Prince Grigory Grigoryevich Orlov (russian: Князь Григорий Григорьевич Орлов; 6 October 1734,
Bezhetsky Uyezd Bezhetsky Uyezd (''Бежецкий уезд'') was one of the subdivisions of the Tver Governorate of the Russian Empire. Its capital was Bezhetsk. Bezhetsky Uyezd was situated in the eastern part of the governorate (in the eastern part of the pres ...
– 13 April 1783,
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
) was a
favourite
A favourite (British English) or favorite (American English) was the intimate companion of a ruler or other important person. In post-classical and early-modern Europe, among other times and places, the term was used of individuals delegated s ...
of the 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 ...
of Russia. He became a leader of the 1762 coup which overthrew Catherine's husband
Peter III of Russia and installed Catherine as empress. For some years he was virtually co-ruler with her, but his repeated infidelities and the enmity of Catherine's other advisers led to his fall from power.
Overthrow of Peter
Orlov was the son of Gregory
Orlov, governor of Great
Novgorod. He had a younger brother
Alexei Grigoryevich Orlov
Count Alexei Grigoryevich Orlov (russian: Алексей Григорьевич Орлов; – ) was a Russian soldier and statesman, who rose to prominence during the reign of Catherine the Great.
Orlov served in the Imperial Russian A ...
who would equally gain military and political prominence in Russia. Grigory Orlov was educated in the corps of
cadets at
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 ...
, began his military career in 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 (175 ...
, and was wounded at
Zorndorf. While serving in the capital as an artillery officer, he caught the fancy of the then Grand Duchess
Catherine Alekseyevna, and was the leader of the conspiracy which resulted in the
dethronement and death of her husband, Emperor
Peter III (1762).
After the event, Empress Catherine raised him to the rank of count and made him adjutant-general, director-general of engineers, and general-in-chief. They had an illegitimate son,
Aleksey
Alexey, Alexei, Alexie, Aleksei, or Aleksey (russian: Алексе́й ; bg, Алексей ) is a Russian and Bulgarian male first name deriving from the Greek ''Aléxios'' (), meaning "Defender", and thus of the same origin as the Latin Al ...
who was named after the village of
Bobriki
Novomoskovsk (russian: Новомоско́вск) is a city and the administrative center of Novomoskovsky District in Tula Oblast, Russia, located at the source of the Don and Shat Rivers. Population: 143,000 (1974); 107,000 (1959); 76,000 ...
, and from whom descends the line of the
Count Bobrinsky. Orlov's influence became paramount after the discovery of the Khitrovo plot to murder the whole Orlov family. At one time, the Empress thought of marrying her favorite, but the plan was frustrated by her influential advisor
Nikita Panin
Count Nikita Ivanovich Panin (russian: Ники́та Ива́нович Па́нин) () was an influential Russian statesman and political mentor to Catherine the Great for the first 18 years of her reign (1762-1780). In that role, he advocated ...
.
Years of power
Orlov was no statesman, but he had a quick wit, a fairly accurate appreciation of current events, and was a useful and sympathetic counselor during the earlier portion of Catherine's reign. He entered with enthusiasm, from both patriotic and economic motives, into the question of the improvement of the condition of the serfs and their partial emancipation. As the president 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 ...
, he was also their most prominent advocate in
the great commission of 1767, though he aimed primarily at pleasing the empress, who affected great liberality in her earlier years.
He was one of the earliest propagandists of the
Slavophile idea of the emancipation of the Christians from
Ottoman rule. In 1771, he was sent as first Russian
plenipotentiary
A ''plenipotentiary'' (from the Latin ''plenus'' "full" and ''potens'' "powerful") is a diplomat who has full powers—authorization to sign a treaty or convention on behalf of his or her sovereign. When used as a noun more generally, the word ...
to the peace congress of
Focşani, but he failed in his mission, owing partly to the obstinacy of the Ottomans, and partly (according to Panin) to his own outrageous insolence.
Fall
Meanwhile, Orlov's enemies, led by Panin, were attempting to break up the relationship between Orlov and Catherine. They informed the empress that Orlov had seduced his 13-year-old relative. A handsome young officer,
Alexander Vasilchikov
Alexander Semyonovich Vasilchikov (russian: Александр Семёнович Васильчиков, tr. ; 1746–1813) was a Russian aristocrat who became the lover of Catherine the Great from 1772 to 1774.
Vasilchikov was an ensign in the ...
, was installed as her new lover.
To rekindle Catherine's affection, Grigory presented to her one of the greatest diamonds of the world, known ever since as the
Orlov Diamond
The Orlov (sometimes spelled Orloff), also known as The Great Mughal Diamond, is a large diamond of Indian origin, currently displayed as a part of the Diamond Fund collection of Moscow's Kremlin Armoury. It is described as having the shape and ...
. By the time he returned – without permission – to his
Marble Palace
Marble Palace (Мраморный дворец) is one of the first Neoclassical palaces in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is situated between the Field of Mars and Palace Quay, slightly to the east from New Michael Palace.
Design and pre-1917 o ...
at Saint Petersburg, Orlov found himself superseded in the empress's favor by the younger
Grigory Potemkin
Prince Grigory Aleksandrovich Potemkin-Tauricheski (, also , ;, rus, Князь Григо́рий Алекса́ндрович Потёмкин-Таври́ческий, Knjaz' Grigórij Aleksándrovich Potjómkin-Tavrícheskij, ɡrʲɪˈɡ ...
. When Potemkin, in 1774, superseded Vasilchikov as the queen's lover, Orlov became of no account at court and went abroad for some years. He returned to Russia a few months prior to his death in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
in 1783.
Later years and death
In 1777, at the age of 43, he married his 18-year-old relative, Catherine Zinovyeva, variously described by sources as either a niece or a cousin, but left no children by that marriage. Catherine died of tuberculosis in 1781, at the age of 23, in
Lausanne, Switzerland
Lausanne ( , , , ) ; it, Losanna; rm, Losanna. is the capital and largest city of the Swiss French speaking canton of Vaud. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway between the Jura Mountains and the Alps, and fac ...
. Her tomb, from which her body was removed in 1910, still remains in
Cathedrale Notre-Dame in Lausanne.
For some time before his death, he suffered from a serious
mental illness, probably a form of
dementia
Dementia is a disorder which manifests as a set of related symptoms, which usually surfaces when the brain is damaged by injury or disease. The symptoms involve progressive impairments in memory, thinking, and behavior, which negatively affe ...
, which progressed towards complete mental collapse. After his death, the Empress Catherine wrote, "Although I have long been prepared for this sad event, it has nevertheless shaken me to the depths of my being. People may console me, I may even repeat to myself all those things which it is customary to say on such occasions--my only answer is strangled tears. I suffer intolerably."
[Kaus, Gina (trans June Head), ''Catherine: The Portrait of An Empress'', Viking Press, New York, 1935, p.314.]
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Orlov, Grigory Grigoryevich
1734 births
1783 deaths
People from Bezhetsky District
Russian nobility
Lovers of Catherine the Great
Russian military personnel of the Seven Years' War
Princes of the Holy Roman Empire
18th-century diplomats of the Russian Empire
Governors-General of Moscow
Russian royal favourites