nobility was given to military officers who achieved the 6th rank of colonel/captain 1st rank, to civil servants who achieved the 4th rank of Active State Councillor and to any person who was awarded the Order of Saint George of any class or the Order of Saint Vladimir of any class (since 1900 - of the third class or higher), or any order of the Russian Empire of the first class. Personal nobility could be acquired in the following ways: 1) by Imperial grant; 2) by attaining the 14th military rank of ensign or the 9th civil rank of Titular Councillor; 3) by being awarded the orders of the Russian Empire unless those gave hereditary nobility; except merchants (unless those were awarded between 1826 and 1832), who acquired honorary citizenship instead. Personal nobility was not inherited by children but was shared by the recipient's wife. Other ranks and positions Marshal of Nobility Odnodvortsy Okolnichy Stolnik Gallery References The Russian Nobility Association in Europe (Union de la Noblesse Russe) Official site of the Principal Russian Nobility Association The Russian Nobility Association in America Official site of the Imperial House of Russia Further reading Blum, Jerome. Lord and Peasant in Russia from the Ninth to the Nineteenth Century. Princeton University Press, 1951. Jenkins, Michael. "The Golden Years of the Russian Aristocracy" History Today (Feb1970), Vol. 20 Issue 2, pp. 79–85 online, 1900–1917. Society of the Russian Empire