Manasevich-Manuilov, Ivan Fedorovich

Born into a Jewish official family, rumored to have been the illegitimate son of Prince Peter Meschersky , later enjoyed the patronage of his alleged brother — influential in government circles, journalist Vladimir Meschersky . It was believed that talk of this relationship served as a cover for homosexual intercourse ^{[* 1]} .

After his official father Manasevich was exiled to Siberia for fraud, he was adopted by the Siberian merchant Manuylov. Having inherited his condition, he returned to Petersburg, where he accepted Lutheranism , graduated from a real school and entered the public service. At the same time he wrote for metropolitan newspapers. From 1890 - a security officer, during trips abroad he served as a coherent secret police and agents in Paris and Rome. As a journalist, was an employee of Rachkovsky .

In the years 1902-1903 - agent of influence in the Paris press, the mediator between the Russian government and French publishers. Andrei Bely, in his memoirs, drew infernal pictures of how “he danced the waltz of Manasevich-Manuilov with horned devils of the De l'enfer cabaret”, how “by sending secular phrases and quietly tearing chords from the piano, but throwing sharp glances at us” he tried ingratiate merezhkovsky. ^[2] "The sovereign emperor most graciously deigned to classify collegiate assessor Ivan Manuilov to the nobility and welcome him the Order of St. Prince Vladimir."

In 1904, together with M. S. Komissarov, he organized and headed the International Spying Directorate in the Police Department , which was engaged in counterintelligence within the country. He held a number of successful actions, including opposition to Japan during the Russian-Japanese war and the organization of government loans in France. So, he managed to intercept some of the letters of Motojiro Akashi .

In November-December 1905, on behalf of Count S. Yu. Vitte, he negotiated with the former priest Georgy Gapon about the restoration of the “ Meeting of Russian factory workers in St. Petersburg ”, which was closed after January 9, 1905 . On behalf of Witte, he concluded an agreement with Gapon, according to which Witte promised to restore the departments of the “Assembly” and compensate his losses, and Gapon - to agitate in support of the Manifesto on October 17 and against the armed uprising ^[3] . After the murder of Gapon , in April 1906, Manasevich-Manuilov was the first to announce in the press the circumstances of this crime ^[4] .

Manasevich-Manuilov was involved in various scams: he was dismissed and dismissed in September 1906, while avoiding criminal prosecution for large-scale embezzlement. Having connections with the Rasputin circle, he largely contributed to the appointment of B. V. Sturmer to ministerial posts in 1916. As manager of the office of the prime minister (from February 1916), using his position, he blackmailed banks, demanding a bribe. During the war years , Manasevich managed to “earn” 300 thousand rubles. He was caught red-handed when the director of the United Bank, Count Tatishchev, and the Minister of the Interior Tails gave him a bribe with marked notes, and after his arrest of Tails Sturmer’s efforts were immediately dismissed from his post as Minister ^[5] .

In December 1916, the case of Manasevich-Manuylov, which had already been heard in court with the participation of jurors, by the highest order was unexpectedly and illegally terminated by Justice Minister Dobrovolsky , which was an unprecedented case in the jurisprudence of that time ^[5] .

He was released in February 1917. After the October Revolution, forged the mandates of the Emergency Commission and engaged in blackmail on its behalf. In 1918 (or at the end of 1917) he was arrested while trying to cross the border with Finland on forged documents under the guise of a foreigner (he was accidentally identified by actress Nadezhda Dorengovskaya who happened to be there) and was shot. “He met death calmly, refused the last cigarette” ^[6] .

“A journalist by profession, an adventurer by vocation ... Manasevich-Manuilov experienced incredible adventures, made fantastic scams, with fantastic speed ruined and grew rich and was consumed only by one passion - for profit” ( MD Bonch-Bruevich ) ^[7] . The French Ambassador to St. Petersburg, Maurice Paleologue, saw in Manuilovo a “mixture of Panurge , Casanova , Gilles Blaz and Vidoc ”.

One day, journalist Pyotr Pilsky asked Manuylova why he served in the security department (it was at the end of 1906):

“Tell me,” I turned to him, “what is the point of serving you in the security department?” You are so rich in yourself that ...
- First, not so rich. I did not receive as much from anyone as my father or wife to spread rumors about it. This is the first. And secondly, I think that at this point in history, you need to be one of two things: either a revolutionary or a security guard.
- And you decided to become the second?
- Yes of course. And although I am no longer in the service there - I threw it away - nevertheless, I would prefer protection rather than revolution. And precisely because on the side of the reaction and the government has always been more intelligent than the revolution.
- You think?
- I am convinced of it. Well, who can a revolution be called as its pride? Meanwhile, the reaction in their ranks counted such large and rare minds as gr. D. Tolstoy , Pobedonostsev and Katkov , and now P. A. Stolypin . And this list could be doubled and tripled. In the revolution, while there were only two. This - Zhelyabov and Gershoni . Nobody else. ” ^[8]

• M.D. Bonch-Bruyevich. All power to the Soviets! - M .: Military Publishing, 1958.
• K. Betsky, P. Pavlov. Russian Rokambol (The Adventures of I.F. Manasevich-Manuilova). - L .: “Past”, 1925. - 240 p.
• D. B. Pavlov. N-Japanese war of 1904-1905 Secret operations on land and at sea. - M .: "Mainland", 2004. - 464 p.
• Kolpakidi A., North A. The special services of the Russian Empire. - M .: Yauza Eksmo, 2010. - p. 194 - 195. - 768 p. - (Encyclopedia of the special services). - 3000 copies - ISBN 978-5-699-43615-6 .
• Igor Atamanenko. “Blue” stars of the Tsarist secret police // Nezavisimaya Gazeta, November 29, 2013.

Sources

Comments

• Manasevich-Manuilov, Ivan Fedorovich . On the site " Chronos " .
• Ivan Manasevich-Manuilov
• Avrekh A. Ya. Tsarism on the eve of the overthrow