Liapunov, Prokopii

Died July 22 (Aug. 1), 1611. Russian political figure of the early 17th century. Descendant of an old service nobility family of Riazan’.

Liapunov had influence among the Riazan’ boiarskie deti (lesser gentry). After the death of Boris Godunov he went over to the side of First False Dmitrii, and at the head of an army of the Riazan’ dvorianstvo (nobility or gentry) at the beginning of 1606 he took part in the peasant uprising under the leadership of I. I. Bolotnikov on the side of the insurgents. In November 1606 near Moscow he gave himself up to Tsar Vasilii Ivanovich Shuiskii; he became a member of the Duma in 1607. In 1608-10 he led a movement of sluzhilye liudi (military service class) against the peasant uprising in the Riazan’ region and supporters of Second False Dmitrii. In July 1610 he was the organizer for the overthrow of Shuiskii.

After the seizure of Moscow by Polish troops, Liapunov headed the organizing of the first popular army in 1611 and was its chief leader. In March 1611 the army approached Moscow and blockaded the interventionists. In the summer of 1611 he became virtual head of the Government of the Land. The “Verdict of June 30,” adopted at his initiative, restored serfdom, in violation of the promises of “personal freedom and government grants,” to the cossacks. He was murdered by rebellious cos-sacks.