Was Kozma Minin of Tatar origin. Minin Kuzma Minich - Biography

In the Mikhailo-Arkhangelsk Cathedral in Nizhny Novgorod, where princes were once buried, the remains of Kuzma Minin, perhaps the most famous citizen of Nizhny Novgorod, are buried. It was he, as any schoolboy knows, who called out to the people at one of the most difficult moments in Russian history. The people got up. History has changed its course.

Origin of "Citizen Minin"

Unfortunately, we cannot imagine the biography of Kuzma Minin, even with the degree of completeness that is possible in relation to his colleague,. Although the family of the Minins, the townspeople, was rich, but not noble and did not become famous for anything special before the events, which means that no documents that would record the path of this family in history were not only not preserved, but did not exist at all.

Thus, the early biography of Kuzma Minin is "closed" to us. There are many versions that confirm or refute one another, but none of them can be considered definitively reliable. Recently, it has become customary to consider Kuzma Minin a native of Balakhna (and the people of Balakhna are very happy with such a countryman), where his father Mina Ankundinov was allegedly a salt merchant. But we do not find any documentary evidence of the Balakhna origin of Minin - except that, indeed, according to synodic officials, there were also some Minins in Balakhna. But what relationship they had with "citizen Minin" is completely unknown.

And here is a very recent version - Kuzma Minin's father was a baptized Tatar. It may be so: in the Nizhny Novgorod lands, the Tatars are not exotic, and in our history we know many glorious families descended from baptized Tatars, however, again, I would like to see confirmation. So far, the available indirect data do not support the "Tatar version". Take, for example, the fact that both parents of Kuzma Minin took monastic tonsure shortly before their death. He rather says that the family had long-standing pious traditions, that is, it was by no means Orthodox in the first generation.

While questioning the "new legends", it is necessary to treat the old ones with caution. For example, in the popular (and even serious historical) literature of the 19th century, Minin is called Kuzma Zakharovich Minin-Sukhoruky. However, in the surviving documents related to Minin, neither "Zakharovich" nor "Sukhoruky" is mentioned. So here again we are dealing with, let's call it that, some promiscuousness in relation to sources.

Political life of Minin

Born in the early 1570s (this date is very approximate), Kuzma Minin, as his official biography suggests, first helped his father in business, and then took up his own business. It is said that he was a beef (that is, a butcher or a cattle dealer), a wealthy and, obviously, a respected person, since he became a zemstvo headman.

In addition, even before 1612, Minin took an active part in the then "torn" political life- that is, he constantly participated in hostilities against Poles and Lithuanians, as well as "Russian thieves' people." In 1608 he fought against the Balakhna people, seduced by False Dmitry II, and in 1611 he went to Moscow as part of the First Militia, where he tasted the bitterness of defeat, along with all the members of the militia, but did not lose heart.

Appeal to the citizens of Nizhny Novgorod by citizen Minin

Returning to Nizhny Novgorod, Kuzma Minin - as we can assume - painted pictures of the plight of the country before the townspeople, pointed out the need to assemble a new militia (now knowing from his own experience what is necessary for his success). At first, apparently, these were private conversations, then an increasing number of people took part in them, gatherings were formed, listening to Minin with interest and little by little flaring up with animation.

Finally, in the autumn of 1611, a letter arrived in Nizhny Novgorod, either from Patriarch Hermogenes, who was then living his last months in captivity, or from Archimandrite Dionysius. From whomever it may be, its meaning is clear: a call to stand for our native land and Orthodox faith. But, first read to the people in the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Savior, it did not make the desired impression on the people. In any case, N. I. Kostomarov writes about it this way:

“There was no longer any order or a definite plan in the popular opposition. Everything went apart. Despondency and distrust of one's own strength began to spread. So, when in Nizhny Novgorod, in the cathedral church, the letter of the Trinity authorities was read, the people, having listened to it, came to tenderness, wept over the death of the state, but expressed despair with such words: “True, we will not be delivered! We hope for a greater death."

However, the speeches to the people by Archpriest Savva Efimiev, and then Kuzma Minin (where it all happened is still arguing; it used to be that in front of the Spassky Cathedral, now the Baptist Church in the Lower Bazaar is more often called) broke the disbelief of Nizhny Novgorod in their own strength. Minin proposed specific measures, albeit harsh ones: to give everyone a third of their fortune for the militia, and whoever is poor - at least a “five”.

