Komarov, Nikolai Ivanovich

Origin

Born in a family of noblemen of the Kaluga ^[1] province.

Father - State Councilor Ivan Eliseevich Komarov (he died in Moscow on September 20, 1823, was buried in the Novodevichy Convent). In the 1780s, he served as adjutant to the Kaluga governor ^[2] P. S. Protasov . In 1803-1813 - Kaluga vice-governor. Mother - Nadezhda Alekseevna (she died no later than 1804).

The second marriage (since 1805) I. A. Komarov was married to Varvara Petrovna Rimsky-Korsakova - the daughter of Peter Mikhailovich Rimsky-Korsakov ^[3] .

Career

Educated at a boarding school at Moscow University .

On July 31, 1812, among several members of the free society of mathematicians , founded by a student of Moscow University M.N. Muravyov in 1810, he was enlisted as a lieutenant.

Since the end of 1812 - in the Zemstvo militia of the 3rd district, formed in Nizhny Novgorod, where the university was evacuated from Moscow ^[4] .

He participated in foreign campaigns of the Russian army and battles with the French troops - at Dresden (October 3, 1813), Donau, Kaititz and Plauen (October 10, 16 and 17). He took part in the sieges of Magdeburg (December 1813) and Hamburg (1814) ^[5] .

On May 22, 1813, he was enlisted in the officers of the Suite of His Imperial Majesty for the quartermaster part. Since February 5, 1814 - second lieutenant. Lieutenant - from August 30, 1817, staff captain - from May 4, 1818, captain - from September 15, 1819, lieutenant colonel - from May 2, 1822. Consisted of the main apartment of the 2nd Army in Tulchin .

In 1822-1823, Komarov was going to leave the service - later, in his testimony given to the investigative committee on December 27, 1825, he wrote that he “was waiting for the end of the highest review of the army to leave it forever ” ^[6] . During the review held in October 1823, Alexander I at the headquarters of the 2nd Army got acquainted with the activities of the quartermaster unit. The review ended with the emperor’s rescript, expressing his satisfaction with the excellent condition of the army “ in all parts ”.

At the end of 1824, Lieutenant Colonel N.I. Komarov was identified in the 5th Infantry Corps of the 1st Army and on January 10, 1825 left Tulchin.

In February 1826, at his own request, he was dismissed from military service with the transfer to the rank of college adviser . On February 17, 1826, he received an official position for special assignments under the Ministry of Finance.

From September 16, 1826 to March 3, 1928 - the Arkhangelsk vice governor . I had thanks from the Minister of Finance EF Kankrin for the success of the “ state fees ”. From Arkhangelsk he was transferred to St. Petersburg and, left in the staff of the Ministry of Finance, was appointed chairman of the committee for the organization of the Technological Institute. State Counselor .

In February 1830, the rank of colonel was appointed chief quartermaster in the army. For the difference in military operations during the suppression of the Polish uprising, he received the Order of St. Anne of the 2nd degree with a crown. Due to a wound, he retired from the army and went to serve in the Ministry of the Interior.

On February 27, 1838, by imperial decree, a full state councilor (since 1836) and a holder of several orders, including the Order of St. Vladimir of the 4th degree, N. I. Komarov was appointed to act as the Simbirsk governor . However, relations with local society and officials of the new governor did not work out. The situation escalated in 1839 due to peasant unrest that began in the province. Major General S. V. Perfiliev, the head of the 2nd district of the gendarmerie corps sent to Simbirsk for investigation, in his report to the Minister of Justice D.N. Bludov noted that the disagreements between the governor and officials “ cannot be useful for the service, because, weakening the influence the governor’s subordinates are destroyed by due respect for orders, his person and rank ” ^[7] .

The emperor’s reaction was not in favor of the governor. On May 7, 1840, N. I. Komarov was dismissed on a “ petition for illness ”.

In 1818 he was admitted to the Union of Welfare ^[8] .

