Pozharskii, Dmitrii Mikhailovich

Born Nov. 1, 1578; died Apr. 20 (30), 1642, in Moscow; buried in Suzdal’. Russian statesman and military leader, prince. Descended from a branch of the princely Starodubskii family.

In 1598, Pozharskii became a striapchii (officer of the tsar’s household) and a member of the zemskii sobor, in 1602 a stol’nik (officer in the tsar’s court), and in 1613 a boyar. He took part in the suppression of the peasant uprising led by I. I. Bolotnikov and from 1608 to 1610 sided with Vasilii Ivanovich Shuiskii in the struggle against the Second False Dmitrii. In 1610, Pozharskii became a voevoda (military commander) in Zaraisk. He served in the First Volunteer Corps of 1611 and was wounded during the uprising of March 19–20 against the Polish-Lithuanian interventionists in Moscow. In late October 1611 he became one of the leaders of the Second Volunteer Corps. From late 1612 to early 1613 he headed the provisional government together with D. T. Trubetskoi. In 1615, Pozharskii directed military operations against the Polish detachments of A. J. Lisowski in southwestern Russia. In 1618 he helped to drive back the Polish forces led by Władysław IV. In 1633–34 he was second voevoda of the Russian reserve group of forces in Mozhaisk.

Pozharskii was in charge of collecting the piatina from 1616 to 1618 and in 1632–33. He headed the Galician Chetvert’ Prikaz in 1617, the Communications and Transportation Prikaz from 1619 to 1628, the Criminal Prikaz from 1621 to 1628, the Official Affairs Prikaz in 1631–32, and the Moscow Legal Prikaz from 1634 to 1638 and from November 1639 to 1640. He took part in negotiations with England in 1617, Poland in 1635, and the Crimean Khanate from 1630 to 1640. Pozharskii was a voevoda in Novgorod from 1628 to 1630. He was one of the richest landowners of Russia in the first half of the 17th century. A bronze and granite monument to Pozharskii and K. Minin, sculpted by I. P. Martos, was erected (1804–18) on Red Square in Moscow.