It must be said that the original text of Minin's appeal has not been preserved, and what we today take as a quotation from it is a "free translation" of historians. But with the preservation of the original meaning, of course.

Minin in the "post-troubles" time

We have already referred more than once to how the events of 1612 unfolded. Therefore, now it is more interesting to turn to the “post-troubles” biography of Kuzma Minin. And - to the fate of his remains.

It is known that the very next day after his wedding to the kingdom, Mikhail Fedorovich granted Minin the rank of duma nobleman. His only (as far as documentary sources allow us to judge) son Methodius (Nefed) was taken into the sovereign's service. The Minin family, obviously, lived at that time in Moscow, and its head died in 1616, on the way from Kazan, where he was on a state assignment, investigating the causes of the uprising of the Tatars and Mari (“Cheremis stole”).

Minin's grave

Kuzma Minin was buried in Nizhny Novgorod, initially at the parish cemetery. Then, in 1672, his ashes were transferred to the Transfiguration Cathedral (when they built new cathedral, Minin's grave was also moved here), and after the destruction of the cathedral in Soviet time the remains of Minin were kept for some time in the museum. When the restoration of the only survivor in the Kremlin was completed, the grave of Kuzma Minin found its place here. I would like to think that already - forever.

(full name- Kuzma Minich [Minin's son] Zakharyev Sukhorukiy) - a glorious figure of the Time of Troubles; a citizen of Nizhny Novgorod, a seller of meat and fish, who served in his youth in the militia of Alyabyev and Repnin, a zemstvo headman and head of court affairs for the townspeople; was in Nizhny Novgorod "a favorite person" for honesty and "wise sense." Details about his activities become known only from 1611, when a letter arrived in Nizhny Novgorod from Patriarch Hermogenes or from the Trinity Lavra (it is not known exactly).

After reading it, Archpriest Savva urged the people to “stand for the faith,” but M.’s passionate words turned out to be much more convincing. who would stand up for the true Orthodox faith and be our boss." In Nizhny, constant meetings began: they talked about how to rise, where to get people and funds.

With such questions, they turned primarily to M., and he developed his plans in detail. Every day his influence grew; Nizhny Novgorod was carried away by M.'s proposals and finally decided to form a militia, convene service people and collect money for them.

On the advice of M., they gave the "third money", that is, the third part of the property; on his own advice, they chose the leader of Prince D. M. Pozharsky, who was then being treated for wounds in an estate near Moscow and wished that the economic part in the militia was entrusted to M. According to the chronicle, he "quenched the thirsty hearts of the military and covered their nakedness and in all their rested and by these deeds gathered not a small army. Other cities soon joined the people of Nizhny Novgorod, raised by a well-known district charter, in the preparation of which M. undoubtedly participated. In early April 1612, a huge militia was already standing in Yaroslavl with Prince Pozharsky and M. at the head; in August Khodkevich was defeated, and in October Moscow was cleared of the Poles.

The next day after the wedding to the kingdom (July 12, 1613), Mikhail Feodorovich granted M. the title of duma nobleman and patrimony.

Since then, constantly sitting in the Duma and living in the royal palace, M. enjoyed the tsar's great confidence (in 1615 he was instructed to protect Moscow, along with his neighbor boyars, during the tsar's trip to the Trinity in the Sergius Monastery) and received the most important "parcels ". He died in 1616, "during the search" in the Kazan places on the occasion of the uprising of the Tatars and Cheremis.

To his widow and only son, Nefed (solicitor), the king granted new fiefdoms.

The ashes of M. rest in the Nizhny Novgorod Transfiguration Cathedral.

In 1815 a monument was erected to him in Nizhny Novgorod, and in 1826 - in Moscow.

