dyak

A diak, d'iak or dyak (Russian: дьяк, IPA: [ˈdʲjak]) is a historical Russian bureaucratic occupation whose meaning varied over time and approximately corresponded to the notions of "chief clerk" or "chief of office department". A diak was a title of the chief of a structural division of a prikaz. For example, "посольский дьяк" (posolsky diak) is a diak of the posolsky prikaz (foreign ministry). A duma diak (думный дьяк) was the lowest rank in the boyar duma (15th to 17th centuries). Outside of the grand princely administration, the diaki were also found in ecclesiastical (episcopal) administrations, particularly in Veliky Novgorod. In this sense they may be more broadly defined as secretaries or clerks. According to the Life of Archbishop Iona of Novgorod (r. 1458–1470), although he was a...