Prince Alexander Nikolayevich Golitsyn (December 8 ( 19 ), 1773 - November 22 ( December 4 ), 1844 ) - statesman of the Russian Empire , in 1803-1816. Acting Chief Prosecutor , and in 1816-1824. who served as Minister of Education , Actual Privy Councilor of the 1st class (1841). The confidant of Alexander I , who until the end of his life cherished his "closeness and advice" [2] .
| Alexander Nikolaevich Golitsyn | |||||||||
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 Portrait of K.P. Bryullov | |||||||||
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| Predecessor | position established | ||||||||
| Successor | Adlerberg, Vladimir Fedorovich | ||||||||
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| Predecessor | Razumovsky, Alexey Kirillovich | ||||||||
| Successor | Shishkov, Alexander Semenovich | ||||||||
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| Predecessor | Yakovlev, Alexander Alekseevich | ||||||||
| Successor | Meshchersky, Peter Sergeevich | ||||||||
| Birth | December 8 (19), 1773 Moscow | ||||||||
| Death | November 22 ( December 4 ) 1844 (70 years old) Gaspra estate, Yalta county , Tauride province [1] | ||||||||
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| Kind | Golitsyn | ||||||||
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Origin and youth
The only son of the captain of the guard, Prince Nikolai Sergeyevich Golitsyn (Alekseevich line), from his third marriage with Alexandra Alexandrovna Khitrovo (1736-1796), the grandson of the Moscow governor Sergei Alekseevich Golitsyn (1695-1758). Widowed two weeks after the birth of her son, the mother in 1776 married retired Major M. A. Kologrivov. She belonged to her son strictly and coldly, but the influential court lady M. S. Perekusikhin fell in love with the “funny and pungent” boy, and by order of Catherine II in 1783 he was enrolled in the Page Corps moving from Moscow to St. Petersburg [2] .
The main focus was on teaching secular communication, French, fencing, dancing and horseback riding.
Thus, from infancy, Prince Golitsyn had access to the courtyard, where at first it was valued as a participant in the children's games of the Grand Dukes - Alexander and Constantine , and then - as a witty and clever gentleman. His brother (by father) M.N. Golitsyn , who took the place of the Yaroslavl governor, built the estate of Karabikha (now a museum-reserve) under the city.
Another brother (by mother), D. M. Kologrivov , accompanied the stunted prince Golitsyn in his mischief. Both brothers very skillfully imitated the manners and reprimand of others. Count F.P. Tolstoy wrote [3] :
| Prince Golitsyn, brought up at court and only for the court. Having a sharp mind by nature, he was particularly distinguished by his ability to mimic and imitate the voices of others, to the extent that it was true that in another room it was impossible not to be deceived and not to take him for the one whom he mimicked. |
Career
After graduating from the Page Corps in 1794, he was received by the lieutenant in the Preobrazhensky Regiment . But a year later he returned to the court and became a junker of the small court of the Grand Duke Alexander Pavlovich, and in 1796 he was transferred to the large imperial court . In 1799 he received the rank of chamberlain and this year became commander of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem . He was expelled from St. Petersburg by Emperor Paul I in the same year for an unknown reason.
After the accession to the throne of Alexander I, Prince Golitsyn, as a person close to him, was appointed first as Chief Prosecutor of the I and later III Departments of the Senate, and then on October 21, 1803, at the insistence of the emperor, assumed the post of Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod . In 1810, while maintaining his former position, he became the head of the foreign confessions, in 1816 - the Minister of Education .
Partly under the influence of R. A. Koshelev, this Epicurean and Volterian of Catherine’s education, elected in 1806 as a member of the Russian Academy , turned to piety with a pronounced sentimental and mystical color. He easily undertook to explain to the emperor the most complex theological issues, although he knew the history of religion superficially and considered true Christianity “foggy sentimental pietism mixed with Orthodox dogmas, various heretical and sectarian teachings” [2] . Moscow Metropolitan Filaret recalled:
When the emperor appointed [pr. A. N. Golitsyna] Chief Prosecutor, he said: “What am I Chief Prosecutor of the Synod? You know that I have no faith. " - "Well, complete, naughty, come to your senses." - “When,” Golitsyn said after “I saw that the members of the Synod were doing things seriously ... and I myself began to be more serious, respectful of the affairs of faith and the Church; when after a year or two he asked himself: do I believe? - then I saw that I believe, as I believed in childhood “
- From the memoirs of St. Filaret // Russian archive. - 1906. - No. 10. - S. 214.
