Odoevskii, Nikita Ivanovich

Died Feb. 12 (22), 1689, in Moscow. Russian prince; government and military figure.

Odoevskii was one of the largest feudal landowners. He is first mentioned in historical sources as a stol’nik (officer in the tsar’s court)in 1618; after 1640 he is referred to as a boyar. In 1646–47, Odoevskii was the chief voevoda (military governor) on the southern frontiers of the Russian state. After the Moscow Uprising of 1648, he directed the prikaz (office) that prepared the Sobornoe Ulozhenie (law code) of 1649. He took part in the Russo-Polish War of 1654–67. In the 1650’s and 1660’s, he headed several Russian embassies that conducted negotiations with Polish and Swedish representatives. Under Tsar Fedor Alekséevich, he virtually controlled Russia’s foreign policy. He also supervised measures for the elimination of the mestnichestvo system.