Most historians (especially I. E. Zabelin and M. P. Pogodin) are the defenders of M. against N. I. Kostomarov, who considers him "a subtle and cunning man, with a strong will, a strong temper, who used all means to achieve his goal and who first played the role of a theatrical prophet" (an allusion to his words about the appearance of St. Sergius, according to the legend of the 18th century), and then "a dictator with harsh and cruel measures." Undoubtedly, M. was a richly gifted and even exceptional nature: with a large independent mind, he combined the ability to feel deeply, to be imbued with the idea to forget himself and at the same time remain a practical person who knows how to start a business, organize it and inspire the crowd with it. Wed P. I. Melnikov, "Nizhny Novgorod and the people of Nizhny Novgorod in troubled times" ("Moskvityanin", 1850, No. 21); Chichagov, "The Life of Prince Pozharsky, Cellar Palitsyn and K. Minin" (St. Petersburg, 1845); Kostomarov, "Persons of the Time of Troubles" ("Bulletin of Europe", 1871-1872 and in "Russian History in Biographies"); I. E. Zabelin, "M. and Pozharsky" (M., 1883) and "Actions of the Nizhny Novgorod Scientific Arch. Commission". V. R-v. (Brockhaus)

"There are sacred numbers in history, sacred names,
sacred beliefs that must be touched
with extreme caution... Find a new immutable
evidence ... with all signs of authenticity
and certainty without the slightest reason for reflection, -
oh, that's different! Then we are with pure historical
conscience will have to change our mind ... "
M. P. Pogodin

Let's compare, dear reader.

"At that very time, a certain person in Nizhny Novgorod named Kuzma Minin ..." (a contemporary of Minin and Pozharsky Prince S. Shakhovskaya). "The husband was pious in Nizhny Novagrad by the name of Kozma Minin ..." (monk-chronicler S. Azaryin). "Here ... Kuzma Zakharyevich Minin-Sukhoruk began to speak to the world ..." (historian N. Kostomarov). "...full name - Kuzma Minich son Zakhariev Sukhorukiy..." (Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 1938). "... Minin, Zakharyev Sukhoruk, Kuzma Minich..." ("Soviet Historical Encyclopedia", 1966). "...Kosma Minich Zakharyev-Sukhoruk..." (Journal "Spark", 1985)... So what was the name of the Nizhny Novgorod headman, the savior of Russia, our national hero Minin?!

Until the first half of the XIX century. in chronicles and business documents we meet KUZMA and, very rarely, as an option, KOZMA.

There are more than a thousand names in the calendar - lists of Byzantine saints, but there are none. There is - COSMA. For example, in 1642, before his death, Dmitry Mikhailovich Pozharsky, according to the custom of those years, accepted the schema and in monasticism took the name KOSMA. It turns out that - the name of his unforgettable colleague and friend, with whom years and death separated, but not fate ... Documentary evidence has not reached us, but with all confidence it can be argued that it was this name that Minin received at baptism.

This fact is also confirmed by the surviving ancient synodics of the Russian Orthodox Church, where the hero is commemorated as COSMA.

However: most of the Byzantine names given to the Orthodox at baptism were unusual for Russian hearing and therefore adapted. For example, George turned into YURI, Matthew - into MATVEY, John - into IVAN, JOSEPH - into OSIP, etc. At the same time, both colloquial and church variants could be used in everyday life. The hero himself signed his letters and documents invariably KUZMA and invariably MININ. In Moscow documents, royal letters we also meet - KUZMA MININ: for example, in the royal letter "On the award ... Kuzma Minin to ... duma nobles." His son Nefed is called in the documents: "Kuzmin son of Minich".

So - undoubtedly, KUZMA! Otherwise it can not be! That was the name of the hero's relatives and friends, the sovereign and the great courtiers, that's how he realized himself.

But - MININ or MINICH?

This is the same thing - an indication of the father's name, patronymic, clarification, whose son.

A simple person of that time, whether a serf, a peasant, a townsman (Minin was from the townspeople), was supposed to have only a name, without a surname. But Kuzmas, Matveys, Ivans must have been somehow different? To avoid confusion in everyday life, they specified - MININ's son, MINICH, MININ. To this day, by the way, in some places in the Russian outback, villagers call each other that way. For example, my village grandfather Ivan Petrovich was nicknamed by those around him: "Ivan Petrov."

The fact that the father of the hero was called MINA, and nothing else, is documented. So, in the entry according to the Scribe Book of the Zauzolskaya volost for 1591, a number of arable lands and forest lands were listed "behind a hoodie, behind a townsman, behind Minea, behind Ankudinov."

By the end of his life, with the receipt of the Duma nobility, the hero was respectfully called KUZMA MINICH (compare - KUZMICH, ILYICH, etc.) MININ. The nobleman was supposed to have a surname, and Kuzma received it - by patronymic, by the name of his father.

