Mikhail Speransky, Russian academic and politician (d. 1839)
Count Mikhail Mikhailovich Speransky (Russian: Михаи́л Миха́йлович Спера́нский; 12 January 1772 – 23 February 1839) was a Russian reformist during the reign of Alexander I of Russia, to whom he was a close advisor. He later served under Tsar Nicholas I of Russia. Speransky is referred to as the father of Russian liberalism.

The main sources for studying the activities of Speransky are materials and documents that belonged to him. These are acts, decrees, regulations and other official documents drawn up by him, as well as drafts, preparatory materials, letters to the emperor, family, friends. For example, correspondence with a daughter and friends helps to determine how the views of the reformer were formed, how he perceived the events, the conditions of his activities. Official correspondence reveals Speransky’s attitude to state issues. Some of these documents were published- in Leningrad in 1962 was published the catalog of documents of the fund M.M. Speransky. Most of the sources were published in the Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire, Collections of the Russian Historical Society, magazines, thematic publications, and in appendices to works M.A. Korfa, etc.