Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky

Prince Mikhail Vasilyevich Skopin-Shuisky (; – ) was a Russian statesman and military figure during the Time of Troubles. He was the last representative of a cadet branch of the Shuysky family.

Life Having lost his father, Vasili Feodorovich Skopin-Shuisky, at an early age, Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky was educated by his mother. During the reign (1598–1605) of Boris Godunov, he was appointed stolnik (tsar's assistant). False Dmitriy I made Mikhail his mechnik (sword carrier), and asked him personally to bring Marfa Ivanovna – mother of the future Tsar Mikhail I – to Moscow from exile. During the reign of Tsar Vasili IV (1606–1610), Skopin-Shuisky became a close associate of his cousin, the tsar.

Military career He began his military career in 1606 with the appearance of Ivan Bolotnikov, whom he would defeat twice, first near the Pakhra River with a small unit at his disposal (after Bolotnikov had crushed the Muscovite army led by Mstislavsky and other boyars) and then at Kotly. After the second defeat, Bolotnikov and his men fled to Tula. Skopin-Shuisky took an active part in a successful siege of Tula alongside the Muscovite army.

Death Skopin-Shuiskii died mysteriously, less than a month after a private meeting with Tsar Vasili. According to Dunning, "Many people claimed that he had been poisoned by a jealous relative, either the tsar himself or his brother Dmitrii - who was, in fact, hoping to succeed the childless ruler some day. Few people believed the tsar sincerely mourned the loss of his nephew, and many suspected him of involvement in murder."