Editing Carlo Andrea Pozzo di Borgo

{{Short description|Corsican politician and diplomat}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix    = [[Excellency|His Excellency]]
| name                = Carlo Andrea Pozzo di Borgo
| image               = Karl Brullov 30.jpg
| caption             = '''Portrait of Count C. A. Pozzo di Borgo''' by [[Karl Bryullov]] (1833—1835)
| office              = [[List of ambassadors of Russia to the United Kingdom|Russian Ambassador to the United Kingdom]]
| monarch             = [[Nicholas I of Russia|Nicholas I]]
| term_start          = 5 January 1835
| term_end            = 26 December 1839
| predecessor         = [[Pavel Medem]]
| successor           = [[Nikolay Kiselyov (ambassador)|Nikolay Kiselyov]]
| office1             = [[List of ambassadors of Russia to France|Russian Ambassador to France]]
| monarch1            = [[Alexander I of Russia|Alexander I]],<br>[[Nicholas I of Russia|Nicholas I]]
| term_start1         = 1 April 1814
| term_end1           = 5 January 1835
| predecessor1        = [[Alexander Kurakin]]
| successor1          = [[Peter Palen]]
| office2             = [[Anglo-Corsican Kingdom|Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Corsica]]
| monarch2            = [[George III of the United Kingdom|George III]]
| term_start2         = 17 June 1794
| term_end2           = 19 October 1796
| predecessor2        = [[Pasquale Paoli]]
| successor2          = '''Office abolished'''
| office3             = [[Legislative Assembly (France)|Member of the French Legislative Assembly]]
| term_start3         = 1 October 1791
| term_end3           = 20 September 1792
| constituency3       = [[Corse-du-Sud]]
| office4             = [[National Constituent Assembly (France)|Member of the French Constituent Assembly]]
| term_start4         = 9 July 1789
| term_end4           = 1 October 1791
| constituency4       = [[Corse-du-Sud]]
| office5             = [[Estates-General of 1789|Member of the Estates-General]]<br>for the [[Third Estate]]
| term_start5         = 5 May 1789
| term_end5           = 9 July 1789
| constituency5       = [[Corse-du-Sud]]
| birth_date          = {{Birth date|1764|3|8|df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Alata, Corse-du-Sud|Alata]], [[Corsican Republic|Corsica]]
| death_date          = {{Death date and age|1842|2|15|1764|3|8|df=y}}
| death_place         = [[Paris]], [[July Monarchy|France]]
| nationality         = [[French nationality law|French]]<br>[[Russian nationality law|Russian]]
| party               = ''[[Monarchiens|Monarchien]]'' (1789–1791)<br>[[Feuillant (political group)|Feuillant]] (1791–1792)<br>[[Legitimist]] (1792–1804)
| alma_mater          = [[University of Pisa]]
| profession          = [[Diplomat]], [[soldier]]
<!--Military service-->| allegiance          = {{Flag|French First Republic}}<br>{{Flagicon|Corsica}} [[Anglo-Corsican Kingdom|Kingdom of Corsica]]
| branch              = [[French Army]]<br>Corsican Army
| serviceyears        = 1792–1796
| rank                = [[Lieutenant general]]
| unit                = Colonna-Cesari Regiment
| battles             = 
{{tree list}}
* [[French Revolutionary Wars]]
** [[History of Cagliari#18th century|Siege of Cagliari]]
** Battle of [[La Maddalena]]
{{tree list/end}}
}}
'''Count Carlo Andrea Pozzo di Borgo''' ({{langx|fr|Charles-André Pozzo de Borgo}}, {{langx|ru|Карл Осипович Поццо ди Борго}}, ''Karl Osipovich Potso di Borgo''; 8 March 1764 &ndash; 15 February 1842) was a [[Corsica]]n politician, who later became a [[Russia]]n [[diplomat]].

He was an official representative of his homeland in [[Paris]] before entering the Russian diplomatic service. His life was dominated by opposition to [[Napoleon Bonaparte]], driven by a life-long hatred of him from an early age, considering him a traitor.

==Biography==
===Early life and politics===
He was born at [[Alata, Corse-du-Sud|Alata]], near [[Ajaccio]], the son of Giuseppe Pozzo di Borgo of a noble Corsican family, four years before the island became a [[France|French]] possession. He was educated at [[Pisa]], and in early life was closely associated with [[Napoleon]] and [[Joseph Bonaparte]], the two families at that time being close political allies. Pozzo was one of two delegates sent to the National Assembly in [[Paris]] to demand the political incorporation of Corsica into France, and was subsequently one of the Corsican deputies to the Legislative Assembly, where he sat on the benches of the right until the [[10 August (French Revolution)|events of August 1792]].

