Ivan Pushchin

Reddish-gold hair, dark eyes, thin and pale. Son of Pavel Petrovich and Maria Feodorovna. Younger brother of Emperor Alexander I. He was not planned to be heir to the throne.

26 years old. Red hair down to his chin, blue eyes, pale skin, thin and tall. A nobleman. Smart, brave, a bit of a poet. Best friend of Alexander Pushkin. Faithful to the last. Gentle.

He was born in Moscow to a noble family: his father was Senator Ivan Petrovich Pushchin, and his grandfather was Admiral and Senator Pyotr Ivanovich. In 1811, he entered the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum, where he met Pushkin, Anton Delvig, Wilhelm Küchelbecker, and other future luminaries. After graduating from the Lyceum, he served in the Life Guards Horse Artillery (1817–1823), retiring with the rank of lieutenant due to a conflict with Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich. In 1823, he became a supernumerary member of the St. Petersburg Criminal Chamber, and later a judge in the 1st (Criminal) Department of the Moscow Court of Appeal. His refusal of military service, an honorary position for a nobleman, and his transition to ordinary judicial positions had a significant public resonance. While still a lyceum student, Pushchin attended meetings of the "Sacred Artel" of officers of the Guards General Staff (1814–1817). He was a member of secret Decembrist societies: the "Union of Salvation" (since 1817), the "Union of Prosperity" (1818–1821), and the Northern Society (since 1821; a member of its Root Duma in 1823–1825, one of the founders and head of the Moscow Council in 1824–1825). He accepted K. F. Ryleyev into the Northern Society (1823), and Pavel I. Koloshin, A. A. Tuchkov, A. V. Semyonov, and others into the Moscow Council. Pushchin was a staunch opponent of serfdom, but considered its immediate abolition untimely. In early 1825, he brought a copy of N. M. Muravyov's "Constitution" to Moscow and participated in its discussion. On December 14, 1825, Pushchin was on Senate Square. According to Andrei Rosen's memoirs, he was among those who took command of the soldiers, who readily listened to him and carried out his orders. He remained at the scene of the uprising to the very end, attempting to aid the retreat and miraculously avoiding injury.

Ivan Ivanovich Pushchin (May 4 (15), 1798 – April 3 (15), 1859) was a Russian political and public figure, participant in the Decembrist movement, memoirist, and collegiate assessor. He was a friend and classmate of Alexander Pushkin at the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum.