Feodor Alekseyevich Rtishchev (Фёдор Алексеевич Ртищев; 1625–1673) was a boyar

Boyar

A boyar, or bolyar , was a member of the highest rank of the feudal Moscovian, Kievan Rus'ian, Bulgarian, Wallachian, and Moldavian aristocracies, second only to the ruling princes , from the 10th century through the 17th century....

 and an intimate friend of Alexis I of Russia

Alexis I of Russia

Aleksey Mikhailovich Romanov was the Tsar of Russia during some of the most eventful decades of the mid-17th century...

 who was renowned for his piety and alms-deeds.

As Rtischev eschewed publicity, the true extent of his influence on the Tsar

Tsar

Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...

's policies has been disputed by historians. It is thought that it was Rtischev who instigated the revision of service-books which led to the Great Schism

Raskol

Raskol |schism]]') was the event of splitting of the Russian Orthodox Church into an official church and the Old Believers movement in mid-17th century, triggered by the reforms of Patriarch Nikon in 1653, aiming to establish uniformity between the Greek and Russian church practices.-The Raskol:...

 of the Russian Orthodox Church

Russian Orthodox Church

The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...

. Some scholars also hold him responsible for the eventual downfall of Patriarch Nikon

Patriarch Nikon

Nikon , born Nikita Minin , was the seventh patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church...

.

During the great famine

Famine

A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including crop failure, overpopulation, or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompanied or followed by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased mortality. Every continent in the world has...

 in Vologda

Vologda

Vologda is a city and the administrative, cultural, and scientific center of Vologda Oblast, Russia, located on the Vologda River. The city is a major transport knot of the Northwest of Russia. Vologda is among the Russian cities possessing an especially valuable historical heritage...

 (1650), Rtischev sold much of his property, including clothes and house utensils, in order to raise funds for the famine-stricken city. He took care for all the wounded in the Russo-Polish wars, notwithstanding their nationality, and established several alms-houses in Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

.

Remembered as the earliest patron of Russian education, Rtischev founded one of the first schools in Moscow, where he invited Yepifany Slavinetsky to instruct the students in Greek language

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

. Rtischev's school would later be transformed into the Slavic Greek Latin Academy

Slavic Greek Latin Academy

Slavic Greek Latin Academy was the first higher education establishment in Moscow, Russia.-Beginnings:...

.

It is known that Rtischev survived several assassination attempts, and wrote a treatise on falconry

Falconry

Falconry is "the taking of wild quarry in its natural state and habitat by means of a trained raptor". There are two traditional terms used to describe a person involved in falconry: a falconer flies a falcon; an austringer flies a hawk or an eagle...

. His biography was written by Vasily Klyuchevsky

Vasily Klyuchevsky

Vasily Osipovich Klyuchevsky dominated Russian historiography at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. He is still regarded as one of three most reputable Russian historians, alongside Nikolay Karamzin and Sergey Solovyov.-Early life:...

.

Fyodor was a relative of Ustinia Bogdanovna Rtishcheva and her daughter Eudoxia Lopukhina

Eudoxia Lopukhina

Tsarina Evdokiya Feodorovna Lopukhina was the first wife of Peter I of Russia. They married in 1689 but divorced in 1698...

. Eudoxia was chosen by Natalia Naryshkina

Natalia Naryshkina

Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina was the Tsaritsa of Russia from 1671 to 1676 as the second spouse of tsar Alexei I of Russia.-Biography:Coming from a petty noble family, daughter of Kirill Poluektovich Naryshkin and wife Anna Leontyevna Leontyeva Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina was the Tsaritsa of...

 as the first Tsarina for her son Peter I of Russia

Peter I of Russia

Peter the Great, Peter I or Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov Dates indicated by the letters "O.S." are Old Style. All other dates in this article are New Style. ruled the Tsardom of Russia and later the Russian Empire from until his death, jointly ruling before 1696 with his half-brother, Ivan V...

due to her relation to Fyodor.