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Dynamics of legal thought Fedor Nikiforovich Plevako. Funny stories about lawyer Plevako

Fedor Plevako was born on April 25, 1842. His parents were not married, so he was considered an illegitimate child. The young man was distinguished by his remarkable abilities; mathematics came easiest to him. Fyodor sat over books all day long and easily entered the Commercial School in Moscow. Alas, it was not possible to complete his studies - Plevako and his brother were expelled from educational institution as illegitimate. The father used all his connections to get his children accepted into the 1st Moscow Gymnasium. Then Fedor became a law student at Moscow University. The teachers noted the young man’s lively mind and predicted a brilliant future for him.

The young lawyer is quickly becoming one of the most sought-after in Moscow. They listened to him with bated breath - Plevako, with his amazing oratorical gift, could convince anyone.

“His speech is even, soft, sincere.”

He “adapted” the tone of his speech to suit his listeners, appealing to both reason and feelings. Precise images, conciseness and logical harmony - on the court platform Fyodor Nikiforovich had no equal. However, he never prepared his speeches in advance. The audience was captivated by witty remarks, always said to the point. “The high-cheekboned, angular face of the Kalmyk type with wide-set eyes, with unruly strands of long black hair could be called ugly if it were not illuminated by the inner beauty that showed through in the general animated expression, then in a kind, lionish smile, then in the fire and brilliance talking eyes.

The audience was captivated by witty remarks, always said to the point

His movements were uneven and sometimes awkward; The lawyer's tailcoat sat awkwardly on him, and his lisping voice seemed to run counter to his calling as an orator. But in this voice there were notes of such strength and passion that it captured the listener and conquered him,” wrote judge Anatoly Koni.

Postage stamp of Russia

This is how Anton Pavlovich Chekhov described the famous lawyer: “Plevako comes up to the music stand, looks at the jury for half a minute and begins to speak. His speech is even, soft, sincere. There are many figurative expressions, good thoughts and other beauties. The diction penetrates into the very soul, fire looks out of the eyes. No matter how much Plevako talks, you can always listen to him without getting bored...”

The lawyer participated in the high-profile case of the Morozov strike (1885). It was one of the largest strikes in history Russian Empire. About 8,000 thousand people became its participants. The authorities sent 3 battalions of soldiers and 500 Cossacks to suppress the strike. As a result, 33 people were in the dock, but they were acquitted by the jury. In his speeches, Plevako appealed to a feeling of compassion for workers exhausted by heavy physical labor. He has appeared as a defense attorney in labor riot cases on several occasions.

Plevako, with his amazing oratorical gift, could convince anyone

Another brilliant speech of Fyodor Nikiforovich is connected with the revolt of the peasants of one of the villages of the Tula province against the neighboring landowner, Count Bobrinsky. The riot was brutally suppressed, 34 “inciters” were brought to justice. Plevako not only defended the defendants, but also paid them all legal expenses. He proved the difficult situation of the Tula peasants with specific figures. According to him, they lived “a hundred times harder than pre-reform slavery.” "Poverty is hopeless,<…>lawlessness, shameless exploitation, leading everyone and everything to ruin - these are the instigators!” the lawyer said.

Once Plevako defended a saleswoman who violated the trade rule and closed her shop 20 minutes later than required by law. Fyodor Nikiforovich was 10 minutes late for the meeting. The prosecutor asked to find the defendant guilty. “The defendant was actually 20 minutes late. But, gentlemen of the jury, she is an old woman, illiterate, and doesn’t know much about watches. You and I are literate and intelligent people. How are things going with your watches? When the wall clock shows 20 minutes, Mr. Chairman has 15 minutes, and Mr. Prosecutor’s clock has 25 minutes. Of course, Mr. Prosecutor has the most reliable watch. So my watch was 20 minutes slow, so I was 20 minutes late. And I always considered my watch to be very accurate, because I have a gold, Moser watch,” said Plevako. After his speech, the saleswoman was acquitted.

