Prince Dmitry Ivanovich Svyatopolk-Mirsky (russian: Дмитрий Иванович Святополк-Мирский, 1825–1899) was an Imperial Russian Army general, a politician and a member of the princely Svyatopolk-Mirsky family.

Background

Svyatopolk-Mirsky was born to the family of Tomasz Bogumił Jan Światopełk-Mirski, the ambassador to Russia from the semi-independent

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Królestwo Polskie; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a state in Central Europe. It may refer to: Historical political entities * Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom existing from 1025 to 1031 * Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom exi ...

. Dmitry's

patronymic A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. Patronymics are still in use, including mandatory use, in many countries worldwide, alt ...

''Ivanovich'' was based on a Russified form of the third name of his father. Despite being a member of a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

szlachta, he was brought up in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

and considered himself Russian. The family's princely title was confirmed by the tsars when they relocated to Russia.

Career

He began his military service in 1841 in the

Caucasian War The Caucasian War (russian: Кавказская война; ''Kavkazskaya vojna'') or Caucasus War was a 19th century military conflict between the Russian Empire and various peoples of the North Caucasus who resisted subjugation during the ...

, fighting against

Chechens The Chechens (; ce, Нохчий, , Old Chechen: Нахчой, ''Naxçoy''), historically also known as ''Kisti'' and ''Durdzuks'', are a Northeast Caucasian ethnic group of the Nakh peoples native to the North Caucasus in Eastern Europe. "Eu ...

and Daghestanis. During the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...

, he took part in the battles in Kurukdere and

Bayandur The Bayandur (, tr, Bayındır, tk, Baýyndyr) or Bayundur, was one of the 24 Oghuz Turkic tribes. Originally one of the 7 original tribes that made up the Kimek–Kipchak confederation, they later joined the Oghuz Turks. The Bayandur origina ...

in Armenia. He commanded the Chernigov Infantry Regiment during the Battle of Chernaya River, where he was seriously wounded. During the Crimean War, he became acquainted with the then junior officer

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...

, with whom he had lifelong correspondence. From 1857 to 1859, Svyatopolk-Mirsky commanded the Kabarda Regiment, took part in the storm of

Gunib Gunib ( av, Гъуниб), also spelled Ghunib,e.g., Francis Galton, ''Vacation Tourists and Notes of Travel in 1860 861, 1862-3', Vol. 3, p. 81; Moshe Gammer, ''Muslim Resistance to the Tsar: Shamil and the Conquest of Chechnia and Daghestan' ...

, and the capture of

Imam Shamil Imam Shamil ( av, Шейх Шамил, Şeyx Şamil; ar, الشيخ شامل; russian: Имам Шамиль; 26 June 1797 – 4 February 1871) was the political, military, and spiritual leader of North Caucasian resistance to Imperial Russia in ...

. After the pacification of the Eastern Caucasus, he became the governor of the

Terek Oblast The Terek Oblast was a province (''oblast'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, roughly corresponding to the central part of Russia's North Caucasian Federal District. Тhe ''оblast'' was created out of the former territories of t ...

, then the Governor-General of Kutaisi. In 1876, he became the deputy of the Viceroy of the Caucasus Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolayevich. During the Russo-Turkish War, 1877-78, Svyatopolk-Mirsky was the chief of the General Staff of the Russian troops during the

Battle of Kars The Battle of Kars was a decisive Russian victory over the Ottoman Empire during the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878). The battle for the city took place on November 17th, 1877, and resulted in the Russians capturing the city along with a large po ...

. In 1880, he became a member of the

State Council of Imperial Russia The State Council ( rus, Госуда́рственный сове́т, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj sɐˈvʲet) was the supreme state advisory body to the Tsar in Imperial Russia. From 1906, it was the upper house of the parliament under the ...

, and in 1884 he became the governor of the

Kharkov Governorate The Kharkov Governorate ( pre-reform Russian: , tr. ''Khárkovskaya gubérniya'', IPA: �xarʲkəfskəjə ɡʊˈbʲernʲɪjə ) was a governorate of the Russian Empire founded in 1835. It embraced the historical region of Sloboda Ukraine. Fro ...

