Alexander Bezborodko
Grand Chancellor of Russia (1747-1799)
Prince Alexander Andreyevich Bezborodko (25 March [O.S. 14 March] 1747 – 6 April 1799) was a Russian politician and diplomat who served as the chancellor of the Russian Empire from 1797 to 1799. He was the chief architect of Catherine the Great's foreign policy after the death of Nikita Panin.
Early life
Аleksander Bezborodko was born in Glukhov, in the Cossack Hetmanate of the Russian Empire (now Hlukhiv, Ukraine), on 25 March [O.S. 14 March] 1747, into a family of Zaporozhian Cossack noble descent. His father, Andrey Bezborodko, was a general scribe (chancellor), while his mother, Eudokia, was a daughter of the general judge Mikhail Zabila.
He was educated at home and at Kiev-Mogila Academy. Upon finishing his education, he entered the public service as a clerk in the office of Peter Rumyantsev, then the governor-general of Little Russia, 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. In 1774, Bezborodko was appointed colonel of the Kiev Regiment.
On the conclusion of the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca in 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.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2630181. VIAF identifies the subject as 50628783. The Library of Congress control number is n84125180. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1747, 1799, 1797 and 1768.
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This entry incorporates text from “Alexander Bezborodko” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.