 1906.
Muromtsev was a Russian nobleman from Tula, Russia, Tula and a Professor of Roman Law at Moscow University. In 1893, he and his wife Marya built the Muromtsev Dacha in Moscow. In the late 19th century, he was among the creators of the Constitutional Democratic Party, better known as the KD or
Cadet
A cadet is a student or trainee within various organisations, primarily in military contexts where individuals undergo training to become commissioned officers. However, several civilian organisations, including civil aviation groups, maritime ...
party, of which he was chairman for several years. In April 1906, he was elected as a representative for Moscow in the First Duma, of which he was then elected chairman (or president) on 10 May. He tried to maintain some degree of order and dignity in this difficult assembly, which is often known as the "Duma of the Public Anger".
He was much praised for the way he chaired the debates, always keeping to the strictest legality but always pursuing a constitutional and anti-
autocratic
Autocracy is a form of government in which absolute power is held by the head of state and Head of government, government, known as an autocrat. It includes some forms of monarchy and all forms of dictatorship, while it is contrasted with demo ...
agenda. Despite his efforts, the Duma was dissolved on 21 July 1906, by Imperial
ukase
In Imperial Russia, a ukase () or ukaz ( ) was a proclamation of the tsar, government, or a religious leadership (e.g., Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus' or the Most Holy Synod) that had the force of law. " Edict" and " decree" are adequate trans ...
of
tsar
Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...
Nicholas II. Muromtsev wanted the elected Duma to continue its work and proposed that it should retreat to
Finland
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
. For signing this appeal, he was imprisoned for some months and could not be re-elected in the later Dumas.
His funeral, at the New Donskoy Cemetery on 7 October 1910, was the occasion of one of the first public demonstrations of support for constitutional ideas since the dissolution of the Duma. His niece, Vera Muromtseva, was the wife of
Ivan Bunin
Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin ( or ; rus, Ива́н Алексе́евич Бу́нин, p=ɪˈvan ɐlʲɪkˈsʲejɪvʲɪdʑ ˈbunʲɪn, a=Ivan Alyeksyeyevich Bunin.ru.vorb.oga; – 8 November 1953)Maksim Kovalevsky of the
law journal
A law review or law journal is a scholarly journal or publication that focuses on legal issues. A law review is a type of legal periodical. Law reviews are a source of research, imbedded with analyzed and referenced legal topics; they also provi ...
List of Russian legal historians
Russian legal historians, scholars who study Russian law in historical perspective, include:
* Harold J. Berman (1918–2007), Harvard law professor and expert on Russian law
* William E. Butler (1939–), distinguished professor of law at Dicki ...