Note 136 — Chapter 14 Vyatka—The Office and Dining-room of His Excellency—K. Y. Tyufyaev

In 1802, Alexander I. ordered a report to be sent him concerning the management by Major-General Izmailov of the latter’s estates in Tula, where serfs were tortured and imprisoned by their owner on the slightest provocation. By the connivance of the local authorities, Izmailov was able to retain control and persist in his brutal practices till 1830. Even then he was only punished by being deprived of the management of his estates and interned in a small town. Both Izmailov and Tolstoy ‘the American’ are referred to in Griboyedov’s famous play, Woe from Wit.