Open main menu
Home
Random
Recent changes
Special pages
Community portal
Preferences
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Incubator escapee wiki
Search
User menu
Talk
Dark mode
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Editing
Alexander Bezborodko
(section)
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
==Early life== Аleksander Bezborodko was born in [[Hlukhiv|Glukhov]],<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Bezborodko, Aleksander Andreevich |last= Bain|first = Robert Nisbet|volume=3 |page=840}}</ref> [[Cossack Hetmanate]], [[Russian Empire]] (now Hlukhiv, Ukraine) on {{OldStyleDate|25 March|1747|14 March}} into a family of [[Zaporozhian Cossacks|Zaporozhian Cossack]] noble descent. His father, Andrey Bezborodko, was a general scribe (chancellor), while his mother, Eudokia, was a daughter of the general judge Mikhail Zabila. He was educated at home and at [[Kyiv-Mohyla Academy|Kiev-Mohyla Academy]]. Upon finishing his education, he entered the public service as a clerk in the office of [[Peter Rumyantsev]], then the [[Little Russia Governorate (1764–81)|governor-general of Little Russia]], whom he accompanied to the [[Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774)|Turkish War]] in 1768. He was present at the engagements of [[Battle of Larga|Larga]] and [[Battle of Kagul|Kagul]], and at the storming of Silistria.<ref name="EB1911"/> On the conclusion of the [[Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca]] in 1774, the field marshal recommended him to [[Catherine II of Russia|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 language|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.<ref name="EB1911"/> His activity was prodigious, and Catherine called him her [[wikt:factotum|factotum]]. In 1780, he accompanied her on her journey through [[Novorossiya]], meeting the emperor [[Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor|Joseph II]], 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 [[Eastern Question|partition of Turkey]] between Russia and [[Habsburg Monarchy|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.<ref name="EB1911"/>
Edit summary
(Briefly describe your changes)
By publishing changes, you agree to the
Terms of Use
, and you irrevocably agree to release your contribution under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 License
and the
GFDL
. You agree that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license.
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)