Mikhail Fonvizin

[1] He was born near the small village of Maryno, to Podpolkovnik (Lieutenant-Colonel) Alexander Ivanovich Fonvizin (1749—1819) and his wife, Ekaterina (1750—1823).

He participated in the Finnish War and a series of battles during the French invasion of Russia, then was in France during the Hundred Days.

Several units were under his command, and he received numerous awards, including the Order of Saint Vladimir and the Kulm Cross, from the Kingdom of Prussia.

When the Decembrist uprising was being planned, in 1825, he changed his mind and became involved in the process; preparing the program and charter for the Northern Society.

In January 1826, he was arrested at his estate, a few miles north of Moscow, and taken to Saint Petersburg, where he was placed in the Peter and Paul Fortress.

He also assisted Ivan Yakushkin, one of the movement's founders, in his efforts to establish schools based on the Lancasterian System.