Family and Background
Stolypin was born in Dresden, Saxony, on 14 April 1862. His family was prominent in the Russian aristocracy, and Stolypin was related on his father's side to the poet Mikhail Lermontov. His father was Arkady Dmitrievich Stolypin (1821–99), a Russian landowner, descendant of a great noble family, a general in the Russian artillery, and later Commandant of the Kremlin Palace. His mother was Natalia Mikhailovna Stolypina (née Gorchakova; 1827–89), the daughter of the Commanding General of the Russian infantry during the Crimean War and later the Governor General of Warsaw Prince Mikhail Dmitrievich Gorchakov.
From 1869, Stolypin spent his childhood years in Kalnaberžė manor (now Kėdainiai district of Lithuania), built by his father, in what remained his favorite residence for the rest of life. In 1876, the Stolypin family moved to Vilnius, where they bought a house, so that their son could study at the local grammar school. He received a good education at St. Petersburg University and entered government service upon graduating in 1885, joining the Ministry of State Property. Four years later Stolypin was elected marshal of the Kovno Governorate. This public service gave him an inside view of local needs and allowed him to develop administrative skills. He was fascinated by the common lifestyle of the northwestern provinces (especially what is now Lithuania, where his family held estates) and sought to propagate their privately owned, single-family farmsteads throughout the Russian Empire.
In 1884, Stolypin married Olga Borisovna Neidhardt, the daughter of a prominent Russian family. They raised five daughters and a son.
Read more about this topic: Pyotr Stolypin
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