Prince Alexander Alekseevich Vyazemsky (russian: Александр Алексеевич Вяземский; 14 August 1727 – 20 January 1793) was one of the trusted dignitaries of
Catherine II
, 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 Anha ...
, who, as the
Prosecutor General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general.
In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
of the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
, monitored the spending of state funds and had a reputation as incorruptible.
[Alexander Vyazemsky. Boris Yeltsin Presidential Library](_blank)
/ref>
Biography
Vyazemsky was born on 14 August 1727. He belonged to a princely family, originating from the grandson of Vladimir Monomakh
Vladimir II Monomakh (Old East Slavic: Володимѣръ Мономахъ, ''Volodiměrŭ Monomakhŭ''; uk, Володимир Мономах, translit=Volodymyr Monomakh; russian: Владимир Мономах; Christian name: ''Vasiliy'' ...
– Prince Rostislav Mstislavich Rostislav Mstislavich (Russian and Ukrainian: Ростисла́в Мстисла́вич) ( c. 1110–1167), Kniaz' (Prince) of Smolensk (1125–1160), Novgorod (1154) and Velikiy Kniaz (Grand Prince) of Kiev (Kyiv, 1154, 1159–1167). He was the ...
. At the age of twenty, Alexander Alekseevich graduated from the Land Gentry Corps. During the Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754 ...
with Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...
, he participated not only in the battles of the Russian Army, but also in the implementation of some secret (presumably, intelligence) orders of the command, which almost cost him his life. By the end of the war, Alexander Vyazemsky already held the post of Quartermaster General and was well known to the young Empress Catherine II. In December 1762, she instructed him to "settle relations" between the rebellious peasants and their owners in the Ural factories. He has been in this business for almost a year. In December 1763, he was recalled from the Urals, and Major General Alexander Bibikov was sent in his place, completing the mission begun by Vyazemsky.
General Prosecutor
On 14 February 1764, Catherine II, convinced of the exceptional honesty of Prince Vyazemsky, appointed him Prosecutor General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general.
In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
of the Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
. She personally wrote his "secret instruction", in which she clearly defined his responsibilities. The Empress reminded Alexander Vyazemsky that the Prosecutor General should be completely frank with the sovereign, since "in his position he is obliged to resist the strongest people", and this is only the imperial power "one of his support". She emphasized that she did not require "caress" from him, but "the only sincere treatment and firmness in business". Catherine II warned the Prosecutor General against getting involved in intrigues at court and suggested to have only "the only benefit of the fatherland and justice in mind, and take firm steps to take the shortest path to the truth".
Alexander Vyazemsky, presumably, strictly adhered to the instructions given to him and enjoyed the full confidence of the empress, which allowed him not only to hold the highest prosecutor's post for almost 29 years, but also to significantly expand his powers. If at the beginning of his career he headed the Senate, and also oversaw the sale of salt and wine in the empire, then from the 1780s he already firmly held in his hands not only justice, but also finance and internal affairs. It was he who for the first time in Russia introduced strict reporting in financial affairs, and also began to clearly take into account income and expenses for the year.
The Prosecutor General now almost single–handedly led the all–powerful Secret Expedition, and almost all the known political affairs of the reign of Catherine II passed through his hands: Emelyan Pugachev, Alexander Radishchev
Alexander Nikolayevich Radishchev (russian: Алекса́ндр Никола́евич Ради́щев; – ) was a Russian author and social critic who was arrested and exiled under Catherine the Great. He brought the tradition of radicali ...
, Nikolay Novikov
Nikolay Ivanovich Novikov (russian: Никола́й Ива́нович Новико́в) (, Moscow Governorate – . Moscow Governorate) was a Russian writer and philanthropy, philanthropist most representative of his country's Russian Enlighten ...
and others. Under him, the main "whip–fighter" or, as Alexander Pushkin
Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...
called him, "the domestic executioner of the meek Catherine" Stepan Sheshkovsky, who had, in the words of the empress, "a special gift to carry out investigative affairs", developed his active detective activity.
Alexander Vyazemsky, unlike his predecessor, actively led the prosecutors subordinate to him. Under him, "Institutions for the Administration of Governorates
A governorate is an administrative division of a state. It is headed by a governor. As English-speaking nations tend to call regions administered by governors either State (administrative division), states or province, provinces, the term ''govern ...
" (1775) were put into effect, which regulated in detail the rights and obligations of the local prosecutor's office.
For "diligence, zeal and jealousy for the benefits of the service" he was awarded many awards, receiving, in particular, the Orders of Saint Andrew the First–Called (1773), Saint Alexander Nevsky
Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky (russian: Александр Ярославич Невский; ; 13 May 1221 – 14 November 1263) served as Prince of Novgorod (1236–40, 1241–56 and 1258–1259), Grand Prince of Kiev (1236–52) and Grand P ...