In his testimony during the investigation, I. G. Bursov , Komarov’s classmate in a boarding house, testified that upon arrival in Tulchin in May 1919 they, together with Pestel and Komarov, “ began to spread the number of members ” ^[9] .

In the apartment of Captain Komarov, his other classmate, V. F. Raevsky, met with members of the society M. A. Fonvizin , A. P. Yushnevsky , I. G. Bursov, P. I. Pestel and others ^[10] .

In January 1821, N. I. Komarov was elected as a deputy from the Tulchinsky council to the Moscow congress of the Union of Welfare, which announced a formal cessation of activity, but at the same time approved the adoption of the charter of the new society and a change in the organizational form of its structure. A copy of the new charter was handed over to the “indigenous” member of the company Bursov with the order to inform Tulchin about the planned reorganization.

N.I. Komarov, who disagreed with the political goals of the reorganization and had arrived in Tulchin earlier than Bursov, in February 1821 told there only about the decision taken by the congress to completely curtail activity. By the time Bursov returned from Moscow in March 1821 with a “ written document on the closure of the Union of Welfare ”, the members of the Tulchinsky Council had already formed disagreement with this decision and, on the contrary, the opinion that it was necessary to “ clear ” the hesitant and continue the activities of society. At a discussion in the house of P.I. Pestel, Bursov and Komarov tried to defend the official decision of the congress, but failed and left. According to the meeting participant A.P. Baryatinsky , “ after the departure of Bursov and Komarov, ” Pestel, despite the decision to close the society, delivered a question to the audience, “ do we agree to continue it, for which everyone unanimously expressed their intention to continue it ” ^[11] . The result was the establishment of the Southern Society, which confirmed for its purposes, " both republican rule and a revolutionary mode of action ."

Later, in answering questions from the investigative committee, Komarov tried to prove that since the beginning of 1821 he was completely “ convinced of the substantial and formal destruction of society ” and was no longer involved “ neither in action, nor in thought, nor in recollection of former delusions ” ^[12] . With the same conviction, he explained why, in 1822, in a receipt taken from him by decree banning Masonic lodges and secret societies, he indicated the non-involvement of " neither one nor the other ."

Called from Moscow to Petersburg on December 17, 1825 ^{[~ 2]} , since his name was known to the investigation from the Mayboroda denunciation, Lieutenant Colonel Komarov was not arrested, but on December 27 he gave " detailed and sincere testimonies ", calling many Tulchin colleagues in the society. He explained his sincere repentance by the rejection of the change in the initial intentions of the members of the Union of Welfare to gradually accelerate the " moral education of the mind and feelings in order to be able to apply them over time to the generally useful ", destructive for the state political declarations. He did not consider himself a scammer, but realizing that his revelations could cause hatred from his former comrades and their loved ones, Komarov declared his readiness to " imprint unlimited devotion with his blood to the emperor ."

On February 12, 1826 Komarov was allowed to return to Moscow to his family ^{[~ 3]} . On February 15, " at the highest command, " he was issued an acquittal, which noted Komarov’s participation in a secret society, but confirmed his non-participation in " criminal intentions ."

A contemporary of events, E. P. Yankova, recalled that N. I. Komarov, the stepson of her sister Varvara Petrovna, with an “ arrogant ” character, “ was smart, amiable, and pleasant in society ” ^[3] .

Lieutenant General A. Ya. Rudzevich , who was replaced by Major General P. D. Kiselyov as Chief of Staff of the 2nd Army in February 1819, was repeatedly mentioned by N. I. in letters to Pestel from Kherson to Tulchin in 1819-1820. Komarov and sent greetings to “ dear Komarik ” ^[13] .

Nicholas I , who sent Konstantin Pavlovich a copy of Komarov’s testimony, wrote that he “is undoubtedly very truthful and, it seems, is a direct and truly respectable person ” ^[14] .