So, the last name is MININ.

Kuzma's paternal grandfather, as we see, was called ANKUDIN. In the records of the Scribal Book of Yuryevets Povolzhsky, he appears as "Ankidin Vlasov", we immediately find a mention of his own brother - "Koska Vlasov". Consequently, Kuzma's great-grandfather was called VLAS, and all sorts of Zacharias, Sukhoruki there were none in the Minin family. Where did that come from?

"The water was muddied" by the magazine "Moskvityanin", edited by the writer M.P. Pogodin, whose quote about the "purity of historical conscience" we took out in the epigraph. In No. 4 for 1854, the journal published a bill of sale drawn up in N. Nogorod in November 1602. In the original, it was indicated that the yard of such and such a master was located "near Kuzma Zakharyev's son Sukhoruk." So what? What does Minin have to do with it, you ask? How many namesakes he had! Despite the fact that when editing the material, someone’s willing hand (it’s hard to understand, however, for what reasons, perhaps in anticipation of a sensation and a fee) inserted only one word, and it turned out in the publication: “next to Kuzma Zakhariev, the son of Minin (emphasis mine - S.S.) Sukhoruka. And - let's go, let's go, and even in variations, through cities and villages! A name that did not exist in nature!

A.N. Ostrovsky writes the play "Kozma Zakharyich Minin-Sukhoruk". M.P. Kostomarov in historical writings echoes him, however, slightly correcting: KUZMA. In 1936, M. Bulgakov wrote a libretto to music by B. Asafiev for the opera "Minin and Pozharsky", where the title character is a certain Kuzma ZAKHARYCH. In 1938, the journal Novy Mir (N6) published V. Kostylev's novel Kozma Minin ("Is it really you, Kozma Zakharovich?" - one of the characters in Minin cannot recognize Minin in any way). November 7, 1943 on central square In the city of Gorky, a monument to the hero of the sculptor A. Kolobov is opened, the monument is not bad, but made of reinforced concrete (due to lack of funds in wartime), the signature on the pedestal is KOZMA MININ. About 15 years ago, Kolobovsky KOZMA, considered antediluvian, was dismantled and reinstalled in Balakhna. Instead, a bronze monument to O. Komov stood up, and again - KOZMA ...

I understand that KOZMA is pronounced, it seems, more blog-sounding than the "rustic" KUZMA is heard by ear. But let's think about it: does a national hero need to be embellished somehow, contrary to historical truth?

And aren't we sinning against the truth here to the same extent as the authors of the monument to KOZMA in the center of Nizhny Novgorod - Minin here is dressed in a ceremonial noble caftan? He received the rank of duma nobleman from the sovereign in 1613, and only three years in the nobility and looked like (he died in 1616), he hardly even got used to the outward attributes of his new status in his sixteen years of life.

That is why Kuzma Minin is dear to us, that is why we are especially revered by the people, because he is from the very essence of this people, blood from blood, flesh from his flesh!

S. SKATOV,
Active member
Russian historical society

Kuzma Minin (Kuzma Minich Ankundinov, Kuzma Sukhoruk) - leader of the Russian national liberation movement in the Time of Troubles, one of the leaders of the Second Militia, an ally of Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Pozharsky; one of the most popular national heroes of the Russian people.

Let us want to help the Muscovite state, so that we do not spare our property, do not spare anything, sell yards, mortgage wives and children, beat with the brow of anyone who would stand up for the true Orthodox faith and be our boss.

Minin Kuzma

The clan of Kuzma Minin happened from the small Volga city of Balakhna and owned a salt mine. The name of his father is known - Mina Ankundinov. Kuzma himself was a Nizhny Novgorod townsman, in 1608-1610 he was part of the Nizhny Novgorod militia under the command of the governor A.S. Alyabyev, he participated in the hostilities against the supporters of False Dmitry II.

September 1, 1611 Minin was elected zemstvo headman and led the movement to organize the Second Militia. His responsibilities included collecting Money, issuing salaries to warriors, providing the economic part. The military leadership, on the advice of Minin, was transferred to the hands of Prince Dmitry Pozharsky. Prior to the convening of the Zemsky Sobor in 1613, Minin was a member of the "Council of All the Earth", which was formed in early 1612 in Yaroslavl and performed the functions of the government.

