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Jan Pieter van Suchtelen

Dutch-Swedish-Russian diplomat and art collector from County of Liikkala (1751-1836)

Architectural plans, a scale model, maps and brass measuring instruments
Places and architectureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMay 1, 2026
Entity authorityQ2106584 ↗
Source-derived summary

Jan Pieter van Suchtelen, Count of Liikkala, Pyotr Kornilovich Suchtelen/Sukhtelen (2 August 1751, in Grave – 6 January 1836, in Stockholm), was a Dutch-born general in the Russian army and diplomat who became best known in Finland as the commander of the siege of Sveaborg during the Russo-Swedish War (1808–1809), and in Sweden as Russian minister to Stockholm from 1810 until his death. In 1812 Suchtelen was the plenipotentiary for Russian Emperor Alexander I in Örebro where he negotiated and signed the Treaty of Örebro which brought to an end the Anglo-Russian War (1807–1812). In that treaty his titles included "general of engineers, quarter-master general, [and] member of the council of state".

He was active as military engineer. He established a preliminary project of the Modlin Fortress, near Warsaw, when Russia captured this area after the third partition of Poland.

Military career

Since 1783 he actively worked in Russia, having been summoned by Catherine II to develop the Russian engineering corps. He was active as a military engineer and established a preliminary project of the Modlin Fortress, near Warsaw, when Russia captured this area after the third partition of Poland. For his project of Staro-Kalinkin Bridge in St Petersburg he was promoted to the rank of colonel.

Siege of Sveaborg

During the Russo-Swedish War (1808–1809), van Suchtelen served as quartermaster general of the Russian army in Finland. The decisive confrontation took place in the spring of 1808 between van Suchtelen, who directed the siege of Sveaborg, and the fortress's Swedish commander, Vice Admiral Carl Olof Cronstedt.

Editorial summary

“Jan Pieter van Suchtelen” enters the record as dutch-Swedish-Russian diplomat and art collector from County of Liikkala (1751-1836). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Pieter, Suchtelen and Dutch-Swedish-Russian can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA strong orientation record where physical form, institutional use and historical geography need to be read together. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1751, 1836, 1808, 1809—that can be checked directly. The authority record carries competing date values—1751-08-02, 1751-01-01—which should remain separate until their references and qualifiers are resolved. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Pieter, Suchtelen and Dutch-Swedish-Russian.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Jan Pieter van Suchtelen” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Pieter, Suchtelen and Dutch-Swedish-Russian provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2106584. VIAF identifies the subject as 3254556. The Library of Congress control number is n96080998. 4 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1751, 1836, 1808 and 1809.

Critical limits

Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.

Best used for
  • Historic place names
  • Jurisdictional context
  • Routes into maps and plans
Verify next

Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Jan Pieter van Suchtelen”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Jan Pieter van Suchtelen primary sources, Jan Pieter van Suchtelen archive and Pieter research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Jan Pieter van Suchtelen”?
  2. Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
  3. Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Jan Pieter van Suchtelen” 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.