Vlasev, Afanasii Ivanovich

Dates of birth and death unknown. Russian diplomat of the late 16th and early 17th centuries; official.

In 1595 and 1599, Vlas’ev participated in embassies to German imperial lands. From 1599 to 1604 he served in the Prikaz Kazanskogo Dvortsa (central administration of the former Kazan and Astrakhan Khanates), and from May 1601 to May 1605 he was also in charge of the Posol’skii Prikaz (Foreign Office). In 1601 he conducted successful negotiations with the Polish king Sigismund III about the ratification of a cease-fire treaty. He was a trusted friend of Tsar Boris Godunov. Later he joined False Dmitrii I, became his secretary, and received from him the rank oiokol’nichii (member of a social group with status second to that of boyars) and the post of treasurer. He went to Poland to bring back Maryna Mniszek for False Dmitrii and was a deputy of False Dmitrii during the latter’s betrothal. In 1607, after False Dmitrii was overthrown, Vlas’ev was exiled as voevoda (military commander) to Ufa, but he returned to Moscow in 1610. His subsequent fate is unknown.