Count Nikolay Nikolayevich Novosiltsev (Novoselcev) (russian: Граф Никола́й Никола́евич Новосельцев (Новоси́льцев), pl, Nikołaj Nowosilcow) (1761–1838) was a Russian statesman and a close aide to

Alexander I of Russia Alexander I (; – ) was Emperor of Russia from 1801, the first King of Congress Poland from 1815, and the Grand Duke of Finland from 1809 to his death. He was the eldest son of Emperor Paul I and Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg. The son o ...

Life

He was a natural son of a wealthy nobleman, married to the aunt of Count

Pavel Stroganov Count Pavel Alexandrovich Stroganov (russian: Граф Павел Александрович Строганов; born June 7 (18), 1774, in Paris; died June 10 (22), 1817) was a Russian military commander and statesman, Lieutenant General, Adjutan ...

. This relationship secured for him a place in the Privy Committee that outlined the

Government reform of Alexander I The early Russian system of government instituted by Peter the Great, which consisted of various state committees, each named ''Collegium'' with subordinate departments named '' Prikaz'', was largely outdated by the 19th century. The responsibi ...

. He drafted a constitution for the Russian empire that mirrored the constitution suggested by Speransky; unlike Speransky's, Novosiltsev's constitutional suggestion had been accepted by Alexander but the plan was abandoned after Alexander's death in 1825. In 1804 to 1805, Sweden, Russia, England, Austria, Prussia and the Kingdom of Naples planned to form a coalition against Bonaparte's France. Alexander I sent Novosiltsev to mediate in the negotiations between England and France after Napoleon made a peace offering to England when he learned of the anti-Gallic coalition. Before leaving Berlin, Novosiltsev learned that Bonaparte had taken both Genoa and Lucca, and notified Alexander, ending the mediation towards peace in 1805. From 1813 to 1815 he governed the finances of the occupied

Duchy of Warsaw The Duchy of Warsaw ( pl, Księstwo Warszawskie, french: Duché de Varsovie, german: Herzogtum Warschau), also known as the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and Napoleonic Poland, was a French client state established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807, during ...

and between 1815 and 1830 he served in the government of the

Congress Kingdom of Poland Congress Poland, Congress Kingdom of Poland, or Russian Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It ...

. In the Kingdom of Poland, he was the tsar's commissar at the

Council of State A Council of State is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head o ...

.Jadwiga Nadzieja (1988). Od Jakobina do księcia namiestnika. Wydawnictwo "Śląsk". , p.235-236 He was very influential, widely feared, and one of the ''de facto'' rulers of the country. He organized and led the Russian secret police there ( okhrana). He was responsible for arrests of student activists in the Philomaths and Filaret Association in 1823. From 1824, he was curator of

Vilna Governorate The Vilna Governorate (1795–1915; also known as Lithuania-Vilnius Governorate from 1801 until 1840; russian: Виленская губерния, ''Vilenskaya guberniya'', lt, Vilniaus gubernija, pl, gubernia wileńska) or Government of V ...

's education and science. He was a supporter of Russification policies, persecuted many pro-Polish organizations and activists, and was detested by contemporary Polish society. He concluded his career as the Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers. Nicholas I made him a count in 1835.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Novosiltsev, Nikolay Nikolayevich 1761 births 1836 deaths Russian nobility Politicians of the Russian Empire Members of the State Council (Russian Empire) Members of the Russian Academy Honorary members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences Government officials of Congress Poland Russian people of the Kościuszko Uprising Burials at the Dukhovskaya Church