Konstantin Karlovich Grot (Константин Карлович Грот; 1815-1897) was a Russian statesman and public figure, governor of Samara from 1853 to 1861, and the founder and creator of the system of care for the blind in Russia.
He was born into the family of Karl Efimovich Grot (1770–1818), a former "fellow educator" of Alexander I. His mother was Karolina Ivanovna, née Tsizmer (d. 1853). Thanks to his father's high-ranking connections, he was sent in 1826, by personal order of Emperor Nicholas I , to study at the Alexander Boarding School in Tsarskoye Selo. Upon graduating from the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum in 1835, he received the rank of titular councilor and was appointed registrar of the 1st expedition of the Court Quartermaster's Office.
Following the fire in the Winter Palace in 1837 and the resignation of the president of the Court Quartermaster's Office, P. I. Kutaisov, Grot, at the invitation of Baron Andrei (Heinrich) Offenberg, became an official in the Courland Commission for the Transfer of State Property from the Ministry of Finance to the Ministry of State Property. In 1845, by order of the Minister of Internal Affairs, Lev Perovsky, he was transferred to St. Petersburg to the post of official for special assignments in the temporary branch of the Economic Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. On September 1, 1847, he received the rank of collegiate councilor. In 1850, thanks to the assistance of his friend, A. K. Girs, Grot became a member and unpaid treasurer of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society.
That same year, he received the relatively high rank of State Councilor, while retaining his previous position. With the assistance of L. A. Perovsky, on May 12, 1853, Grot was appointed acting governor of Samara - his insufficient rank prevented him from officially receiving the post. Konstantin Karlovich arrived in Samara and took over from Vice-Governor M. I. Zhdanov. He was officially confirmed as governor of Samara by Minister of the Interior D. G. Bibikov on July 21, 1854, in connection with his promotion to active state councilor on the same day. He served as governor of Samara until February 1860, when he was transferred to St. Petersburg to serve on the Commission on Provincial and District Institutions.
For his conscientious service in Samara, Grot was awarded Order of St. Stanislaus, 1st Class (August 26, 1856) and Order of St. Anne, 1st Class (September 8, 1859). While in Samara, he also received the "For 15 Years of Impeccable Service" decoration (August 22, 1856).
In 1861–1863, Grot was a member of the commission for the organization of peasant institutions chaired by N. A. Milyutin. In 1861–1869, he was director of the department of taxes and fees (later, non-taxable fees) of the Ministry of Finance. He participated in drafting the regulations on zemstvo institutions (1864) and the new city regulations (1870); he supervised the liquidation of the tax-farming system and the introduction of the excise system.
From 1863, Groth was State Secretary, and from 1870, a member of the State Council, sitting in the Department of State Economy, and two years later in the Department of Laws (until 1882). In 1877, he headed the Commission on Prison Reform, formed within its structure. He participated in and chaired the International Prison Congress in Stockholm in 1878. From 1881 to 1882, he was head of the prison department, holding the rank of minister.
From 1870 to 1882, he served as Chairman of the Council for the Management of Institutions of Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna. From 1877 to 1880, he headed the Main Guardianship for the Families of Soldiers, established in connection with the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878. From 1882 to 1885, he was Chief Administrator of the Chancellery of the Department of Institutions of Empress Maria. He was Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Public Charity Institutions in St. Petersburg (1883–1885).
Founder and chairman of the Medical-Gymnastic Society in St. Petersburg (1869). From 1892 until his death, he was an honorary member of the Berlin Orthodox St. Prince Vladimir Brotherhood.
