Zmaevich, Matvei

(also Matiia K. Izmailovich). Born Jan. 6, 1680, in Perast, near Kotor, Dalmatia; died Aug. 23 (Sept. 3), 1735, in Tavrov near Voronezh; buried in Zadar, Yugoslavia. A Russian admiral (1727); a Dalmatian by nationality.

After serving in the Venetian fleet, Zmaevich fled in 1709 to Constantinople, where he accepted Russian service in 1710 upon the invitation of the Russian ambassador, P. A. Tolstoi. Placed in command of a galley detachment in the Baltic Sea in 1712 and of a galley fleet in 1714, Zmaevich commanded the right wing of the fleet in the battle of Hangö (1714). In 1721, Zmaevich was appointed to the Admiralty Collegium and placed in charge of building the galley harbor in St. Petersburg, and in 1725 he was appointed commander of the galley fleet and chief commander of the St. Petersburg port. In 1728 he was demoted to vice admiral for abuse of authority and misuse of funds and was exiled, first to Astrakhan’ and then to Tavrov.