Abbess Mitrofania

Fyodor Nikiforovich also defended Abbess Mitrofania; she was accused of appropriating someone else's property. This case was widely covered in the press. The court decided to deprive Mitrofania of her property and exile her to the Yenisei province, but her intercessors achieved a reduced sentence of deportation to Stavropol. The outstanding lawyer died on January 5, 1909 in Moscow.

The second half of the 19th century is the “golden age” of the Russian legal profession. The judicial reform of 1864 radically changed the justice system in Russia. Instead of the former secret, closed court, drowning in a sea of papers, open jury trials and an institution of public defenders independent from the state appeared. Among the luminaries of that time, Fyodor Nikiforovich Plevako was truly unique - a brilliant speaker who never prepared speeches in advance, but inspiredly improvised and often saved clients from inevitable punishment with his wit alone.

Over the 40 years of his career, the “Moscow Zlatoust” conducted more than 200 trials and won almost all of them. As a rule, these were the highest-profile litigations in the country. People lined up to see Plevako several years in advance. He was distinguished by his good nature and gentleness, and freely helped the poor. Moreover, he gave them shelter in his house and paid expenses for the entire duration of the proceedings. He took human suffering to heart and knew how to speak about it soulfully in court, as if he had gone through it personally. However, his life really had its share of tragedies and farces – FeelFeed recalls this.

Fedor grew up as a disenfranchised “outcast” under a false name

Fyodor Nikiforovich was born in April 1842 in Troitsk, lost in the Orenburg steppes. His paternal surname is Plevak, his real patronymic is Vasilyevich. He was considered illegitimate, since his parents - a customs official from the Ukrainian or Belarusian impoverished nobles and a Kyrgyz or Kazakh serf - were not in a church marriage. In Russia, until 1902, such children were deprived of all rights and were not considered heirs. The patronymic Nikiforovich and, by the way, the original surname Nikiforov, came to him from godfather, a runaway serf who served his father. Only at the university did Fyodor Nikiforov obtain permission to take his father’s surname, and after graduation, for the sake of euphony, he added the letter O to it, and pronounced it with an emphasis - Plevako. However, he still went down in history as Plevako.

From childhood, Fyodor remembered one particularly humiliating moment: when he, the best second-grader, was amazed by his ability to perform actions in his mind with three digit numbers, was expelled in disgrace from the exemplary Moscow Commercial School simply because he was illegitimate. “God forgive them! They really didn’t know what these narrow-minded people were doing when they performed human sacrifice,” he wrote many years later. He completed his studies at another gymnasium, where his father managed to get him settled after a long ordeal through the authorities, at the cost of his own health.

Fyodor made his first “defensive speech” in infancy - and saved his life

In those days, living unmarried was a great shame for a woman; society considered her a harlot. Ekaterina Stepanovna once confessed to her son that, unable to withstand the constant bullying of her neighbors, she grabbed him, a newborn, and in despair ran to drown himself. But on the cliff itself, Fyodor began to cry, so much so that he instantly brought his distraught mother to her senses.

Over time this family history was overgrown with fictitious details: that some Cossack stopped the woman and begged her to give him the child to raise, and that then, by a lucky chance, he himself met the boy’s father, who recognized him and returned him home. In such a distorted form, it is still found in lawyer biographies.

Plevako was ugly and clumsy, but he transformed fabulously on the podium

Already at the age of 25, a graduate of the Law Faculty of Moscow University became known as a gifted, strong lawyer, and at the age of 28 he became known as one of the best in Moscow. From his first fee, he bought himself a tailcoat for 200 rubles - an unthinkable luxury at that time. Outwardly, he was unprepossessing: small, slanted, with a sparse beard. But during his performances he looked like an eagle.

Here is how Plevako, his contemporary, the famous lawyer and judge Anatoly Fedorovich Koni: “The high-cheekboned, angular face of the Kalmyk type with widely spaced eyes, with unruly strands of long black hair could be called ugly if it were not illuminated by the inner beauty that showed through in the general animated expression, now in a kind, lion-like smile, now in the fire and sparkle of speaking eyes. His movements were uneven and sometimes awkward; The lawyer's tailcoat sat awkwardly on him, and his lisping voice seemed to run counter to his calling as an orator. But in this voice there were notes of such strength and passion that it captured the listener and conquered him.”