Having proclaimed piety the basis of true enlightenment, Golitsyn took a course towards the clericalization of education, which under his leadership was zealously pursued by M.L. Magnitsky and D.P. Runich . He was suspicious of contemporary literature, which was expressed in the extreme censorship of censorship .
This "baby" in the work of faith was constantly fooled by various bigots and savages; he searched for the "outpouring of the Holy Spirit" and revelations, always chasing the prophets and prophetesses, for signs and wonders: either he "listened to the prophetic word" at the whip of Tatarinova , then he longed for the laying on of the hand of the new Chrysostom - Photius , then healed the possessed ones, then he was certified mystical ecstasy to experience the likeness of the Savior’s suffering from the needles of a blackthorn.
- led. Prince Nikolai Mikhailovich [2]
After in 1817 the departments of spiritual affairs and public education were united into one ministry - the Ministry of spiritual affairs and public education - Golitsyn became the head of the latter, but was relieved of the post of chief prosecutor. Since 1810, A. N. Golitsyn was a member of the Council of State , and during 1839-1841 - chairman of general meetings. He was one of the few to whom the secret of the abdication of Konstantin Pavlovich was entrusted. He headed the Philanthropic Society , took part in the organization of the Guardians of Prisons Society and other philanthropic endeavors.
In addition to the reform of theological schools, the establishment of the Russian Bible Society took place under Prince Golitsyn, which, under the presidency of the prince, translated the Bible into Russian and distributed more than 400,000 copies of it. The employees of this society, Popov , Magnitsky , Runich , and Cavelin , were appointed by Golitsyn to direct higher education, where they instilled clericalism ; many professors were fired for lack of piety. Magnitsky demanded to completely close Kazan University ward to him. Although it was customary to associate the triumph of reaction with finding Golitsyn at the helm of the ministry, it was with him that the St. Petersburg University and the Richelieu Lyceum were established.
July 28 ( August 9 ), 1821, the Russian Emperor Alexander I established the Siberian Committee and Count Golitsin was included in its first composition [4] [5] .
To neutralize the influence of A.N. Golitsyn on the emperor, A.A. Arakcheev led an intrigue under him with the participation of Metropolitan Seraphim and Archimandrite Photius , who convinced Alexander I that the management of Golitsyn was harmful to the church and the state. His enemies triumphed on May 15 ( May 27 ), 1824 , when Prince Golitsyn was to resign in both departments, retaining only the title of chief over the postal department . He occupied the last post under Nicholas I , who valued in Golitsyn “the most faithful friend of his family” [2] . Over the years, his religiosity only intensified. A contemporary recalls that in the house church of Alexander Nikolayevich stood
the semblance of a coffin, placed at the foot of a huge wooden cross; a shroud was laid on the coffin, various kinds of crosses were presented on this shroud, donated to the prince at different times. Instead of a chandelier, an image of a human heart is made of crimson glass before the coffin, and in this heart an unquenchable fire is burning. In this solitary closet, Emperor Alexander [6] was playing with the prince and blessed memory.
In 1843, Count Golitsyn, due to visual impairment, left the capital and retired to the Crimea, where he died in his estate Gaspra [1] . In the same Golitsyn palace, L. N. Tolstoy would later write the novel “ Hadji Murad ”. He was buried in the Balaklava St. George Monastery .
Personal life
Golitsyn spent his whole life a bachelor and was known for his intimate relationships with men [7] [8] . In a letter of 1824, N. M. Yazykov cites an anecdote, “as if the sovereign had called for the famous sodomite Bantysh-Kamensky and ordered him to make a list of all his acquaintances on this part, that Bantysh-Kamensky had presented him with such a list, starting with the Minister of Education, then there was the chancellor and so on .... After that he had an audience with the sovereign and certified him oath in the truth of his report ” [9] . A. Pushkin ridiculed Golitsyn in the epigram “ Here is the Tail Protector ... ” The famous memoirist and homosexual F. F. Vigel recalls Golitsyn even more biasedly: “Without blushing, you can’t talk about him, I won’t say anything more: his stupidity, his baseness and vices I will not dirty these pages. ”
Proceedings
Prince A. N. Golitsyn compiled for Empress Elizabeth Alekseevna "Opinion on the difference between the Eastern and Western Church, with the history of their separation," which was published only in 1870.
