Ivan Katyrev-Rostovskii

Year of birth unknown; died 1640. Prince; Russian political figure and writer of the 17th century.

Katyrev-Rostovskii entered government service under Boris Godunov. In 1608 he was relegated to Siberia as voevoda (military governor) of Tobol’sk but was recalled in 1613. He was a close follower of the Romanovs and took part in the election of his brother-in-law Mikhail Fedorovich to the throne in 1613. Subsequently, Katyrev-Rostovskii held high administrative and military offices, including those of grand voevoda of the first host, head of the Vladimir High Court (1630–32), and first voevoda in Moscow, Tula, and Novgorod. Katyrev-Rostovskii is considered to be the author of The Tales of This Book From Bygone Years: On the Origin of the Reigning City of Moscow … (published 1891), in which he recounts events from the reign of Ivan the Terrible to the election of Mikhail Fedorovich. Some scholars, however, believe that Katyrev-Rostovskii merely edited the book, adding some material and his own poems.