Devier A.M. General Policeman 1744-45

Categories / City Administration/Personalia
DEVIER (De Vierra) Anton Manuilovich (1682-1745, St. Petersburg), Count (1726), statesman and military officer, General-en-Chief (1744). He was a son of the baptized Jew from Portugal who settled in Holland. In 1697 he was invited to the Russian service by Tsar Peter the Great, becoming his confidant. In 1718 he was appointed the first St. Petersburg General Policeman, dealing with all the areas of city economy (paving of streets, drainage of swampy places, scavenging, organization of police, firefighting, trade, organization of street lighting, etc.). In 1718, he participated in the investigation of the case of Tsarevich Alexey Petrovich. After the death of the Empress Catherine I he was arrested in 1727 at the urgent request of A. D. Menshikov, tortured and exiled to Siberia. After the accession to the throne of Empress Elizaveta Petrovna (1741) he returned to St. Petersburg and in 1743 again took the position of the General Policeman. He was buried in the Lazarevskoe Cemetery of Alexander Nevsky Lavra (the tombstone has not survived).

Reference: Длуголенский Я. Н. Военно-гражданская и полицейская власть Санкт-Петербурга, 1703-1917. СПб., 2001. С. 247-255.

D. N. Shilov. Alexey Petrovich, Tsesarevitch
Catherine I, Empress
Devier (De Vierra) Anton Manuilovich
Elizaveta Petrovna, Empress
Menshikov Alexander Danilovich, Gracious Prince
Peter I, Emperor
Длуголенский Я. Н. Военно-гражданская власть Санкт-Петербурга, 1703-1917. СПб., 2001 Lazarevskaya Burial Vault