In the "Alphabet" of the Secretary of the Investigative Committee Borovkov, it was noted that Komarov " belonged to the Union of Welfare and was one of those who, foreseeing the detrimental consequences of this unintentional connection of people, most insisted on its destruction ."

The historian of Decembrism, Professor S. S. Landa emphasized the " exceptional value and reliability " of Komarov’s testimony, uninterested in hiding the facts from the investigation ^[15] .

According to the historian P.V. Ilyin ^[8] , the negative attitude of the Decembrists to Komarov’s behavior in the Investigative Committee (although the majority of the interrogated gave confessionary evidence) was determined by “a special situation in which a member of the Welfare Union found himself in the investigative process ” and the initial point of view of I D. Yakushkin, who mentioned in his memoirs about “ treason ” by N. I. Komarov at the Moscow meeting of members of a secret society in January 1821, which “ they were not very trusted then ” ^[16] .

N.V. Basargin in his memoirs referred to Komarov as “a man of not quite pure rules ” ^[17] . S. G. Volkonsky in his notes wrote even more harshly about Komarov: “ who later was a scammer ” ^[18] .

From the point of view of Professor Decembrist A.V. Semenova, modern historians are “ far from the literature that includes Komarov among traitors and scammers ... There is still no definite evidence of Komarov’s“ betrayal ”or denunciation of a secret society succeeded ” ^[19] .

The historian S.E. Erlich suggested that Komarov, who had " stained " himself after 1825, could have been influenced by his participation in the suppression of the Polish uprising of 1830-1831 ^[20] .

Reflected on the reputation of N. I. Komarov and the conflict with local officials during his governorship in Simbirsk. This gave rise to the poet and publicist N. P. Ogaryov to write that in the city he is " sometimes remembered as one of the most nasty governors " ^[10] . The poet N. M. Yazykov , a Simbirian native, wrote to his relatives in a letter from Rome on December 28, 1842: “ Former Simbirsk governor Komarov, a well-known scoundrel, will also be from Florence for the winter ... ” ^[21] .

Perhaps V.F. Raevsky did not know the opinion of some Decembrists about Komarov’s testimony, but in 1828 (the very first year after arriving in Siberian exile) he turned to his “ comrade in education ” in his “ Address to K ... wu ”, which was written for the second volume of the Yenisei Almanac and because of which censorship prohibited the publication of the almanac ^[22] .:

The poem was first published only in 1903, fifty years after the death of the addressee.

After the resignation from the post of governor of Simbirsk, Komarov spent some time abroad.

Under unclear circumstances, May 25, 1853 in St. Petersburg Komarov committed suicide. The managing director of the 3rd division, L. V. Dubelt , wrote in his diary: “A retired doctor was shot dead. with. N.I. Komarov. In his room a note was found of his hand so that they would not blame anyone for his death, that he himself had taken his own life, and a packet with the inscription: “Give the officer on duty the fl. with e. and. at. “” ^[10] .

He was buried at the Cholera cemetery near the Tsarskoye Selo railway.

Wife - Sofya Alekseevna (nee Okhotnikova ). Sister K. A. Okhotnikov , member of the Chisinau group of members of the Union of Welfare. She died before 1833, was buried in the Okhotnikov family tomb in the village of Tatarintsy, Kozelsky district, Kaluga province ^[23] .

Daughter - Natalia , was born in Moscow on November 29, 1825 ^{[~ 4] [~ 5] [24]} .

The second wife is Maria Pavlovna (Mikulina) . Children in their second marriage - Sofia (born in St. Petersburg in 1840), Pavel (born in Odessa in 1842), Anna (born in The Hague in 1843),

• Decembrists. Biographical reference book / Edited by M.V. Nechkina. - M .: Nauka, 1988 .-- S. 84 .-- 448 p. - 50,000 copies.
• Nechkina M.V.The Movement of the Decembrists. T. 1 - M .: Nauka, 1955 .-- 472 p.