Pavel Alexandrovich Stroganov

Count Pavel Alexandrovich Stroganov(Russian:Граф Павел Александрович Строганов; 18 June 1774 – 22 June 1817) was a Russian military commander and statesman,Lieutenant General,Adjutant GeneraltoAlexander I of Russia. He took part in thePrivy Committeethat outlinedGovernment reform of Alexander I.
Count Stroganov was born on 18 June 1772 in Paris, and was called "Popo" in his family. He was a son ofAlexander Sergeyevich Stroganovand, his second wife, Princess Ekaterina PetrovnaTrubetskaya(daughter of Prince Peter Nikitich Trubetskoy).His godfather was the Russian EmperorPaul I, and his childhood friend was the future TsarAlexander I. His father was aCount of the Holy Roman Empire, who later became aCountof theRussian Empire. After his father's death in 1811, Pavel, as the only son, inherited his father's entire fortune.
At the time of his birth, his parents were living in Paris at the court ofLouis XVIandMarie Antoinette, where they had moved following their 1769 marriage. In Paris, he was educated byGilbert Romme, who had lived in Paris since 1774 and earned his living by teaching mathematics. After a ten-year stay in France, Stroganov's parents returned toSt. Petersburgin the beginning of 1779. Shortly thereafter, they separated and his mother relocated to herBrattsevoEstate and took up withIvan Rimsky-Korsakov, a former lover of EmpressCatherine the Great.In order to hide the relationship from Pavel, his father sent him on a years long journey, both in Russia and abroad, with his tutor, Gilbert Romme.
In 1779, the young Stroganov was enlisted for military service as acornetof the Horse Regiment of theLife Guardsand he received the rank ofSecond lieutenantof thePreobrazhensky Life Guards Regimentin 1786. At the time, Stroganov was serving under PrinceGrigory Alexandrovich Potemkin, who gave him permission to leave Russia to complete his education.He left Russia, accompanied by Romme, the artistAndrei Voronikhin(who later became a famous architect), and his cousin,Grigory Alexandrovich Stroganov.From 1786 to 1789, they traveled all over Europe, visiting many European countries such asSwitzerland,Italy,Austria,PrussiaandFrance. He initially visitedRiom, Romme's hometown, and from 1787 he began to study botany at theUniversity of Geneva. Later, Stroganov took up the study of theology, as well as chemistry and physics. In addition, he practiced his German and took up various sports, most notably fencing and horseback riding. In his free time, he made trips to the mountains and was engaged in amateur mineralogy. At the end of May 1788, Romme and Count Stroganov left Switzerland, moving first to a house owned by Romme's mother inAuvergne, before visitingCreusotandLyon, and moving to Paris, where theFrench Revolutionwas just flaring up. Pavel wrote to his father that they had gone to Paris in connection with the forthcoming convocation of theEstates General.
Stroganov arrival in Paris coincided with the election of Deputies to theNational Assembly. At the insistence of his tutor, Stroganov changed his last name, did not mention his title anywhere and became known as Paul Ocher. In Paris, he continued to study, attending classes in military art and focusing on science. In May 1789, Stroganov and Romme began to visitVersaillesregularly, where the Estates General met. Romme rented an apartment in Versailles, where he lived with Stroganov until the National Assembly moved to Paris.
On 10 January 1790, Romme established the Société des amis de la loi ("Society of Friends of the Law"), with Stroganov as librarian. In a letter dated 18 March 1790, Stroganov's father recommended that Romme take Pavel away from Paris, but Romme ignored the advice. On 19 June 1790, Romme organized an oath celebration in the ballroom attended by Stroganov, as well as later famous revolutionaries:Antoine Barnave, brothersCharlesandAlexandre Lameth,Adrien Duport,Maximilien Robespierre, andGeorges Danton. Stroganov's signature appears under the appeal of the "Society of Friends of the Oath in the Ball Game Hall", which was presented on 3 July 1790 to the National Assembly.
On 16 July 1790, Romme received a letter from Stroganov's father dated 20 June 1790 demanding he leave Paris. Before leaving, they managed to enroll Pavel in theJacobin Club(under the name citizen Ocher; Romme joined three years later in 1793). On 10 August 1790, Pavel and Romme were issued passports to travel to Riom, before moving to Zhimo where Romme began to prepare for the elections. In November 1790, his cousinNikolay Novosiltsevarrived in France to retrieve Pavel,likely because of his connection with the revolutionaryThéroigne de Mericourt(who had been arrested by the Austrian government), and the two left for Russia in December 1790.
Upon his return to Russia, the young Count Stroganov was advised to settle in theBrattsevoestate nearMoscow, where his mother lived, as he was forbidden to return to St. Petersburg. During this time, Stroganov was a member of thePreobrazhensky Regimentand by 1791 he was a lieutenant. By 1792, he was a Chamber-Junker.Stroganov returned to St. Petersburg at the end of Catherine's reign.
In 1795, Stroganov resumed communication with his childhood friend, Tsarevich Alexander, the future Emperor Alexander I, who told him that he was "an enthusiastic admirer of the French Revolution" and also considered himself a "Jacobin".Stroganov was alarmed by such sentiments of the Grand Duke, the count considered that Alexander was in the grip of "dangerous delusions" and turned to his cousin Novosiltsev to jointly protect Alexander from rash actions.
After the assassination of the EmperorPaul Iin March 1801, and the accession of Alexander to the throne, Count Stroganov became a favorite of the new Emperor. In July of the same year, he presented the Emperor with his idea for the creation of aPrivy Committee, that outlinedplans for reforms in the country. As founder and member of the Committee, he was at the head of the triumvirate which included PrinceViktor Kochubeyand PrinceAdam Jerzy Czartoryski. In addition, he was a supporter of the abolition ofserfdom in Russia.
