Prince Ivan Borisovich Cherkassky (Rus. ''Ива́н Бори́сович Черка́сский''; c. 1580 – 4 April 1642) was a Russian statesman who served as the head of government for 20 years under his cousin Tsar Mikhail, the first

Tsar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East Slavs, East and South Slavs, South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''Caesar (title), caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" i ...

of the

House of Romanov The House of Romanov (also transcribed Romanoff; rus, Романовы, Románovy, rɐˈmanəvɨ) was the reigning imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917. They achieved prominence after the Tsarina, Anastasia Romanova, was married to th ...

. He was the only son of Boris Kambulatovich Cherkassky and Marfa Nikitichna Romanova, a sister of Patriarch Filaret. In his youth Cherkassky was a friend of Grigory Otrepyev. In 1599 he was arrested together with other prominent members of the

Romanovs The House of Romanov (also transcribed Romanoff; rus, Романовы, Románovy, rɐˈmanəvɨ) was the reigning imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917. They achieved prominence after the Tsarina, Anastasia Romanova, was married to t ...

' party, and was exiled in 1601, but returned to Moscow in 1602. After

Mikhail Romanov Michael I (Russian: Михаил Фёдорович Романов, ''Mikhaíl Fyódorovich Románov'') () became the first Russian tsar of the House of Romanov after the Zemskiy Sobor of 1613 elected him to rule the Tsardom of Russia. He w ...

was elected to become

Tsar of Muscovy The Tsardom of Russia or Tsardom of Rus' also externally referenced as the Tsardom of Muscovy, was the centralized Russian state from the assumption of the title of Tsar by Ivan IV in 1547 until the foundation of the Russian Empire by Peter I in ...

in 1613, Ivan Cherkassky was made a

boyar A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the Feudalism, feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Kievan Rus', Bulgarian Empire, Bulgaria, Russian nobility, Russia, Boyars of Moldavia and Wallachia, Wallachia and ...

. After Filaret's administrative reform in 1619 Cherkassky was put in charge of key ministries: the Treasury in 1621-22, and the

Streletsky Prikaz Streltsy Department or Streletsky Prikaz (Стрелецкий приказ in Russian) was one of the main governmental bodies in Russia in 16th and 17th centuries. The first reference to the Streltsy Department (SD) appears in 1571, but in t ...

and

Aptekarsky Prikaz The Aptekarsky Prikaz (''Pharmaceutical Ministry'' or ''Apothecary Ministry'') was an imperial Russian prikaz, organized in the second half of the sixteenth century, which nominally dealt with the health care of the Czar and his court, but which in ...

in 1622-23, making him a de facto head of government. He was also the richest man in Moscow.

Isaac Massa Isaac Abrahamszoon Massa (baptized October 7, 1586, in Haarlem, died 1643) was a Dutch grain trader, traveller and envoy to Russia. He wrote memoirs related to the Time of Troubles and created some of the earliest maps of Eastern Europe and Siberi ...

, in a 1624 report for the Swedish government, reported that Cherkassky was also the head of the “military council”. A contemporary in 1634 wrote that Ivan Cherkassky managed affairs competently and didn't allow bureaucratic red tape to interfere with potential petitioners. Cherkassky was married to Evdokia Vasilievna Morozova, a cousin of

Boris Morozov Boris Ivanovich Morozov (russian: Борис Иванович Морозов; 1590 – 1661) was a Russian statesman and boyar who led the Russian government during the early reign of Tsar Alexis. Morozov came from a long noble line, yet was poor ...

Adam Olearius Adam Olearius (born Adam Ölschläger or Oehlschlaeger, 24 September 159922 February 1671) was a German scholar, mathematician, geographer and librarian. He became secretary to the ambassador sent by Frederick III, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, to ...

mentioned her outstanding beauty. Cherkassky died childless.

References

*
Paul Bushkovitch, Princes Cherkasskii or Circassian Murzas. The Kabardians in the Russian boyar elite, 1560-1700, in: Cahiers du Monde russe 45, 1-2, 2004, p. 9-30.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cherkassky, Ivan 1580s births 1642 deaths Tsardom of Russia people Circassian nobility Russian princes Year of birth uncertain Circassian people of Russia