Alexander Gorchakov
| Alexander Gorchakov | |
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| Foreign Minister of the Russian Empire | |
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In office 27 April 1856 – 9 April 1882 |
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| Preceded by | Karl Nesselrode |
| Succeeded by | Nikolay Girs |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
15 June 1798 Haapsalu, Estonia, Russian Empire |
| Died | 11 March 1883 (aged 84) Baden-Baden, German Empire |
| Children | Mikhail Gorchakov |
| Signature |  |
Alexander Mikhailovich Gorchakov (Russian: Алекса́ндр Миха́йлович Горчако́в), (15 June 1798 – 11 March 1883) was a Russian diplomat and statesman from the Gorchakov princely family. He has an enduring reputation as one of the most influential and respected diplomats of the nineteenth century.
Gorchakov was born at Haapsalu, Governorate of Estonia, and was educated at the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum, where he had the poet Alexander Pushkin as a school-fellow. He became a good classical scholar, and learned to speak and write in French with facility and elegance. Pushkin in one of his poems described young Gorchakov as Fortune's favoured son, and predicted his success.
On leaving the lyceum Gorchakov entered the foreign office under Count Nesselrode. His first diplomatic work of importance was the negotiation of a marriage between the grand duchess Olga and the crown prince Charles of Wurttemberg. He remained at Stuttgart for some years as Russian minister and confidential adviser of the crown princess. He foretold the outbreak of the revolutionary spirit in Germany and Austria, and was credited with counselling the abdication of Ferdinand in favour of Francis Joseph. When the German Confederation was re-established in 1850 in place of the parliament of Frankfurt, Gorchakov was appointed Russian minister to the diet. It was here that he first met Prince Bismarck, with whom he formed a friendship which was afterwards renewed at St Petersburg.
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Wikipedia