Privy Councillor (russian: тайный советник, tayniy sovetnik) was the civil position (class) in the Russian Empire, according to the

Table of Ranks The Table of Ranks (russian: Табель о рангах, Tabel' o rangakh) was a formal list of positions and ranks in the military, government, and court of Imperial Russia. Peter the Great introduced the system in 1722 while engaged in a ...

introduced by

Peter the Great Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...

in 1722. Initially, it was a civil rank of 4th class, but from 1724 it was upgraded to the 3rd class. The rank was equal to those of

Lieutenant-General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

in the Army and Vice-Admiral in the Navy. The rank holder should be addressed as ''

Your Excellency Excellency is an honorific style given to certain high-level officers of a sovereign state, officials of an international organization, or members of an aristocracy. Once entitled to the title "Excellency", the holder usually retains the rig ...

'' (russian: Ваше Превосходительство, Vashe Prevoskhoditelstvo).

Overview

The name of the rank can be associated with the original meaning of the words "secret" and "trustworthy". Those awarded this rank occupied the highest public offices, such as Minister or Deputy Minister, the head of a large department, senator, academic of the

Imperial Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; russian: Росси́йская акаде́мия нау́к (РАН) ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across t ...

. Occasionally, the rank was awarded to the long-time province governors to recognize their merits before their transfer to the capital. In addition to St. Petersburg, Privy Councillors could serve in Moscow and other large cities of the Russian Empire, for example in Tbilisi. The rector of

Moscow State University M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...

, well-known historians Sergey Solovyov and

Vasily Klyuchevsky Vasily Osipovich Klyuchevsky (russian: Василий Осипович Ключевский; in Voskresnskoye Village, Penza Governorate, Russia – , Moscow) was a leading Russian Imperial historian of the late imperial period. Also, he addres ...

, Professor of the

Moscow Theological Academy Moscow Theological Academy (russian: Московская духовная академия) is a higher educational institution of the Russian Orthodox Church, training clergy, teachers, scholars, and officials. The Academy traces its origin to ...

Nicolay Subbotin were Privy Councilors. In 1903, there were 553 Privy Councilors in Russia. The rank was abolished in 1917 by the Soviet decree on estates and civil ranks.

References

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Active State Councillor Active State Councillor (russian: действительный статский советник, deystvitelnyi statskiy sovetnik) was the civil position (class) in the Russian Empire, according to the Table of Ranks introduced by Peter the Great ...

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Privy Councillor , width="30%" align="center", Senior rank

Active Privy Councillor Active Privy Councillor (russian: действительный тайный советник, deystvitelnyi taynyi sovetnik) was the civil rank (ru: чин / chin) in the Russian Empire, according to the Table of Ranks introduced by Peter the Great ...

Titles in Russia Civil ranks of the Russian Empire

Overview

See also

References