page_title: Pyotr Stolypin
section_title: Family and background
hierarchical_section_title: Pyotr Stolypin / Family and background
caption_attribution_description: English: Photo of 14-year old Stolypin Русский: Фотография ученика Виленской гимназии Столыпина
context_page_description: Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin was a Russian politician. He was the third Prime Minister of Russia, and Minister of Internal Affairs of the Russian Empire from 1906 to his assassination in 1911.
  Born in Dresden, Germany, to a prominent Russian aristocratic family, Stolypin became involved in government from his early 20s. His successes in public service led to rapid promotions, culminating in his appointment as Interior Minister under Ivan Goremykin in April 1906. In July, Stolypin succeeded as Prime Minister following Goremykin's resignation.
  As Prime Minister, Stolypin initiated major agrarian reforms that granted the right of private land ownership to the peasantry. His tenure was also marked by increased revolutionary unrest, to which he responded with a new system of martial law that allowed for the arrest, speedy trial and execution of accused offenders. Subject to numerous assassination attempts, Stolypin was fatally shot in September 1911 by revolutionary Dmitry Bogrov in Kiev.
  Stolypin was a monarchist and hoped to strengthen the throne by modernizing the backward Russian rural economy. Modernity and efficiency were his goals, not democracy.
context_section_description: Stolypin was born at Dresden in the Kingdom of Saxony, on 14 April 1862, and was later baptized on 24 May in the Russian Orthodox Church in that city. His father, Arkady Dmitrievich Stolypin (1821–99), was at the time a Russian envoy.
  Stolypin's family was prominent in the Russian aristocracy, his forebears having served the tsars since the 16th century, and as a reward for their service had accumulated huge estates in several provinces. His father Arkady Dmitrievich Stolypin (1821–99), was a general in the Russian artillery, the governor of Eastern Rumelia and commandant of the Kremlin Palace guard. He was married twice. His second wife, Natalia Mikhailovna Stolypina (née Gorchakova; 1827–89), was the daughter of Prince Mikhail Dmitrievich Gorchakov, the Commanding general of the Russian infantry during the Crimean War and later the governor general of Warsaw.
   Pyotr grew up on the family estate Serednikovo (Russian: Середниково) in Solnechnogorsky District, once inhabited by Mikhail Lermontov, and  near Moscow Governorate. From 1869, Stolypin spent his childhood years in Kalnaberžė manor (now Kėdainiai district of Lithuania), built by his father, a place that remained his favorite residence for the rest of life. In 1876, the Stolypin family moved to Vilna (now Vilnius), where he attended grammar school. In 1879 the family moved to Oryol. Stolypin and his brother Aleksandr studied at the Oryol Boys College where he was described by his teacher, B. Fedorova, as ‘standing out among his peers for his rationalism and character.’
  In 1881 Stolypin studied agriculture at St. Petersburg University where one of his teachers was Dmitri Mendeleev. He entered government service upon graduating in 1885, writing his thesis on tobacco growing in the south of Russia. It is unclear if he joined the Ministry of State Property or Internal Affairs.
  Stolypin served as marshal of the Kovno (now Kaunas, Lithuania) Governorate between 1889 and 1902. This public service gave him an inside view of local needs and allowed him to develop administrative skills. His thinking was influenced by the single-family farmstead system of the Northwestern Krai, and he later sought to introduce the land reform based on private ownership throughout the Russian Empire.
  Stolypin’s service in Kovno was deemed a success by the Russian government. He was promoted seven times, culminating in his promotion to the rank of state councilor in 1901. Four of his daughters were also born during this period; his daughter Maria recalled: "this was the most calm period [of] his life".
  In 1884, Stolypin married Olga Borisovna Neidhart – whose family was of a similar standing to Stolypin’s. They married whilst Stolypin was still a student – an uncommon occurrence at the time. The marriage began in tragic circumstances; Olga had been engaged to Stolypin’s brother, Mikhail, but became engaged to Stolypin following Mikhail’s death in a duel. Their marriage was a happy one, devoid of scandal; the couple had five daughters and one son.
caption: Photo of 14-year-old Stolypin
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