Eduard Andreevich Stoeckl (russian: Эдуард Андреевич Стекль) (1804 in

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

– January 26, 1892 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 ...

) was a Russian diplomat best known today for having negotiated the American purchase of Alaska on behalf of the Russian government.

Personal life

He was son of Andreas von Stoeckl, Austrian diplomat in

, and Maria Pisani, daughter of

Nicolas Pisani Nicolas or Nicolás may refer to: People Given name * Nicolas (given name) Mononym * Nicolas (footballer, born 1999), Brazilian footballer * Nicolas (footballer, born 2000), Brazilian footballer Surname Nicolas * Dafydd Nicolas (c.1705–1774), ...

, Russian

dragoman A dragoman or Interpretation was an interpreter, translator, and official guide between Turkish-, Arabic-, and Persian-speaking countries and polities of the Middle East and European embassies, consulates, vice-consulates and trading posts. A ...

Career

In 1850 he became ''

chargé d'affaires A ''chargé d'affaires'' (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador ...

'' of the Russian embassy in Washington, and in 1854 held the post of minister, vacant after death of

Aleksandr Bodisko Alexander de Bodisco (sometimes Alexander Bodisco) (October 30, 1786 – January 23, 1853) was the Russian Minister to the United States from 1837 to 1853. In 1840, at the age of 53, he married the 16-year old Harriet Beall Williams, which was a ...

. Like his predecessor, Stoeckl married an American woman, Elisa Howard. Stoeckl established close friendly relations with many American officials and politicians, including the senator and the future Secretary of State

William H. Seward William Henry Seward (May 16, 1801 – October 10, 1872) was an American politician who served as United States Secretary of State from 1861 to 1869, and earlier served as governor of New York and as a United States Senator. A determined oppon ...

, with whom he would later negotiate the Alaska purchase. Stoeckl advocated the sale of

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

(then known as

Russian America Russian America (russian: Русская Америка, Russkaya Amerika) was the name for the Russian Empire's colonial possessions in North America from 1799 to 1867. It consisted mostly of present-day Alaska in the United States, but a ...

) to the United States, asserting that this would prevent the United Kingdom from seizing the territory in case of

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

between the two countries and would allow Russia to concentrate its resources on Eastern

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

, particularly the

Amur River The Amur (russian: река́ Аму́р, ), or Heilong Jiang (, "Black Dragon River", ), is the world's List of longest rivers, tenth longest river, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China, Northeastern China (Inne ...

area. He also insisted that by doing so, Russia would avoid any future conflict with the United States, viewing further U.S. expansion in North America as inevitable.

Later life

Stoeckl signed the Alaska Treaty in March 1867. For successfully carrying out the negotiation, Tsar Alexander II rewarded him with US$25,000 and an annual pension of $6,000. Due to declining health, Stoeckl resigned in 1869. He spent the final years of his life in France and died in Paris on January 26, 1892.

In fiction

Eduard de Stoeckl is a character in the historical novel ''Forty-Ninth'' by Boris Pronsky and Craig Britton.

Bibliography

* Marie de Testa & Antoine Gautier, ''Le diplomate russe Eduard de Stoeckl (ca 1805-1892) et la cession de l'Alaska aux Etats-Unis'', in Drogmans et diplomates européens auprès de la Porte ottomane, éditions ISIS, Istanbul, 2003, pp. 463–469.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stoeckl, Eduard De 1804 births 1892 deaths Diplomats of the Russian Empire Russian America