Jump to content

Semyon Vorontsov: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Content deleted Content added
ce
 
(33 intermediate revisions by 29 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|Russian diplomat in London}}
Count '''Semyon Romanovich Vorontsov''' ({{lang-ru|Семён Романович Воронцо́в}}; 26 June 1744 - 9 July 1832) was a [[Russia]]n [[diplomat]] whose siblings included [[Alexander Romanovich Vorontsov|Alexander Vorontsov]], [[Elizaveta Vorontsova]], and [[Ekaterina Dashkova]]. [[Image:Semyonworonzow.jpg|thumb|200px|Portrait by [[Thomas Lawrence (painter)|Sir Thomas Lawrence]], 1806.]] He resided in Britain for the last 47 years of his life, from 1785 until his death in 1832, during which time he was the Russian ambassador to the [[Kingdom of Great Britain]] from 1785 to 1800 and to the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]] from 1801 to 1806.
{{family name hatnote|Romanovich|[[Vorontsov family|Vorontsov]]|lang=Eastern Slavic}}
{{infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix = Count
| name = Semyon Vorontsov
| honorific_suffix =
| image = S.R.Woronzov by T.Lawrence (1805-6, Hermitage).jpg
| caption = ''Portrait of Count Vorontsov, by [[Thomas Lawrence (painter)|Sir Thomas Lawrence]], 1806''
| office = [[List of ambassadors of Russia to the United Kingdom|Russian Ambassador to the United Kingdom]]
| term_start = 25 May 1801
| term_end = 15 May 1806
| predecessor = [[Yakov Smirnov (diplomat)|Yakov Smirnov]]<br><small>(as ''[[Chargé d'affaires]]'')</small>
| successor = [[Pavel Alexandrovich Stroganov]]<br><small>(as ''[[Chargé d'affaires]]'')</small>
| office1 = [[List of ambassadors of Russia to Austria|Russian Minister]] at [[Vienna]]
| term_start1 = 1783
| term_end1 = 1785
| predecessor1 =
| successor1 =
| birth_name = Semyon Romanovich Vorontsov
| birth_date = {{birthdate|1744|06|26|df=yes}}
| birth_place =
| death_date = {{dda|1832|07|09|1744|06|26|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[London]], England
| parents = Roman Larionovich Vorontsov<br>Marfa Ivanovna Surmina
| spouse = Ekaterina Alekseevna Seniavina
| children = [[Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov]]<br>[[Catherine Herbert, Countess of Pembroke]]
| relations = [[Alexander Romanovich Vorontsov|Alexander Vorontsov]] (brother)<br>[[Elizaveta Vorontsova]] (sister)<br>[[Yekaterina Vorontsova-Dashkova]] (sister)
}}
'''Count Semyon Romanovich Vorontsov''' (or '''Woronzow''', {{lang-ru|Семён Романович Воронцо́в}}; 26 June 1744{{snd}}9 July 1832) was a Russian [[diplomat]] from the aristocratic Russian [[Vorontsov]] family. He resided in Britain for the last 47 years of his life, from 1785 until his death in 1832, during which time he was the Russian ambassador to the [[Kingdom of Great Britain]] from 1785 to 1800 and to the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]] from 1801 to 1806.


==Life and career==
==Early life==
Vorontsov's parents were Roman Larionovich Vorontsov (1717–1783) and Marfa Ivanovna Surmina (1718–1745).<ref name=Vorontsov>[http://humphrysfamilytree.com/Herbert/woronzow.html Woronzow], HumphrysFamilyTree, accessed April 4, 2012</ref> Among his siblings were Imperial Chancellor [[Alexander Romanovich Vorontsov|Alexander Vorontsov]], [[Elizaveta Vorontsova]] and [[Yekaterina Vorontsova-Dashkova]], the closest female friend of [[Catherine the Great]].<ref name="Rhinelander1990"/>
Semyon Vorontsov distinguished himself during the first [[Russo-Turkish War, 1768-1774|Russo-Turkish War]] at [[Battle of Larga|Larga]] and [[Battle of Kagul|Kagula]] in 1770. In 1783, he was appointed Russian [[Minister (diplomacy)|minister]] at [[Vienna]], but in 1785 was transferred to [[London]]. Vorontsov soon attained great influence and authority in [[Great Britain]].
Quickly acquainting himself with the characteristics of English institutions, with their ways and methods, he was able to render important services to his country. Thus, during the second [[Russo-Turkish War, 1787-1792]] he contributed to bring about the disarmament of the auxiliary [[British fleet]], which had been fitted out to assist the [[Ottoman Empire|Turks]]; and in 1793 obtained a renewal of the commercial treaty between Great Britain and [[Russia]]. Over the next three years, he irritated Empress [[Catherine II of Russia|Catherine II]] with his vehement advocacy of the exiled [[Bourbons]], sharp criticism of the [[Armed Neutrality of the North]], which he considered disadvantageous to Russia, and denunciation of the [[partitions of Poland]] as contrary to the first principles of equity and a shock to the conscience of [[Western Europe]].


