POBEDONOSCEV, Konstantin Petrovič. - Russian jurist and statesman, b. in Moscow on 18 Nov. 1827, d. in St Petersburg on 10 March 1907.
After completing his legal studies, P. entered the chancellery of the Senate; then from 1860 to 1865 he held the chair of civil law at Moscow University and taught jurisprudence to the sons of Emperor Alexander III. In 1865 he became counsellor to the Ministry of Justice, in 1868 a senator, in 1872 a member of the State Council, and from 1880 to 1905 Ober-Procurator of the Most Holy Synod.
The synthesis of his political, social and religious ideas was set forth by P. in the Miscellanee moscovite (Moscow 1896), where he criticises Western culture for its rationalism and parliamentarism, opposing to these religious faith, love of tradition, respect for sovereign autocracy and the hierarchical structure of society. In his Corso del diritto civile (St Petersburg 1896) P. defends traditional Russian political and legal institutions and judges any reform of them to be premature or dangerous. As friend and counsellor to the imperial family, P. exercised great influence on internal politics under Alexander III and Nicholas II. He upheld a restructured autocracy against political currents tending toward constitutional monarchy, deeming the latter fatal for Russia, and recommended the merciless repression of such movements. As Ober-Procurator of the Most Holy Synod for 25 years, P. ruled ecclesiastical affairs despotically and, by adroitly manipulating the complex bureaucratic machinery, managed to neutralise the opposition of the most authoritative representatives of the hierarchy, who were claiming greater autonomy for bishops in the administration of the Church.
When in 1905 liberal currents gained the upper hand, P. was dismissed from office and retired into private life. He also published various historical-legal studies, and his Russian translation of the Imitation of Christ became widely known. P.’s tragic error lay in his stubborn conservatism, by which he obstructed the work of those who, through timely reforms, sought to avert the imminent catastrophe of the Russian dynasty and Church, to both of which he was sincerely attached.