Awards and honors
- Russian
- 1799 - Order of St. John of Jerusalem , Commander's Cross
- 1804 - Order of St. Anne , 1st degree
- 1814 - Order of St. Alexander Nevsky
- 1826 - Order of St. Vladimir , 1st degree
- 1826 - Order of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called
- 1826 - Diamond to the Order of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called
- 1830 - Chancellor of Russian Orders
- 1831 - Order of the White Eagle
- 1831 - Order of St. Stanislav 1 tbsp.
- 1834 - Portrait of the Emperor of the Emperor with diamonds
- 1838 - distinction "For XL years of immaculate service"
- 1842 - pension according to the Order of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called
- foreign
- 1842 - Order of the Black Eagle (Prussia)
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 Now - the city district of Yalta ( Yalta City Council ) in Crimea }}.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 Russian portraits of the 18th and 19th centuries . Volume 2, No. 48. Volume 5, No.214.
- ↑ Tolstoy F.P. Notes by Count F.P. Tolstoy, Comrade President of the Imperial Academy of Arts // Russian Antiquity, 1873. - T. 7. - No. 1. - P. 24-51.
- ↑ Committee of the Siberian // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
- ↑ Siberian Committee // Big Russian Encyclopedia : [in 35 vol.] / Ch. ed. Yu.S. Osipov . - M .: Great Russian Encyclopedia, 2004—2017.
- ↑ Stories by A.N. Golitsyn in the recording by Yu. N. Bartenev . // Russian archive, 1886, No. 3.
- ↑ See comment . Archived copy of September 23, 2015 on the Wayback Machine to the epigram of A. S. Pushkin “Here is the Tail Protector ...”
- ↑ Kon I. S. Chapter 9. Was there homosexuality in holy Russia? // Heavenly love: A scientific-historical view of same-sex love. - SPb. : Continuation of Life, 2001.
- ↑ Languages N. M. Poems and Poems: Poet Library. - Soviet writer, 1988 .-- S. 515.
Literature
- Fedorov V.A. Golitsyn // Orthodox Encyclopedia . - M .: Church Scientific Center "Orthodox Encyclopedia" , 2006. - T. XI. - S. 695-697. - 752 s. - 39,000 copies. - ISBN 5-89572-017-X .
- Sheremetevsky V. Golitsyn Alexander Nikolaevich // Russian Biographical Dictionary: Gogol - Gune. M., 1997. S. 76-136. ISBN 5-7567-0079-X .
- Bartenev Yu. N. From the notes of Yu. N. Bartenev. Stories of Prince Alexander Nikolayevich Golitsyn // Russian Archive, 1886. - Book. 3. - Issue. 6. - S. 305—333.
- Golitsyn A.N. (Letters to Archimandrite Photius) / Publ. and comment. N.I. Barsova // Russian Antiquity, 1882. - T. 33. - No. 3. - S. 765-780. - Under the title: Prince A. N. Golitsyn and Archimandrite Photius in 1822-1825.
- Golitsyn A.N. Two letters of the Minister of Education of Prince A.N. Golitsyn to the director of the Tsarsko-Rural Lyceum E.A. Engelhart // Russian Archive, 1868. - Ed. 2nd. - M., 1869. - St. 873-877.
- Golitsyn A.N. Letters from Prince Alexander Nikolayevich Golitsyn to Countess Anna Alekseevna Orlova-Chesmenskaya in 1822 and 1823. / Communication. I.A. Zvegintsev // Russian Archive, 1869. - Issue. 6. - St. 943-958.
- Golitsyn A.N. Conversation of Napoleon I with Prince A. N. Golitsin. 1808 / Written down by N.P. Kicheev // Russian Antiquity, 1874. - V. 10. - No. 7. - S. 621-622.
- Kondakov Yu. E. The resignation of Prince A. N. Golitsyn May 15, 1824 // Russia in the nineteenth century: politics, economics, culture. - SPb. 1996.
- Kondakov Yu. E. The personality and government activities of Prince A. N. Golitsyn // Personality and power in the history of Russia in the 19th-20th centuries. - SPb. 1997.
- Kondakov Yu. E. Prince A.N. Golitsyn: courtier, official, Christian .: monograph. - St. Petersburg: OOO ElekSis ", 2014. - 284 p.
- Nazarenko E. Yu. Prince A.N. Golitsyn in the socio-political and religious history of Russia in the first half of the 19th century .: monograph. - Voronezh .: Voronezh State University Publishing House, 2014 .-- 188 p.
- Zazulina N.N. Prince A.N. Golitsyn. Unknown in all respects.— M.: Boslen, 2019.S. 288. ISBN: 978-5-91187-334-9
Links
- Profile of Alexander Nikolayevich Golitsyn on the official website of the RAS