==Career==
On the accession of [[Paul I of Russia|Paul I]] in 1796, Vorontsov was raised to the rank of [[ambassador]] extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary and was awarded immense estates in [[Finland]]. Neither Vorontsov's detention of the Russian squadron under Makarov in British ports nor his refusal, after the death of [[Alexander Bezborodko]], to accept the dignity of imperial [[chancellor]] could alienate the favor of Paul. It was only when the [[emperor]] himself began to draw nearer to [[France]] that he began to consider Vorontsov as incompetent to serve Russia in [[England]], and in February 1800 all the [[count]]'s estates were confiscated. [[Alexander I of Russia|Alexander I]] on his accession in 1801 at once reinstated him, but ill health and family affairs induced him to resign his post in 1806. From that time till his death in 1832, he continued to live in London. He was buried in [[St Mary-le-Bow]].
[[File:Semen Vorontsov with children by Ludwig Guttenbrunn.jpg|thumb|left|Portrait of Vorontsov with his children, by [[Ludwig Guttenbrunn]], 1790]]
He distinguished himself during the first [[Russo-Turkish War, 1768-1774|Russo-Turkish War]] at [[Battle of Larga|Larga]] and [[Battle of Kagul|Kagula]] in 1770. In 1783, he was appointed Russian [[Minister (diplomacy)|minister]] at [[Vienna]], but in 1785 was transferred to [[London]]. Vorontsov soon attained great influence and authority in [[Great Britain]].<ref name="Rhinelander1990"/>


Quickly acquainting himself with the characteristics of English institutions, with their ways and methods, he was able to render important services to his country. Thus, during the second [[Russo-Turkish War, 1787-1792|Russo-Turkish War]] from 1787 to 1792, he contributed to bring about the disarmament of the auxiliary [[British fleet]], which had been fitted out to assist the [[Ottoman Empire|Turks]]; and in 1793 obtained a renewal of the commercial treaty between Great Britain and [[Russia]]. Over the next three years, he irritated Empress [[Catherine II of Russia|Catherine II]] with his vehement advocacy of the exiled [[Bourbons]], sharp criticism of the [[Armed Neutrality of the North]], which he considered disadvantageous to Russia, and denunciation of the [[partitions of Poland]] as contrary to the first principles of equity and a shock to the conscience of [[Western Europe]].<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Vorontsov |display=Vorontsov s.v. Semen Romanovich Vorontsov |volume=28 |pages=212–213 |first=Robert Nisbet |last=Bain |authorlink=Robert Nisbet Bain}}</ref>
Besides his valuable ''Note on the Russian War'' and numerous letters, Vorontsov was the author of an autobiography and ''Notes on the Internal Government of Russia''. His son [[Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov|Michael]] continued his father's [[Anglophile]] ways and was an eminent commander in the war against Napoleon and in the Russian subjugation of the Caucasus. His daughter [[Catherine Vorontsov|Catherine]] married [[George Herbert, 11th Earl of Pembroke]], 8th [[Earl of Montgomery]].

