Koni A.F. (1844-1927), lawyer, public figure

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KONI Anatoly Fedorovich (1844, St Petersburg 1927, Leningrad), lawyer, statesman, man of letters, Actual Privy Counsellor (1910); Doctor of Law (1890), Honorary Member of the Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1900). Graduated from the Faculty of Law of Moscow University (1865). In St Petersburg, he worked as an assistant to the Judicial Division Secretary (1866), and as a Public Prosecutor of the District Court (from 1871). From 1877, he headed the Ministry of Justice; concurrently, in 1877-81, he was Chief Justice of the St Petersburg District Court; in 1877-85, he was Honorary Justice of the Peace. In the 1870s, he became known all over Russia as a court orator. From 1881, he was Chairman of the St Petersburg Judicial Division's Civil Department. In 1885-96, he was Chief Procurator of the Senate's Criminal Investigations and Appeals Department. From 1891, he was a Senator; in 1907, he was appointed Member of State Assembly. He always advocated for jury trials, the independence and permanence of judges, and the necessity for moral principles to be observed in criminal procedures. Lectured at the School of Jurisprudence (1876-83) and at the Alexander Lyceum (1901-17). A member and Chairman of the St Petersburg Juridical Society (1916). From 1876, he was involved with the circle of the journal Vestnik Evropy. He published articles, memoirs and literary portraits in periodicals; they were included in a memoir series On Life's Path (1912-29; Volumes 1-5). In 1918-22, he was Professor of Criminal Procedure at Petrograd University; also lectured at the Institute for the Living Word, Institute for Speech Technique, the Petrograd Clinical Institute, and regularly read public lectures. He took part in the work of Old Petersburg Society, was well as the Pushkin House, to which he left his library and archives. Koni was born in the Lytkin Residence (51-53 Fontanka River Embankment); in 1856-62, he lived at 68 Nevsky Prospect; in 1877-85 and 1892-95, at 27 Furshtatskaya Street; in 1895-1907, at 100 Nevsky Prospect; in 1909-27, on Nadezhdinskaya Street (today 3 Mayakovskogo Street; memorial plaque installed). Buried at the Tikhvinskoe Cemetery at the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, he was the last person to have his remains transferred to Literatorskie Mostky.

Works: Petersburg: An Old-Timer's Reflections (Мoscow, 2003).

References: Смолярчук В. И. А. Ф. Кони и его окружение. М., 1990; Сашонко В. Н. Кони в Петербурге - Петрограде - Ленинграде. Л., 1991.

A. D. Margolis. Koni Anatoly Fedorovich
Lytkin
Fontanka River Embankment/Saint Petersburg, city, house 53
Fontanka River Embankment/Saint Petersburg, city, house 51
Furshtatskaya St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 27
Mayakovsky St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 3
Nevsky prospect/Saint Petersburg, city, house 68
Nevsky prospect/Saint Petersburg, city, house 100
Смолярчук В. И. А. Ф. Кони и его окружение. М., 1990
Сашонко В. Н. Кони в Петербурге - Петрограде - Ленинграде. Л., 1991 Russian Academy of Sciences
Ministry of Justice
Ministry of Justice
Senate
State Assembly
Law School
Lyceum
Law Society
Vestnik Evropy (The Herald of Europe), 1866-1918
Old Petersburg, Society
Russian Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of
Literatorskie (Literary) Mostki, the museum-necropolis