Fyodor Apraksin Count Fyodor Matveyevich Apraksin ( also " Apraxin " , ) ( October 27 , 1661 – November 10 , 1728 , Moscow ) was one of the first Russia n admiral s who governed Estonia and Karelia from 1712 to 1723 , general admiral ( 1708 ) , presided over the Russian Admiralty since 1718 and commanded the Baltic Fleet since 1723 . Early shipbuilding activities . The Apraksin brothers were launched to prominence after the marriage of their sister Marfa to " Tsar " Feodor III of Russia in 1681 . Fyodor entered the service of his brother - in - law at the age of 10 as a " stolnik " . After Feodor ' s death he served the little " tsar " Peter in the same capacity . He took part in military amusements of the young " tsar " and helped to build a toy flotilla for him . The playfellowship of the two lads resulted in a lifelong friendship . In 1692 Apraksin was appointed governor of Arkhangelsk , the foremost trade port of Russia at that time , and built ships capable of weathering storms , to the great delight of the " tsar " . While living there , he commissioned one of the first Russian trade vessels to be built and sail abroad . In 1697 he was entrusted with major shipbuilding activities in Voronezh , where he would supervise the construction of the first Russian fleet . He won his colonelcy at the siege of Azov ( 1696 ) . He was nominated the first Russian governor of Azov in 1700 . While Peter was combating Charles XII , Apraksin was constructing fleets , building fortresses and havens in South Russia , notably Tavrov and Taganrog . In 1700 he was also appointed chief of the admiralty , in which post ( from 1700 to 1706 ) his unusual technical ability was of great service . Great Northern War . Having pacified the rebellious Astrakhan , Apraksin was summoned to Moscow , where he was put in charge of the mint and the armoury . In 1707 , he was appointed president of the Russian Admiralty . The following year , he was appointed commander - in - chief in Ingria , to defend the new capital Saint Petersburg against the Swedes , whom he utterly routed , besides capturing Vyborg in Karelia . On February 25 , 1710 , aged 48 , he became the third Russian ever to be elevated to the comital dignity . Apraksin held the chief command in the Black Sea during the campaign of the Pruth ( 1711 ) . In March 1710 he was in command at the Siege of Vyborg . Taking this Swedish fortress in June , he was invested with the Order of St . Andrew and appointed governor of the conquered provinces ( Estonia , Ingria , and Karelia ) . He commanded the Imperial Russian Navy in the taking of Helsinki ( 1713 ) - materially assisting the conquest of Finland by his operations from the side of the sea - and the great Battle of Gangut ( 1714 ) . That same year he assisted the " tsar " in launching a new harbour in Revel . Earlier , in 1712 , he held parley with Turkey , which ended in the destruction of Taganrog and the surrender of Azov to the Ottomans . From 1710 to 1720 he personally conducted the descents upon Sweden , ravaging that country mercilessly , and thus extorting the peace of Nystad , whereby she surrendered the best part of her Baltic provinces to Russia . For these great services he was made a senator and General Admiral of the Empire . Later years . In 1715 , Apraksin fell into temporate disgrace with the " tsar " , who had been informed about disorders and bribery in the Admiralty . After brief investigation , he was fined and dispatched to govern Estonia . In 1719 , he led the Russian naval expedition into the Gulf of Bothnia . During the Persian Expedition of 1722 Apraksin barely escaped an assassination attempt by a Chechen . Whereas his elder brother Peter Apraksin ( the governor of Astrakhan ) was accused of sympathizing with the Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich , Fyodor was eager to demonstrate his zeal in persecuting the " tsarevich " , as did Count Peter Tolstoy , ( 1645 – 1729 ) . Upon Peter ' s I death in 1725 , his wife Catherine invested the ailing admiral with the Order of Alexander Nevsky and nominated him to the Supreme Privy Council , an exigence of the Great Boyars of Russia headed by influential and coming from a powerful family , Prince Dmitry Galitzine , ( 1665 – 1737 ) , Ambassador to Turkey and Poland though necessary to govern in a less autocratic structure the Empire . These " Six Supreme dignataries " constituting the initial Supreme Privy Council , namely Alexander Menshikov , Fyodor Apraksin , Gavrila Golovkin , Andrey Osterman , Peter Tolstoy , and Dmitry Galitzine brought about the recognition of Russian Empress Anna Ivanovna for the succession of unfortunate young Tsar - Boy Peter II deceased in 1730 aged 15 and 3 years only as a Tsar , apparently dead from small - pox provided Anna agreed about the Counselling Powers of this so - called Supreme Privy Council . Once Empress Anna Ivanovna was crowned she began to rule absolutely , and she had Dmitry Galitzine sentenced to death but later commuted his sentence to exile . D . M . ´s brother however , Mikhail Galitzine , ( 1675 – 1730 ) , commanded Russian operations in Finland ( 1714 – 21 ) during the Northern War with Sweden and was responsible for the Treaty of Nystad , concluded at the end of the war . It is said that as governor of Finland , M . M . G . was popular with the Finns . Apraksin ' s last expedition was to Revel in 1726 , to cover the town from an anticipated attack by the English government , with whom the relations of Russia at the beginning of the reign of Catherine I were strained . Though frequently threatened with terrible penalties by Peter the Great for his incurable vice of peculation , Apraksin , nevertheless , contrived to save his head , though not his pocket , chiefly through the mediation of the good - natured empress , Swedish born common law wife and later formal wife of Peter I , Catherine I , sole Ruling Empress of Russia from 1725 to 1727 . She remained his friend to the last , grateful probably , because of his pulling to place flexible and astucious Catherine I on the throne on the death of Peter . Legacy . According to R . N . Bain , Apraksin was the most genial and kind - hearted of all Peter ' s pupils . He is said to have never made an enemy . He died on November 10 , 1728 , aged 67 , and was interred in the family sepulchre at the Chrysostom Monastery of Moscow , where his grave was destroyed by the Communists in the 1930s .