Extraordinary Decembrists: Chizhov, Lutskii, and Lunin

Abstract

Decembrists began completing their katorga terms soon after arriving at Petrovsk Zavod, usually years ahead of schedule thanks to the successive reductions of their sentences. Take Petr N. Svistunov, originally sentenced to life but who ended up serving only nine years. In July 1826 Nicholas immediately reduced his term to 20 years followed by settlement; then, with his Coronation Manifesto of 22 August 1826, to 15 years; then an imperial ukase of 8 September 1832 reduced this to ten; finally, an imperial ukase of 14 December 1835 allowed Svistunov to be released to settlement.¹ Most Decembrists left Petrovsk between 1835 and 1837, the year S. R. Leparskii died. After some initial hesitation Leparskii’s successor resumed his predecessor’s lax attitude toward the Decembrists and, in this paternal g