Ivan Chernyshyov
Count Ivan Grigoryevich Chernyshyov(1726 – 1797;Russian:Граф Иван Григорьевич Чернышёв) was an Imperial RussianField MarshalandGeneral Admiral,prominent during the reign of EmpressCatherine the Great.
Life and career[edit]
He started his career serving under his more illustrious brotherZakhar Chernyshyovat the Russian missions inCopenhagen(1741) andBerlin(1742–45). In 1749 he was commanded to resign from diplomatic service and marry Countess Elizabeth Yefimovskaya, a cousin ofEmpress Elizabeth.
All three Chernyshov brothers backed Catherine in the coup that placed her on the Russian throne in 1762, after the assassination of her husband,Peter III.[1]They were handsomely rewarded for their loyalty.[2]
Catherine II first appointed Ivan Chernyshov to serve in theGoverning Senate.In 1768, Chernyshov was awarded the role of ChiefPlenipotentiaryinLondon.[3][4]On his return to Russia two years later, he was made Vice-President of theAdmiralty;a position he retained until 1796.[5]Being on friendly terms withNikita Panin,the tutor and closest adviser to the futureEmperor Paul,he was promoted to the rank of NavyField Marshalupon the latter's ascension to the throne.[6]By that time, Chernyshov's health was giving out and he had been living abroad for five years.
Family[edit]
Two of the Field Marshal’s grandchildren were tied to theDecembristplot to overthrow TsarNicholas Iin 1825.[7]His grandson, Zakhar Grigoryevich Chernyshov, was an active participant in the uprising.[8]Zakhar’s sister, Alexandra ( "Alexandrine" ) Chernysheva, was married to the author of the Decembristconstitution,Nikita Muravyov.[9][10]
Chernyshov's niece, Natalya Petrovna Galitzine, better known at the Russian court as "Princesse Moustache",was romanticized byPushkinunder the name ofThe Queen of Spadesin his eponymous story from 1834.[11]
Footnotes[edit]
- ^Dashkova, Ekaterina and FitzLyon, Kyril.The memoirs of Princess Dashkova,page 304. Durham: Duke University Press, 1995,
- ^Dashkova, Ekaterina and FitzLyon, Kyril.The memoirs of Princess Dashkova,page 304. Durham: Duke University Press, 1995,
- ^Solovyev, Sergei and Hill, William H.The Rule of Catherine the Great: The Legislative Commission (1767-1768) and Foreign Affairs (1766-1768),page 191. Academic International Press, 1986
- ^Hayden, Peter.Russian Parks and Gardens,page 166. Frances Lincoln Ltd., 2006
- ^Longley, David.The Longman Companion to Imperial Russia, 1689-1917,page 37. Longman, 2000
- ^Wieczynski, Joseph L.The Modern Encyclopedia of Russian and Soviet History,page 18. Academic International Press, 1976
- ^Sutherland, Christine.The Princess of Siberia: The Story of Maria Volkonsky and the Decembrist ExilesNew York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1984
- ^Murrell, Kathleen Berton.Discovering the Moscow Countryside,page 335. I.B.Tauris, 2001
- ^Murrell, Kathleen Berton.Discovering the Moscow Countryside,page 335. I.B.Tauris, 2001
- ^Sutherland, Christine.The Princess of Siberia: The Story of Maria Volkonsky and the Decembrist ExilesNew York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1984
- ^Binyon, T.J.Pushkin: A Biography,page 699. New York: Harper Collins, 2002
- 1726 births
- 1797 deaths
- Counts of the Russian Empire
- Field marshals of the Russian Empire
- Imperial Russian Navy admirals
- 18th-century military personnel from the Russian Empire
- Burials at the Annunciation Church of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra
- Ambassadors of the Russian Empire to the United Kingdom
- Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland)