“Sheer evil against the sovereign and the state”: Fiodor Krechetov and his “legal plan” on trial before the enlightened empress

The article studies the life and educational projects of Fiodor Vasilievich Krechetov, an obscure Russian enlightener of the latter third of the 18th - early 19th centuries. It is based on materials of F.V. Krechetov's investigatory case conducted by the Senate's Secret Office in 1793. With his experience in military and civil service, on the basis of his independent study of the Russian legislation, F.V. Krechetov arrived at the conviction that Russian justice must go along with the development of public education. He emphasized the importance of disseminating legal knowledge. He argued that the legal awareness of the population would limit despotism on the part of the country's rulers, including the sovereign, ensuring the legitimacy of their decisions and actions. He was personally acquainted with A.N. Radishchev, nevertheless, he did not share revolutionary ideas. It was the idea of an enlightened monarchy that he proposed. He submitted several projects on the development of Russian education to Empress Catherine II, set up a “free society” uniting his associates, and wanted to release his educational works. However, F.V. Krechetov was arrested on the basis of a denunciation and Catherine II had him put to life imprisonment as a “regular rebel” and opponent to absolute monarchy.