François-Hubert Drouais, Portrait du prince D

Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Golitsyn or Gallitzin (

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

: Дмитрий Михайлович Голицын;

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

: ''Demetrius Michalowitsch von Gallitzin''; born 15 May 1721 in

Abo The ABO blood group system is used to denote the presence of one, both, or neither of the A and B antigens on erythrocytes. For human blood transfusions, it is the most important of the 43 different blood type (or group) classification system ...

, died 19 September 1793 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 ...

) was a Russian diplomat, philanthropist and art collector from the

Golitsyn family 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 me ...

. He was the son of Field Marshal Michael Gallitzin and grandson of Prince

Boris Kurakin Prince Boris Ivanovich Kurakin (russian: Князь Борис Иванович Куракин; 30 July 1676, Moscow – 28 October 1727, Paris) was the third permanent Russian ambassador abroad, succeeding Andrey Matveyev in The Hague and one ...

. In the late 1750s, Prince Gallitzin resided in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

where he headed the Russian embassy 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� ...

. His wife

Catherine Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria. In the early Christ ...

died there in 1761. Her liaison with actress

La Clairon Clair Josèphe Hippolyte Leris (25 January 1723 – 29 January 1803), known as Mademoiselle Clairon or La Clairon was a French actress, born at Condé-sur-l'Escaut, Hainaut, the daughter of an army sergeant. She is primarily known for devel ...

gained great notoriety. Catherine was the daughter of

Dimitrie Cantemir Dimitrie or Demetrius Cantemir (, russian: Дмитрий Кантемир; 26 October 1673 – 21 August 1723), also known by other spellings, was a Romanian prince, statesman, and man of letters, regarded as one of the most significant e ...

, the former ruler of

Moldavia Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and former principality in Centr ...

, by Princess

Anastasiya Trubetskaya Anastasija Ivanovna, Hereditary Princess of Hesse-Homburg and Princess Trubetskaya (russian: Анастасия Трубецкая; 1700-1755), was a Russian Imperial noblewoman, courtier, Princess of Moldavia and Landgravine of Hesse-Homburg. S ...

. She was also the sister of

Antiochus Cantemir Antiochus or Antioch Kantemir or Cantemir (russian: Антиох Дмитриевич Кантемир, ''Antiokh Dmitrievich Kantemir''; ro, Antioh Cantemir; tr, Antioh Kantemiroğlu; french: Antioche Cantemir; 8 September 1708 – 31 Mar ...

. From 1761 to 1792 he was Russian ambassador to Austria, with the poet

Ludwig Heinrich von Nicolay Ludwig Heinrich Freiherr von Nicolay (russian: Андре́й Льво́вич Никола́и, translit=Andréj L'vovič Nikolái; 25 December 1737, in Strasbourg, in Monrepos north of Vyborg) was a German poet of the Enlightenment. He serve ...

as his secretary.

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 ...

bestowed on him the

Order of St. Andrew The Order of St. Andrew the Apostle the First-Called (russian: Орден Святого апостола Андрея Первозванного, translit=Orden Svyatogo apostola Andreya Pervozvannogo) is the highest order conferred by both the ...

for negotiating the First Partition of Poland with

Emperor Joseph II Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: ''Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam''; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 29, 1780 un ...

. The prince was acclaimed for having returned to Russia the lands annexed by his patrilineal ancestor, Grand Duke

Gediminas Gediminas ( la, Gedeminne, ; – December 1341) was the king or Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1315 or 1316 until his death. He is credited with founding this political entity and expanding its territory which later spanned the area ranging from t ...

. In the winter of 1782

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

was engaged for all the concerts given by Gallitzin who "placed his carriage at my disposal both going and returning, and treated me in the handsomest manner possible".

Gallitzinberg The Gallitzinberg (449 m) is a forested hill in the West of Austria's capital, Vienna. While it is relatively inconspicuous in the broader context of the Northeastern end of the Wienerwald mountain range, it is nevertheless remarkable because of i ...

is the hill near

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

where the Russian ambassador built his residence (with an artificial Roman ruin and a round temple still standing). Gallitzinstraße in Vienna is also named after him. The childless Prince Gallitzin, wishing to keep the memory of his wife alive for

future generations Future generations are cohorts of hypothetical people not yet born. Future generations are contrasted with current and past generations, and evoked in order to encourage thinking about intergenerational equity. The moral patienthood of future ge ...

, spent a fortune to establish the Golitsyn Hospital in Moscow. His palace in Vienna boasted several hundred paintings by

Old Masters In art history, "Old Master" (or "old master")Old Masters De ...

. After his death, these paintings were exhibited in the gallery of the Golitsyn Hospital before being auctioned off in order to finance the hospital's extension.

References

External links

* 1721 births 1793 deaths Ambassadors of the Russian Empire to France Ambassadors of the Russian Empire to Austria Russian philanthropists Russian art collectors Politicians of the Russian Empire Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 1st class 18th-century people from the Russian Empire 18th-century diplomats of the Russian Empire Dmitry Mikhailovich Burials in Vienna Russian princes {{russia-diplomat-stub