A. F. Koni

1. Anatoly Fedorovich Koni, an outstanding lawyer and statesman, was born on February 9, 1844 in St. Petersburg into the family of a writer and an actress. His father was a man of universal abilities, ready to support and advise a lot of people. He was capable of working hard at different fields of his activity. His mother played on the Imperator’s scenes in the Alexandrinsky theatre in Moscow and Petersburgand often took part in the guest-performances*. She was a talented actress and enjoyed respect from her audience. Mother's life was not easy, of course, because she had to keep the house in addition to her work. She read and retold Walter Skott’s novels to her son, and was a good story-teller. All his parents’ friends loved little Tolja. They always got together to discuss political news, literary publications, theatre plays. His parents meant a lot to Anatoly. He was not the only child in his family, his younger brother Evgeny didn’t look like him very much.

2. Little Anatoly learnt many subjects and had music lessons with hired teachers* at home. In his childhood he surprised everybody with his good memory and rational mind. He attended German school, displayed outstanding abilities in history, foreign languages and literature, tried to write poetry. By the age of 14 he had mastered French and German perfectly. While studing at school Anatoly wanted to acquire independence.Turgenev’s novels influenced Koni’s mind, character and philosophy of his life* at that time.

3. In 1862 he decided to enter the judicial faculty of the Moscow University because his father had studied there and had told a lot about it. In 1865 he received a degree of "Candidate of Law". Then the young lawyer moved to St.Petersburg and worked there as an assistant to the Judicial Division Secretary* and as a Public Prosecutor of the District Court*. While serving at the court he was Honorary Justice of the Peace and became known all over Russia as a court orator. From 1877 he headed the Ministry of Justice; at the same time, in 1877-1881, he was Chief Justice of the St. Petersburg District Court*. Then he was appointed Chief Procurator of the Senate’s Criminal Investigations and Appeals Department*.

4. A. F. Koni always advocated jury trials, the independence of judges, and the necessity to observe moral principles in criminal procedures. He handled the investigation of very serious financial cases. Besides A. F. Koni lectured at the School of Jurisprudence and at the Alexander Lyceum. At that time he published articles, memories and literary portraits in periodicals. He taught at the Institute for Speech Technique*, the Petrograd Clinical Institute, and regularly delivered public lectures. A. F. Koni took part in the work of the Old Petersburg Society and then he left his library and archives to it.

5. As to his personal life, he had no time to get married. On September 17, 1927, the most brilliant prosecutor and judge A. F. Koni died at the age of 83, and was buried at the Tikhvinskoe Cemetery at the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

Notes:

Task 3. Find a suitable place in Text B for the passages below.

1. After receiving a degree in law, A. F. Koni was appointed assistant secretary of the St. Petersburg-Court. Koni moved slowly but surely up the ladder of the judicial system, being appointed to the courts of Kharkov, Samara and Kazan.

2. In the senior grades Anatoly specialized in mathematics. Then he went on to the Mathematics Department of St. Petersburg University, and when the university was closed, Koni got a transfer to Moscow University’s Law School. There he attended lectures delivered by the country’s top legal experts.

3. After the February Revolution, A. F. Koni was appointed to an important post in the Provisional Government. But when the Bolsheviks came to power some ten months later, Koni lost all his posts.