Birth of Lieutenant of the Cavalier Guard Regiment, Decembrist Ivan Alexandrovich Annenkov

Ivan Alexandrovich Annenkov was born on March 5 (17), 1802 in Moscow in the family of Alexander Nikanorovich Annenkov, State Councilor of the Nizhny Novgorod Civil Chamber and Anna Ivanovna Yakobi, daughter of the Irkutsk Governor-General Ivan Varfolomeevich Yakobi. In 1803, when Ivan was one year old, his father died.

Annenkov was brought up at home by teachers Dubois from Switzerland and Berger from France. Then he studied at Moscow University, but, without completing the full course, he transferred to military service as a cadet in a cavalry guard regiment. In 1823 he became a lieutenant. In his youth, Annenkov was handsome, slender, possessed Herculean strength, swam well, fenced, rode excellently. He was distinguished by a quiet and meek character, was extremely concentrated and silent.

In 1824 Ivan Annenkov was admitted to the St. Petersburg branch of the Southern Society and also participated in the activities of the Northern Society. During the Decembrist uprising on Senate Square on December 14 (26), 1825 he commanded a platoon of cavalry guards guarding government artillery. A few days later he was arrested on suspicion of involvement in a secret society and slandered himself during the investigation, admitting that he knew about the plans for regicide, but did not report it. He was found guilty, ranked as the second category of convicts and sentenced to 20 years in hard labor (then the term was reduced to 15 years).

In December 1826 Annenkov, shackled, was sent to Siberia. The prisoner's documents focus on the appearance of the convict. Ivan Annenkov was tall, "the face is white, oblong, the eyes are blue, short-sighted, the nose is long, wide, the hair on the head and eyebrows is dark blond".

From January 1827 Annenkov was in the Chita prison, where in April 1828 he married his bride, the Frenchwoman Polina Gobl (after marriage, Praskovya Yegorovna). Polina Gobl with great difficulty obtained permission from Nicholas I to travel to Siberia and marry Annenkov. The care, attention and boundless love of his wife gave strength to Annenkov to endure all the hardships of hard labor. The love story of a Russian nobleman who became a state criminal and a Frenchwoman who shared hard labor and exile with him served as the plot for Alexandre Dumas Sr. in his novel “The Fencing Teacher”. The novel was published in 1840 in France.

From September 1830 Annenkov served hard labor at the Petrovsky Plant in a prison specially built for the Decembrists. In 1835 he was sent to a settlement in the village of Belskoye, Irkutsk province. At the request of his mother, Anna Ivanovna, in 1838 he received permission to move to the city of Turinsk, Tobolsk province, "with the use of service in the zemstvo court on the rights of persons from the taxable class". In Turinsk Annenkov and his family led a modest lifestyle. The harsh climate forced him to bother about transferring to another city in the Tobolsk province with better living conditions and in June 1841 he was transferred to Tobolsk, where he was an official under the governor for assignments, served as the head of a department in the Order on exiles and in the Order of public charity. In September 1843 Annenkov was appointed to the post of inspector of the settlements of the Tobolsk Expedition of Exiles. In Tobolsk, he bought a house, which became the place of frequent meetings of the Decembrists. The Decembrists were engaged in gardening, horticulture, devoted a lot of time to raising children. Ivan Annenkov was a caring father as he loved his sons and daughters very much. He taught boys fencing and was engaged in painting, painting on wood, translated from French into Russian. The Annenkovs had seven children.

Since April 1848 Annenkov in the rank of collegiate registrar, served as an assessor of the Tobolsk order on exiles. The service of Annenkov in Tobolsk was noted as especially conscientious and useful. For distinction in service in December 1854, he received the rank of collegiate secretary. In Tobolsk Annenkov left the best memories of himself among his colleagues and city residents, who respected his firm, independent convictions and high moral qualities. 

Under the amnesty of 1856 Ivan Annenkov was reinstated in his rights and in January 1857 received the rank of titular adviser. In the same year he moved to Nizhny Novgorod, where he was an official for special assignments under the Nizhny Novgorod governor A. N. Muravyov, also a former Decembrist.

In 1861 Ivan Annenkov was elected leader of the nobility, took an active part in the preparation and implementation of the peasant reform of 1861. In April 1861 he was awarded the silver medal "For labors for the liberation of the peasants". In 1865–68 he served as the leader of the Nizhny Novgorod Zemstvo Council.

Ivan Annenkov died on January 27 (February 8), 1878 in Nizhny Novgorod, two years after the death of his wife. The couple was buried at the Holy Cross Cemetery in Nizhny Novgorod. In 1953 their ashes were transferred to the Bugrovskoe cemetery.

Shortly before her death Praskovya Yegorovna Annenkova managed to dictate her memories of her life to her daughter Olga. Olga Ivanovna translated them from French into Russian and published them in Russkaya Starina in 1888.

Lit.: Анненкова П. Е. Воспоминания Полины Анненковой : с прил. воспоминаний ее дочери О. И. Ивановой и материалов из архива Анненковых / П. Е. Анненкова. Красноярск, 1977; Большая Тюменская энциклопедия: в 4 т. / НИИ региональных энциклопедий ТюмГУ; редакционная коллегия: Г. Ф. Шафранов-Куцев (главный редактор) [и др.]. Т. 1: А–З. Екатеринбург, Тюмень, 2004. С. 86;  Борщевская С. Иван Анненков // Тюменская правда. 1975. 2 октября; Васильев А. И. Возвращение памяти // Сибирское богатство. 2004. № 1. С. 50–52; Горбачева Н. В потомках ваше племя оживет: (О К. М. Голодникове и героях его мемуаров): очерки, эссе // Фальшивый Лукич: Избранное 1998–2002 / сост. М. Дистанова, Ю. Л. Мандрика. Тюмень, 2003. С. 239–260; Ожгибесова О. Кавалергарда век недолог... // Тюменские известия. 2005. 1 декабря. С. 18–19; Рощевский П. "Люди нравственные, бескорыстные и преданные отечеству". Тобольское содружество // Лик. 2013. № 5. С. 53–60; Сергеев М. Д. Подвиг любви бескорыстной: [сборник рассказов, воспоминаний о женах декабристов]. М., 1975; Солодова Т. И. "Несчастные" люди // Это нужно живым!: тобольские юбиляры 2012-го года. Тобольск, 2012. С. 98–136.

Based on the Presidential Library’s materials:

Decembrists in the History of Russia: [digital collection].

The article is based on the materials of the Presidential Library’s Tyumen branch