Brothers, remember God's word,
What today in the temple they listened to from the pulpit,
For our heart to be hourly
Everything is ready to give for the benefit of the neighbor.

Minin Kuzma

Kulma Minin actively participated in the battles for Moscow on August 22-24, 1612 and showed personal courage. At the head of one of the detachments, he crossed the Moscow River and inflicted a flank attack on the enemy, thanks to which the troops of Hetman Jan Karol Chodkiewicz were defeated. Minin participated in Zemsky Cathedral 1613, which called for the reign of the Romanov dynasty. The day after his wedding to the kingdom, Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich granted Minin the title of Duma nobleman, and in 1615 he granted an estate near Nizhny Novgorod.

Minin remained to serve in Moscow, was in charge of collecting tax - "five money" from the merchants of the Living Room and the Cloth Hundreds. In 1615, he was engaged in detective work on the case of the rebellious Tatars and Cheremis in Kazan.

Minin died in the middle 1616, buried in the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin. At the end of the 17th century, his ashes were transferred to the Nizhny Novgorod Transfiguration Cathedral and after its demolition (1962) to the Mikhailov-Arkhangelsk Cathedral. In 1818, a monument to Minin and Pozharsky, sculptor Ivan Petrovich Martos, was erected on Red Square in Moscow.

Let's all gather together under a single banner,
Let's call the call to the holy cause
Motherland of salvation, let's stand up without exception -
And we will go to battle with the enemies boldly!

Minin Kuzma

More about Minin:

Minin Kuzma Zakharyevich, nicknamed Sukhoruk- one of the "liberators of the fatherland" from the Poles in 1612. Biography before his speech in 1611 is unknown.

The townsman of Nizhny Novgorod, apparently of middle income, who sold meat, did not seem to stand out in any way from the ranks of his "brothers", the townspeople. In the era of unrest under Tsar Vasily Shuisky, when Nizhny Novgorod was threatened by rebellious foreigners and Tushins, Minin, according to some instructions, took part, like other townspeople, in campaigns against enemies, in the detachment of governor Alyabyev.

From the autumn of 1611, the modest butcher became the first person in his native city. At this critical time for Russia, when, after the death of Lyapunov, his militia disintegrated, and the Cossack governors seized power over the country - Zarutsky and Trubetskoy, when Novgorod was already occupied by the Swedes, Smolensk was taken by Sigismund, and a new "Tsar Dimitri" acted in the Pskov region, when in In connection with this, despondency, cowardice and despair captured many, and local and personal interests began to take precedence over national ones, - Kuzma Minin deeply mourned the disasters of the fatherland and thought about ways to help him. According to him, Saint Sergius appeared to him three times in a dream, prompting him to make an appeal, and even punished him for disobedience.

Minin understood his election to the zemstvo elders of Nizhny Novgorod around the new year (September 1) as an indication of the finger of God. In the zemstvo hut and "if he had found it," he began to call on the townspeople to please about the fatherland and, by personal example, encouraged donations for hired military people. Both the authorities and the whole city joined the initiative of the settlement, which soon followed Minin; a verdict was drawn up on the forced collection of “fifth money” from all the owners of the city and county, that is, a fifth of the property, homeless Smolny wanderers were invited to the militia, and Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Pozharsky was elected governor. At his suggestion, Minin was entrusted with managing the treasury of the militia.

With the title of "elected person", a simple Nizhny Novgorod citizen became next to Prince Pozharsky, and later, near Moscow and in Moscow, and with Prince Trubetskoy, at the head of the militia and the government formed in it. Taking part in all government affairs, Minin was mainly in charge of the treasury and providing military people with the necessary supplies and salaries, which he did successfully, despite the difficulties of gathering in a country ravaged by turmoil. Near Moscow, in the battle with Khodkevich, Minin also showed military prowess, deciding the battle with a bold blow from a detachment of his own choosing.

On July 12, 1613, Tsar Mikhail granted Minin the Duma nobility and land in the Nizhny Novgorod district.. In 1614, he was entrusted with collecting the first pyatina from guests and merchants in the capital; in May 1615, Minin was in the boyar college, "in charge of Moscow" during the sovereign's pilgrimage; in December of the same year he was sent with Prince Gr. P. Romodanovsky to Kazan places "for detective work" about the uprising of foreigners that had been here. Shortly thereafter - before May 1616 - Minin died.