===Chief Minister of Corsica===
On his safe return to Corsica, he was warmly received by [[Pasquale Paoli]], but found himself in opposition to the Bonaparte brothers who belonged to a different Corsican clan (and one he detested) who were now veering towards the [[Jacobin Club|Jacobin]] party. Under the new constitution, Pozzo was elected procureur-general-syndic, that is, chief of the civil government, while Paoli commanded the army. Along with Paoli, he refused to obey a summons to the bar of the convention, and the final breach with the Bonapartes, who actively supported the revolutionary authorities, dates from this time. Eventually, Paoli and Pozzo accepted foreign help, and from 1794 to 1796, during the British protectorate of Corsica, Pozzo was president of the council of state under Sir Gilbert Eliott.

When Napoleon sent troops to occupy the island Pozzo was excepted from the general [[amnesty]], and took refuge in [[Rome]], but the French authorities demanded his expulsion, and gave orders for his arrest in northern Italy. After a short stay in London he accompanied in 1798 Sir Gilbert (now [[Gilbert Eliott, 1st Earl of Minto]]) on an embassy to [[Vienna]], where he lived for six years and was well received in political circles. His hatred of Napoleon dominated his life, and even as an exile of no official standing he was recognized as a dangerous enemy.

===Serving the Russian Empire===
In 1804 through the influence of [[Adam Jerzy Czartoryski|Prince Adam Czartoryski]] he entered the Russian diplomatic service, and was sent on his first diplomatic mission in September 1805 to Vienna and Napoli, where he helped maintain the Austrian-Russian alliance after the defeat at Austerlitz. He was subsequently sent as envoy to the Anglo-Neapolitan forces, and in 1806 to the [[Prussia]]n army. He was entrusted with an important mission to [[Constantinople]] in 1807, but the conclusion of the alliance between Tsar [[Alexander I of Russia]] and Napoleon at [[Tilsit]] in July interrupted his career, necessitating a temporary retirement after the completion of his business with the [[Sublime Porte|Porte]].

He returned to Vienna, but on the demand of Napoleon for his extradition [[Klemens Wenzel von Metternich|Metternich]] asked him to leave the capital; he left to London, where he found safety from Napoleon in one of the few countries outside the control of Paris. He renewed many old ties, and had an affair with the noted society beauty [[Emily Lamb, Countess Cowper]], and may have fathered one or more of her children.<ref>Ridley, Jasper ''Lord Palmerston'' Constable London 1970 p.43</ref> He remained in England until 1812, when he was recalled by Tsar Alexander to service in Russia. He diligently sought to sow dissension in the Bonaparte household, and in a mission to [[Sweden]] he helped secure the cooperation of Bernadotte against Napoleon. On the entry of the allies into Paris he became commissary general to the provisional government. At the [[House of Bourbon|Bourbon]] restoration General Pozzo di Borgo became Russian ambassador at the [[Tuileries]], and sought to secure a marriage between [[Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry]], and the Russian grand duchess Anna, Alexander's sister.

===Diplomat during Restoration===
Pozzo assisted at the [[Congress of Vienna]], and during the [[Hundred Days]] he joined [[Louis XVIII of France|Louis XVIII]] in [[Belgium]], where he was also instructed to discuss the situation with the [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Duke of Wellington]]. He was present at [[Battle of Waterloo|Waterloo]] and was singled out by [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|The Duke of Wellington]] in his post-battle dispatch.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.wtj.com/archives/wellington/1815_06f.htm|title=Wellington's Dispatches}}</ref> The Tsar dreamed of allowing an appeal to the people of France on the subject of the government of France in accordance with his vague liberalizing tendencies, but Pozzo's suggestions in this direction were met by violent opposition, the Duke refusing to make any concessions to what he regarded as rebellion; but in St. Petersburg, on the other hand, his attachment to the Bourbon dynasty was considered excessive.

During the early years of his residence in Paris Pozzo laboured tirelessly to lessen the burdens laid on France by the allies and to shorten the period of foreign occupation. That his French sympathies were recognized in Paris is shown by the strange suggestion that he should enter the French ministry with the portfolio of foreign affairs. He consistently supported the moderate party at court, and stood by the ministry of the [[Armand-Emmanuel du Plessis, Duc de Richelieu|Duc de Richelieu]], thus earning the distrust and dislike of Metternich, who held him responsible for the revival of Liberal agitation in France. His influence at the Tuileries declined with the accession of [[Charles X of France|Charles X]], whose reactionary tendencies had always been distasteful to him; but at the revolution of 1830, when Tsar Nicholas was reluctant to acknowledge [[Louis-Philippe of France|Louis Philippe]], he did good service in preventing difficulties with Russia.

===Later life and death===
In 1832 he visited [[St Petersburg]]; the next year he was in London renewing its relations with Wellington, and early in 1835 he was suddenly transferred to the [[London]] embassy in succession to [[Christoph von Lieven|Prince Lieven]]. Although he did not lose in official standing, Pozzo was aware that this change was due to suspicions long harboured in various quarters in St Petersburg that his diplomacy was too favourable to French interests. He complained that the British [[Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs|Foreign Secretary]], [[Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston|Lord Palmerston]], treated him with appalling rudeness, once keeping him waiting for two hours; the fact that he had once been the lover of [[Emily Lamb, Countess Cowper|Lady Cowper]], Palmerston's mistress, cannot have made for friendly relations between the two men.<ref>Ridley p.116</ref> In London his health suffered, and he retired from the service in 1839 to spend the rest of his days in Paris. He had been made a count and [[Peerage of France|peer of France]] in 1818.

