Count Sergei Vasilievich Saltykov ( rus, link=no, Сергей Васильевич Салтыков, p=sʲɪrˈɡʲej vɐˈsʲilʲjɪvʲɪtɕ səltɨˈkof; c. 1726 – 1765) was a Russian officer (

chamberlain Chamberlain may refer to: Profession *Chamberlain (office), the officer in charge of managing the household of a sovereign or other noble figure People *Chamberlain (surname) **Houston Stewart Chamberlain (1855–1927), German-British philosop ...

) who became the first lover of Empress

Catherine the Great , 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 Anhal ...

after her arrival in Russia.

Life

Saltykov was alleged to be the biological father of Catherine II's son,

Paul I of Russia Paul I (russian: Па́вел I Петро́вич ; – ) was Emperor of Russia from 1796 until his assassination. Officially, he was the only son of Peter III of Russia, Peter III and Catherine the Great, although Catherine hinted that he w ...

, and this was heavily implied in Catherine's memoirs. It was reported that Paul was "almost certainly the child of atherine'slover." However, Paul greatly resembled his official father

Peter III of Russia Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

in character and appearance. There was very little in common between the pugnacious, stocky Paul and tall, handsome Sergei Saltykov. In her memoirs, though, Catherine noted the "ugliness" of Saltykov's brother.Montefiore, Sebag, ''The Prince of Princes: The Life of Potemkin'', (St. Martin's Press) New York, NY, 2000. The

Saltykov The House of Saltykov ( rus, Салтыков, p=səltɨˈkof) is the name of an old Russian noble family which can trace their ancestry back to 1240. In March 1730 the family was awarded with the title of Count in Russia, granted to them by Empre ...

s were an ancient

boyar A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the Feudalism, feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Kievan Rus', Bulgarian Empire, Bulgaria, Russian nobility, Russia, Boyars of Moldavia and Wallachia, Wallachia and ...

family which rivaled the

Romanovs The House of Romanov (also transcribed Romanoff; rus, Романовы, Románovy, rɐˈmanəvɨ) was the reigning imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917. They achieved prominence after the Tsarina, Anastasia Romanova, was married to t ...

in prominence. Saltykov was also descended from several branches of the

Rurikid The Rurik dynasty ( be, Ру́рыкавічы, Rúrykavichy; russian: Рю́риковичи, Ryúrikovichi, ; uk, Рю́риковичі, Riúrykovychi, ; literally "sons/scions of Rurik"), also known as the Rurikid dynasty or Rurikids, was ...

and

Gediminid The House of Gediminid or simply the Gediminids ( lt, Gediminaičiai, sgs, Gedėmėnātē, be, Гедзімінавічы, pl, Giedyminowicze, uk, Гедиміновичі;) were a dynasty of monarchs in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania that reig ...

dynasties through the female line as well as from Tatiana Feodorovna, the sister of the first Romanov tsar Michael I. Tsarina Praskovia, the mother of

Empress Anna Anna Ioannovna (russian: Анна Иоанновна; ), also russified as Anna Ivanovna and sometimes anglicized as Anne, served as regent of the duchy of Courland from 1711 until 1730 and then ruled as Empress of Russia from 1730 to 1740. Much ...

, also came from this clan, although her branch was only distantly related to the grandfather of Sergei. Sergei's wife Matryona Balk was named after her grandmother Modesta Mons, and was the sister of

Anna Mons Anna Mons (russian: Áнна Монс, link=no; 1 January 1672, Moscow – 15 August 1714) was a royal mistress of Peter the Great. Royal mistress In 1691, during one of his visits to the German Quarter, young Peter I of Russia became ena ...

and

Willem Mons Willem () is a Dutch and West FrisianRienk de Haan, ''Fryske Foarnammen'', Leeuwarden, 2002 (Friese Pers Boekerij), , p. 158. masculine given name. The name is Germanic, and can be seen as the Dutch equivalent of the name William in English, Gui ...

. Modesta (better known under her Russian name Matryona) had been publicly whipped in 1718 and exiled to

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 ...

after

Peter the Great Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...

had learnt about her brother Willem's affair with his wife

Catherine Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria. In the early Christ ...

References

External links

Icons of Power: Empress of Ambition Catherine the Great
1720s births 1765 deaths Year of birth uncertain Russian nobility Lovers of Catherine the Great 18th-century people from the Russian Empire Ambassadors of the Russian Empire to France {{Russia-noble-stub