===Ambassador to the United Kingdom===
On the accession of [[Paul I of Russia|Paul I]] in 1796, Vorontsov was raised to the rank of [[ambassador]] extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary and was awarded immense estates in [[Finland]]. Neither Vorontsov's detention of the Russian squadron under Makarov in British ports nor his refusal, after the death of [[Alexander Bezborodko]], to accept the dignity of imperial [[chancellor]] could alienate the favor of Paul. On 28 December 1796, Vorontsov had a private audience of [[George III]] to notify him of the death of Catherine the Great and Paul's accession.<ref>{{cite news |title=St. James's, Dec 28 |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/Edinburgh/issue/367/page/219 |access-date=21 August 2021 |work=Edinburgh Gazette |issue=367 |date=28 December 1796 |page=219}}</ref> It was only when the [[emperor]] himself began to draw nearer to [[France]] that he began to consider Vorontsov as incompetent to serve Russia in [[England]], and in February 1800 all the [[count]]'s estates were confiscated. [[Alexander I of Russia|Alexander I]] on his accession in 1801 at once reinstated him, but ill health and family affairs induced him to resign his post in 1806.

===Later life===
From his resignation as Ambassador in 1806 until his death in 1832, he continued to live in London.<ref name="EB1911"/> [[Charles Greville (diarist)|Greville]] noted in his diary on 3 December 1829, ”Old Woronzow was Ambassador here many years, has lived here ever since, and never learnt a word of English.”<ref>Charles C. F. Greville, ''A Journal of the Reigns of King George IV and King William IV'', volume I (London, Longmans Green & Co, 1874), at page 250</ref>

Besides his valuable ''Note on the Russian War'' and numerous letters, Vorontsov was the author of an autobiography and ''Notes on the Internal Government of Russia''.<ref name="EB1911"/>

==Personal life==
[[File:Dawe, Mikhail Vorontsov.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Portrait of his son, Michael, by [[George Dawe]], {{circa|1820}}.]][[File:CatherineVorontsova Raeburn Henry.jpg|thumb|200px|Portrait of his daughter, Catherine, by [[Sir Henry Raeburn]], {{circa|1810}}s]]
Vorontsov married Ekaterina Alekseevna Seniavina (1761–1784), a daughter of [[Alexei Senyavin]] and Anna von Bradké. Before her death in 1784, they were the parents of:<ref name="Rhinelander1990"/>
* [[Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov|Mikhail "Michael" Vorontsov]] (1782–1856), who married Polish Countess Elizabeth Branicka.<ref name="Rhinelander1990"/>
* [[Catherine Vorontsov|Yekaterina "Catherine" Vorontsov]] (1783–1856), who married [[George Herbert, 11th Earl of Pembroke]], 8th [[Earl of Montgomery]], in 1808.<ref name="Dobbs2012">{{cite book |last1=Dobbs |first1=Michael |title=Six Months in 1945: FDR, Stalin, Churchill, and Truman--from World War to Cold War |date=16 October 2012 |publisher=[[Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group]] |isbn=978-0-307-96089-4 |page=371 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s5LA51Z3eJ0C&pg=PA371 |access-date=7 April 2023 |language=en}}</ref>

His wife died on 25 August 1784 in [[Pisa]]. Count Vorontsov died on 9 July 1832. He was buried in the [[Earls of Pembroke#The tenth creation (1551): Herbert|Pembroke family]] vault in Marylebone, London, and the street where he resided in St. John's Wood, London, is now called Woronzow Road.<ref name=Vorontsov/>

===Legacy and descendants===
His son, [[Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov|Mikhail]], continued his father's [[Anglophile]] ways and was an eminent commander in the war against Napoleon and in the Russian subjugation of the Caucasus, for which he was further ennobled as a Russian Prince.<ref name="Rhinelander1990"/>

Through his daughter Catherine, he was a grandfather of Lady Elizabeth Herbert (who married [[Richard Meade, 3rd Earl of Clanwilliam]]), [[Sidney Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Lea]] (who married [[Elizabeth Herbert, Baroness Herbert of Lea|Elizabeth Ashe à Court-Repington]]), Lady Mary Herbert (who married [[George Brudenell-Bruce, 2nd Marquess of Ailesbury]]), [[Catherine Murray, Countess of Dunmore|Lady Catherine Herbert]] (who married [[Alexander Murray, 6th Earl of Dunmore]]), Lady Georgiana Herbert (who married [[Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 4th Marquess of Lansdowne]]), and Lady Emma Herbert (who married [[Thomas Vesey, 3rd Viscount de Vesci]]).<ref name="Rhinelander1990">{{cite book |last1=Rhinelander |first1=Anthony Laurens Hamilton |title=Prince Michael Vorontsov: Viceroy to the Tsar |date=1990 |publisher=[[McGill-Queen's Press]] - MQUP |isbn=978-0-7735-0747-0 |page=222 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FCNv8i3p8ekC&pg=PA222 |access-date=7 April 2023 |language=en}}</ref>


