Dmitry Mikhaylovich Pozharsky, a Rurikid prince, led Russian forces against Polish invaders in 1611-1612 towards the end of the Time of Troubles.
Background
He was born on October 17, 1577. Pozharsky was descended from a dynasty of sovereign princes which ruled the town of Starodub-on-the-Klyazma near Suzdal. At one point in the 15th century their family patrimony burned to the ground, in consequence of which event they assumed the name of Pozharsky (from pozhar, the Russian word for conflagration). It is interesting to note that Dmitry's mother Maria Feodorovna Pozharskaya came from the Beklemishev family, just like the mother of Mikhail Kutuzov, who would be credited with saving Russia precisely two centuries after him.
Career
He was a hero of the Time of Troubles when, after the death in 1605 of Boris Godunov, the country was without a recognized ruler. The Swedes and Poles took advantage of the situation; Crown Prince Ladislas of Poland invaded Russia. By 1611 central Russia was in a desperate plight, overrun by invaders and by rebellious Cossacks who looted and murdered at will. The nobility, besieged in the Kremlin, were reduced to eating dogs and cats in order to stay alive. Kuzma Minin, a tradesman of the Nizhni Novgorod market, took the lead in raising funds and recruiting an army to repel the invaders. Pozharsky, who had won a victory near Moscow in 1608, was the obvious choice to lead the army. Together Pozharsky and Minin fired the imagination of patriotic Russians. Their impromptu army swelled to impressive proportions, and in November 1612 the Polish invaders surrendered. The Swedes were brought to terms and the loyalty of the Cossacks was reestablished. In 1613 Michael, the first of the Romanovs, was chosen tsar after Pozharsky had refused the throne.