Plevako failed his first case miserably

His first client was a moneylender, to whom Fyodor pawned a cigarette case in order to celebrate either Christmas or Easter with the proceeds of 25 rubles. He asked the young lawyer to help resolve the case of collecting the bill, and Plevako immediately made a mistake on the issue of jurisdiction, filing a petition with the District Court instead of the Trial Chamber. He lost, but not miserably: his performance was generally liked, and the newspapers mentioned his name for the first time in their reports. Sometimes, by mistake, Plevako's first case is considered to be another of his early lost cases. His client Alexei Maruev was then found guilty of two forgeries and exiled to Siberia, despite the contradictions identified by the lawyer in the testimony of witnesses.

Plevako lost the biggest case of his life

Indeed, it dragged on for 20 years, and even the “genius of words” was unable to do it. This was the divorce proceedings of millionaire Vasily Demidov from the famous clan of “linen kings”. It turned into a deep personal drama for Plevako. Having undertaken to help Demidov’s wife, who was seeking freedom from her unloved husband, he himself fell in love with her and started a family with her.

But the relationship could not be legalized until the merchant gave a divorce, and he was stubborn until his death.

The three common children of Plevako and Demidova faced the painfully familiar fate of illegitimate outcasts. Avoiding this at all costs, the lawyer recorded them as foundlings, and only years later was he able to file a petition to assign them their own patronymic and surname.

The eldest daughter of Plevako and Demidova Varvara

Maria Demidova with them common son Sergei

Already legally married: the Plevako couple with children

Having become immensely rich, Plevako fell into riotous lordship

From the age of 36, Fedor Plevako earned huge money. He bought a luxurious two-story mansion on Novinsky Boulevard and lived a bohemian life - he dashed around Moscow in a troika with bells, threw grand drinking parties with gypsies, to whom he threw thousands, sang songs until the morning. And it happened that he chartered a steamer and set off on a voyage along the Volga in a circle of acquaintances and strangers. On these occasions he said that he had gone to stay with a friend in Samara in order to have a pleasant time chatting by the fireplace.

At the same time, he never refused poor clients and donated huge sums to the crippled and orphans. But he literally extorted wild fees from merchants, demanding payment in advance. They tell how a certain rich man, not understanding the word “advance”, asked Plevako what it was. “Do you know the deposit?” – asked the lawyer. - "I know". - “So the advance is the same deposit, but three times more.”

Plevako was not always sure of the innocence of his clients

One day a crowd of three thousand gathered to listen to the trial, where the famous Plevako spoke. Two brothers were tried for theft during construction, their guilt was obvious. Everyone waited in trepidation that after the lawyer’s speech, the attitude towards the defendants would magically change and they would be acquitted. But the unheard of happened: Plevako jumped up and in the heat of the moment began to prove their guilt, while refuting his own colleague, the second defender, who managed to speak earlier. The jury immediately returned a verdict: guilty. By

A sensational rumor immediately spread to Moscow that they themselves higher power they administer justice through Plevako, who enters a state of trance during the trials.

Fyodor Nikiforovich himself clarified his position when defending Alexandra Maksimenko in 1890, who was accused of poisoning her own husband. He said bluntly: “If you ask me if I am convinced of her innocence, I will not say yes, I am convinced.” I don't want to lie. But I am not convinced of her guilt either. When you have to choose between life and death, then all doubts must be resolved in favor of life.”

And yet Plevako avoided knowingly wrong deeds. For example, he refused to defend the notorious swindler Sofya Bluvshtein, nicknamed “Sonka the Golden Pen.”

Plevako was not an erudite - he often took advantage of his humor and ingenuity

Although he was well read and had an exceptional memory, he was inferior to other luminaries in depth of analysis, logic and consistency. But he surpassed them all in infectious sincerity, emotional power, oratorical inventiveness, he knew how to convince and move, he was a master of beautiful comparisons, loud phrases and unexpected witty antics, which often became the only salvation of his clients. This is evident from his performances, which are still legendary today.

