 prince alexander andreyevich bezborodko (; ; 14 march 1747&nbsp;â 6 april 1799) was the grand chancellor of russia and chief architect of catherine the great's foreign policy after the death of nikita panin. ==early life== oleksandr bezborodko was born at hlukhiv on 14 march 1747. he was educated at home and in the kyiv-mohyla academy. upon finishing his education, he entered the public service as a clerk in the office of count p. a. rumyantsev, then governor-general of ukraine, whom he accompanied to the turkish war in 1768. he was present at the engagements of larga and kagul, and at the storming of silistria. on the conclusion of the treaty of kÃ¼Ã§Ã¼k kaynarca (1774) the field marshal recommended him to catherine ii, and she appointed him in 1775 her petition-secretary. he thus had the opportunity of impressing the empress with his brilliant gifts, the most remarkable of which were exquisite manners, a marvellous memory and a clear and pregnant style. at the same time he set to work to acquire the principal european languages, especially french, of which he became a master. it was at this time that he wrote his historical sketches of the tatar wars and of ukraine. his activity was prodigious, and catherine called him her factotum. in 1780 he accompanied her on her journey through novorossiya, meeting the emperor joseph, who urged him to study diplomacy. on his return from a delicate mission to copenhagen, he presented to the empress "a memorial on political affairs" which comprised the first plan of a partition of turkey between russia and austria. this document was transmitted almost word for word to vienna as the russian proposals. he followed this up by epitomised historical information concerning moldavia. for these two state papers he was rewarded with the posts of "plenipotentiary for all negotiations " in the foreign office and postmaster-general. ==career under catherine ii== from this time he was inseparably associated with catherine in all important diplomatic affairs, though officially he was the subordinate of the vice-chancellor, count ivan osterman. he wrote all the most important despatches to the russian ministers abroad, concluded and subscribed all treaties, and performed all the functions of a secretary of state. he identified himself entirely with catherine's political ideas, even with that of re-establishing the greek empire under her grandson [[grand duke constantin
1747_births 1799_deaths 18th-century_Russian_diplomats Foreign_ministers_of_the_Russian_Empire Members_of_the_Russian_Academy National_University_of_Kyiv-Mohyla_Academy_alumni People_from_Hlukhiv Recipients_of_the_Order_of_St._Andrew Russian_nobility Ukrainian_people_in_the_Russian_Empire