Prince Nikita Grigorievich Volkonsky ( 1781 - 1844 ) - a major general from the Volkonsky clan, a participant in the Napoleonic wars , husband of Zinaida Beloselskaya-Belozerskaya .
| Nikita G. Volkonsky | ||||||||||||
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| Nickname | Volkonsky 3rd | |||||||||||
| Date of Birth | July 9, 1781 | |||||||||||
| Place of Birth | Moscow | |||||||||||
| Date of death | December 6, 1844 (63 years old) | |||||||||||
| Place of death | Assisi , Italy | |||||||||||
| Affiliation |  Russian empire | |||||||||||
| Type of army | infantry | |||||||||||
| Years of service | 1796-1840 (intermittently) | |||||||||||
| Rank |  major general | |||||||||||
| Commanded | militia | |||||||||||
| Awards and prizes |
Foreign orders
Award weapon
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Biography
The son of General-General G.S. Volkonsky , the grandson of Field Marshal Nikolai Repnin . The brother of the generals S. G. Volkonsky and N. G. Repnin-Volkonsky , who distinguished themselves during the wars with Napoleon.
He graduated from the Land Cadet Corps . Warrant Officer in L.-G. The Izmailovsky regiment was recorded on October 9, 1792. January 1, 1796 accepted into the service of a second lieutenant in the same regiment.
November 16, 1800 he was dismissed from military service with the rank of captain . On September 15, 1801 he was admitted to the Imperial Court as a junker . On January 15, 1807 he again entered the military service with the rank of lieutenant colonel in the army and was appointed adjutant to General I.I. Mikhelson , the commander in chief of the Moldavian army. He participated in battles with the Turks , received several awards, including a gold sword “for courage” . September 15, 1807 promoted to colonel and appointed annexe to Alexander I.
In 1808, Alexander I sent Nikita Grigorievich with a letter to Napoleon I. There are several historical jokes left from this trip. Napoleon kindly met Volkonsky, invited him to a joint dinner during which the emperor of France praised the Russian soldiers with whom he could conquer the whole world:
“Tell them only - go and go, and ours still have to explain where they are being led.”
During the same dinner, Napoleon uttered other famous words:
"Tell your sovereign that I am his friend, but that he beware of those who are trying to quarrel us. If we unite, the world will be ours. The universe is like this apple that I hold in our hands. We can cut it into two parts, and each of us will get half.For this we only need to be willing, and the job is done
Later, in a report by Volkonsky about this case, Alexander I replied: “First, he will enjoy one half of the apple, and then the hunt will come to take the other.”
The completion of the trip, Nikita Grigoryevich was marked by another famous story. After saying goodbye to Napoleon, already on the stairs Volkonsky caught up with the marshal Duroc and handed the case with the words "This is a memory of His Majesty." Volkonsky opened the case and found a ring with a small diamond. Considering such an insignificant gift to the unworthy envoy of the Russian emperor, he presented it to the escorting gendarme with the words “Take it as a keepsake from a Russian officer”. The gendarme talked about the gift, the case received publicity and reached Napoleon, who ordered Kolenkur , the French ambassador in St. Petersburg, to complain to Alexander about the disrespectful treatment of the imperial gift. Alexander, appreciating the deed of his messenger, said to Volkonsky:
“It turns out that you almost quarreled with Napoleon. It was careless of you. In the end, you were not wrong in this story. Let's not talk about her anymore. ”
On July 28, 1812, he was appointed to be a member of the St. Petersburg militia, participated in the battle of Polotsk on October 6-7 and was shocked by a grenade fragment in his right side, as a result of which he retired on October 20, 1812. December 19 of the same year he returned to service and was in the Suite of Alexander I.
In 1813 he participated in the battles of Luzen , Bautzen and Dresden . September 15 of the same year, promoted to major general with admission to the Suite. For distinction near Leipzig he was awarded a gold sword “for courage” with diamonds.
In 1814, he fought at Brienne , La Rotier , Bar-sur-Ob , Ars-sur-Ob , at Fer-Champenoise and near Paris . In 1815 he accompanied Alexander I on a trip to the Vienna Congress . On December 6, 1827, he joined the court service as a Jägermeister and was transferred to Privy Councilors. At the end of his life, he converted to Catholicism and left for Italy. He was buried in the Roman .
Family
Since 1811, married to Princess Zinaida Alexandrovna Beloselskaya (1789-1862) - writer, poetess, singer and composer, the princess was a prominent figure in Russian cultural life in the first half of the 19th century.
Their only son was born in their marriage:
- Prince Alexander Nikitich Volkonsky (1811-1878), Privy Councilor.
Sources
- Dictionary of Russian generals, participants in the hostilities against the army of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1812-1815. // Russian archive. The history of the Fatherland in the evidence and documents of the XVIII — XX centuries. : Collection. - M .: TRITE studio N. Mikhalkova , 1996. - T. VII . - S. 342 . - ISSN 0869-20011 . (Comm. A. A. Podmazo )