MURAVIEFF, moo-ra-ve-ef, Russian noble family, originally settled in the grand duchy of Moscow, hut in 1488 receiving from Ivan Vassilievitch holdings in Novgorod. Its chief members are NIKOLAI JEROFEYEVITCH, d. Montpellier 1770, governor of Livonia and. au thor of the first Russian algebra. MIKHAIL NricurrcEr, b. Smolensk, 25 Oct. 1757; d. Saint Petersburg, 29 July 1807; was chosen tutor to the grand-dukes Alexander and Konstantin in 1785, rector of the University of Moscow (1796), and Secretary of State to the Ministry of Public Instruction (1801); and wrote a man ual of ethics, which is classic in Russia (1810, 1815). NIKOLAI NIKOLAIEVITCH, son of the governor of Livonia: b. Riga, 1768; d. Moscow, 1 Sept. 1840; was educated at Strassburg; en tered the navy 1788; was captured in 1790; was transferred to the army in 1796; and from 1797 to 1823, with the exception of service against Napoleon in 1812-14, he was at the head of a private military school near Moscow, which was bought by the government in 1816. His son, ALEXANDER NIKOLAIEVITCH, b. 1792; d. Moscow, 1864; was sent to Siberia for his part in the conspiracy of 1825; was pardoned; served in the Crimean War and became major-general; and as governor of Nijni Novgorod did much for the abolition of serfdom. Another son, NIKOLAI NIKOLAIE VITCH, h. Saint Petersburg, 1793; d. there, 4 Nov. 1866; entered the army at 17; served in the Caucasus; was sent to Khiva 1819; distin guished himself in the war with Turkey, 1828 29, and in the Polish campaign, 1831; in 1832 treated with Mehemet Ali; was disgraced and retired in 1838, but reinstated in 1848; and in 1855 commanded the army in the Caucasus, taking Kars. He wrote a valuable book about
his travels in Khiva (1822), and on the cam paign in the Caucasus in 1855 (1876). His brother, MIKHAIL NIKOLAIEVITCH, b. 1795; d.
Syrez, near Luga, 10 Sept. 1866; fought against France (1812-13) ; took part in Decembrist up rising and was jailed for five months; became major-general in 1830; was military governor of Grodno; was a member of the Council of State, 1850-62; opposed the emancipation of the serfs; used such cruelty in putting down a student rising in 1861 that he was forced to resign; but in 1863 was sent to Wilna as gover nor-general, and won from the Poles the name of the Hanger or Executioner by his pitiless severity; and in 1866 was president of the com mission which examined Karakasoff, who at tempted to assassinate Alexander II. His mem oirs were published by his grandson, MIKHAIL Niicot.ittevrrcif, b. 7 April 1845; d. 21 June 1900; Ambassador to Berlin (1835), to Copen hagen (1893); and from 1897 to his death For eign Minister. He did much to solve the Cre tan question, published the invitaton to The Hague Peace Conference (1898), and for warded Russia's interests in China. Another