Maksim Grigorevich Shigaev
Shigaev, Maksim Grigor’evich
Born 1726; died Jan. 10 (21), 1775, in Moscow. Iaik Cossack. Comrade-in-arms of E. I. Pugachev. One of the leaders of the Iaik Cossack uprising of 1772.
During the Peasant War (1773–75) led by E. I. Pugachev, Shigaev was Pugachev’s closest aide, a member of the “war college,” and a judge and commander of troops during the siege of Orenburg. On Apr. 7, 1774, he was taken prisoner at Iletskii Gorodok. Shigaev was sentenced to death on Dec. 31, 1774, and was executed together with Pugachev and the other leaders of the uprising.