Khvostov, Alexander Alekseevich

Origin

Alexander Khvostov was born on January 8, 1857 in the family of noblemen Aleksei Nikolaevich Khvostov and Ekaterina Lukinichna (nee Zhemchuzhnikova). His brothers, Nikolai , Sergey and Aleksey , were also prominent public and state figures. Among his nephews are Aleksey Nikolayevich Khvostov , who served as Minister of the Interior in 1915-1916, and Sergei Bekhteev , a monarchist poet and participant in the White Movement .

Education and career

In 1878 he graduated from the Alexander Lyceum , after which he began serving with the prosecutor of the Saratov District Court. In 1884, he became a fellow prosecutor of the court, and the following year was appointed first as editor of the department of the Ministry of Justice, and then as head of the legislative department and legal adviser ^[2] .

In 1894 he transferred to the service of the Ministry of the Interior , where he took up the post of ruler of the chancellery, and later - director of the economic department. In 1901 he returned to the Ministry of Justice as the director of the 1st department. On January 21, 1905 he was appointed a fellow Minister of Justice, and on January 1, 1912 - a member of the Council of State ^[2] .

Since July 6, 1915, Aleksandr Alekseevich - Minister of Justice and Attorney General . In 1916, when the 50th anniversary of judicial rulings, magistrates' courts and sworn advocates was solemnly celebrated in Petrograd and Moscow, he took an active part in the celebrations ^[2] .

On July 7, 1916 he was relieved of his post and was appointed Minister of the Interior. Probably, the reason for his removal was the question of Sukhomlinov , since Khvostov refused to suspend the investigation in his case.

The empress called him to her and for two hours talked about the release of Sukhomlinov. At first she proved his innocence, then in a raised tone began to demand that Sukhomlinov be released from the fortress. <...> Khvostov replied that he could not do this, and to the question of Alexandra Fedorovna <...> he answered:

"My conscience, Your Majesty, does not allow me to obey you and free the traitor."

Original text (Fr.)

Ma conscience, Madame, me défend de Vous obèir et de libérer un traître.

After this conversation, Khvostov realized that his days were numbered and his transfer to the post of Minister of the Interior was only temporary - to maintain decency ^[3] .

Together with the director of the United Bank, Count Vladimir Tatishchev, he participated in exposing the bribe taker Manasevich-Manuylov : he was given the required large bribe with marked bills ^{[Comm 1]} , and the arrest of Manuylov led to Khvostov’s final resignation:

When Sturmer found out about the arrest of Manuilov, he did not believe this. Then, making sure, he again went to the headquarters , it is not known what he said there, and returned with the resignation of Khvostov in his pocket. He called Khvostov to the phone and told him: “You told me unpleasant news about the arrest of Manasevich-Manuilov, now I am telling you the news: you are no longer the Minister of the Interior” ^[3] .

September 16, 1916 Khvostov left the ministerial post, while he retained the position of senator and member of the State Council. As his grandson, A. P. Artsybushev, pointed out, he “hated Rasputin , seeing in him the death of Russia. Rasputin also hated him and, thanks to his mystical influence on the Empress Empress, eventually removed his grandfather from the ministerial chair ” ^[1] . On January 1, 1917, he was promoted to acting Privy Councilor .

He was the owner of the estates Voronets and the Red Farm (Petrovskoe village) in the Yelets district of the Oryol province. Back in 1902 he gave the land that belonged to him to his peasants, leaving himself only a house with a garden in Krasnoye.

After the October Revolution of 1917, he moved to Yelets, where he died on November 23, 1922 (he was buried in Voronez, near the church). It is known that he was questioned by the Extraordinary Investigation Commission, but no charges were brought against him.

• Order of St. Vladimir 4th and 3rd degrees
• Order of St. Stanislav 2nd and 1st degree
• Order of the White Eagle
• Commander of the Legion of Honor
• Order of Franz Joseph 2nd degree

Alexander Alekseevich Khvostov was married to Anastasia Vladimirovna Kovalevskaya ^{[Comm 2]} ; they had four children:

• Son - Alexey (1891—?)
• Son - Vladimir (1905—?)
• Daughter - Catherine
• Daughter - Tatyana (1894-1942), her son from marriage with P.P. Artsybushev (1889-1921), Alexei , a religious artist, monk Seraphim. Tatyana herself, after the death of her husband, took tonsure under the name of Taisiya ^[4] .

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