Dmitrii Nikolaevich Bludov

Born Apr. 5 (16), 1785, in Shuisk District, Vladimir Province; died Feb. 19 (Mar. 2), 1864, in St. Petersburg. Russian statesman and count (from 1842).

Bludov was the nephew of the poet G. R. Derzhavin. He advanced his career by participating in 1826 in the Supreme Investigative Commission on the case of the Decembrists. The accusatory report drawn up by Bludov was analyzed in detail by N. I. Turgenev in his book Russia and the Russians (vol. 1, 1907). During the years 1826–28, Bludov was assistant minister of public education. In 1830–31 and 1838–39 he was in charge of the Ministry of Justice. From 1832 to 1838 he was minister of internal affairs. During 1839–62 he was chief administrator of the Second Division (Codification) of His Majesty’s Own Chancellery. Under Bludov’s direction the “Decree of Capital and Corrective Punishments” (1845) was worked out, and two editions of the codex of laws were compiled (1842 and 1857). Bludov was president of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1855–64) and chairman of the State Council (1862–64) and of the Committee of Ministers (1861–64). He was one of the founders and members of the Arzamas literary circle.