Viskovatyi, Ivan Mikhailovich

Viskovatyi, Ivan Mikhailovich 

Year of birth un-known; died July 25, 1570, in Moscow. A major figure in the government of Ivan IV the Terrible in the 1550’s and 1560’s.

In 1542, Viskovatyi became a minor official in the Posol’skii Prikaz (Foreign Office); in 1549, its head; in 1553, a secretary of the Boyar Duma; and in 1561, keeper of the tsar’s seal. He played a leading role in foreign policy, sup-porting the initiation of the Livonian War, which he believed necessary for the economic development of Russia.

Viskovatyi sharply protested against innovations in the painting of icons. Some sources believe that he took part in editing the Litsevyi Code (a 16th-century illustrated chronicle code). He was put to death on suspicion of participation in the boyar plot and traitorous relations with Poland, Turkey, and the Crimea.

REFERENCES

Sadikov, P. A. Ocherki po istorii oprichniny. Moscow-Leningrad, 1950.
Zimin, A. A. Reformy Ivana Groznogo: Ocherki sotsial’noekonomicheskoi i politicheskoi istorii Rossii serediny XVI v. Moscow, 1960.
Zimin, A. A. Oprichnina Ivana Groznogo. Moscow, 1964.
Andreev, N. E. “Ob avtore pripisok v Litsevykh svodakh Groznogo.” Trudy Otdela drevnerusskoi literatury, 1962, vol. 18.