1. Sinful father

An elderly priest was tried for stealing church money. He himself confessed to everything, the witnesses spoke out against him, the prosecutor made a damning speech. Plevako, who made a bet with the manufacturer Savva Morozov in the presence of Nemirovich-Danchenko as a witness that he would complete his speech in one minute and the priest would be acquitted, remained silent throughout the meeting and did not ask a single question. single issue. When his moment came, he only said, sincerely addressing the jury: “Gentlemen of the jury! For more than twenty years, my client has absolved you of your sins. Now he is waiting for you to forgive him his sins once, Russian people!” Father was acquitted.

2. Old lady and teapot

In the trial of the old woman Antonina Pankratyeva, who stole a tin teapot worth 30 kopecks from a merchant’s counter, the prosecutor, wanting to disarm Plevako in advance, himself expressed everything possible in favor of the accused: she herself is poor, and the theft is trivial, and I feel sorry for the old woman... But property is sacred , he continued menacingly, the entire improvement of the country is supported by it, “and if people are allowed to ignore this, Russia will perish.” Plevako stood up and said: “Russia has suffered many troubles and tragedies over a thousand years. Mamai came towards her, and the Pechenegs, Tatars, and Polovtsians tormented her. Napoleon marched against it and took Moscow. Russia endured everything, overcame everything, and only grew stronger and stronger from the trials. But now... An old woman stole a teapot worth 30 kopecks, and I can’t help but feel creepy. Holy Rus' will not withstand such a test; it will certainly perish.” Pankratyeva was acquitted.

3. A man and a prostitute

Once Plevako had the opportunity to defend a man whom a prostitute accused of rape in order to recover a substantial sum from him. They were about to condemn him when the lawyer took the floor: “Gentlemen of the jury, if you sentence my client to a fine, then I ask you to deduct from this amount the cost of washing the sheets that the plaintiff soiled with her shoes.” The indignant girl jumped up: “He’s lying! Why am I a pig to dirty the bed? I took off my shoes!” There was laughter in the hall. Naturally, the man was acquitted.

"Tsar Cannon, Tsar Bell and Fyodor Nikiforovich Plevako"

When the brilliant lawyer died at the age of 66 from a broken heart, one of the newspapers wrote: “There were three attractions in Moscow: the Tsar Cannon, the Tsar Bell and Fyodor Nikiforovich Plevako. Yesterday our city lost one of them.” He was buried in front of a huge crowd of people of all classes, both poor and rich, in the cemetery of the Sorrowful Monastery.

When the monastery graveyard was demolished during the Stalin years, out of 2,500 burials, only Plevako’s ashes were allowed to be transferred to the Vagankovskoye cemetery.

On the modern tombstone of the great Russian lawyer is carved a biblical truth, which he used in one of his speeches: “Judge not with hatred, but judge with love, if you want the truth.”

The second half of the 19th century is the “golden age” of the Russian legal profession. The judicial reform of 1864 radically changed the justice system in Russia. Instead of the former secret, closed court, drowning in a sea of papers, open jury trials and an institution of public defenders independent from the state appeared. Among the luminaries of that time, Fyodor Nikiforovich Plevako was truly unique - a brilliant speaker who never prepared speeches in advance, but improvised with inspiration and often saved clients from inevitable punishment with his wit alone.

Over the 40 years of his career, the “Moscow Zlatoust” conducted more than 200 trials and won almost all of them. As a rule, these were the highest-profile litigations in the country. People lined up to see Plevako several years in advance. He was distinguished by his good nature and gentleness, and freely helped the poor. Moreover, he gave them shelter in his house and paid expenses for the entire duration of the proceedings. He took human suffering to heart and knew how to speak about it soulfully in court, as if he had gone through it personally. However, in his life there really were enough tragedies and farces - Anews recalls this.

