In the history of Russia of the last decades of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, a prominent political and public figure of that era was left by Prince Sergei Dmitrievich Urusov. During the years of Soviet rule, his name, as a rule, was silent, and if mentioned, it was only as a secondary participant in certain events. Only with the advent of perestroika was a deep and objective assessment given to the work of this outstanding person.
Descendants of the ruler of the Golden Horde
The Urusov clan takes its origin from the Tatar temnik (commander) Edigey Magnit, who became the first ruler of the Golden Horde in the XIV century. In Russia, his offspring multiplied very much and two centuries later, during the reign of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, he became one of the highest aristocracy. On what the surname Urusov means, historians have a well-established opinion.
The fact is that “Uruses” in the Tatars were called people either born from Russian mothers, which, in all likelihood, took place in this case, or leading a Slavic way of life. This surname over time has become very common in Russia, but not all of its owners can boast of aristocratic origin.
On the way to knowledge
Prominent Russian politician Sergei Dmitrievich Urusov was born in 1862 in Yaroslavl. His father, Dmitry Semenovich, as a retired colonel, served as the head of the local zemstvo council, and became famous as a talented chess player, founder of the St. Petersburg society of lovers of this highly intellectual game. The mother of the future politician was the daughter of a wealthy metropolitan entrepreneur.
In accordance with the traditions of the circle to which his parents belonged, the young prince S. D. Urusov received his elementary education at home, and then entered the historical and philological faculty of one of the most prestigious educational institutions of the country - Moscow University, graduating from which he immediately violated active social life.
The beginning of state and public activities
In his track record of that period, there were such responsible and very honorable posts for the young man as the chairman of the election commission of the zemstvo board of the Kaluga province, the leader of the county nobility and, finally, the head of one of the committees of the State Bank of Kaluga.
Being a well-to-do man, Sergei Dmitrievich, together with his family, spent a lot of time abroad from 1896 to 1898, and returning to Moscow, took over as head of state-owned printing houses. By the nature of his activity, he often had to communicate with a prominent statesman V.K. Pleve, who in 1903, after the Chisinau pogrom, recommended him to the post of Bessarabian governor, with the obligation to restore order in this extremely disadvantaged area.
Having fulfilled the mission entrusted to him, and without the use of military force, but only exclusively by administrative measures, Prince Urusov was appointed governor of Tver, and in the days of the First Russian Revolution he became deputy, or, as they said then, comrade, Minister of the Interior in the government, headed by S. Y. Witte.
From the deputy chair to the prison cell
Since 1906, Sergey Dmitrievich began active public activities as a deputy of the State Duma, to which he was elected from the Kaluga province. Consisting of one of its members, he joined the ranks of the Democratic Reform Party, a legal political organization that represented opposition to the tsarist government, and in 1906 gained fame for its statements criticizing its domestic policy.
After the first State Duma was dissolved in June 1907, some of its deputies, including Prince Urusov, appealed to the people of Russia to resort to civil disobedience in response to such an unlawful act. An immediate reaction followed from the government, and soon Sergey Dmitrievich, together with his associates, was imprisoned, where he spent about a year, while being deprived of the right to occupy public and public posts.
Masonic lodge
Upon his release, Sergei Dmitrievich devoted much time to farming and often published his articles on this subject in Russian and foreign print media. In 1909, while in France, Prince Urusov joined the Masonic organization, whose members at that time were his famous compatriots: historian V.O. Klyuchevsky, as well as traveler and writer V.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko, the brother of a famous Russian and Soviet theater figure. Returning to his homeland, he became an active figure in Russian political Freemasonry, whose role in Soviet historiography was hushed up in every way.
After the February Revolution of 1917, when the ban on working in government bodies became null and void, Sergey Dmitrievich joined the Provisional Government, taking the post of deputy (comrade) Minister of the Interior, and shortly before the October events, became a member of the All-Russian Constituent Assembly.
In the new political realities
After the Bolshevik revolution, Prince Urusov, as a representative of the “class hostile to the people,” was arrested several times, but was acquitted each time and was released after a short imprisonment. One can hardly say with complete certainty what prevented him from leaving Russia and joining the many thousands of streams of the first Russian emigration, but he didn’t part with his homeland anyway and was a completely loyal citizen of the “country of workers and peasants” all his future life.
His education, as well as the experience gained in various senior positions, were noted by the new authorities, and since 1921, Sergey Dmitrievich began to build his career as a co-worker. His first appointment was the manager of affairs under one of the responsible commissions of the All-Russian Council of the National Economy (VSNH), of which he became a member of the presidium a year later. For their diligence and the results achieved with this, in 1923 the new authorities awarded the former prince with the Order of the Red Banner of Labor.
last years of life
However, his former belonging to the “exploiting class” under the conditions of the Stalinist regime could not be forgotten, and in the early 1930s, the former Prince Urusov was the victim of one of the so-called purges, regularly carried out inside government institutions. Fortunately, there were no serious repressions, but I had to give up work at the Supreme Economic Council.
From that time until the end of his life, Sergey Dmitrievich worked in various state institutions, occupying modest positions and trying not to attract attention to himself if possible. He died in Moscow on September 5, 1937 from an asthma attack and was buried at Danilovsky Cemetery.
Prince family and awards
Concluding the biography of Prince Urusov, a few words should be said about the members of his family. In 1895, in the early period of his state activity, Sergey Dmitrievich married Sofya Vladimirovna Lavrova, the great-granddaughter of Pavel Lvovich Lavrov, a well-known Russian publicist, philosopher and revolutionary who became one of the leading ideologists of populism. Two daughters were born from this marriage - Vera and Sophia, as well as son Dmitry, who, unlike his father, became a victim of Stalinist repressions and was shot in 1937 on charges of anti-Soviet activity.
Among the awards received by Sergey Dmitriyevich, in addition to the Order of the Red Banner of Labor awarded to him in 1923, there were two orders that became an assessment of his work in the public arena even before the revolution. One of them - the Order of St. Vladimir of the III degree - was granted for restoring order in the Bessarabian province after the above-mentioned pogrom of Chisinau. And the second - the Order of the Crown of Romania - the prince received for participating in the negotiations held by Prime Minister S. Yu. Witte with the governments of several foreign countries.