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 ...

Yakov Petrovich Shakhovskoy (russian: Яков Петрович Шаховской) (8 October 1705 – 23 July 1777) was a Russian statesman. Prince Yakov Shakhovskoy was born in the family of Prince Pyotr Ivanovich Shakhovskoy, who died when Yakov was several months old. His mother remarried twice, but the names of her husbands are unknown. From the age of 9 years Yakov was brought up by his uncle, Prince Aleksey Shakhovskoy, who was at this time a guard officer. He started his military service in 1720 as a soldier of

Leib-Guard The Russian Imperial Guard, officially known as the Leib Guard (russian: Лейб-гвардия ''Leyb-gvardiya'', from German ''Leib'' "body"; cf. Life Guards / Bodyguard) were military units serving as personal guards of the Emperor of Ru ...

Semyonovsky Regiment The Semyonovsky Lifeguard Regiment (, ) was one of the two oldest guard regiments of the Imperial Russian Army. The other one was the Preobrazhensky Regiment. In 2013, it was recreated for the Russian Armed Forces as a rifle regiment, its na ...

. In 1725 he became a first lieutenant and in the reign of Peter II was promoted to captain. In 1730 he was transferred to the Сavalry guards. In the middle of 1730s Yakov Shakhovsky served under his uncle, who governed

Malorossia Little Russia (russian: Малороссия/Малая Россия, Malaya Rossiya/Malorossiya; uk, Малоросія/Мала Росія, Malorosiia/Mala Rosiia), also known in English as Malorussia, Little Rus' (russian: Малая Ру� ...

from December 1731, and on his behalf often personally reported to Empress Anna Ioanovna and Duke Biron on the Ukrainian affairs. After the deaths of his uncle in April 1737, Shakhovsky was forced to leave the civil service and took part in the

Russo-Turkish War The Russo-Turkish wars (or Ottoman–Russian wars) were a series of twelve wars fought between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire between the 16th and 20th centuries. It was one of the longest series of military conflicts in European histo ...

with the Leib-Guard Сavalry regiment. He fought in the

Ochakov Ochakiv, also known as Ochakov ( uk, Оча́ків, ; russian: Очаков; crh, Özü; ro, Oceacov and ''Vozia'', and Alektor ( in Greek), is a small city in Mykolaiv Raion, Mykolaiv Oblast (region) of southern Ukraine. It hosts the adminis ...

Dnieper } The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and ...

and Khotin operations under command of

Burkhard Christoph von Munnich Burchard (and all variant spellings) may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Burchard (name), Burchard and all related spellings as a given name and surname * Burckhardt, or (de) Bourcard, a family of the Basel patriciate * Burchard-Bélaváry family, an ...

. During the regency of Biron and the short reign of Empress

Anna Leopoldovna Anna Leopoldovna (russian: А́нна Леопо́льдовна; 18 December 1718 – 19 March 1746), born Elisabeth Katharina Christine von Mecklenburg-Schwerin and also known as Anna Carlovna (А́нна Ка́рловна), was regent of R ...

, the position of Shakhovskoy was precarious, although he was the Head of Police and senator for a short time. When Empress

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 ...

usurped the throne, all the protectors of Shakhovsky were arrested and he was forced to retire, yet the patronage of Prince

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- ...

helped him secure the position of the General-Prosecutor of the

Holy Synod In several of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches and Eastern Catholic Churches, the patriarch or head bishop is elected by a group of bishops called the Holy Synod. For instance, the Holy Synod is a ruling body of the Georgian Orthodox C ...

. Shakhovsky gained reputation as the most exacting prosecutor in decades and earned the animosity of many powerful clerics, who entreated Elizabeth to remove Shakhovskoy from his post. However, he presided over the Holy Synod for 12 years. For his integrity he was rewarded with the rank of

Privy Counsellor The Privy Council (PC), officially His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises senior politicians who are current or former members of ei ...

and orders of Alexander Nevsky and of St. Anna. On 29 May 1753 he became General-krigskomissar and at this post strictly controlled state expenditures 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 (175 ...

. On 15 August 1760, Shakhovskoy become the General-Prosecutor and simultaneously the Conference-minister. On 25 December 1761 Emperor Peter III, who just assumed the throne, fired Shakhovskoy from his post. The short reign of Peter III ended with a coup d'etat, and

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 ...

returned Shakhovsky for the service, appointing him a senator. On the day of her coronation the Empress granted to 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 ...

. On 1 April 1766 Yakov Shakhovsky laid down his offices and settled 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 millio ...

. His stormy life, rich with events, is the subject of his interesting "Notes", which were for the first time published in 1810.

External links

Biography at the site of Ministry of Justice
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shakhovsky, Yakov Petrovich 1705 births 1777 deaths Russian nobility Most Holy Synod