Count Pyotr Aleksandrovich Valuev (; September 22, 1815 – January 27, 1890) was a Russian politician and writer.
Biography
Valuev was born in the
Tsaritsyno District of
Moscow
Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
on September 22, 1815.
Valuev served as Emperor
Alexander II's
Minister of Interior between April 23, 1861 to March 9, 1868, and as
Minister of State Assets from February 17, 1872 to 1877.

In 1863, he drafted a secret decree, which later became known as the
Valuev Circular that forbade the publication of religious, as well as educational books, along with those intended for the initial literacy instruction of the commoners, in the
Ukrainian language
Ukrainian (, ) is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language, spoken primarily in Ukraine. It is the first language, first (native) language of a large majority of Ukrainians.
Written Ukrainian uses the Ukrainian alphabet, a variant of t ...
. Only
belles-lettres
() is a category of writing, originally meaning beautiful or fine writing. In the modern narrow sense, it is a label for literary works that do not fall into the major categories such as fiction, poetry, or drama. The phrase is sometimes used pej ...
was allowed to be published. In his secret instruction issued on 30 July, 1863, informing the minister of education of the ban, he wrote that the Ukrainian language, separate from Russian, "did not exist, does not exist, and cannot exist".
The Valuev Circular is considered one of the most vivid manifestations of the
chauvinist policy of the
Russian autocracy, aimed at strengthening
Russification
Russification (), Russianisation or Russianization, is a form of cultural assimilation in which non-Russians adopt Russian culture and Russian language either voluntarily or as a result of a deliberate state policy.
Russification was at times ...
, national, spiritual and political oppression of the Ukrainian people.
Стаття «Валуєвський циркуляр 1863»
Юридична енциклопедія: В 6 т. /Редкол.: Ю70 Ю. С. Шемшученко (голова редкол.) та ін. — К.: «Укр. енцикл.», 1998.
In 1877, he was made Chairman of the Committee of Ministers. In 1880, his influence began to decline when he was eclipsed by his opponent, Count Loris-Melikov. Valuev was sent into retirement in October 1881 by the son of the recently assassinated Alexander II, Alexander III, since as Minister of State Assets, he had held final responsibility for the so-called plundering of the Bashkir lands in the 1870s.
Valuev was always close to the literary world. In 1834 he was transferred from Moscow to St. Petersburg and became acquainted with prominent Russian poets Aleksandr Pushkin and Pyotr Vyazemsky. Valuev may have served as one of the prototypes for the protagonist of Pushkin's novel '' The Captain's Daughter'' (1836), and the same year he married Vyazemsky's daughter.
Valuev began writing fiction in the 1870s while still serving in the government. His first novel, ''Lorin'' (1878) was circulated in manuscript, although it remained unpublished until 1882. Once he was retired, he concentrated on writing and published four novels, essays on history of Christianity and a devotional calendar with his poetry prior to his death in 1890 in St. Petersburg.
Throughout most of his adult life, Valuev kept a diary, which was published after his death and has proved to be an important source of information on the inner circle of the Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
in the 19th century.
See also
* Valuev Circular
* Russification of Ukraine
Notes
References
* Yu. V. Zeldich. ''Pyotr Aleksandrovich Valuev i ego vremya'' (''Pyotr Aleksandrovich Valuev and His Time''), Moscow, Agraf, 2005, , 676p.
* James A. Malloy, Jr. "Petr Aleksandrovich Valuev" in ''The Modern Encyclopedia of Russian and Soviet History'', volume 41, Academic International Press, 1996-2003
* N.R. Antonov. "Graf Pyotr Aleksandrovich Valuev" in ''Russkie svetskie bogoslovy i ih religiozno-obschetvennoe mirosozertsanie'', volume 1, St. Petersburg, 1912, reprinted in Pyotr Valuev. ''Cherny bor: Povesti, stat'i'', Moscow, Agraf, 2002.
External links
Pyotr Valuyev
in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine
The ''Encyclopedia of Ukraine'' (), published from 1984 to 2001, is a fundamental work of Ukrainian Studies.
Development
The work was created under the auspices of the Shevchenko Scientific Society in Europe (Sarcelles, near Paris). As the ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Valuyev, Pyotr
1815 births
1890 deaths
People from Moscow Governorate
Politicians from the Russian Empire
Interior ministers of the Russian Empire
Members of the State Council (Russian Empire)
Nobility from the Russian Empire
Novelists from the Russian Empire
Male writers from the Russian Empire
Male poets from the Russian Empire
Anti-Ukrainian sentiment
19th-century poets from the Russian Empire
Burials at Tikhvin Cemetery
Russification