Aleksey Adashev

Aleksey Fyodorovich Adashev (1510–1561) was a low-born Russian statesman who became the closest lay adviser of Tsar Ivan IV. After the Moscow fires of 1547 he and the priest Sylvester headed the reforming government of Ivan's early years: the new Sudebnik law code was confirmed in 1550, and Kazan and Astrakhan fell in 1552 and 1556.

As head of the Petition Office he also led Russian diplomacy. In 1560 he was exiled to Livonia, and he died imprisoned in Dorpat in 1561.