Alexander Mikhailovich Gorchakov 1798 - 1883 An outstanding Russian diplomat, Chancellor, Minister of Foreign Affairs. Childhood Alexander Mikhailovich Gorchakov was born on June 15, 1798 in the Estonian city of Gapsal. Alexander was a descendant of a princely family, his father Mikhail Alekseevich Gorchakov was a major general, and the boy’s mother Elena Dorothea Ferzen was the holder of the title of baroness. Study ● He spent his early childhood at home. ● In 1811 he passed the entrance exams and entered the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum. ● He studied at the same class with Alexander Pushkin with whom he maintained contact in the following years. ● He received the nickname «frant» for his diligence and ambition ● He graduated from the educational institution among the excellent students. Mentor «The direct character of Kapodistrias is not capable of court intrigues. I would like to serve under his command» Alexander said. Gorchakov’s first teacher and mentor was the Russian and Greek councelor, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Empire I. A. Kapodistrias. Ivan Antonovich Kapodistrias Early career ● In 1819 Gorchakov entered the service with the rank of a chamber cadet. ● In the early 1820s he was an officer at the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry Count Karl Nesselrode. ● For his diligence in service at the Leibach Congress he was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir 4 degrees. ● Subsequently, he held the position of secretary of the embassies in London and Rome, and also served in various diplomatic posts in Berlin, Florence and Vienna. Family At the age of 40 Alexander married the widow Maria Alexandrovna MusinaPushkina. For the sake of marriage with one of the first beauties of Russia, he left the service to prove to his future father-in-law that the chosen one is more important to him, but after a few years he recovered. The couple had two sons - Mikhail and Konstantin. Career peak After the end of the Crimean War of 1853-1856, Count Nesselrode resigned and Gorchakov who had proven himself in Vienna, became his successor as foreign minister. Gorchakov needed to change the terms of the Paris Peace Treaty at any cost. In 1870, he notified the British, French, AustroHungarian and Prussian governments that the emperor could no longer adhere to the terms of the Paris Peace, due to the restriction of supreme rights in the Black Sea. Negotiations have begun. Lengthy debates led to the signing of a convention that lifted restrictions for Russia. Such a diplomatic decision was a huge success for the Russian diplomatic department and for Alexander Mikhailovich himself. Politics The policy of neutrality became the credo of Gorchakov’s foreign policy. He himself has repeatedly repeated: «There are no divergent interests that cannot be reconciled by zealously and persistently working on this case in a spirit of justice and moderation». He managed to localize the wars that broke out, not allowing them to grow. He was able to keep Russia away from acute conflicts, protecting it from military involvement in European problems, for more than twenty years. End of career The Berlin Congress of 1878 was the final one in Gorchakov’s diplomatic career. It reviewed the terms of the San Stefano Peace Treaty, which summed up the Russian-Turkish War of 1877-1878. After the Berlin Congress, Alexander Mikhailovich retained his honorary title of state Chancellor and became his last. Death Gorchakov died in 1883 in Baden-Baden. The diplomat was buried in the family tomb at the cemetery of Sergiev Primorsky Desert. The memory of Gorchakov is preserved in his portraits painted by famous artists, and blackand-white photographs.
