Unofficial Committee

(Neglasnyi Komitet), an unofficial consultative body in Russia under Alexander I. It functioned from June 1801 until the end of 1803 and was composed of the tsar’s closest associates, the “young friends”—Count P. A. Stroganov, Prince A. Czartoryski, Count V. P. Kochubei, and N. N. Novosil’tsev. Many government measures, such as the reform of the Senate and the establishment of ministries in 1802, were discussed by the Unofficial Committee. Much of the committee’s attention was devoted to the peasant question and to the preparation of related measures, including decrees on free cultivators (1803) and on the granting of permission to merchants and meshchane (members of the urban lower middle class, comprising small traders, craftsmen, junior officials, and other individuals) to buy land (1801).