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}
*{{1911}}


{{s-start}}
{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->
{{s-dip}}
| NAME = Vorontsov, Semyon
{{s-bef
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| before = [[Yakov Smirnov (diplomat)|Yakov Smirnov]]<br><small>(as ''[[Chargé d'affaires]]'')</small>
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = Russian diplomat
| DATE OF BIRTH = 26 June 1744
| PLACE OF BIRTH =
| DATE OF DEATH = 9 July 1832
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
}}
{{s-ttl
| title = [[List of ambassadors of Russia to the United Kingdom|Russian Ambassador to the United Kingdom]]
| years = 1801–1806
}}
{{s-aft
| after = [[Pavel Alexandrovich Stroganov]]<br><small>(as ''[[Chargé d'affaires]]'')</small>
}}
{{s-end}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vorontsov}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vorontsov}}
[[Category:Russian diplomats]]
[[Category:Politicians from the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:Politics of the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:Counts of the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:Russian nobility]]
[[Category:1744 births]]
[[Category:1744 births]]
[[Category:1832 deaths]]
[[Category:1832 deaths]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of St. George of the Third Degree]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of St. George of the Third Degree]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of St. George of the Fourth Degree]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of Russia to the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Ambassadors to Great Britain]]
[[Category:Ambassadors to Great Britain]]
[[Category:18th-century diplomats of the Russian Empire]]
[[fr:Semion Romanovitch Vorontsov]]
[[Category:Vorontsov family|Semyon]]
[[pl:Siemion Woroncow]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of the Russian Empire to the United Kingdom]]
[[ru:Воронцов, Семён Романович]]

Latest revision as of 03:49, 9 May 2024

Count
Semyon Vorontsov
Portrait of Count Vorontsov, by Sir Thomas Lawrence, 1806
Russian Ambassador to the United Kingdom
In office
25 May 1801 – 15 May 1806
Preceded byYakov Smirnov
(as Chargé d'affaires)
Succeeded byPavel Alexandrovich Stroganov
(as Chargé d'affaires)
Russian Minister at Vienna
In office
1783–1785
Personal details
Born
Semyon Romanovich Vorontsov

(1744-06-26)26 June 1744
Died9 July 1832(1832-07-09) (aged 88)
London, England
SpouseEkaterina Alekseevna Seniavina
RelationsAlexander Vorontsov (brother)
Elizaveta Vorontsova (sister)
Yekaterina Vorontsova-Dashkova (sister)
ChildrenMikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov
Catherine Herbert, Countess of Pembroke
Parent(s)Roman Larionovich Vorontsov
Marfa Ivanovna Surmina

Count Semyon Romanovich Vorontsov (or Woronzow, Russian: Семён Романович Воронцо́в; 26 June 1744 – 9 July 1832) was a Russian diplomat from the aristocratic Russian Vorontsov family. He resided in Britain for the last 47 years of his life, from 1785 until his death in 1832, during which time he was the Russian ambassador to the Kingdom of Great Britain from 1785 to 1800 and to the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1806.

Early life

[edit]

Vorontsov's parents were Roman Larionovich Vorontsov (1717–1783) and Marfa Ivanovna Surmina (1718–1745).[1] Among his siblings were Imperial Chancellor Alexander Vorontsov, Elizaveta Vorontsova and Yekaterina Vorontsova-Dashkova, the closest female friend of Catherine the Great.[2]

Career

[edit]
Portrait of Vorontsov with his children, by Ludwig Guttenbrunn, 1790

He distinguished himself during the first Russo-Turkish War at Larga and Kagula in 1770. In 1783, he was appointed Russian minister at Vienna, but in 1785 was transferred to London. Vorontsov soon attained great influence and authority in Great Britain.[2]

