Sergey Ivanovich Muravyov-Apostol

Sergey Ivanovich Muravyov-Apostol (born Sept. 28 [Oct. 9, New Style], 1796, St. Petersburg, Russia—died July 13 [July 25], 1826, St. Petersburg) was a Russian army officer and republican, executed for his leading role in the Decembrist (Dekabrist) uprising of 1825–26.

The son of a diplomat and writer, Muravyov-Apostol graduated from the St. Petersburg Institute of Railway Engineers and fought against the French invasion of Russia in 1812 and in subsequent foreign campaigns. He was among the founders of the Union of Salvation and was a company commander in the Semenovskoye Guards regiment at the time of its uprising in 1820, after which he was transferred to the regiment at Chernigov (now Chernihiv, Ukraine).

In 1822 he was recruited to the radical, antimonarchical Southern Society of the Decembrist movement, in which he played an active role thenceforth. He soon became head of its Vasilkov council and was instrumental, along with M.P. Bestuzhev-Ryumin, in its merger with the Society of United Slavs in 1825. He participated in a number of plans for uprisings by the military during 1823–25 and, by late 1825, had come to advocate the assassination of the tsar.

In November 1825 he was appointed director of the Southern Society, and by December 20 he was planning a military uprising in southern Russia when he learned of the defeat of the Northern Society’s revolt on December 14. He organized and led the December 29 rebellion of about 1,100 officers and troops of the Chernigov regiment, who were crushed by loyal government forces on Jan. 3, 1826. During the battle Muravyov-Apostol was seriously wounded, and he was later one of the five Decembrist leaders to be hanged.