Fedor grew up as a disenfranchised “outcast” under a false name

Fyodor Nikiforovich was born in April 1842 in Troitsk, lost in the Orenburg steppes. His paternal surname is Plevak, his real patronymic is Vasilyevich. He was considered illegitimate because his parents - a customs official from the Ukrainian or Belarusian impoverished nobles and a Kyrgyz or Kazakh serf - were not in a church marriage. In Russia, until 1902, such children were deprived of all rights and were not considered heirs. The patronymic Nikiforovich and, by the way, the original surname Nikiforov, he got from his godfather, a runaway serf who served his father. Only at the university did Fyodor Nikiforov obtain permission to take his father’s last name, and after graduation, for the sake of euphony, he added the letter O to it, and pronounced it with an emphasis - Plevako. However, he still went down in history as Plevako.

From childhood, Fyodor remembered one particularly humiliating moment: when he, the best second-grader, who amazed him with his ability to perform operations with three-digit numbers in his mind, was expelled in disgrace from the exemplary Moscow commercial school simply because he was illegitimate. “God forgive them! They really didn’t know what these narrow-minded people were doing when they performed human sacrifice,” he wrote many years later. He completed his studies at another gymnasium, where his father managed to get him settled after a long ordeal through the authorities, at the cost of his own health.

Fyodor made his first “defensive speech” in infancy - and saved his life

Ekaterina Stepanovna

Over time, this family story became overgrown with fictitious details: that some Cossack stopped the woman and begged her to give him the child to raise, and that then, by a lucky chance, he himself met the boy’s father, who recognized him and returned him home. In such a distorted form, it is still found in lawyer biographies.

Plevako was ugly and clumsy, but he transformed fabulously on the podium

Already at the age of 25, a graduate of the Law Faculty of Moscow University became known as a gifted, strong lawyer, and at the age of 28 he became known as one of the best in Moscow. From his first fee, he bought himself a tailcoat for 200 rubles - a luxury unthinkable at that time. Outwardly, he was unprepossessing: small, slanted, with a sparse beard. But during his performances he looked like an eagle.

This is how Plevako was described by his contemporary, the famous lawyer and judge Anatoly Fedorovich Koni: “The high-cheekbone, angular face of the Kalmyk type with widely spaced eyes, with unruly strands of long black hair could be called ugly if it were not illuminated by the inner beauty that showed through in general animated expression, sometimes in a kind, lion-like smile, sometimes in the fire and sparkle of speaking eyes. His movements were uneven and sometimes awkward; The lawyer's tailcoat sat awkwardly on him, and his lisping voice seemed to run counter to his calling as an orator. But in this voice there were notes of such strength and passion that it captured the listener and conquered him.”

Plevako failed his first case miserably

Sometimes, by mistake, Plevako's first case is considered to be another of his early lost cases. His client Alexei Maruev was then found guilty of two forgeries and exiled to Siberia, despite the contradictions identified by the lawyer in the testimony of witnesses.

Plevako lost the biggest case of his life

Maria Demidova

But the relationship could not be legalized until the merchant gave a divorce, and he was stubborn until his death.

Vasily Demidov

The eldest daughter of Plevako and Demidova Varvara

Maria Demidova with their common son Sergei

Already legally married: the Plevako couple with children

Having become immensely rich, Plevako fell into riotous lordship

From the age of 36, Fedor Plevako earned huge money. He bought a luxurious two-story mansion on Novinsky Boulevard and lived a bohemian life - he dashed around Moscow in a troika with bells, threw grand drinking parties with gypsies, to whom he threw thousands, sang songs until the morning. And it happened that he chartered a steamship and set off on a voyage along the Volga in a circle of acquaintances and strangers. On these occasions he said that he had gone to stay with a friend in Samara in order to have a pleasant time chatting by the fireplace.

Novinsky Boulevard at the beginning of the 20th century. In the depths of the frame, opposite the tram, two side wings of Plevako’s house and a garden between them are visible

At the same time, he never refused poor clients and donated huge sums to the crippled and orphans. But he literally extorted wild fees from merchants, demanding payment in advance. They tell how a certain rich man, not understanding the word “advance”, asked Plevako what it was. “Do you know the deposit?” - asked the lawyer. - "I know". - “So the advance is the same deposit, but three times more.”

