Order of St. Anna, 3rd degree (1849) Order of the Iron Crown, 3rd degree (1857) Adolf Dobriansky[1] (German: Adolf Ritter von Sacsurov Dobrzanski, Rusyn: Адолф Добряньскый, Ukrainian: Добрянський Адольф Іванович; 19 December 1817 – 19 March 1901) was a public figure and leader of the Carpatho-Rusyn movement in Subcarpathian Rus', lawyer and writer.

Dobriansky was a proponent of the return of Greek Catholics to Orthodoxy and author of numerous works devoted to the history, ethnography, religious and political situation of Carpathian Rus'.

The Dobrianskys were an old noble family, which, according to Adolf's autobiographical memoirs, stretched back to the Orthodox Duke Tomov Sovu, who came to Hungary in the 10th century with Hungarian Prince Géza.

The Dobrianskys were most likely recognized as nobles in 1445 by Mayor Kendes of the Makovica estate, and their status was confirmed by the Maramarosh Legislative Chamber in 1763.

Both parents were educated people; his mother spoke German, Hungarian, French and knew Latin, Ukrainian and Church Slavonic.

In his sixth and final year he studied again in Levoča, where his father (after transferring from Rudlov) was a parish priest in nearby Závadka.

In March 1848 he was commissioned to return to Hungary, where he was introduced to Minister of Finance Lajos Kossuth May and then travelled to the Štiavnické Bane, where his wife Eleonóra Osipovna (née Miľvjus) lived with their children.

He fled to Spiš and hid with his father, then with his son-in-law, Janický M. Gerovsky, in Malcov until the Austrian army under Count Šlik arrived.

As the situation changed in Hungary, General Šlika was forced to retreat and Dobriansky was captured by the Hanoverians in early 1849, after which he travelled to Galicia, stopping in Tulic, where his son Miroslav was born, before moving on to Przemyśl.

In Lviv he took an active part in the Galician-Russian national movement, becoming acquainted with Kuzemsky, Malinovsky, Lotocky, Velichkovsky, Petrushevich, Zubrysky, among others.

On May 19, 1849, Dobriansky was appointed civilian commissar to the Russian army of Franz Zichy, which was then assigned to allied Austria to suppress the Hungarian uprising.

After the suppression of the uprising, Dobriansky served for some time as a high commissioner in Bács-Bodrog County,[dubious – discuss] but had to leave this job due to a serious illness.

Within five months, Dobriansky was withdrawn by order of the commander of the Košice Military District, General Johann Bordolo von Boreo, to Saris as a royal commissioner to investigate the crimes of the local mayor and officials.

He was honoured by the government for his performance of these tasks, and in 1857 he was awarded the Order of the Iron Crown of the 3rd degree, as well as a knighthood with the right to add the nobiliary particle Sačurov to his surname, (after the name of the village near Rudlov, which he had bought).

In 1862, he received the Order of St. Anna of the 2nd degree on the occasion of the celebration of the 1000th anniversary of Russia, and in 1863 he was awarded the rank of Austrian Counsellor.

In 1864 Dobriansky was also appointed by imperial decree as an advisor to the Hungarian Court Chancellery in Vienna (the highest governing body in Hungary until 1867).

He eventually became a member of the Hungarian Diet in 1865 and served until 1868 as a politician, economist and speaker, making proposals for the development of local government, tax reforms and national self-determination.

In 1875, he visited Russia and several large cities for several months, meeting with notable Russian thinkers Konstantin Pobedonostsev, Mikhail Katkov, I.S.

Levdik published his memorandum On the Present Religio-Political Attitudes of Austro-Hungarian Russia in Moscow, which consisted of replies to letters from Galician-Rusyn leaders on the role of the Russian press[clarification needed] in Austria.

The Slovak writer Viliam Pauliny-Tóth wrote about him: "As for his character, he is a good soul, honest, Slavic, a true Christian who faithfully observes all the rules of his Greek Catholic Church.

He is fearless in spirit, bright and cheerful, he likes and works tirelessly, he is not afraid of difficulties and dangers.... Love and peace live in his house, there he is the happiest and most blissful in the circle of his family...

Fluent in nine languages (Hungarian, German, English, French, Greek, Latin, Italian, Slovak and Russian), his articles were published in Moscow, Paris, Budapest, Vienna, and other cities.

Adolf Dobriansky was the head of a large family; practically all his children and grandchildren were well-known personalities of the Rusyn movement.

His eldest daughter Olga married the politician Emanuel Ivanovich Grabar and gave birth to two sons - the artist and art historian Igor and the lawyer Vladimir.

His daughter Olena married the linguist Anton Semionovich Budilov; from this marriage were born a son, Boris, a philologist, and a daughter, Lydia, who became the wife of the Carpatho-Rusyn politician Julian Mikhailovich Gerovsky; of their children, the philologist Georgy and the politician Oleksii became famous as Russian[ambiguous] activists.