Gawriil Stepanowitsch Batenkow was a Russian officer, and writer.
Background
Gawriil Stepanowitsch Batenkow was born on March 25, 1773, in Tobolsk, Tyumen', Russian Federation in the family of a Tobolsk nobleman and Chief Officer Stepan Gerasimovich Batenkov. He was the twentieth child in the family.
Gawriil Stepanowitsch was born "almost dead" (according to legend, only at the funeral, already in the grave, he shew signs of life).
Education
Gawriil Stepanowitsch was brought up in the Tobolsk military orphan unit, as well as in the public school and gymnasium. Since 1810 he served in the Noble Regiment at the 2nd Cadet Corps in Saint Petersburg.
Career
Member of the Patriotic War of 1812 and foreign campaigns. December 17, 1813, for the distinction, promoted to the second lieutenant. January 20, 1814, Gawriil Stepanowitsch awarded the Order of St. Vladimir of the 4th degree with a bow. In the battle of Montmiral on January 30, 1814, he was wounded and captured, in which he was until February 10, 1814.
From September 1814 Gawriil Stepanowitsch served in the 27th artillery brigade, from January 11, 1816 - in the 14th battery company of the 7th brigade. May 7, 1816, dismissed from military service for health reasons.
Gawriil Stepanowitsch passed the exam at the Institute of the Corps of Railway Engineers, and from October 5, 1816, he was appointed an engineer of the 3rd grade in the Siberian District, on February 2, 1817, he was confirmed as a lieutenant. At the request of the Governor-General of Siberia, the Ministry of Railways agreed to provide Tomsk with a person who would take over the technical management of civil engineering work, and in March 1817 Gawriil Stepanowitsch arrived in Tomsk, where he led them. He supervised the work on the improvement of streets, water sources, on the strengthening of the embankment of the Ushayka River and the construction of the wooden Duma bridge over it, which has served for more than 100 years.
By decree of July 28, 1821, Gawriil Stepanowitsch was appointed to the Special Siberian Committee with transfer to Saint Petersburg. On January 29, 1823, he was appointed on special assignments regarding military settlements, and then - a member of the chief council over military settlements chief - A.A. Arakcheev. January 25, 1824, promoted to lieutenant colonel. From July 10, 1824, he was a senior member of the Committee for the Departments of Military Canonists. He participated in the development of the charter on the management of foreigners, which determined the legal status and internal self-government of the indigenous peoples of Siberia before the February revolution.
Gawriil Stepanowitsch retired due to various troubles in the service. Through A. Bestuzhev and K. Ryleev, he became a member of the Northern Secret Society, quickly took a prominent place, in the Decembrist government was assumed to be the chairman.n Arrested on December 28, 1825, in Saint Petersburg. Gawriil Stepanowitsch was sentenced to eternal hard labor, mitigated to 20 years.
From 1827 to 1846 Gawriil Stepanowitsch was held in solitary confinement in the Alekseevsky ravelin of the Peter and Paul Fortress. In 1846 he was deported to Tomsk.
After the general amnesty of 1856, Gawriil Stepanowitsch left for the European part of Russia. He lived in the estate of Petrishchevo in the Belevsky district of the Tula province with the widow of his fellow soldier A.A. Elagin. Engaged in translations from French. Died of pneumonia.
Personality
Gawriil Stepanowitsch advocated the elimination of serfdom and the constitutional monarchy. He considered volitional intuition the main principle of knowledge and action. Jakob Böhme, Emanuel Swedenborg, Montesquieu, and the Physiocrats influenced his views.
Physical Characteristics:
From childhood, Gawriil Stepanowitsch was distinguished by extreme nervousness, was shortsighted, although he did without glasses, was weak in his voice, the sound of a large bell heard in childhood upset his hearing.