Plevako was not always sure of the innocence of his clients

A sensational rumor immediately spread across Moscow that the higher powers themselves were administering justice through Plevako, who entered a state of trance during the trials.

And yet Plevako avoided knowingly wrong deeds. For example, he refused to defend the notorious swindler Sofya Bluvshtein, nicknamed “Sonka the Golden Pen.”

Shackling Sonya, 1881

Plevako was not an erudite - he often took advantage of his humor and ingenuity

1. Sinful father

An elderly priest was tried for stealing church money. He himself confessed to everything, the witnesses spoke out against him, the prosecutor made a damning speech. Plevako, who made a bet with manufacturer Savva Morozov with Nemirovich-Danchenko as a witness that he would complete his speech in one minute and the priest would be acquitted, remained silent throughout the meeting and did not ask a single question. When his moment came, he only said, sincerely addressing the jury: “Gentlemen of the jury! For more than twenty years, my client has absolved you of your sins. Now he is waiting for you to forgive him his sins once, Russian people!” Father was acquitted.

2. Old lady and teapot

3. A man and a prostitute

"Tsar Cannon, Tsar Bell and Fyodor Nikiforovich Plevako"

He was buried in front of a huge crowd of people of all classes, both poor and rich, in the cemetery of the Sorrowful Monastery.

Farewell to Fyodor Nikiforovich Plevako

When the monastery graveyard was demolished during the Stalin years, out of 2,500 burials, only Plevako’s ashes were allowed to be transferred to the Vagankovskoye cemetery.

Original dilapidated tombstone

On the modern tombstone of the great Russian lawyer is carved a biblical truth, which he used in one of his speeches: “Judge not with hatred, but judge with love, if you want the truth.”

Modern bas-relief

Name: Fedor Plevako

Age: 66 years old

Activity: advocate

Family status: was married

Fedor Plevako: biography

The lawyer's name became a household name far beyond the borders of the Russian Empire. Fyodor Plevako became famous not only for his professionalism and deep knowledge of the laws, but also for his masterly command of words and oratorical talent. People came to court hearings with his participation as if they were a spectacular event, fascinating and arousing emotions.

“Metropolitan of the Bar”, “Pushkin in jurisprudence”, “genius of speech” - Plevako was called as many times by his colleagues and common people, whom Fyodor Nikolaevich often defended for free. The imagery and richness of speech, the skillful construction of sentences, the composition of the text and the emotional coloring given to it were admired by another genius of the word -.

“The diction penetrates into the very soul, fire looks out of the eyes... No matter how much Plevako speaks, you can always listen to him without getting bored...” the writer said.

Childhood and youth

A talented lawyer was born in the spring of 1842 on Southern Urals, in Troitsk, which at that time belonged to the Orenburg province.

Biographers continue to argue about the family and parents of the famous lawyer. If regarding the father they came to a common denominator, calling him an exiled Polish nobleman with the rank of court councilor, then the nationality of the mother is still unknown for certain. Some sources call her a Kalmyk, others - a Kyrgyz, and still others - a Kazakh serf, who nevertheless came from a rich and noble family.

Fedor Plevako in his youth and his mother

The father of the future luminary of the Russian legal profession was called Vasily Plevak (later the lawyer added the letter “o” at the end for euphony, placing emphasis on it).

Parents lived in civil marriage, not consecrated by the church and official seals. The family had four offspring, of whom two sons survived - Fedor and Dormidont. The children were illegitimate, which later affected the biography. They received their middle name from their godfather.

In the early 1850s, the family moved to Moscow. The boys were sent to a prestigious school on Ostozhenka, which prepared students for students at commercial and technical universities in Russia. In the first year of study, the names of the Plevak brothers adorned the honor board, but six months later, Fyodor and Dormidont, having learned about their “illegitimate” status, were expelled.

The head of the family had to work hard to get his children into the 1st metropolitan gymnasium, which was located on Prechistenka. Based on the exam results, the boys were immediately assigned to the 3rd grade.

After graduating from high school, Fyodor Plevak became a student at Moscow University, choosing jurisprudence. The graduate's diploma already included a new surname, by which the lawyer is still known today.

