Golitsyn family

Golitsyn family, Russian noble family descended from the 14th-century Lithuanian grand duke Gediminas. Three members played prominent roles as statesmen around the time of Peter I the Great (r. 1682–1725). Vasily Golitsyn was chief adviser to Peter’s regent, Sophia Alekseyevna. Boris Golitsyn (1654–1714) was court chamberlain (1676) and Peter’s tutor; he participated in the coup that placed Peter on the throne and was associated with the major achievements of Peter’s early reign. Peter dismissed him after his despotic rule of a province in the lower Volga resulted in a major revolt. Dmitry Golitsyn (1665–1737) held several posts under Peter from 1697 but opposed Peter’s reforms and in 1724 was deprived of all public duties. In 1727 he became a member of the Supreme Privy Council, which governed for Peter II until his death (1730). He urged the council to offer the throne to Anna Ivanovna if she would sign a set of conditions transferring crucial prerogatives to the council. She initially agreed, then dissolved the council. He was condemned to death (1736) for his antiautocratic beliefs, but Anna commuted his sentence to life imprisonment.