Speransky Mikhail Mikhailovich (1772-1839)

Speransky Mikhail MikhailovichRussian public and state figure, lawyer, reformer, who headed the work on the codification of the laws of the Russian Empire. It was he who developed the first version of the Russian Constitution, which consolidates the separation of powers. M.M. Speransky was born in the village Cherkutino Vladimir province (now – Sobinka district of the Vladimir region). He studied at the Vladimir Theological Seminary, where he showed brilliant abilities and got the surname Speransky (from Latin it can be translated as "budding").  In 2003, a memorial plaque in honor of M.M. Speransky from contemporary scholars of Russian liberalism was placed on the building of the former Vladimir Seminary, which today occupies the Institute of Arts and Art Education of the Vladimir State University (Bolshaya Moskovskaya str., 106). The memorable bas-relief depicts a portrait of M.M. Speransky and his words are knocked out: "Every government is legitimate when it is founded by the will of the people." One of the streets in the south-western district of Vladimir is named after Speransky.