Arseny Zakrevsky

Who was Arseny Zakrevsky?

Count Arseny Andreyevich Zakrevsky was a Russian statesman and Minister of the Interior from April 19 of 1828 to November 19 of 1831.

Son of a poor Tver nobleman of the Polish origin, Zakrevsky began his military career in a cadet coprs which he graduated in 1802 in the rank of a junior infantry officer. By 1829 he rose to the rank of infantry general. Between 1824 and 1831, Count Zakrevsky served as the Governor General of the Grand Duchy of Finland. Being a military man and a hard-liner, he was trusted by Emperor Nicholas I. In the period 1828-1831, he also briefly served as the Minister of Interior of the entire empire. He was elevated to the title of count in the Finnish nobility, and was registered in the House of Nobility under the name Zakrewsky as the Finnish comital house number nine. This made him and his family "Finnish citizens", which also meant that afterwards when out of office, they did not need passports to go to the territory of the grand duchy from the Russian side of the border, a coveted privilege.