Jurisprudence

After graduating from university, Plevako’s professional career developed rapidly. In 1964, a young lawyer with a PhD in Law interned for six months in the capital's district court, waiting for a suitable vacancy.

This turned up in the spring of 1866. At this time, jury advocacy appeared in Russia, and Fyodor Plevako became one of the first in the capital to be hired as an assistant to a jury attorney. In this rank he quickly became famous, speaking at criminal trials.

It is noteworthy that the future “metropolitan of the legal profession” lost his first case, and his client was exiled to Siberia. But the young lawyer’s speech made a strong impression on the judges. Fyodor Plevako demonstrated a masterly ability to work with witness testimony.

In the fall of 1870, Plevako himself was already an attorney in the trial chamber of the capital's district court. From that moment on, “golden” pages began to appear in the lawyer’s biography one after another. The court speeches of the “genius of words” were analyzed into quotes. But after 2 years brilliant career Plevako was almost interrupted: the human rights activist came under suspicion from the head of the provincial gendarmerie as an active member of a secret legal society. He was accused of promoting revolutionary ideas among students.

Book by Fyodor Plevako "Selected Speeches"

The luminary of the Russian legal profession managed to emerge victorious: the case was closed for lack of evidence. But Fyodor Plevako has not taken risks since then and has avoided “political” processes. Only after 1905 did the human rights activist begin to take on cases with political overtones.

A successful lawyer improved his financial situation and bought a house on Bolshoy Afanasyevsky Lane. His fame thundered in Moscow and throughout the country, and among the admirers of the lawyer’s talent were all classes of citizens: Plevako defended both rich clients and poor ones with equal zeal. WITH last money did not take and even paid legal expenses.

There were legends about the oratory skills of the master of law, and Interesting Facts biographies and the most entertaining parts of court speeches were passed on from mouth to mouth. Later, Fyodor Plevako published a book in which he published his most high-profile speeches at the trials.

Eyewitnesses described the lawyer's speeches as inspired and not devoid of improvisation. He often referred to the Bible, gave examples from Roman law, which he knew thoroughly and wrote a scientific work on it.

One day, Fyodor Plevako had to speak out against the thieving abbess, who was accused of forgery and stealing money. The lawyer was not afraid of the wrath of the clergy and exposed the temple servant, pointing out the hypocrisy and bribery hidden under the nun’s cassock.

Documentary"Three secrets of lawyer Plevako"

At the end of 1874, a high-profile trial took place in the district court of the capital, in which Fyodor Nikiforovich defended a girl who arrived in Moscow and settled in a hotel. At night, a crowd of drunken men burst into the unfortunate woman’s room, and to escape from them, she jumped out of a third-floor window. Fortunately, Plevako’s client only broke her arm after falling into a snowdrift.

Defenders criminal company insisted on the innocence of the wards, claiming that the men did not harm the girl, and that she jumped out of the window herself.

Fedor Plevako (center) with colleagues

Then Fyodor Plevako resorted to an instructive analogy, talking about the behavior of an ermine fleeing a chase. If there was a dirty puddle on the way to salvation, the animal preferred to die rather than stain its snow-white fur.

“And I understand why the victim jumped out the window,” Plevako concluded.

The judges punished the men by handing down a guilty verdict.

Fyodor Plevako has over two hundred cases won, including the case of an industrialist, which was heard in the summer of 1900. He was taken into custody for failure to repay debts to banks from which he took money for the construction of a railway line. The road was supposed to connect Vologda and Arkhangelsk, and the contract for construction came from the Russian government.

Mamontov spent all his savings, but they were not enough. The hope for help from the government and the “financial” minister did not materialize.

The lawyer was able to prove that the industrialist did not embezzle a penny of money and did not pursue selfish goals. Plevako’s speech at the trial, as expected, became an example of oratorical skill. Savva Mamontov was released from custody right in the courtroom.

Personal life

Even in the personal life of a lawyer, there was a place for a 20-year-long legal battle.

