Count Aleksei Aleksandrovich Bobrinsky (russian: Алексе́й Алекса́ндрович Бо́бринский, 31 May 1852 – 2 September 1927) was a Russian historian and statesman from the

Bobrinsky The Counts Bobrinsky or Bobrinskoy (''Бобринские'') are a Russian nobility, Russian noble family descending from Count Aleksey Grigorievich Bobrinsky (1762–1813), who was Catherine the Great's natural son by Count Grigory Orlov. Th ...

family.

Biography

Bobrinsky was born in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. His great-grandfather, the first Count Bobrinsky, had been the son of the Russian empress,

Catherine the Great , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...

and Count

Grigory Orlov Prince Grigory Grigoryevich Orlov (russian: Князь Григорий Григорьевич Орлов; 6 October 1734, Bezhetsky Uyezd – 13 April 1783, Moscow) was a favourite of the Empress Catherine the Great of Russia. He became a leader ...

. Aleksei attended

St. Petersburg University Saint Petersburg State University (SPBU; russian: Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет) is a public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter the ...

and worked in the Chancellery of the Committee of Ministers. He was elected Marshal of Nobility of St. Petersburg Uezd, 1875–1878. In 1878 he was elected Marshal of Nobility of St. Petersburg Gubernia. He also presided over St. Petersburg Zemstvo assemblies. For over thirty years Bobrinsky was chairman of the Imperial Archeological Commission, which under his guidance greatly increased its financing and staffing. He was the first to explore Scythian burial mounds (

kurgan A kurgan is a type of tumulus constructed over a grave, often characterized by containing a single human body along with grave vessels, weapons and horses. Originally in use on the Pontic–Caspian steppe, kurgans spread into much of Central Asi ...

s) scattered across his Middle Dnieper estates. He also led the first excavations near

Kerch Kerch ( uk, Керч; russian: Керчь, ; Old East Slavic: Кърчевъ; Ancient Greek: , ''Pantikápaion''; Medieval Greek: ''Bosporos''; crh, , ; tr, Kerç) is a city of regional significance on the Kerch Peninsula in the east of t ...

and

Sevastopol Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...

, describing some of his findings in the monograph on Tauric Chersonesos (1905). Bobrinsky was in charge of the extraction and publication of the Pereshchepina hoard. He also took part in digging the

Solokha :''Solokha is also the name of a witch in Rimsky-Korsakov's opera Christmas Eve (opera), Christmas Eve.'' :''Solokha is also a hamlet at .'' The Solokha () kurgan is on the left bank of the Dnieper, 18 km from Kamianka-Dniprovska, opposite N ...

kurgan where his son found a famous Scythian golden comb.Bobrinskoy, A. (1914) ''Le Kourgan de Solokha (Russie Meridionale).'' Revue archéologique, Quatrieme Serie 23, 161–163. In 1889, Count Bobrinsky was appointed Vice-Chairman of the Academy of Science (1889). He was also head of the Orphanages of the Empress Marie (1893–1896), chairman of the

Free Economic Society Free Economic Society for the Encouragement of Agriculture and Husbandry (russian: Вольное экономическое общество) was Russia's first learned society which formally did not depend on the government and as such came to b ...

(1894), a member of the Agricultural Committee in the Ministry of Agriculture, senator (1896), and chairman of the Union of Russian Nobility (1905). He was elected to the State Duma in 1907, and to the State Council in 1912. He was Assistant Minister of the Interior (March — July 1916) and Minister of Agriculture (July - November 1916). In this role he clashed with

Mitrofan Voronkov Mitrofan is a Slavic name derived from Greek Μητροφάνης : μήτηρ "mother + φαίνω, "appear, shine". Its English equivalent is Metrophanes (disambiguation), Metrophanes. Derived names: * Mitrokha/Mitroha/Mitroshka, Russian diminut ...

and

Vladimir Groman Vladimir Gustavovich Groman (russian: Влади́мир Густа́вович Гро́ман; 21 February, 1874, Khalturino – 11 March, 1940) was a Menshevik economist active in Gosplan, the Soviet Union's central economic planning agency and ...

, when a special Council was charged with fixing grain prices: Voronkov and Groman argued for fixing prices at a lower value, but Bobrinsky, a spokesperson for landed interest, at first succeeded in ensuring the prices were set quite high. However, when the

War Minister A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

Dmitry Shuvayev Dmitry Savelyevich Shuvayev (; – 19 December 1937) was a Russian military leader, Infantry General (1912) and Minister of War (1916). Life Dmitry Shuvayev graduated from Alexander Military School in 1872. Between 1873 and 1875, he participa ...

became involved, Bobrinsky's policy was overthrown and Voronkov became a much quoted spokesperson on the topic. Alexis Bobrinsky left Russia after the

October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...

. He lived in France, where he actively campaigned for the monarchist cause. He died in

Grasse Grasse (; Provençal dialect, Provençal oc, Grassa in classical norm or in Mistralian norm ; traditional it, Grassa) is the only Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, department in the Provence- ...

References

* V.I. Gurko
Features And Figures Of The Past. Government And Opinion In The Reign Of Nicholas II.

Biography

References

See also