Petr Sviatopolk-Mirskii

Born 1857; died May 16 (29), 1914. Prince and Russian state figure. Lieutenant general (1901) and adjutant general (1904).

Sviatopolk-Mirskii graduated from the Corps of Pages in 1875 and from the Academy of the General Staff in 1881. He became governor of Penza in 1895 and of Ekaterinoslav in 1897. From 1900 to 1902 he was deputy minister of the internal affairs and commander of the Corps of Gendarmes, and from 1902 to 1904 he was governor-general of Vil’na, Kovno, and Grodno. In August 1904 he became minister of internal affairs.

Sviatopolk-Mirskii flirted with the liberals and somewhat weakened the conservative policies of the government by offering partial amnesty to political exiles, weakening censorship, and allowing zemstvos (district and provincial assemblies) to convene. In November 1904 he proposed a set of reforms to include representatives elected from the zemstvos and the municipal dumas in the State Council. He initiated the ukase of Dec. 12, 1904, which promised a number of reforms while retaining the autocracy. His administration, characterized as the “era of trust,” could not stave off the Revolution of 1905–07. Sviatopolk-Mirskii was retired on Jan. 18, 1905.