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Birth of Sergey K. Vyazmitinov, eminent statesman and military leader
He belonged to a noble family of Polish origin, known from the end of the 15th century which settled in Russia a century later. Sergey Kuzmich, the son of a poor landlord of the Kursk Province, joined the Observation Corps in 1759. In 1761 he was attached to the Ukrainian Land Militia Corps in the rank of lieutenant, and a year later moved to the Manezh Company. Vyazmitinov was baptized of fire during the Russian-Turkish war of 1768-1774, when he was adjutant to the vice-president of the Military Board, Z. G. Chernyshev, and from 1771 served as a lieutenant colonel under General-Field Marshal P. A. Rumyantsev.
After the end of the war Vyazmitinov’s career developed rapidly: in 1777 he was promoted to colonel and appointed commander of the Astrakhan Infantry Regiment; from 1784, in the rank of brigadier, he commanded the Vologda Infantry Regiment; and two years later was promoted to Major General and appointed to the newly-formed Astrakhan Grenadier Regiment.
During the next Russian-Turkish war of 1787-1791 the joint detachment of chasseur and grenadier battalions commanded by Vyazmitinov participated in many important battles: the siege of Khotin, the taking of Bender and Akkerman. In 1790, Vyazmitinov was made the ruler of the Mogilev governorship and the commander of the Belarusian Chasseur Corps. In 1793, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general. In the second half of 1790s, Vyazmitinov held a number of important administrative positions: of the Siberian and the Ufa governor-general, of the military governor in Kamenetz-Podolsk, of the governor-general of Little Russia. In 1797 he was appointed commandant of St. Petersburg, at the same time performing the duties of the head of Commissariat Department, and a year later he was promoted to the rank of General of Infantry. But Vyazmitinov had not managed to establish good relationship with Paul I, so Sergey Kuzmich fell out of favor, and in 1799, he was dismissed.
The new Emperor Alexander I made Vyazmitinov return to the service and in 1802 appointed him vice-president of the Military Board, a senator and a member of the Fundamental Council. In September of that year Vyazmitinov became Minister of War of the Russian Empire. In this position he did much to strengthen the army's fighting efficiency and reorganized military management in Russia: the Engineering dispatch office was made independent from the Artillery one; was formed the Medical dispatch office and established the post of the Chief Inspector; established the Provisional Artillery Committee and Fundamental Council for military schools; introduced the divisional system and established mobile Zemstvo Army, which was an additional source for the reinforcement of the army.
In 1808, due to the many cases of abuse by local military officials, Vyazmitinov retired, but three years later he was again made return to service and appointed member of the State Council. In 1812, Sergey Kuzmich becomes first a member, and then the chairman of the Committee of Ministers, at the same time fulfilling the duties of the minister of police and the commander in chief of St. Petersburg. In 1816-1818 he was Governor-General of St. Petersburg.
While Vyazmitinov was governing the city, began the reconstruction of the Admiralty and construction of the Mining Cadet Corps and the Smolny Institute; St. Isaac's Cathedral was founded; granite embankments of the Spit of Vasilievsky Island were built, as well as a number of bridges over the city's canals and rivers. In 1818 Vyazmitinovu was granted the title of count.
Sergey Kuzmich Vyazmitinov died on 15 (27) October 1819 at the age of 75 and was buried at the Lazarev cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.
Lit.: Анучин Е. Н. Исторический обзор развития административно-полицейских учреждений в России с Учреждения о губерниях 1775 г. до последнего времени. СПб., 1872; Колпакиди А. И., Север А. М. Спецслужбы Российской Империи. М., 2010.
Based on the Presidential Library’s materials: