Andrey Anufrievich Dubensky

He was born in 1588, into a family of prominent Moscow noblemen Dubensky. His father, Anufriy, grandfather Pimen and uncle Fyodor, actively participated in the political life of that time, for which they paid the price.: they died in the massacre organized by Boris Godunov to supporters of Peter Shuteisky.

Andrey and his three brothers were raised by a distant relative, Ignaty Khripunov. Almost nothing is known about the youth of the founder of Krasnoyarsk. According to one version, he began his career as a "sovereign man" in Kazan, which then included Siberia. If so, then the hike to the Kachi River, where the city was founded, was not the first in his biography.

According to another version, Andrei served with his brother Ivan in the Kurmyshsky district, the border region, where there was a constant threat of a sudden raid from behind the Sura of the Crimean Tatars. Regular communication with the Lithuanians, Poles, Tatars settled here, and especially with the "Cheremis", as well as with the nobles who moved here after the Polish-Lithuanian intervention, turned Dubensky into a skilled diplomat.

Anyway, at the time of his trip to Siberia, Andrey Dubensky was a fiery mixture of experience, education and ambitions. It is not surprising that he became the main candidate for the role of the builder of the Krasnoyarsk prison.

Dubensky went to Siberia with his relative, the Yenisei voivode Yakov Ignatievich Khripunov. A place was chosen for the new prison, four days by horse from Yeniseisk, at the northern border of the Kirghiz nomads proper, on a high, flat, level cape formed between the mouth of the Kachi River and the Yenisei.

Dubensky himself created the blueprint for the future prison, and then delivered it to Moscow. The Yenisei governor Yakov Khripunov hoped that the tsar would appoint Andrei to the role of the prison builder. And so it happened – Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov appointed Dubensky "gorodchik". And he did it in violation of the local order.

Usually, more distinguished nobles were appointed to such positions. But Andrey Dubensky is an example of a man who tried to overcome narrow-minded local restrictions and obstacles that prevented talented and energetic, but insufficiently noble and rich people from taking their rightful place in society. To some extent, he succeeded.

The first settlers were recruited in the Urals and Western Siberia. They were volunteers: Cossacks, boyar children and free people from different parts of Russia. The people were dashing and brave, and they needed a special approach. And Dubenskaya coped, gaining the respect not only of his own people, but also of residents of other cities – Tomsk and Kuznetsk. There was also a barrel of tar in the person of the new Yenisei governor, Vasily Argamakov.

The latter did not want to share with the Krasnoyarsk people the income from the yasak received from the inhabitants of the Middle Yenisei. Therefore, he denigrated Dubensky in front of the tsar. At that moment, the existence of the city was under threat: Dubensky was summoned to Moscow for proceedings, and on August 1, 1630, a royal decree was issued on the closure of the Krasnoyarsk prison: "... from now on, voivodes and serving people were not ordered to be in that prison, because Andrei Dubensky set up that prison himself, identified himself, and said how to He'll put a prison in Krasny Yar, and that's it... the sovereign will have a great profit..."

The proceedings lasted a year. Dubensky was supported by the nobles of Tomsk, Kuznetsk and his uncle, Yakov Khripunov. The city remained in the same place. And even though the city really did not collect many yasaks, it had another important role – a fortress to repel the attacks of the Yenisei Kirghiz. By the way, the city was besieged at least three times. The young settlement came to the very brink of destruction in 1667, when the Dzungarian and Kyrgyz princes besieged Krasnoyarsk. Ostrog managed to fight back, but with great difficulty – 194 people, a third of the entire garrison, were killed. The surrounding settlements were burned out, and the inhabitants were driven into captivity.

The city continued to exist, but without its founder. After the completion of the proceedings, Dubensky was promoted to the rank of nobleman and ended up in Kurmysh, where he inherited an estate from his childless brother Ivan.

The former Krasnoyarsk governor immediately received respect from local nobles for his leadership qualities. There is a genuine statement about the outrages of the soldiers of the border guard, recruited from foreign soldiers. "... they praise you, gdr, us, your servants, with slaughter, and robbery, and torture, and fire, and all sorts of dashing deeds at the instigation of the Venevskovo Cossack Lan Ivanov's son. And those soldiers are standing by the Neva, the Fallow Deer, and on the street, where we can't get through from them and our people /, playing grain and drinking, and pulling tobacco, and barking, where we are swearing and all kinds of inappropriate barking," the petition of the nobility of Kurmysha for signed by Andrey Dubensky.

The last known record of Dubensky's adventures dates back to 1633. At that time, he was responsible for the defense of one of the towers of Moscow, between the Pokrovsky and Yauz Gates.

Andrei Dubenskaya died sometime in the late 1650s and early 1660s. It is not known exactly when this happened. Judging by the tax documents, Dubensky's possessions during this period were assigned to his son, Ivan. Dubenskaya lived an interesting life. And even though he did not achieve a high rank or great wealth, his main legacy remained – Krasnoyarsk.