Erofei

Date of birth unkown; died Apr. 27 (May 7), 1669. Russian statesman.

By birth Ivanov was from the posadskie liudi (merchants and artisans) of Vologda. From 1640 to 1646 he was a secretary (d’iak) of the Treasury, and in 1646 he was transferred to the Posol’skii Prikaz (Foreign Office). He was a dumnyi d’iak (state secretary) and head of the Posol’skii Prikaz from 1653 to 1667, at the same time (1653–69) directing the affairs of the Pechatnyi Prikaz (Office of the Seal). He played an important role in the government of Tsar Aleksei Mikhailovich. He knew foreign languages well and was a skilled diplomat and talented administrator. In foreign policy he supported the struggle against the Rzecz Pospolita (the Commonwealth of Poland and Lithuania) to bring the southern and western Russian lands into a single Russian state. In 1649 he participated in a Russian embassy to Sweden, and he was sent several times to Poland. Under his direction the new Customs Statute of 1653 was drafted, which unified the system of commercial tariffs.