Minin was buried in the Lower, on the lower floor of the Transfiguration Cathedral, where in his memory a chapel was built in the name of Cosmas and Damian, consecrated in 1852 - The government treated the widow and son Minin with attention (he had no further offspring). Tales and tales of the Troubles, which began to appear in 1617, and other news testify to the high appreciation of Minin's feat by his contemporaries; the following generations already composed legends that exalted him even more.

Historians of the 18th century did not give a scientific treatment of the biography of Minin and his case; did not reach him in his "History" and the Russian historian and writer Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin. The "piits" of the 18th century, who liked to turn to their native antiquity for plots, did not create anything significant and complete about Minin, but with the beginning of the new century, whole line panegyrics to him both in prose and in verse, exposing him as an exemplary citizen. This is enshrined in the manifesto of 1812.

first more or less scientific biography Minin and his assessment was for his time the speech of the Russian writer, journalist and historian Nikolai Alekseevich Polevoy in 1833. The articles of the writer Pavel Ivanovich Melnikov (1843 and 1850) and the general works on the history of the Troubles - Solovyov (in "History") and the Russian historian and writer Nikolai Ivanovich Kostomarov - represent further stages in the development of Minin's history.

Negative characteristic of Minin in "Persons of the Time of Troubles" (1871), Kostomarov evoked a response from the historian and writer Mikhail Petrovich Pogodin, which gave a lot of new things, and very valuable articles by the historian and archaeologist Ivan Yegorovich Zabelin, later published separately and with additions in the form of a book: "Minin and Pozharsky". From further literature, see especially “Essays on the History of the Troubles” by Sergei Fedorovich Platonov and “Essay on the History of the Nizhny Novgorod Militia” by Pavel Grigoryevich Lyubomirov. Most of the materials about Minin were republished by the Nizhny Novgorod Archaeological Committee in the collection “Monuments to the History of the Nizhny Novgorod Movement”.

Kuzma Minin - quotes

Let us want to help the Muscovite state, so that we do not spare our property, do not spare anything, sell yards, mortgage wives and children, beat with the brow of anyone who would stand up for the true Orthodox faith and be our boss. - Appeal of Minin

Well, here's a national hero for you - Kuzma Minin! Savior of the Fatherland! Coming out of the most that neither is the depths of the people. And all right, what an obscure one, in rags. Not in rags, but in a blaze of glory.

I propose to melt Minin, Pozharsky. Why do they need a pedestal?<...>Just think, they saved Russia! Or maybe it was better not to save?

M. I. Scotty. Minin and Pozharsky. 1850

The Time of Troubles was one of the most difficult historical periods for our country. Constant changes in power, the march of impostors across Russia and the occupation by Polish and Swedish interventionists almost destroyed statehood. However, despite the fact that this time is estimated by historians as dark and difficult, it was it that showed all the wisdom and strength of the Russian people. It was this period that was inscribed in golden letters people's memory in the annals of Russia the names of its heroes and devoted sons.

The school curriculum includes the mandatory study of the biographies of emperors, noble nobles and politicians, even criminals are given attention, while real heroes are only mentioned in passing. It is not surprising that the younger generation simply does not know most of the glorious names that grateful descendants should be proud of.

Minin Kuzma Zakharyevich practically left no historical traces about himself until 1611. It is only known that he was a butcher or had his own butcher's shop. There is evidence that he bore the nickname Sukhoruk and, apparently, did not differ much from the townspeople. From what year Kuzma Zakharyevich lived in Nizhny Novgorod is unknown, however, according to historians of that time, he lived in an average income and was respected among the inhabitants. If we take into account the pace of life at the end of the sixteenth century, as well as the mores of independent Novgorodians, then in order to earn their respect and trust, it was necessary for Minin to stay in the city for 10 years, or even more. It is also possible to speak about the age of this glorious Russian only presumably. Most historians are inclined to believe that he was mature, but not quite an old man. Judging by medium duration life during this period, we can say that at the time of the speech to the townspeople with a call to collect the militia, Kuzma Zakharyevich was 35 or 45 years old. Historical documents testify that the folk hero had a small family. His wife Tatyana Semyonovna, having outlived her husband, ended her life as a nun in one of Novgorod's cells. Researchers are inclined to believe that it was the Resurrection Monastery. The only son of Nefed Kuzmich was a famous Moscow lawyer and until his death owned the village of Belogorodskoye granted to his father and nearby villages and lands in the Nizhny Novgorod district. Already after his death in 1632, the possessions again returned to state ownership. According to the official version, Kuzma Minin came from a large family of the Ankudinov saltworker, but this point of view is last years subjected to harsh and justified criticism. Recently, books and archival documents were analyzed, and as a result, historians came to the conclusion that Minin had no relationship with this person. The hypothesis is controversial, so it should not be taken as the only true one. However, one should not evaluate the former point of view as an indisputable truth. Both theories have their serious gaps and cannot claim full reliability.

