Bezborodko

Prince Alexander Andreyevich Bezborodko (Ukrainian: Олександр Андрійович Безбородько; Russian: Алекса́ндр Андре́евич Безборо́дко; 25 March [O.S. 14 March] 1747 – 6 April 1799) was the Grand Chancellor of Russia and chief architect of Catherine the Great's foreign policy after the death of Nikita Panin.

Oleksandr Bezborodko was born at Hlukhiv on 25 March [O.S. 14 March] 1747 in a family of Cossack nobility. His father Andriy Bezborodko was a general scribe (chancellor), while his mother Eudokia was a daughter of general judge Mykhailo Zabila.

He was educated at home and in the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. Upon finishing his education, he entered the public service as a clerk in the office of Count P. A. Rumyantsev, then governor-general of Ukraine, whom he accompanied to the Turkish War in 1768. He was present at the engagements of Larga and Kagul, and at the storming of Silistria.

On the conclusion of the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca (1774) the field marshal recommended him to 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, of which he became a master. It was at this time that he wrote his historical sketches of the Tatar wars and of Ukraine.

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