Quickly acquainting himself with the characteristics of English institutions, with their ways and methods, he was able to render important services to his country. Thus, during the second Russo-Turkish War from 1787 to 1792, he contributed to bring about the disarmament of the auxiliary British fleet, which had been fitted out to assist the Turks; and in 1793 obtained a renewal of the commercial treaty between Great Britain and Russia. Over the next three years, he irritated Empress Catherine II with his vehement advocacy of the exiled Bourbons, sharp criticism of the Armed Neutrality of the North, which he considered disadvantageous to Russia, and denunciation of the partitions of Poland as contrary to the first principles of equity and a shock to the conscience of Western Europe.[3]

Ambassador to the United Kingdom

[edit]

On the accession of Paul I in 1796, Vorontsov was raised to the rank of ambassador extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary and was awarded immense estates in Finland. Neither Vorontsov's detention of the Russian squadron under Makarov in British ports nor his refusal, after the death of Alexander Bezborodko, to accept the dignity of imperial chancellor could alienate the favor of Paul. On 28 December 1796, Vorontsov had a private audience of George III to notify him of the death of Catherine the Great and Paul's accession.[4] It was only when the emperor himself began to draw nearer to France that he began to consider Vorontsov as incompetent to serve Russia in England, and in February 1800 all the count's estates were confiscated. Alexander I on his accession in 1801 at once reinstated him, but ill health and family affairs induced him to resign his post in 1806.

Later life

[edit]

From his resignation as Ambassador in 1806 until his death in 1832, he continued to live in London.[3] Greville noted in his diary on 3 December 1829, ”Old Woronzow was Ambassador here many years, has lived here ever since, and never learnt a word of English.”[5]

Besides his valuable Note on the Russian War and numerous letters, Vorontsov was the author of an autobiography and Notes on the Internal Government of Russia.[3]

Personal life

[edit]
Portrait of his son, Michael, by George Dawe, c. 1820.
Portrait of his daughter, Catherine, by Sir Henry Raeburn, c. 1810s

Vorontsov married Ekaterina Alekseevna Seniavina (1761–1784), a daughter of Alexei Senyavin and Anna von Bradké. Before her death in 1784, they were the parents of:[2]

His wife died on 25 August 1784 in Pisa. Count Vorontsov died on 9 July 1832. He was buried in the Pembroke family vault in Marylebone, London, and the street where he resided in St. John's Wood, London, is now called Woronzow Road.[1]

Legacy and descendants

[edit]

His son, Mikhail, continued his father's Anglophile ways and was an eminent commander in the war against Napoleon and in the Russian subjugation of the Caucasus, for which he was further ennobled as a Russian Prince.[2]

Through his daughter Catherine, he was a grandfather of Lady Elizabeth Herbert (who married Richard Meade, 3rd Earl of Clanwilliam), Sidney Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Lea (who married Elizabeth Ashe à Court-Repington), Lady Mary Herbert (who married George Brudenell-Bruce, 2nd Marquess of Ailesbury), Lady Catherine Herbert (who married Alexander Murray, 6th Earl of Dunmore), Lady Georgiana Herbert (who married Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 4th Marquess of Lansdowne), and Lady Emma Herbert (who married Thomas Vesey, 3rd Viscount de Vesci).[2]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Woronzow, HumphrysFamilyTree, accessed April 4, 2012
  2. ^ a b c d e f Rhinelander, Anthony Laurens Hamilton (1990). Prince Michael Vorontsov: Viceroy to the Tsar. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. p. 222. ISBN 978-0-7735-0747-0. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  3. ^ a b c  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainBain, Robert Nisbet (1911). "Vorontsov s.v. Semen Romanovich Vorontsov". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 212–213.
  4. ^ "St. James's, Dec 28". Edinburgh Gazette. No. 367. 28 December 1796. p. 219. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  5. ^ Charles C. F. Greville, A Journal of the Reigns of King George IV and King William IV, volume I (London, Longmans Green & Co, 1874), at page 250
  6. ^ Dobbs, Michael (16 October 2012). Six Months in 1945: FDR, Stalin, Churchill, and Truman--from World War to Cold War. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. p. 371. ISBN 978-0-307-96089-4. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Russian Ambassador to the United Kingdom
1801–1806
Succeeded by