Mihael Bestuzhev-Riumin Decembrist. Date of Birth: 23.05.1801 Country: Russia

Biography of Mikhail Bestuzhev-Ryumin

Mikhail Bestuzhev-Ryumin was a Decembrist, a member of the "Southern Society," and a Freemason. He was born on December 14, 1925, in the village of Kudryoshki, Gorbatovsk District, Nizhny Novgorod Province. He came from a noble family in the Moscow Province, specifically Zvenigorodsky District.

Bestuzhev-Ryumin's father, Pavel Nikolaevich Bestuzhev-Ryumin, was a chamberlain and mayor of Gorbatov City. His mother, Ekaterina Vasilievna Grushevskaya, died before 1826. The family owned 641 souls in the Nizhny Novgorod and Moscow Provinces, as well as a brass factory in Novo-Nikolskoye village, Zvenigorodsky District, Moscow Province.

Bestuzhev-Ryumin's uncle was the historian K.N. Bestuzhev-Ryumin. In 1816, the Bestuzhev-Ryumin family moved to Moscow. He received a good education at home, studying under R. Saint-Germain, Zonnenberg, Schramm, Rinardion, and professors Merzlyakov, Tsvetaev, Chumakov, and Kamenetsky.

He joined the military service as a cadet in the Cavalier Guard Regiment on July 13, 1818. He became a standard-bearer cadet on April 12, 1819, and was transferred to the Semenovsky Guards Regiment on March 9, 1820, where he was promoted to sub-ensign. After the Semenovsky Guards Regiment uprising, he was transferred to the Poltava Infantry Regiment on December 24, 1820. He became an ensign on January 12, 1821, and was appointed battalion adjutant on October 22, 1821. He was later appointed a border adjutant on March 1, 1822, and promoted to sub-lieutenant on May 20, 1824.

Bestuzhev-Ryumin was one of the leaders of the Southern Society, which he joined in 1823. He, along with S.I. Muravyov-Apostol, led the Vasilkov administration and the uprising of the Chernigov Regiment. He participated in congresses of the Southern Society in Kamianka and Kiev and negotiated with the secret Polish society. He also brought the United Slavic Society into the Southern Society. He led the uprising of the Chernigov Regiment alongside S.I. Muravyov-Apostol.

He was ordered to be arrested on December 27, 1826, and was arrested on the battlefield with weapons in hand on January 3, 1826. He was brought to St. Petersburg from Belaya Tserkov and placed in the Main Headquarters on January 19. On the same day, he was transferred to the Peter and Paul Fortress and placed in cell No. 17 of the Nevsky Curtain. On February 11, he was put in handcuffs, which were removed on April 30, 1826.

Bestuzhev-Ryumin was sentenced to death on July 11, 1826, and was hanged on Kronverkskaya Embankment of the Peter and Paul Fortress on July 13, 1826. He was buried on Goloday Island along with other executed Decembrists.

Bestuzhev-Ryumin had brothers: Ivan (1789-1866), a retired lieutenant colonel who lived in Moscow on a disability pension in 1826; Nikolai (1790-1848), a retired captain who lived in Gorbatov District, Nizhny Novgorod Province; Alexander (died in the 1820s); and Vladimir, who was killed in 1805 near Friedland.

Bestuzhev-Ryumin was known as a joker with a noose around his neck. He was a sub-lieutenant in the Poltava Infantry Regiment, and he was 24 years old during the Chernigov Regiment uprising. He played a leading role there and was hanged for it. He came from a moderately wealthy noble family, with a total of 641 souls under his parents' ownership in the Nizhny Novgorod and Moscow Provinces. His education was entirely home-based, with teachers such as Saint-Germain, Zonnenberg, Schramm, Rinardion, and professors Merzlyakov, Tsvetaev, Chumakov. He started his military service at the age of seventeen when he joined the Cavalier Guard Regiment.

"This Bestuzhev, who was later hanged, played the role of a joker in societies, but he was also heavily used by conspirators who sent him everywhere as a missionary or recruiter. He traveled throughout Little Russia, speaking out against the government and trying to increase the number of accomplices... He knew various foreign languages and had a remarkable memory, but his behavior was so frivolous that people laughed at him, especially at his excessive political liberalism, which he preached everywhere and on every occasion. He was welcomed in many respectable homes, such as General Raevsky's in Kiev and former Minister Troshchinsky's, who lived near Lubny. This cannot be attributed to him as a fault because in the provinces, especially in Little Russia, one cannot be too choosy when it comes to society; boredom sometimes forces us to turn to people we would avoid in big cities. Bestuzhev hardly served in the regiment but traveled across Little Russia. Thus, he often visited our division's locations, which he had his eye on... He conducted extensive correspondence in French, in which he expressed himself verbally and in writing very well... Bestuzhev presented himself as being in love with all women and had the ability to please them, so he corresponded with many of them. He was accepted by everyone, especially the fairer sex, as a cheerful conversationalist who could be amused; but no one could imagine that such a scatterbrained and fickle person could be a conspirator. Being deeply interested in French books, especially those written in a revolutionary spirit, he seemed convinced of their indisputable truth, like the brilliance of the sun, and could not imagine that educated people would not share his views. For example, when he was taken with the Chernigov Regiment, he said, 'I am most surprised that the hussars decided to attack us: there were so many well-educated officers there.'"