Kuzma Minin

 Russia

Kuzma Minin (Russian: Кузьма́ Ми́нин), full name Kuzma Minich Zakhariev-Sukhoruky (Russian: Кузьма́ Ми́нич Заха́рьев Сухору́кий; c. 1570s – May 21, 1616), was a Russian merchant who, together with Prince Dmitry Pozharsky, formed the popular uprising in Nizhny Novgorod against the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth's occupation of Russia during the Polish intervention in Russia (1605-1618) coinciding with the Time of Troubles. The popular uprising ultimately led to Russian victory at the Battle of Moscow and the end of Polish occupation in 1612. Minin and Pozharsky become national heroes in Russian culture and were honored in the Monument to Minin and Pozharsky in Moscow's Red Square.

A native of Balakhna, Minin was a prosperous butcher in Nizhny Novgorod. When the popular patriotic movement to organize volunteer corps in his home city was formed,^[1] the merchants chose Minin, a trusted and respected member of the guild, to oversee the handling of the public funds donated by them to raise and equip the Second Volunteer Army (Russian: Второе народное ополчение).^[2]

The army, led by Prince Pozharsky, was credited with clearing the Moscow Kremlin of Polish forces on November 1, 1612. Minin distinguished himself as a skilled commander and was made a nobleman and member of the boyar duma under the newly elected tsar of Russia Michael Romanov. He died in 1616 and was interred in the Archangel Cathedral of Nizhny Novgorod. A central square of that city is named after him and Prince Pozharsky.

Family

Minin had a single son, Nefed. After Minin's death his property rights passed to his widow, Tatyana Semyonovna, and his son. A royal decree was issued on July 5, 1616, confirming the family's possession of an estate in the Nizhny Novgorod district consisting of the town of Bogorodskoye with its associated villages. Additionally, Nefed Minin owned property in the Kremlin of Nizhny Novgorod, although after the completion of his service, he lived mostly in Moscow where he worked as a government clerk. In 1625 he attended the departure of the Persian ambassador and in 1626 he is recorded as standing by the sovereign's lantern at two royal weddings. No mention is made of him in official records after 1628. Nefed died in 1632 and the lands granted to his father reverted to the crown before being passed to Prince Jacob Kudenekovich Cherkassky.

Tatyana Minin continued to live in Nizhny Novgorod. It appears that at an advanced age she took monastic vows and entered a convent – most likely the Resurrection Convent, located inside the city's Kremlin.

Historical analysis

Minin is generally well regarded by later historians such as Ivan Zabelin and Mikhail Pogodin, having gained respect for his heroic actions.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dmitry Pozharsky and Kuzma Minin.

Depictions

• 
  Minin and Pozharsky (right to left) by Mikhail Scotti, 1850
• 
  Minin's appeal to the people of Nizhny Novgorod. Painting by Mikhail Peskov, 1861

See also

• Monument to Minin and Pozharsky

References

Inline

General

• "The ancient heroes of the Russian people's militia" in "Kommersant-Den'gi", available online (in Russian)
• Kuzma Minin^{[permanent dead link]} in the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary (in Russian)
• Minin, Kuzma in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia (in Russian)