, Saint Anna
According to Christian apocryphal and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the canonical gospels. In writing, Anne's name and that of her husband Joachim come ...
, Saint Vladimir
Vladimir I Sviatoslavich or Volodymyr I Sviatoslavych ( orv, Володимѣръ Свѧтославичь, ''Volodiměrъ Svętoslavičь'';, ''Uladzimir'', russian: Владимир, ''Vladimir'', uk, Володимир, ''Volodymyr''. Se ...
, 1st Degree (1782), White Eagle. Alexander Vyazemsky had the military rank of lieutenant general and the civilian rank of a Real Privy Councillor.
In September 1792, Alexander Vyazemsky retired due to illness, and Catherine II assigned the numerous duties he performed to several people. Dmitry Bantysh–Kamensky wrote about him as follows: "Prince Vyazemsky was distinguished by his loyalty to his throne, unselfishness, was extremely hardworking, knew how to choose worthy assistants; an enemy of luxury, but stingy and envious, as his contemporaries spoke of him".
Prince Vyazemsky died of paralysis on 20 January 1793; a modest tombstone can be seen in the Annunciation Church of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra
The Annunciation Church of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra (russian: Благовещенская церковь Александро-Невской лавры), or in full, the Church of the Blessing of the Most Holy Virgin and the Holy Blessed Princ ...
. The Murzinka Estate built by him near Saint Petersburg was inherited by his daughter Anna, and then by her grandson Anton Apraksin.
Family
Since July 1768, Prince Vyazemsky was married to a much younger princess Elena Trubetskoy (1745–1832), daughter of the Elizabethan Prosecutor General Nikita Trubetskoy
Prince Nikita Yurievich Trubetskoy (Russian: ''Никита Юрьевич Трубецкой'') (26 May 1699 – 16 October 1767) was a Russian statesman and Field Marshal (1756), minister of defense of Russia 1760.
His parents were general-p ...
. On the occasion of the wedding, he received a dowry in the village of Aleksandrovskoye on the banks of the Neva, where he erected the famous Kulich and Easter Church. Vyazemsky's wife was a lady of state, but Catherine II did not love her. Having outlived her husband for almost forty years, Princess Elena Nikitichna occupied an honorable place among the Saint Petersburg aristocracy. Four daughters have grown up in the family of the Prosecutor General:
*Ekaterina Alexandrovna (1769–1824), since 1789, married to Count Dmitry Tolstoy (1754–1832);
*Anna Alexandrovna (1770–1840), heiress of Murzinka–Alexandrovsky, since 1788, the wife of the Neapolitan envoy in Saint Petersburg, Antonino Maresca, Duke of Serracapriola (1750–1822);
*Praskovya Alexandrovna (1772–1835), since 1790, the wife of Count Dmitry Zubov (1766–1849);
*Varvara Alexandrovna (20 May 1773 – 27 September 1849), was born in Saint Petersburg, baptized in Saint Isaac's Cathedral; goddaughter of Prince 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 ...
and grandmother Tatyana Vyazemskaya. In 1791, she was married to the Danish envoy Baron Niels Rosenkrantz
Niels Rosenkrantz (9 September 1757 in Øyestad, Norway - 6 January 1824 in Copenhagen) was a Danish-Norwegian statesman, diplomat and prime minister. He was the son of Otto Christian Rosenkrantz and Karen Johanne Rønning.
After a short time ...
(1757–1824),Niels Rosenkrantz , Gyldendal – Den Store Danske
/ref> who later became Prime Minister of Denmark
The prime minister of Denmark ( da, Danmarks statsminister, fo, Forsætisráðharri, kl, Ministeriuneq) is the head of government in the Kingdom of Denmark comprising the three constituent countries: Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islan ...
. She died in Copenhagen.
File:La Princesse Helene Nikititchna Viazemsky.jpg, ''Elena Nikitichna''
File:E.Tolstay.jpg, ''Catherine''
File:RusPortraits v2-103 La Duchesse Anna Alexandrowna de Serra-Capriola.jpg, ''Anna''
File:La Comtesse Prascovie Alexandrowna Zouboff.jpg, ''Praskovya''
File:Varvara Rosenkrantz.jpeg, ''Barbara''
References
Sources
*Mikhail Alekseev, Alexander Pachkalov. Finance Ministers: From the Russian Empire to the Present Day – Moscow: Albina Publisher, 2019 – 554 Pages
*
External links
Catherine II. Letters From Empress Catherine II to Prince Alexander Vyazemsky // Russian Archive, 1865 – 2nd Edition – Moscow, 1866 – Columns 625–632
*De Parello
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vyazemsky, Alexander
1727 births
1793 deaths
Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 1st class
Recipients of the Order of St. Anna
People of the Seven Years' War
Active Privy Councillor (Russian Empire)
Burials at the Annunciation Church of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra