Count (later Prince) Andrey Kirillovich Razumovsky
[russian: Андре́й Кири́ллович Разумо́вский, , german: Andreas von Rasumofsky] (2 November 1752 – 23 September 1836) was a Russian Imperial diplomat who spent many years of his life in Vienna. His name is transliterated differently in different English sources, including spellings Razumovsky, Rasumofsky, and Rasoumoffsky.
[ This last spelling was used by the British Government for its official translation from the French of the Paris peace treaty of 1815 and the ]Final Act of the Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...
.
Life
Razumovsky was the son of
Kirill Razumovsky
Count Kirill Grigoryevich Razumovski, anglicized as Cyril Grigoryevich Razumovski (russian: Кирилл Григорьевич Разумовский, uk, Кирило Григорович Розумовський ''Kyrylo Hryhorovych Rozumovs ...
, the last
Hetman of Zaporizhian Host and of , a cousin of Tsarina
Elizabeth of Russia
Elizabeth Petrovna (russian: Елизаве́та (Елисаве́та) Петро́вна) (), also known as Yelisaveta or Elizaveta, reigned as Empress of Russia from 1741 until her death in 1762. She remains one of the most popular List of ...
. He was also a nephew of the Tsarina's lover,
Aleksey Grigorievich Razumovsky, called the "Night Emperor" of Russia. The elder Rasumovsky's late
Baroque palace on the
Nevsky Prospekt
Nevsky Prospect ( rus, Не́вский проспе́кт, r=Nevsky Prospekt, p=ˈnʲɛfskʲɪj prɐˈspʲɛkt) is the main street (high street) in the federal city of St. Petersburg in Russia. It takes its name from the Alexander Nevsky L ...
is a minor landmark in
Saint 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 ...
. In 1792 Andrey Kirillovitch was appointed the
Tsar's diplomatic representative to the
Habsburg court in
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
, one of the crucial diplomatic posts during the
Napoleonic era
The Napoleonic era is a period in the history of France and Europe. It is generally classified as including the fourth and final stage of the French Revolution, the first being the National Assembly, the second being the Legislativ ...
.
In 1779 Razumovsky became the first Russian ambassador in the
Kingdom of Naples.
He was a chief negotiator during the
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...
that re-organised Europe in 1814, and asserted Russian rights in Poland.
In 1808 he established a
house string quartet consisting of
Ignaz Schuppanzigh
Ignaz Schuppanzigh (20 July Michael Lorenz"Four more months for Ignaz Schuppanzigh" 13 August 2012] 1776 – 2 March 1830) was an Austrian violinist, friend and teacher of Ludwig van Beethoven, Beethoven, and leader of Count Razumovsky's privat ...
, Louis Sina,
Franz Weiss (violist), Franz Weiss, and
Joseph Linke Joseph Linke (also spelled Joseph Lincke, Josef Linke; 8 June 1783 – 26 March 1837) was a cellist and composer who had a distinguished career in Vienna, as a soloist and as a member of the Schuppanzigh Quartet. He took part in the first performan ...
. Razumovsky was an accomplished amateur violinist, and also known as a competent
torban
The torban ( ua, Торбан, also ''teorban'' or ''Ukrainian theorbo'') is a Ukrainian musical instrument that combines the features of the Baroque lute with those of the psaltery. The Тorban differs from the more common European bass lute ...
(see also:
theorbo
The theorbo is a plucked string instrument of the lute family, with an extended neck and a second pegbox. Like a lute, a theorbo has a curved-back sound box (a hollow box) with a wooden top, typically with a sound hole, and a neck extending ...
) player. The
Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna holds one of the four torbans known to have been in his possession. His commissioning
three string quartets from
Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...
in 1806 was the act that has made his name familiar. He asked Beethoven to include a Russian theme in each quartet: Beethoven included such kind of themes in the first two.
Razumovsky was the brother-in-law of another of Beethoven's patrons, Prince
Joseph Franz von Lobkowitz
Joseph Franz Maximilian, 7th Prince of Lobkowitz (also spelled ''Lobkowicz'') (8 December 1772 – 16 December 1816 . His first wife, Countess Elisabeth von Thun was a sister in law of Count Carl von
Lichnowsky
The House of Lichnowsky or House of Lichnovský is the name of an influential Czech aristocratic family of Silesian and Moravian origin, documented since the 14th century.
History
The noble family first appeared in the Duchy of Pless (Pszczyna) ...
.
