Mordvinov, Nicolai Semionovich°

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MORDVINOV, NICOLAI SEMIONOVICH°

MORDVINOV, NICOLAI SEMIONOVICH ° (1754–1845), Russian statesman and admiral; president of the Department of Civil and Ecclesiastical Affairs of the Council of State. In 1802, as a member of the Council of State, he supported the proposal not to limit the commercial rights of the Jews in the *Pale of Settlement, but in the 1820s he insisted on the mass expulsion of the Jews from the villages and rural settlements. In the blood libel case at *Velizh, Mordvinov took a stand in favor of the Jewish community. Owner of an estate near Velizh and knowing many local Jews, he followed the case closely; when it reached its final stage and came to the attention of his department, he helped to establish the innocence of the Jews, settling the matter by a ukase issued in 1835.

bibliography:

Gessen, in: Voskhod, 4 (1903), 3–34; 5 (1903), 3–28; idem, Velizhskaya drama (1905); Rivkin, in: Perezhitoye, 3 (1911), 60–102.

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Mordvinov, Nicolai Semionovich°

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