Boris Vladimirovitch Golitsyn

Prince Boris Vladimirovitch Golitsyn (Russian: Бори́с Влади́мирович Голи́цын; 6 January 1769, Moscow - 6 January 1813, Vilnius) was a Russian aristocrat who fought in the Napoleonic Wars and rose to the rank of lieutenant general.

From the Moscow branch of the House of Golitsyn, he was the son of Vladimir Borisovich Golitsyn and his wife Nathalie Galitzine - she was the inspiration for the lead character in Pushkin's The Queen of Spades. His younger siblings were Sophie Vladimirovna Stroganov, countess Ekaterina Vladimirovna Apraksina and prince Dmitry Golitsyn.

He joined up as a sergeant in the Semionovsky Regiment of Russia's Imperial Guard in 1781 aged only 12. Between 1782 and 1786 he studied at the Protestant faculty in Strasbourg to perfect his French and German language skills and his military knowledge. He also keenly studied music and dance, gaining him the nickname "Boris-Vestris" after the French dancer Auguste Vestris. He continued his education as a sub-lieutenant at the war school in Paris during the last years of the Ancien Regime and the early phases of the French Revolution, which he assisted, though he became very hostile to the turn of events and joined the Swedish army to fight against Revolutionary France. In 1794 he also fought in Poland (then on the eve of its Third Partition), receiving the Order of St George fourth class on 1 January 1795 for brave deeds in the attack on the fortress at Warsaw during the battle of Praga on 24 October 1794 (Old Style) - during that battle he had fought alongside his brother Dmitry.

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