Count Alexander Romanovich Vorontsov () (4 February 17412 December 1805) was the Chancellor of the Russian Empire during the early years of

Alexander I Alexander I may refer to: * Alexander I of Macedon, king of Macedon from 495 to 454 BC * Alexander I of Epirus (370–331 BC), king of Epirus * Alexander I Theopator Euergetes, surnamed Balas, ruler of the Seleucid Empire 150-145 BC * Pope Alex ...

's reign. He began his career at the age of fifteen in the Izmailovsky regiment of the Guards. He was the son of Russian General-in-chief Roman Illarionovich Vorontsov (1707–1783) and Marfa Ivanovna Surmina (1718–1745). In 1759, Alexander's uncle, the grand chancellor Mikhail Illarionovich Vorontsov, sent him to

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and

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to train him in

diplomacy Diplomacy is the communication by representatives of State (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, non-governmental institutions intended to influence events in the international syste ...

. Under Peter III, who was in love with his sister Elizabeth, he represented Russia for a short time at the

court of St James's The Court of St James's serves as the official royal court for the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. The court formally receives all ambassadors accredited to the United Kingdom. Likewise, ambassadors representing the United Kingdom are formally ...

Catherine II Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter III ...

created him a

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

and president of the Board of Trade; but she never liked him, and ultimately (1791) compelled him to retire from public life. In 1802, Alexander I summoned him back to office and appointed him imperial chancellor. This was the period of the triumph of the Vorontsovs, who had always insisted on the necessity of a close union with

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and

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,Карабанов П. Ф. Списки замечательных лиц русских / �оп.: П. В. Долгоруков – М.: Унив. тип., 1860. – 112 с. – (Из 1-й кн. «Чтений в О-ве истории и древностей рос. при Моск. ун-те. 1860») in opposition to

Nikita Panin Count Nikita Ivanovich Panin (; ) 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 the Northern Alliance, closer ties with Frederick the ...

and his followers, who had leaned on

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Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

till the outbreak of the French Revolution made friendship with France impossible. Vorontsov was also an implacable opponent of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

Bonaparte, whose "topsy-turvyness" he was never weary of denouncing. The rupture with Napoleon in 1803 is mainly attributable to him. He also took a leading part in the internal administration and was in favour of a thorough reform of the

Governing Senate From 1711 to 1917, the Governing Senate was the highest legislative, judicial, and executive body subordinate to the Russian emperors. The senate was instituted by Peter the Great to replace the Boyar Duma and lasted until the very end of the R ...

and the ministries. He retired in 1804. A lifelong bachelor, he possessed an extraordinary memory and a firm and wide grasp of history. His ''Memoirs of My Own Times'' is printed in vol. VII of the ''Vorontsov Archives''.

Family members

Vorontsov The House of Vorontsov (), also Woroncow and de Woroncow-Wojtkowicz, is the name of a Russian noble family whose members attained the dignity of Counts of the Holy Roman Empire in 1744 and became Princes of the Russian Empire on 6 April 1845 ...

– his family * Mikhail Illarionovich Vorontsov – his uncle *

Ekaterina Romanovna Vorontsova-Dashkova Princess Yekaterina Romanovna Dashkova (born Countess Vorontsova; ; 28 March 1743 – 15 January 1810) This source reports that Prince Dashkov died in 1761. was an influential noblewoman, a major figure of the Russian Enlightenment and a close f ...

– his sister * Elizaveta Vorontsova – his sister * Semyon Romanovich Vorontsov – his brother *

Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov Prince Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov (; ) was a Russian nobleman and field-marshal, renowned for his success in the Napoleonic Wars and most famous for his participation in the Caucasian War from 1844 to 1853. Early life Vorontsov was born on ...

– his nephew.

References

External links

Online Museum of the Vorontsov Family
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vorontsov, Alexander Romanovich Senators of the Russian Empire Foreign ministers of the Russian Empire Chancellors of the Russian Empire Members of the State Council (Russian Empire) Counts of the Russian Empire 1741 births 1805 deaths Ambassadors of the Russian Empire 18th-century people from the Russian Empire

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

Ambassadors of the Russian Empire to the United Kingdom Ambassadors of the Russian Empire to the Netherlands