After the dissolution of his failed first marriage with teacher Ekaterina Filippova, who gave birth to his son Sergei, Fedor Plevako fell in love with his client Maria Demidova, who initiated a divorce from her millionaire husband. “The Flax King” Demidov did not want to let his wife go and destroy the family in which 5 offspring were raised.

The outbreak of romance forced Fyodor and Maria to give a damn about conventions and settle under the same roof. Soon the couple had a daughter, Varvara. A boy appeared behind her - son Sergei. According to the law, Plevako’s children were considered Demidov’s children.

The divorce process lasted 20 years and ended with the death of the stubborn merchant. Fyodor Plevako had to register the children as abandoned and then adopt them.

Both Sergei became lawyers, like their father, but they were unable to replicate his fame.

Death

The man died, having lived 66 years, in December 1908. The cause of death was a heart attack.

IN last way Fyodor Nikiforovich was accompanied by a huge procession, in which people of different classes and incomes mixed.

The famous lawyer was buried in the cemetery adjacent to the former convent, which bore the name Skorbyashchensky.

At the end of the 1920s, the cemetery was destroyed and a playground for children was built on the burial site. Plevako’s remains were transferred to Vagankovskoye, and a wooden cross was erected on the lawyer’s grave. Only in 2003, the Russian lawyer's fraternity raised money for a tombstone and bas-relief with the appearance of Fedor Plevako.

The release of the detective-historical series “Winners” has been announced for 2019, in which the role of “Pushkin in jurisprudence” went to.

The meaning of FEDOR NIKIFOROVICH PLEVAKO in the Brief Biographical Encyclopedia

PLEVAKO FEDOR NIKIFOROVICH

Plevako (Fyodor Nikiforovich) is a famous lawyer. Born 1843; completed a course at the Faculty of Law of Moscow University. He was a candidate for judicial positions in Moscow. In 1870, Plevako entered the class of sworn attorneys of the district of the Moscow judicial chamber. Plevako's legal practice took place in Moscow, which left its mark on him. And the ringing of bells in Moscow churches, and the religious mood of the Moscow population, and the eventful past of Moscow, and its current customs resonate with court speeches Gobber. They are replete with texts of Holy Scripture and references to the teachings of the Holy Fathers. Nature has endowed Plevako with a wonderful gift of speech. There is no more unique speaker in Russia. Plevako’s first court speeches immediately revealed his enormous oratorical talent. In the trial of Colonel Kostrubo-Koritsky, heard in the Ryazan district court (1871), Plevako’s opponent was attorney-at-law Prince A.I. Urusov, whose passionate speech excited the audience. Plevako had to erase the unfavorable impression for the defendant. He countered the harsh attacks with reasoned objections, a calm tone and a strict analysis of the evidence. Plevako’s oratorical talent was reflected in all its brilliance and original power in the case of Abbess Mitrofania, who was accused in the Moscow District Court (1874) of forgery, fraud and misappropriation of other people’s property. In this process, Plevako acted as a civil plaintiff, denouncing hypocrisy, ambition, and criminal inclinations under the monastic robe. Also noteworthy is Plevako’s speech on the case heard in the same court in 1880 of a 19-year-old girl, Kachka, who was accused of murdering student Bairoshevsky, with whom she was in a love affair. Plevako often spoke out in cases of factory unrest and in his speeches in defense of workers accused of resisting the authorities, rioting and destruction of factory property, awakened a feeling of compassion for unfortunate people, “exhausted by physical labor, with spiritual forces frozen from inaction, in contrast to us , darlings of fate, brought up from the cradle in the concept of goodness and in complete prosperity." In his court speeches, Plevako avoids excesses, polemicizes with tact, demanding from his opponents “equality in struggle and battle with equal weapons.” Being an improvising speaker, relying on the power of inspiration, Plevako delivered, along with magnificent speeches, relatively weak ones. Sometimes in the same trial one of his speeches was strong, the other was weak (for example, in the Meranville case). In his youth, Plevako was engaged in scientific works: in 1874 he translated into Russian and published a course of Roman civil law Pukhty. According to his political views, he belongs to the “Union of October 17th”. L. Lyakhovetsky.

Brief biographical encyclopedia. 2012