The ''Palais Rasumofsky''
Razumovsky built a magnificent
Neoclassic palace worthy of the representative of
Alexander I Alexander I may refer to:
* Alexander I of Macedon, king of Macedon 495–454 BC
* Alexander I of Epirus (370–331 BC), king of Epirus
* Pope Alexander I (died 115), early bishop of Rome
* Pope Alexander I of Alexandria (died 320s), patriarch of ...
, at his own expense and to the designs of
Louis Montoyer
Louis Montoyer (1747, Mariemont, Austrian Netherlands, now Belgium – 5 June 1811, Vienna) was an 18th-century Belgian-Austrian architect, principally active in Brussels and Vienna.
Life
He worked in Brussels as an architect and building co ...
, on the
Landstraße
Landstraße (; Central Bavarian: ''Laundstrossn'') is the 3rd municipal district of Vienna, Austria (german: 3. Bezirk). It is near the center of Vienna and was established in the 19th century. Landstraße is a heavily populated urban area with m ...
, quite close to Vienna, and filled it with antiquities and modern works of art. In the morning of 31 December 1814, during the preparation of a ball with the Tsar
Alexander I Alexander I may refer to:
* Alexander I of Macedon, king of Macedon 495–454 BC
* Alexander I of Epirus (370–331 BC), king of Epirus
* Pope Alexander I (died 115), early bishop of Rome
* Pope Alexander I of Alexandria (died 320s), patriarch of ...
as guest of honor, a fire broke out in a temporary ballroom extension, setting the ballroom ablaze and burning out roomfuls of art in the back wing of the palace. Even though he was raised to
Prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. T ...
the following year, Razumovsky was never the same. He lived in
seclusion in Vienna until his death in 1836. In 1862 the street on which Razumovsky's palace is located was named Rasumofskygasse.
Conversion to Roman Catholicism
Razumovsky converted to Roman Catholicism
from his native religion, Russian Orthodoxy, under the influence of his second wife, the Countess Konstanze von Thürheim (1785–1867), whom he married in February 1816.
Andrey Razumovsky Musical Fest
On October 22, 2015 a long-awaited musical event - Andrey Razumovsky IV Regional musical festival-competition of young performers took place in Hetman Razumovsky Palace in
Baturin. This tradition started in 2012 in Baturin palace at the time of the 260 birthday anniversary of Andrey Razumovsky. He is world-known for his role as patron of
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...
who dedicated three String Quartets, Op. 59 1, 2 and 3, as well as the
5th
Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five.
Fifth or The Fifth may refer to:
* Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth"
* Fifth column, a political term
* Fifth disease, a contagious rash tha ...
and the
6th Symphonies to him.
See also
*
Razumovsky
The House of Razumovsky or Rozumovsky (, Ukrainian: ''Розумовський'', German: ''Razumofsky'') is the name Imperial Russian noble family of Zaporozhian Cossack origin from Siveria. The main family line became extinct in the 19th cen ...
, about his family
*
Naryshkin, about his family
*
Galitzine
The House of Golitsyn or Galitzine was one of the largest princely of the noble houses in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire. Among them were boyars, warlords, diplomats, generals (the Mikhailovichs), stewards, chamberlains, the richest ...
, about another Russian prince and patron of Beethoven
Notes
References
External links
Zerkalo Nedeli (Mirror Weekly) № 38, 1996(in Russian)
of Andrey Kyrillovich Razumovsky, aged 24, in the National Gallery of Victoria (Melbourne, Australia) The evolution of the three
Partitions of Poland during the end of the 18th century, leading to some 125 years of Polish political eclipse of the formerly secular powerful Lithuanian-Polish Kingdom until 1918 can be seen in the well informed page:
website of NHCP "Hetman's capital"(in Ukrainian)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Razumovsky, Andrey
1752 births
1836 deaths
People from Hlukhiv
Ukrainian people in the Russian Empire
Ambassadors of the Russian Empire to Austria
Active Privy Councillors, 1st class (Russian Empire)
American classical musicians
Converts to Roman Catholicism from Eastern Orthodoxy
Former Russian Orthodox Christians
Andrey
Andrey, Andrej or Andrei (in Cyrillic script: Андрей, Андреј or Андрэй) is a form of Andreas/Ἀνδρέας in Slavic languages and Romanian. People with the name include:
*Andrei of Polotsk ( – 1399), Lithuanian nobleman
* ...
Russian Roman Catholics
Politicians of the Russian Empire
Torbanists
Ambassadors of the Russian Empire to Denmark
R