Muravieff, an ancient Russian family, originally settled in the former grand duchy of Moscow, and since the latter part of the 15th century in various other parts of the country.

I. Mikhail

Mikhail, born in Smolensk in October, 1757, died in St. Petersburg in July, 1807. He was tutor of the grand dukes Alexander and Con-stantine, for whom he prepared a series of essays on history, ethics, and literature. Paul L appointed him privy councillor, and Alexander I. deputy minister of popular instruction. An edition of his writings was published in 3 vols. (Moscow, 1810; supplement, St. Petersburg, 1815).

II. Nikolai

Nikolai, born in Riga in 17G8, died in Moscow in 1840. After many years of active service in the Russian army and navy, he es-tablished near Moscow a private military academy. HE took part in the campaign of 1812-'13, concluded the capitulation of Dresden with Gen. Dumas, and was present at the siege of Hamburg. After the peace ho resumed his duties at his academy, which in 1816 was raised to the rank of an imperial institution. He conducted it till 1823, from which time till his death he devoted himself to agriculture. He was one of the founders of the Moscow agricultural society.

III. Nikolai

Nikolai, second son of the preceding, born about 1794, died in Novem-1866. He entered the army in 1811, was employed in the military service in the Caucasus, and published in 1822 an account of his travels in Khiva, whither he had been sent on a political mission by (Jen. Yermoloff. In 1828 he took part in the Persian war,' and in 1831 in the Polish campaign. He was made lieutenant general, commanded during the siege of Warsaw in September the right wing of the Russian army, and stormed the fortifications of Rakowiec. He commanded the Russian corps which landed in Asia Minor, and arrested the advance of Ibrahim Pasha toward Constantinople after his victory at Ko-nieh, and then visited Mehemet Ali in Cairo. He superintended the construction of the fortifications of Sebastopol, but fell into disgrace in 1838, for having in a sham fight made prisoners the emperor Nicholas and his staff, and lived in retirement in Moscow till 1848, when he became a member of the board of war, and afterward commander of the corps of grenadiers in the imperial guard.

In 1855 he was in command of the army of the Caucasus as general of infantry and governor of Transcaucasia, and conducted the siege of Kars with great energy and ability from the beginning of June till Nov. 27, 1855, when the fortress was compelled to capitulate. Muravieff was rewarded with the title of prince, but, being unpopular with his fellow officers and the court, spent his last years in retirement.

IV. Mikhail

Mikhail, brother of the preceding, born in 1796, died in 1866. At the age of 15 he was a teacher in the military school established by his father. In 1813 he took part in the campaign against the French, and on his return continued his military studies, and about this time translated Gar-nier's Géometrie analytique into Russian. In 1823 he became colonel in the army; in 1831 military governor of Grodno and subsequently of Kursk; in 1842 chief director of the topographical corps and major general; and in 1850 a member of the council of the empire. He was soon after chosen president of the geographical society, and sent an important scientific expedition to Siberia. In 1857 he became president of the department of apanages, in which office he did much to promote the advancement of agriculture. In 1863 he was appointed governor general of Wilna, and his rigorous rule during the Polish insurrection was not wholly approved by Alexander. In 1866 he was president of the commission to discover the accomplices of Karakozoff in the attempted assassination of the emperor.

V. Nikolai

Nikolai, born in 1810, served a long time in the Caucasus, and in 1847 was made lieutenant general and governor general of eastern Siberia. He concluded the treaty of May, 1858, by which China ceded to Russia the Amoor territory, for which service he was created Count Amurski. In 1859 he concluded at Ycdo a treaty with Japan favorable to Russia, and in 1861 was made a member of the council of the empire.

VI. Alexander

Alexander, son of the first mentioned Nikolai, born in 1792, died in 1864. He was implicated in the revolutionary movement of 1825, and was exiled to Siberia. In 1853 he was restored to the army, and during the Crimean war he was made major general. In 1855 he was governor of Nizhni Novgorod, and he took an active part in the emancipation of the serfs. At the time of his death he was a lieutenant general and a member of the senate. - A branch of the family has adopted the name of Muravieff-Apostol, from the marriage of one of them in the 18th century with a daughter of a Cossack hetman named Apostol. Noticeable among this branch is Ivan (born in 1769, died in 1851), who translated Sheridan's "School for Scandal," Horace's "Satires," and Aristophanes's "Clouds" into Russian, and published in 1822 an account of his archaeological explorations in Taurida. He officiated as ambassador at several European courts, and was eventually made a privy councillor and senator. His son Sergei was a conspicuous leader of the conspiracy of 1825, and after the unsuccessful attempt in St. Petersburg he proclaimed the grand duke Constantine as emperor and took possession of the town of Vasilkov. He was defeated and severely wounded near Ustinovka, Jan. 15, 1826, removed to St. Petersburg, and executed July 25. His brother Ippolit was killed, and another was banished to Siberia.