Background
Pyotr Aleksandrovich Valuev was born on October 4, 1815, in Tsaritsyno, Moscow, Russian Federation. He came from an ancient noble family.
Imperial Moscow University
publicist statesman prose writer
Pyotr Aleksandrovich Valuev was born on October 4, 1815, in Tsaritsyno, Moscow, Russian Federation. He came from an ancient noble family.
Pyotr Aleksandrovich received home education. In his youth, he held oppositional views, as evidenced by his participation in the Lermontov circle of university youth. Having passed the exam at Imperial Moscow University, he received the corresponding certificate on March 17, 1832.
Pyotr Aleksandrovich served as Emperor Alexander II's Minister of Interior between April 23, 1861, to March 9, 1868, and as Minister of State Assets from February 17, 1872, to 1877. In 1877, he was made Chairman of the Committee of Ministers. In 1880, his influence began to decline when he was eclipsed by his opponent, Count Loris-Melikov. Pyotr Aleksandrovich was sent into retirement in October 1881 by the son of the recently assassinated Alexander II, Alexander III.
Pyotr Aleksandrovich was always close to the literary world. In 1834 he was transferred from Moscow to St. Petersburg and became acquainted with prominent Russian poets Aleksandr Pushkin and Pyotr Vyazemsky.
Pyotr Aleksandrovich began writing fiction in the 1870s while still serving in the government. His first novel, Lorin (1878) was circulated in manuscript, although it remained unpublished until 1882. Once he was retired, he concentrated on writing and published four novels, essays on the history of Christianity, and a devotional calendar with his poetry prior to his death in 1890 in St. Petersburg.
Throughout most of his adult life, Pyotr Aleksandrovich kept a diary, which was published after his death and has proved to be an important source of information on the inner circle of the Russian Empire in the 19th century.