The Late M. M. Speransky's Intellectual Service to Russia: Between Ideals and Political Reality

Abstract

M. M. Speransky (1772–1839) is widely regarded as a liberal of the Alexander era and a servant of the Nicholas era, who was engaged in the codification of the. The author has identified the worldview factors that influenced the change in his views: a deep faith in God and a creative revision of European intellectual developments in relation to Russia of his time. The experience of implementing the constitutional project in the social and political realities of Russia, the immersion into Russian reality during exile and the analysis of the prospects for the development of a pure monarchy have had a serious impact. On this basis the article shows the logic of the “late” Speransky's choice of the form of government in favor of autocracy in the form of a monarchy with deliberative establishments.