. He died in 1899 in

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...

, France and was buried at the family estate, "Gievka," near

Liubotyn Liubotyn ( uk, Люботин, ; russian: Люботин, translit. ''Lyubotyn'') is a city in Kharkiv Raion, Kharkiv Oblast (province) of eastern Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Liubotyn urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. ...

in the former Kharkov Governorate.

Family

Sviatopolk-Mirsky and his wife, Georgian princess Sofia Orbeliani (daughter of Prince Iakob Orbeliani), had one son, Pyotr Dmitrievich Svyatopolk-Mirsky, future

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

of Russia, and three daughters: Nina (1852-1926), Olga (? -1898) and Maria (1853-1889). Nina, Olga and Maria each married prominent administrators of Imperial Russia:

Woldemar von Daehn Woldemar Carl von Daehn (20 February 1838 in Sippola – 28 December 1900) was a Finnish politician. He was a member of the Senate of Finland and Minister–Secretary of State for Finland. Biography His family was originally from Braunschweig ...

, Lord Sippola, Minister State Secretary of Finland; Prince Alexander Baryatinsky and Prince

Ivan Makarovich Orbeliani Prince Ivan Makarovich Dzhambakurian-Orbeliani ( ka, ივანე მამუკას ძე ორბელიანი Ivane Mamukas dze Orbeliani. russian: Ива́н Мака́рович Орбелиа́ни) (9 September 1844 – 13 Nov ...

, respectively. Olga was also a lady-in-waiting (before her marriage) and a lifelong friend to Empress Maria Fyodorovna, wife of Tsar

Alexander III of Russia Alexander III ( rus, Алекса́ндр III Алекса́ндрович, r=Aleksandr III Aleksandrovich; 10 March 18451 November 1894) was Emperor of Russia, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Finland from 13 March 1881 until his death in 18 ...

. His younger brother, Nikolai Svyatopolk-Mirsky, was also a prominent general and politician.

Awards

*1845

Cross of St. George The Cross of Saint George (russian: Георгиевский крест, Georgiyevskiy krest) is a state decoration of the Russian Federation. It was initially established by Imperial Russia where it was officially known as the Decoration of ...

*1848

Order of St Vladimir The Imperial Order of Saint Prince Vladimir (russian: орден Святого Владимира) was an Imperial Russian order established on by Empress Catherine II in memory of the deeds of Saint Vladimir, the Grand Prince and the Baptize ...

4th degree *1849 Order of Saint Anna ribbon bar

Order of St. Anne, 3rd degree *1854 Order of Saint Anna ribbon bar

Order of St. Anne, 2nd degree *1856 RUS Order of Saint George 4th class ribbon 2000

Order of St George The Order of Saint George (russian: Орден Святого Георгия, Orden Svyatogo Georgiya) is the highest military decoration of the Russian Federation. Originally established on 26 November 1769 Julian (7 December 1769 Gregorian) a ...

, 4th degree *1859 Order of Saint Anna ribbon bar

Order of St. Anne, 1st degree *1860 Saint vladimir (bande)

3rd degree *1861 Saint vladimir (bande)

2nd degree *1866 Band to Order St Alexander Nevsky

Order of St. Alexander Nevsky The Imperial Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky was an order of chivalry of the Russian Empire first awarded on by Empress Catherine I of Russia. History The introduction of the Imperial Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky was envisioned by Empero ...

*1863

Order of the White Eagle *1877 RUS Order of Saint George 4th class ribbon 2000

, 2nd degree *1879 Saint vladimir (bande)

1st degree *1895

Order of St. Andrew The Order of St. Andrew the Apostle the First-Called (russian: Орден Святого апостола Андрея Первозванного, translit=Orden Svyatogo apostola Andreya Pervozvannogo) is the highest order conferred by both the ...

External links

Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Svyatopolk-Mirsky, Dmitry Ivanovich Military personnel of the Russian Empire Russian politicians Russian princes Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Russia) 1825 births 1899 deaths Military personnel from Saint Petersburg Russian military personnel of the Crimean War Members of the State Council (Russian Empire) Recipients of the Cross of St. George Recipients of the Order of St. George of the Second Degree