==Honours and awards==
* Knight of the [[Order of St. Andrew]], with diamonds
* Knight Grand Cross of the 1st class of the [[Order of St. Vladimir]]
* Knight of the [[Order of St. Alexander Nevsky]]
* Knight Grand Cross of the 1st class of the [[Order of St. Anna]]
* Knight 4th class of the [[Order of St. George]]
* A mark of distinction for "XXXV years irreproachable service"
* Knight Grand Cross of the [[Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George]] (Naples)
* Knight Grand Cross of the [[Order of Saint Ferdinand and of Merit]] (Naples)
* Knight of the [[Order of the Black Eagle]] (Prussia)
* Knight 1st class of the [[Order of the Red Eagle]] (Prussia)
* Knight Grand Cross of the [[Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary|Order of St. Stephen]] (Austria)
* Knight Grand Cross of the [[Royal Guelphic Order]] (Hanover) 
* Knight Commander of the [[Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus]] ([[Kingdom of Sardinia|Sardinia]])
* Knight Commander of the [[Order of Saint Louis]] (France)
* Knight of the [[Order of the Golden Fleece]] (Spain)
* Knight Grand Cross of the [[Order of Charles III]] (Spain)
* Knight Grand Cross of the [[Order of the Tower and Sword]] (Portugal)

==In popular culture==
He was played by [[Norman Shelley]] in the British historical drama ''[[The Iron Duke (film)|The Iron Duke]]'' (1934). He was also the subject of a semi-documentary US film in 1942 called ''Vendetta'', part of [[The Passing Parade]] series.<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0134195/ IMDB - Vendetta]</ref> The film served as wartime propaganda which equated di Borgo's service in the defeat of Napoleon to that necessary for the defeat of Adolf Hitler.

==Ancestry==
{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
|1= 1. '''Carlo Andrea, count Pozzo di Borgo (1764–1842)'''
|2= 2. Giuseppe Maria Pozzo di Borgo (1730–1781)
|3= 3. Maria Maddalena Giovannaï (1727–1803)
|4= 4. Carlo Maria Pozzo di Borgo (b. 1705)
|5= 5. Maria Graziosa Casalonga (1709–1765)
|6= 6. Geronimo Giovannaï (1704––744)
|7= 7. Graziosa NN
|8= 8. Geronimo Francesco Antonio Pozzo di Borgo (1679-1720)
|9= 9. Maria Maddalena Peraldi (d. 1724)
|10= 10. Carlo Casalonga (1691–1727)
|11= 11. Dorotea Maria Pozzo di Borgo
|12= 12. Pietro Maria Giovannaï (1670–1741)
|13= 13. Anna Maria Pozzo di Borgo (b. 1666)
|14= 
|15= 
}}

==Further reading==
* {{treccani|pozzo-di-borgo-carlo-andrea-conte|Pozzo di Borgo, Carlo Andrea, conte|Francesco Lemmi|1935}}
* Carrington, Dorothy. "Charles-Andre Pozzo Di Borgo, Napoleon's Arch-Enemy. ''History Today'' (Feb 1967), Vol. 17 Issue 2, pp 73–80.
* Egon Larsen, ''Carlo-Andrea Pozzo Di Borgo: One Man Against Napoleon'' (1968)
* Prof. J. McErlean of McLaughlin College, York University, Toronto has written several articles on Pozzo and as recently as 2009 was preparing a biography using previously unknown di Borgo archival material.
* {{cite encyclopedia
 |title= Pozzo di Borgo, Carlo Andrea
 |encyclopedia= [[Columbia Encyclopedia]]
 |year= 2000
 |publisher= Columbia University Press
 |location= New York
 |isbn= 978-0-78-765015-5
 |url= https://www.encyclopedia.com/reference/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/pozzo-di-borgo-carlo-andrea
 |access-date= 3 November 2023
}}

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{EB1911|wstitle=Pozzo di Borgo, Carlo Andrea, Count|volume=22|pages=239–240}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pozzo di Borgo, Carlo Andrea, count}}
[[Category:1764 births]]
[[Category:1842 deaths]]
[[Category:Corsican politicians]]
[[Category:People from Corse-du-Sud]]
[[Category:Diplomats of the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 1st class]]
[[Category:Peers of France]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 1st class]]
[[Category:Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary]]
[[Category:Grand Officers of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus]]
[[Category:Knights of the Order of Saint Louis]]
[[Category:Knights of the Golden Fleece of Spain]]
[[Category:Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of the Russian Empire to the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of the Russian Empire to France]]