Известия Уральского федерального университета. Серия 2: Гуманитарные науки (Oct 2024)
Investigator under Investigation: Why did Peter the Great Execute Prince M. I. Volkonsky?
Abstract
On 25 July 1713, Prince Mikhail Ivanovich Volkonsky, Major of the Lifeguards of Semenovsky Regiment, was appointed by Peter I to head the inaugural office of pre-trial investigation in Russian history. The establishment of this office, along with the subsequent emergence of analogous institutions, can be attributed to the tsar’s response to the revelation of extensive misappropriation of government funds. The investigative office of Prince Volkonsky was tasked with investigating one of the most prominent cases of the era: the international smuggling activities of the Solovyov brothers, Dmitry and Osip. The brothers were accused of criminal activities by Arkhangelsk Vice-Governor A. A. Kurbatov, the former head of the Town Hall, which was one of the country’s leading financial institutions in the 1700s. Upon his arrival in Arkhangelsk, Volkonsky promptly initiated an investigation into Kurbatov himself. It would appear that the guards major acted under the influence of Prince A. D. Menshikov, who was associated with the criminal activities of the Solovyov brothers. Despite authorising the investigation of the Solovyovs’ case and that of Kurbatov, Peter I was dissatisfied with Volkonsky’s actions. The latter was convicted of accepting bribes and procedural violations in 1716 and removed from the investigation. In early November 1717, he was shot by the verdict of a military court approved by the Tsar. For an extended period, the specifics of the Volkonsky investigation and trial remained obscured. The article, based on recently discovered new sources, reveals hitherto unknown details of the Volkonsky investigation. The author posits that the severe and expeditious punishment meted out to the prince was largely attributable to his inability to substantiate the royal trust, a deficiency that incensed the monarch. Peter I established the unfortunate fate of the inaugural Russian investigator as a precedent for his successors and followers.
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