K.E. Makovsky. Minin's appeal. 1896

The beginning of vigorous activity is associated with the reading of the letter of Hermogenes at the city council. According to contemporaries, Minin himself told that the canonized Sergius appeared to him more than once with a demand to start convening a militia to protect the state. It is not known how reliable the legend is, most likely, this is just another folk tale, invented in order to further exalt the glorious Novgorod city dweller. In the fall of 1611, Minin was elected headman and began to collect the militia.

Minin received recognition from Novgorodians thanks to his speech at the gathering about the need for a militia and its financing. Kuzma Zakharyevich knew how to speak. The eloquent and fiery appeal of the headman was heard, and the personal example of donation also helped. His words kindled the hearts of the townspeople and forced them to give a third of their personal property to the collection and maintenance of the national army. By the way, it is still impossible to say that the financing was completely voluntary, since attempts to evade the transfer of the contribution were subject to a strict sanction in the form of selling the culprit into slaves with the confiscation of all his property.

Novgorod quickly became the center of a concentration of militias, and Minin proposed that Dmitry Pozharsky be elected as military commander. The prince was being treated near the city and expressed a desire to become the head of the army and use his military talent for the good of the Fatherland. Kuzma Zakharyevich was appointed as the head of the treasury of the militia, as a person who had earned the great trust of the people. The position was very difficult, because in the conditions of general ruin, Minin had to not only take care of feeding the soldiers, but also dress them in the harsh Russian autumn and winter. The merit of Kuzma Minin, first of all, is that the provision of the rebel army was established at the very high level, which was facilitated by the business acumen, diligence, responsibility and crystal honesty of the Novgorod headman. Largely thanks to the work of Kuzma Zakharyevich, the second militia escaped the fate of Lyapunov's people's army.

An amazing man, whose origin is still not known for certain, possessed not only the gift of eloquence and management. Not far from Moscow, in a battle with Khodkevich, a detachment led by him delivered a decisive blow to the enemy, thereby deciding the outcome of the battle in favor of the militias. Courage, honesty, diligence, responsibility, accuracy and many more positive and unique qualities were combined in this mysterious personality. Minin became national hero who defended, together with other no less valiant sons of the Russian state, its independence and freedom.

The merits of Kuzma Zakharyevich were marked by the young Tsar Mikhail Romanov with a title of nobility and service in the Boyar Duma. Already in 1614, in view of his proven honesty and diligence, Minin was charged with collecting duties from foreigners, merchants and other merchants to the treasury, which, in a devastated country, was a very honorable and responsible matter. In 1615, the sovereign reaffirmed his respect and benevolence for the folk hero, including him in the collegium that managed capital and state affairs during Mikhail Romanov's pilgrimage to holy places. Minin rightfully enjoyed the endless trust of the tsar and his entourage, and even greater love among the common people. In the same year, Kuzma Zakharyevich had to participate with Romodanovsky in an investigation into the uprising of foreigners.

The death of the national hero, about whom legends and tales began to take shape during his lifetime, in May 1616. became a real grief for the common people. After the death of Minin, the government treated his family with special reverence and provided the widow and son with all kinds of support.

There are very few historical estimates of this person. For the most part, we explore only the second half of the life of this mysterious man who came from nowhere to save a distressed country. Of course, the expulsion of the interventionists was not only the work of Kuzma Zakharyevich, but his contribution to this national feat is invaluable. It is unacceptable to consign to oblivion such glorious names as Minin, just as it is not worthy to challenge his positive role in our state. This is one of the most brilliant examples of a worthy citizen of his country.