Sergey Stepanovich Lanskoy (russian: Серге́й Степа́нович Ланско́й; - ) was the Russian Minister of the Interior from 1855 to 1861, being inaugurated during a reform-minded era and dismissed after the Emancipation Reform of 1861. He is known for being close friends with

Nikolay Milyutin Nikolay Alexeyevich Milyutin (russian: Никола́й Алексе́евич Милю́тин; 6 June 1818 – 26 January 1872) was a Russian statesman remembered as the chief architect of the great liberal reforms undertaken during Alexande ...

, who drafted the Russian Emancipation proclamation, and with his brother,

Dmitry Milyutin Count Dmitry Alekseyevich Milyutin ( rus, Граф Дми́трий Алексе́евич Милю́тин, tr. ; 28 June 1816, Moscow – 25 January 1912, Simeiz near Yalta) was Minister of War (1861–81) and the last Field Marshal of I ...

, who was serving as Minister of War.

Political career

In 1810, Lanskoy had joined a Freemason lodge, and held important positions until the closing decree of 1822. After this, he was a member of the ''Union of Prosperity'', but was out of it by the disturbances of 1825. His last known secret organization was the ''Theoretical Degree of the Order of the Golden-Rose Cross'', which also remained clandestine throughout his life. He was known particularly for being with the Freemasons and for being "with the Brothers" (the Milyutins) in Russian society. In this regard, he has also been connected multiple-times with

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 ...

and other Russian Liberals and Constitutionalists who had been involved in Masonic lodges. In the early 1850s, around 1852, Lanskoy had been involved with the reformation of the Russian prison system. He had rejected donations to the prison system for prisoners, until prisoner committees could be established, and then finally gave into the plan for a Krasnoyarsk Prisoners Society, to serve this purpose. In 1855, Lanskoy was behind an initiative to tell Europe about Russia in liberal and progressive hues, establishing ''Le Nord'' as a newspaper in Belgium to give air to these views. During a meeting of nobles in 1856, Lanskoy tried to persuade a group of nobles to voluntarily abolish serfdom, because "it would be in their interests to grant the serfs emancipation before the peasants rebelled..." (which is what actually happened) When Milyutin finally authored the Emancipation Proclamation for Russian serfs in 1861, just a year before Lanskoy's death, Lanksoy's place was considered important. Being born in the 1700s and having a prestigious military career, he "was the only representative of an earlier generation of Russian civil servants."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lanskoy, Sergey 1788 births 1862 deaths People from Moscow Governorate Counts of the Russian Empire Interior ministers of Russia Members of the State Council (Russian Empire) Senators of the Russian Empire Diplomats of the Russian Empire Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 1st class Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 2nd class Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 3rd class Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Russia) Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 1st class Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 2nd class Burials in Saint Petersburg