In 1798, he was promoted toChamberlain. From 1802 to 1807, he concurrently served as Privy Councillor,Senator, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, and AssistantMinister of the Internal Affairs. In 1806, Alexander appointed himChargé d'affairesand head of a diplomatic mission to London.Its mission was to promote rapprochement between Russia and the United Kingdom. Stroganov began negotiations with the British in an attempt to form a coalition againstNapoleon. During negotiations, his friend, Prince Adam Czartoryski, resigned as Minister of Foreign Affairs, andAndreas Eberhard von Budberg, who had a deep dislike for Stroganov, became his successor. Stroganov's position became untenable so he left Great Britain in August 1806, returning to Russia.He resigned his position as Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and his position of Senator in March 1807, but continued to play an important role as advisor to Emperor Alexander, who continued to seek his advice on diplomacy and military affairs.
Count Stroganov accompanied Emperor Alexander in the campaign against Napoleon as part of theThird Coalitionand became a participant in the 1805Battle of Austerlitzwhich led to a French victory in which theTreaty of Pressburgprecipitated an effective end of the Third Coalition and dissolved theHoly Roman Empireand creation of theConfederation of the Rhine.
In 1807, he headed theCossackRegiment after entering as a volunteer. On 22 August August 1807, he was awarded theOrder of St. George3rd Class. On 21 December 1807, he was granted the rank ofMajor General, and on 27 January 1808, he joined theIzmailovsky Life Guards Regiment, taking part in theFinnish Warof 1808 to 1809, serving under Gen. PrincePyotr Bagration. He also took part in the capture of theÅland Islands.
From 1809 to 1811, he served in theArmy of the Danube, participating in many battles with theTurksduring the conflict between the Russian andOttoman Empires.For courage shown in battles, he was awarded a gold sword with diamonds and the inscription "For Courage", theOrder of Saint Anna, 1st Class, andOrder of Saint Vladimir, 2nd Class (in 1809), and Order of Saint Anna, 1st Class (in 1810). On May 28, 1809, he was appointed Commander of theLife-Guards Grenadier Regimentand, at the same time,Brigade commanderof the1st Grenadier Division. On 15 November 1811, he was promoted toAdjutant General.
On September 7, 1812, during theBattle of Borodino, he commanded the 1st Grenadier Division, replacing GeneralNikolai Tuchkov, who had been wounded, as commander of the 3rd Infantry Corps. On 30 October 1812, he was promoted toLieutenant General.As the head of the 3rd Infantry Corps, he took part in theBattles of Tarutinoon 18 October 1812,Maloyaroslavetson 24 October 1812, andKrasnoifrom the 15 to 18 November 1812. From the 16 to 19 October 1813, he participated in the so-calledBattle of the NationsnearLeipzig, for which he was awarded theOrder of Saint Alexander Nevsky. He also led Russian troops during the assault on theStadefortress nearHamburg.
In 1814, during a campaign in France, he commanded a Corps at theBattle of Craonneduring theWar of the Sixth Coalition. For this battle, on 23 April 1814, he was awarded theOrder of St. George, 2nd Class. On 23 February 1814, during theBattle of Craonne, his 19-year-old son Count Alexandre Pavlovich Stroganov, was decapitated by a cannonball. Reportedly, after the tragedy, Count Stroganov plunged into deep melancholy and began to lose interest in life. For two days he searched the battlefield for the body of his son before returning to Russia with his body. Later, on 3 September 1814, he led the2nd Guards Infantry Division.
In 1816, as his eldest son and male heir had died, and not wanting to split up the family estate between his four daughters, Count Stroganov and his wife, asked Emperor Alexander I to make their estate aMajorat. On 11 August 1817, two months after his death, an Imperial decree from theSenate, declared that all real estate of the late Count Stroganov in thePerm,Nizhny NovgorodandSaint Petersburgforever passes in its entirety from one person into the possession of another.
After the death of her husband, the Stroganov lordship was ruled by his widow. In 1833, the Stroganovs' Majorate of Perm, which comprised 1,551,625 acres of land, on which there were 57,778 male serfs, and 67,312 female serfs, and "was divided into five districts:Ilyinsky(with an area of 397,638dessiatines), Novousolsky (331,548 dessiatines),Ochersky(361,142 dessiatines),Invensky(390,179 dessiatines), and Bilimbaevsky (71,118 dessiatines).
After the death of his widow in 1845, their eldest daughter Natalia Pavlovna inherited the Permprimacy, who issued a power of attorney to her husbandSergei Grigoryevich Stroganovto manage the primacy. For another daughter, Adelaïda Pavlovna, a Majorat was established on the basis of theMaryino Estate, which passed into theGolitsyn family.
On 6 May 1793, Stroganov married PrincessSophie Golitsynaat theBrattsevoEstate. Princess Golitsyna was a daughter of PrinceVladimir Borisovich Golitsynand his wife CountessNatalya Chernyshyova.Together, they had five children, one son and four daughters:
Count Stroganov died ofconsumptionon 22 June 1817 while on a ship on his way toCopenhagen. His remains were returned to Russia and he was buried atLazarevskoe Cemeteryin St. Petersburg.
According to the cookbook,A Taste of Russia, the originalBeef Stroganoffrecipe derived from a basicFrench mustardfor seasoningbeef, combined with a dollop of Russiansour cream, and named after Count Stroganov by his chef.