He was born to a noble family. His father, , was a writer and government councilor. His brothers,
Alexander, , , and were also writers, military officers and Decembrists. He entered the
Sea Cadet Corps school in 1802 and graduated in 1809. While there, he audited classes taught by
Andrey Voronikhin at the
Imperial Academy of Arts. Two years later, he reorganized the
lithography department at the Admiralty, for which he was awarded the
Order of Saint Vladimir, and began writing a history of the fleet. In 1824, he was promoted to Lieutenant-Commander and, shortly after, was named Director of the Admiralty's museum, where he was known as "The Mummy". During this time he also contributed to the journals
Polar Star (edited by his brother, Alexander) and
Syn otechestva (Son of the Fatherland). He also served with the
Bureau of Censorship and, in 1825, became a member of the
Imperial Society for the Encouragement of the Arts. == Available writings ==