DOI 10.51255/2311–603X_2025_1_194

A. V. Ashikhmin, D. N. Shilov. “Well, but not the time”. The last reports of M. M. Speransky
to Emperor Alexander I on the reform of the Senate in 1811 // Petersburg historical journal,
no. 1, 2025, pp. 194–212

Abstract:

This research is dedicated to the unfinished reform of the Senate carried out by Speransky in 1811. The authors analyzed a set of documents deposited in the Russian State Historical Archive in the fund of the Special Committee of Chairmen of Departments of the State Council (F. 1164), consisting of 32 parts. These documents were interpreted by researchers since the beginning of the 20th century, and their archival systematization was carried out during that period by A. R. Dobrokhotov, clerk of the State Chancery. Despite the obvious relevance of these sources for the history of such large-scale state transformations, most of them have not yet been published. Based on the research of predecessors, source studies, and archaeological research, the history of this collection is reconstructed. This archival complex fits into the history of the Senate reform
in 1911, and the role of Speransky and other members of the State Сouncil in its development is revealed. The authors describe and analyze the contents of reform documents, including preparatory projects dating back to Catherine’s reign. This collection provides a comprehensive source on senatorial reform developed by Speransky. Access to these documents and their analysis helps us better understand the ideas of the reformer and his methods of working with historical and contemporary materials, as well as methods of communicating and defending his opinions during discussions. It also reveals additional aspects Speransky’s “technical bureau” work during its early period. For the first time in more than a century of research, the most important documents of the reform authored by Speransky were published — the note “On the formation of the Senate”, with attached drafts of manifesto and decrees, and the note “On the timeliness of establishing the Senate”, comprising parts 17 and 18 of the archival collection under consideration.

Key words: reform of the Senate in 1811, M. M. Speranskу, F. I. Zeier, notes by Speransky, Special
Committee of Chairmen of State Council Departments, history of document collection.

Author:

Ashikhmin, Andrey Vitalyevich — Junior Researcher at the Department of Modern History of
Russia of the St. Petersburg Institute of History, Russian Academy of Sciences (St. Petersburg, Russia).
E-mail: andrey.v.ashikhmin@gmail.com

Author:

Shilov, Denis Nikolaevich — PhD in History, senior researcher at the Department of Modern
History of Russia of the St. Petersburg Institute of History, Russian Academy of Sciences, head of the Department of bibliography and local history of the National Library of Russia (St. Petersburg, Russia).
E-mail: shildn@mail.ru

    References:

    PREDTECHENSKII A. V. Ocherki obshchestvenno-politicheskoi istorii Rossii v pervoi chetverti XIX veka [Essays on the Socio-Political History of Russia in the First Quarter of the 19th Century. In Russ.]. Moscow, Leningrad, 1957.

    PISAR’KOVA L. F. Gosudarstvennoe upravlenie Rossii v pervoi chetverti XIX v.: zamysly, proekty,
    voploshchenie [State Administration of Russia in the First Quarter of the 19th Century: Ideas, Projects, Implementation. In Russ.]. Moscow, 2012.

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