Kuzma Minin

{{Short description|Russian military leader (1570s–1616)}}

{{for|the cargo ship|MV Kuzma Minin}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific_prefix =

| name = Kuzma Minin

| native_name = {{nobold|Кузьма Минин}}

| native_name_lang = ru

| honorific_suffix =

| image = Kuzma Minin engraving.png

| image_size =

| image_upright =

| smallimage =

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| alt =

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| order =

| office = Zemsky headman of Nizhny Novgorod

| status =

| term_start = 1611

| term_end = 1612

| subterm =

| suboffice =

| alongside =

| monarch = Vasili IV of Russia

| governor = Alexander Repnin

| birth_date = {{circa|1570s}}

| birth_place = Balakhna

| death_date = May 21, 1616

| death_place =

| death_cause =

| resting_place = Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin, St. Michael the Archangel Cathedral

| resting_place_coordinates = {{coord|56.328309|N|44.001899|E|display=inline,title}}

| citizenship =

| nationality = Russian

| party =

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| height =

| spouse =

| partner = Tatiana Semenovna

| relations =

| children = Nefed

| parents =

| mother =

| father = Mina (monk Misail)

| allegiance = {{flagcountry|Tsardom of Russia}}

| branch = Militia

| serviceyears =

| rank = Head of the Second People's Militia

| unit =

| commands =

| battles = Battle of Moscow

| mawards =

}}

Kuzma Minin ({{langx|ru|Кузьма́ Ми́нин}}), full name Kuzma Minich Zakhariev-Sukhoruky ({{langx|ru|Кузьма́ Ми́нич Заха́рьев Сухору́кий}}; {{circa|1570s}} – May 21, 1616), was a Russian merchant who, together with Prince Dmitry Pozharsky, formed the popular uprising in Nizhny Novgorod against the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth's occupation of Russia during the Polish intervention in Russia (1605-1618) coinciding with the Time of Troubles. The popular uprising ultimately led to Russian victory at the Battle of Moscow and the end of Polish occupation in 1612. Minin and Pozharsky become national heroes in Russian culture and were honored in the Monument to Minin and Pozharsky in Moscow's Red Square.

A native of Balakhna, Minin was a prosperous butcher in Nizhny Novgorod. When the popular patriotic movement to organize volunteer corps in his home city was formed,Chester S L Dunning, Russia's First Civil War: The Time of Troubles and the Founding of the Romanov Dynasty, [https://books.google.com/books?id=9NUYtSJaO8cC&dq=moscow+minin+patriot&pg=PA434 p. 434] Penn State Press, 2001, {{ISBN|0-271-02074-1}} the merchants chose Minin, a trusted and respected member of the guild, to oversee the handling of the public funds donated by them to raise and equip the Second Volunteer Army ({{langx|ru|Второе народное ополчение}}).{{in lang|ru}} "[http://www.kommersant.ru/k-money/get_page.asp?page_id=25475461.htm The ancient heroes of the Russian people's militia]", Kommersant-Den'gi, November 5, 2002

The army, led by Prince Pozharsky, was credited with clearing the Moscow Kremlin of Polish forces on November 1, 1612. Minin distinguished himself as a skilled commander and was made a nobleman and member of the boyar duma under the newly elected tsar of Russia Michael Romanov. He died in 1616 and was interred in the Archangel Cathedral of Nizhny Novgorod. A central square of that city is named after him and Prince Pozharsky.