Vasily Vladimirovich, Prince Dolgoruky

Vasily Vladimirovich, Prince Dolgoruky (born January 1667, Russia—died Feb. 11 [Feb. 22, New Style], 1746, St. Petersburg) was a military officer who played a prominent role in political intrigues against Peter I the Great (ruled 1682–1725) and Empress Anna (ruled 1730–40) of Russia.

A member of the influential Dolgoruky family, Vasily Vladimirovich participated in the Great Northern War (1700–21). In 1707–08 he suppressed a Cossack rebellion led by Ataman Bulavin, and thereby won the confidence of Tsar Peter I.

Nevertheless, Dolgoruky apparently opposed Peter’s innovations and reforms. Accused of conspiring with a group of boyars (i.e., high-ranking noblemen) to replace Peter on the throne with Peter’s more traditionally minded son Alexis, he was deprived of his rank and title and sent into exile (1718).

Pardoned in 1724, Dolgoruky was restored to favour by Peter’s successors. In 1728 he became field marshal and was appointed to the Supreme Privy Council (the governmental body that determined policy), on which he served with his distant cousin Vasily Lukich Dolgoruky.

In 1730, when Peter II died, Dolgoruky supported the accession of Anna Ivanovna (a niece of Peter I) to the throne. He also helped compose the set of “conditions,” which were intended to transfer real authority to the Supreme Privy Council. Anna was compelled to accept them before becoming empress, but she repudiated them shortly after arriving in Moscow and then abolished the Supreme Privy Council. Dolgoruky was again deprived of his rank and title and banished, first to Ivangorod in northwestern Russia, and then (1739) to Solovetsky Monastery on Solovetsky Island in the White Sea.

In 1741, when Empress Elizabeth attained the throne, Dolgoruky’s rank and title were restored to him and he was named president of the War College.