Modest Korff: Alexander Pushkin’s classmate, memoirist, director of the Imperial Public Library

September 23, 2019 marks the 219th anniversary of the birth of the Russian statesman Modest Korff, the author of memoirs and historical works dedicated to emperors Peter I and Nicholas I, reformer Mikhail Speransky and others. These materials, as well as memoirs of Modest Korff, are available on the Presidential Library’s portal and in the Electronic Reading Room.

As one of the best students of the very first famous “Pushkin's” class of graduates of the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum, Baron Korff showed signs of being successful in the future. The famous Russian philologist Yakov Grot, who got acquainted with Baron Korff as part of the public service, shared his memories of Modest Korff in the book Pushkin, His Lyceum Fellows and Mentors (1887).

In 1817 Modest Korff graduated from the Lyceum with a silver medal and quickly worked his way up the career ladder. Being personally acquainted with Nicholas I, Modest Korff accepted a post in the Second Section (department) of His Imperial Majesty’s Own Chancery, where a large-scale work on systematization of legislation was launched under the direction of Count M. M. Speransky. For five years Korff had assisted Mikhail Speransky in his work and gained considerable experience in administration and law.

Modest Korff devoted one of his best works The Life of Count Speransky (1861) to his mentor. In the book he analyzed the reasons for his rapid rise to power as a statesman and the chill in relations between Modest Korff and high-ranking officials.

In 1831, Korf accepted a post in the Committee of Ministers. Nicholas I saw Modest Korff as the successor of Speransky, and when the latter died, Korff took the post as state secretary.

In 1843 Modest Korff was appointed as member of the State Council, and then the secret committee for supervision of book printing. Nicholas I personally assigned censorship duties to Korff, and the latter eagerly accepted them. Herzen noted that Modest Korff loved censorship most of all.

Being a busy statesman, Modest Korff, nevertheless, found time for creative work: he authored interesting memoirs and literary portraits of prominent compatriots, published books, and contributed to magazines of the capital city. The issue of Russkaya Starina magazine of April 1900 features the essay The Sketches by Baron (later Count) M. A. Korff. Its author gives a full description of I. N. Skobelev, the commandant of the Peter and Paul Fortress, a recruit, who rose to the rank of general.

On October 18, 1849 Modest Korff was appointed director of the Imperial Public Library, which faced hard times and required changes. At that time, the Imperial Public Library was the only free library in St. Petersburg, which was open to everyone, except for pupils of secondary educational institutions, lower military ranks and servants wearing liveries.

Regardless of all the posts that he held, Modest Korff remained a hard and loyal worker.