Hovhannes Lazarian (), better known under his Russian name as Ivan Lazarevich Lazarev (, 4 December 1735 – 5 November 1801), was a Russian-Armenian financier and millionaire. A court banker to

Catherine the Great 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 I ...

, he was the only Armenian to receive the title of

Imperial Count Imperial Count (, ) was a title in the Holy Roman Empire. During the medieval era, it was used exclusively to designate the holder of an imperial county, that is, a fief held directly ( immediately) from the emperor, rather than from a prince wh ...

(''Reichsgraf'', 1788). He was born in the Armenian quarter of

Isfahan Isfahan or Esfahan ( ) is a city in the Central District (Isfahan County), Central District of Isfahan County, Isfahan province, Iran. It is the capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is located south of Tehran. The city ...

, where his ancestors had been mayors since the early 17th century. His father Agasar (1700-1782) claimed descent from Prince Manuk Lazarianz who had defended Julfa from

Shah Abbas I Abbas I (; 27 January 1571 – 19 January 1629), commonly known as Abbas the Great (), was the fifth Safavid shah of Iran from 1588 to 1629. The third son of Shah Mohammad Khodabanda, he is generally considered one of the most important rulers ...

. After moving to Isfahan, Manuk helped establish an Armenian colony and was made its governor. His son Lazar headed Abbas II's mint and treasury in Isfahan. Agasar Lazarian started trading with Russia at the time of

Peter the Great Peter I (, ; – ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...

's Persian war. After the death of

Nader Shah Nader Shah Afshar (; 6 August 1698 or 22 October 1688 – 20 June 1747) was the founder of the Afsharid dynasty of Iran and one of the most powerful rulers in Iranian history, ruling as shah of Iran (Persia) from 1736 to 1747, when he was a ...

(1747) Agasar and his sons left Persia and moved to

Astrakhan Astrakhan (, ) is the largest city and administrative centre of Astrakhan Oblast in southern Russia. The city lies on two banks of the Volga, in the upper part of the Volga Delta, on eleven islands of the Caspian Depression, from the Caspian Se ...

before settling in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. After establishing a silk mill in

Fryanovo Fryanovo () is an urban locality (an urban-type settlement) in Shchyolkovsky District of Moscow Oblast, Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and depende ...

(1735), they were recognized as the exclusive purveyors of silk and some other luxury items to the court of

Empress Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elizaveta Petrovna (; ) was Empress of Russia from 1741 until her death in 1762. She remains one of the most popular Russian monarchs because of her decision not to execute a single person during her reign, her numerous constructio ...

. They received the title of ''

Freiherr (; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , ) and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and in ...

'' from Empress

Maria Theresa Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia Walburga Amalia Christina; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was the ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position suo jure, in her own right. She was the ...

in 1768. It was Hovhannes who moved the family's operations from Moscow to

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. He was the intermediary between Count

Grigory Orlov Prince Grigory Grigoryevich Orlov (; 17 October 1734 – 24 April 1783) was a favourite of the Empress Catherine the Great of Russia, Prince of the Holy Roman Empire (1772), state and military figure, collector, patron of arts, and General-in ...

and Shaffrass, a Persian millionaire (and supposedly his wife's uncle), in the purchase of the

Great Mogul Diamond The Great Mogul was a large diamond that is believed to have been discovered around 1650, most probably around the Kollur Mine in the Golconda region of southern India. Tavernier described the diamond thus: "The stone is of the same form as ...

, which came to be known as the Orlov Diamond. His great wealth allowed him to buy from the

Stroganov family The Stroganov family (Russian: Стро́гановы, Стро́гоновы; French: Stroganoff) emerged as a preeminent Russian noble family renowned for their roles as merchants, industrialists, landowners, and statesmen. By the reign of Iva ...

some important steel works and 115 000 hectares of land in the Northern Urals, where he also set up several new mills. At the time of his death he owned more than 16 000 male serfs. When Catherine the Great asked Lazarev to advise her on the oriental policies in 1774, he drew up a plan of reviving the state of

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

, with

Prince Potemkin Prince Grigory Aleksandrovich Potemkin-Tauricheski (A number of dates as late as 1742 have been found on record; the veracity of any one is unlikely to be proved. This is his "official" birth-date as given on his tombstone.) was a Russian mi ...

as its monarch. After the

Treaty of Jassy The Treaty of Jassy, signed at Jassy (''Iași'') in Moldavia (presently in Romania), was a pact between the Russian and Ottoman Empires ending the Russo-Turkish War of 1787–92 and confirming Russia's increasing dominance in the Black Sea. T ...

he came up with a more feasible plan of resettling Armenians from the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

to the lands conquered by Russia in the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

region (so that they could practise their faith openly). He helped thousands of Armenians to find a new home in the

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

Kizlyar Kizlyar (; ; , ''Qızlar'') is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in the Republic of Dagestan, Russia, located on the border with the Chechen Republic in the river delta, delta of the Terek River northwest of Makhachkala, the cap ...

, New Nakhichevan and

Grigoriopol Grigoriopol (, , , ) is a town in the Administrative-Territorial Units of the Left Bank of the Dniester, Moldova. It is the seat of the Grigoriopol District of Transnistria. The city is located on the left (eastern) bank of the river Dniester, ...

is. Lazarev bought the royal manor of

Ropsha Ropsha ( rus, Ропша, p=ˈropʂə) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, settlement in Lomonosovsky District, Leningrad Oblast, Lomonosovsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, situated about south of Petergof, Peterhof and south ...

near the Russian capital and commissioned

Georg von Veldten Georg Friedrich Veldten, russified as Yury Matveyevich Felten (; 1730–1801) was a Russian Imperial architect who served at the Empress Catherine the Great's court. Yury Felten was born Georg Veldten, into a family of German immigrants to Russ ...

to build a new palace there. He financed the construction of

Saint Catherine's Armenian Church St. Catherine's Armenian Church (, ''Armyanskaya tserkov Svyatoy Yekaterini''; , ''Surb Katarine yekeghetsi'') is an Armenian Apostolic Church, Armenian Apostolic church on Nevsky Prospect, in central Saint Petersburg, Russia. Built in the 1770s, ...

in St Petersburg (also designed by Veldten). At his estate in

near Moscow he built a Palladian villa, which still stands. After the death of his only son, Count Lazarev bequeathed his property to his brother Ovakim (Ekim) and asked him to set up a Moscow school for poor Armenian children, which materialized as the

Lazarev Institute of Oriental Languages The Lazarev Institute of Oriental Languages, () established in 1815, was a school specializing in orientalism, with a particular focus on that of Armenia, and was the principal cultural center of the Armenian diaspora in Moscow, Russia. Many Russi ...

. His fortune eventually came into the hands of Prince Abamelik.

Awards

Order of Saint John of Jerusalem The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there u ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lazarev, Ivan Lazarevich 1735 births 1801 deaths Businesspeople from Isfahan Persian Armenians Lazarev family Iranian emigrants to the Russian Empire 18th-century people from Safavid Iran Armenian people from the Russian Empire Ethnic Armenian philanthropists 18th-century businesspeople from the Russian Empire Businesspeople in steel Armenian jewellers Armenian bankers Counts of the Holy Roman Empire Bankers from the Russian Empire

Awards

References

Further reading