Dmitry Pozharsky
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Minin.jpg
Dmitry Mikhaylovich Pozharsky (Russian: Дми́трий Миха́йлович Пожа́рский, Polish: Dymitr Pożarski) (November 1, 1578 - April 30, 1642) was a Rurikid prince who obtainted from the tsar an unprecedented title of the Saviour of Motherland.
Pozharsky was a distinguished and skilled commander of the Nizhny Novgorod volunteer corps, credited for saving Moscow from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth invaders during the Times of Trouble.
On August 21-24th, 1612, during the Dimitriads wars, Pozharsky's corps engaged the Polish-Lithuanian army, commanded by Hetman Jan Karol Chodkiewicz, who was attempting to relieve the besieged Poles trapped within the Kremlin. Pozharsky's forces, supporting the Moscow uprising forces were victorious, and the Polish-Lithuanian forces surrendered on the November 1st.
At the close of 1612, Pozharsky and Prince Dmitry Trubetskoi headed the Moscow provisional government and participated in electing Tsar Michael Romanov, the founder of the Romanov dynasty.
A monument to him and his fellow rebel, Nizhny Novgorod butcher (literally butcher by profession) Kuzma Minin, graces the Red Square in Moscow since the early 19th century.