  thumb|174px|right|mikhail speransky count mikhail mikhailovich speransky () (12 january 1772 â 23 february 1839) â  was a russian reformist during the reign of alexander i of russia, to which he was a close advisor. he later served under tsar nicholas i of russia. speransky is referred to as the father of russian liberalism. ==personal life== speransky was born on 12 january 1772 in cherkutino, russia. speransky was the son of a village priest. he spent his early days in the ecclesiastical seminary in st. petersburg, where he later became a professor of mathematics and physics. his skills led him to become the secretary to prince kurakin and a competent imperial official. in 1839, he was awarded the title of count. his daughter was permitted by special imperial decree to carry the title into her marriage in the cantacuzÃ¨ne family- she was the grandmother of prince mikhail cantacuzÃ¨ne. speransky died in st. petersburg on 23 february 1839. he is buried at the tikhvinskoe cemetery at the alexander nevsky monastery. ==reforms== in 1808, emperor alexander i took speransky to the congress of erfurt and introduced him to napoleon. speransky and napoleon discussed a possible russian administrative reform. in his projects of reform, speransky envisaged a constitutional system based on a series of dumas â the cantonal assembly (volost) electing the duma of the district, the dumas of the districts electing that of the province or government and these electing the duma of the empire. as a mediating power between the autocrat and the duma, there was to be a nominated council of state. from this plan, the council of the empire came into existence in january 1810. the council dominated the constitutional history of russia in the 19th century and the early years of the 20th. the duma of the empire, created in 1905, and the institution of local self-government, (the zemstvo) created in 1864, were two of the reforms proposed by him. speransky's plan also contributed to the constitutions granted by alexander to finland and poland. ==downfall under alexander i== from 1809 to 1812, speransky was all-powerful in russia. he replaced the earlier members of the unofficial committee and practically became the sole minister. all concerns were discussed and decided upon by speransky and the emperor. even the once all-powerful war-minister count arakcheyev was thrust into the background. however, powerful though he was, speransky did not 
1772_births 1839_deaths Honorary_Members_of_the_St_Petersburg_Academy_of_Sciences Imperial_Russian_politicians Members_of_the_Russian_Academy Members_of_the_State_Council_of_the_Russian_Empire Recipients_of_the_Order_of_St._Andrew Russian_liberals