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Birth of Ivan L. Goremykin, a Russian statesman
27 October (8 November) 1839 in Novgorod, into a family of the head of a appanage office was born Ivan L. Goremykin, a statesman of the Russian Empire: senator, Minister of Interior, a member of the State Council, president of the Council of Ministers (April – June 1906 and 1914-1916).
In 1860 Goremykin graduated from the Imperial Law School and began his service in the Ministry of Interior. A few years later he was assigned a commissar for peasants’ affairs in the Kingdom of Poland; in 1866 he became the vice-governor of Płock and in 1869 – of Kielce. In 1873 Goremykin was appointed a member of the Commission for peasants’ affairs of the Kingdom of Poland under the Ministry of Interior.
In early 1880s Goremykin participated in the inspection of the Saratov and Samara Provinces, was a town councilor of the Borovichi district. In 1882 he was assigned to the 1st Department of the Senate for the post of the Chief-Procurator Deputy; two years later he became the Chief-Procurator of the 2nd Department (peasant one). In 1891 Goremykin was appointed the Minister of Justice Deputy. The same year he contributed to writing and issue of the “Code of Laws and Instructions of the Government on Rural Areas Arrangement”.
In 1894 Goremykin was granted the title of senator and, being considered as an expert on agrarian legal acts, headed the Land Surveying Department of the Ministry of Justice. In April of the next year he was appointed the Minister Deputy, in October – the Minister of Interior. Goremykin had a reputation of a good specialist in the field of Russian legislation. His appointment for a high state position aroused among democratic strata of the Russian society a hope for decrease of administrative arbitrary rule in the country. At the ministerial post he stopped the implementation of a new medical regulations under which the Zemstvo were no longer responsible for maintenance of hospitals and admission departments, as well as other proposals regarding reduction of the Zemstvo’s competence. However, along with making efforts for strengthening the lawfulness, during his four years of being the Minister of Interior Goremykin continued to pursue a repressive policy of his predecessors D. A. Tolstoy and I. N. Durnovo.
In 1899 Goremykin left the ministerial post and was appointed a member of the State Council. During these years he was engaged in writing the “Code of Laws and Instructions of the Government on the Arrangement of Rural Areas and Institutions for Peasants’ Affairs”. In 1905 he was assigned the President of a Special Meeting on measures for strengthening of peasants’ land ownership.
In 1905, when the All-Russian political movement began to spread, the Russian Emperor personally charged Goremykin with making his own version of the manifest. The document’s draft was considered at the meetings presided by S. Yu. Witte and I. L. Goremykin. Before the convocation of the 1st State Duma in April (May) 1906 Goremykin was appointed the Chairman of the Council of Ministers having replaced Witte.
The Chairman of the Council of Ministers did not have his own program; as to agrarian issue, he supported the idea of refusal of provision of land to peasants and did not accept the general agrarian reform: he declared it publically during his addresses to the State Duma. By his consent “The Government Bulletin” published a petition of Black Hundreds’ organizations to dissolve the Duma. The conflict between the government and the parliament, which had lasted for about two years, ended in July 1906 by the dissolution of the latter: this was exactly what the Russian premier sought. But soon Goremykin himself was dismissed from his post.
In 1914 Goremykin took up again the position of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers: after V. N. Kokovtsov’s resignation the Russian Emperor needed to have a reliable person at the head of the government. A strong monarchist, Goremykin was a decisive rival of antigovernment activities of the Duma, especially after the establishment of the Progressive Unit in it.
After the February Revolution in February (March) 1917, Goremykin was arrested and interrogated by the Extraordinary Commission of the Provisional Government. However, he was soon released and moved with his family to his country house near Sochi.
11 (24) December 1917, during a holdup of his country house, Ivan L. Goremykin, the former Russian premier, his wife, daughter and son-in-law were killed.
Lit.: Горемыкин И. Л. Очерки истории крестьян в Польше СПб., 1869; Соловьёва А. Д. Горемыкин И. Л. и Коковцов В. Н. — российские премьеры: дис. ... к. и. н. Самара, 2005.
Based on the Presidential Library’s materials:
Особые журналы заседаний Совета министров [Дело]: за март — июнь 1914 г.: журналы № 2916—2957. 1914;