M. Muravjev-Apostol (1793-1886)

In 1836 Matwei Muravjev-Apostol, a founder of the ‘Rescue Union’, arrived in Yalutorovsk for settlement. His grandfather, a hetman Apostol, was an associate of Peter I, and his mother was one of the most educated women of that time. The news on rebellion on the Senate square reached him on his visit to his brother Sergei, who exercised military service in the Chernigov infantry regiment. The brothers had organized an uprising within the regiment that was severely suppressed. The brothers were condemned to death penalty, but for Matwei it was changed for a 20-year exile and lifelong settlement to Siberia. In Yalutorovsk Muravjev-Apostol dwelled in the house of a merchant Beloussov. After their son died, the family adopted two children whom Muravjev-Apostol taught Grammar, languages, and music. In 1849 during the repair of his house Muravjev-Apostol left a bottle with a message that was only found 100 years afterwards. The bottle contained his famous poem ‘A Message to Posterity’. It became a central exhibit in the Yalutorovsk Decembrists museum. A hospitable house of Muravjev-Apostol served as a club where the Decembrists would hold literature and musical parties. In 1856 after the general amnesty Muravjev-Apostol came back to Moscow where he lived till his old age. In Moscow he published his ‘Memories’ on his life in Siberia.