Chernyshev, Grigory Ivanovich

The son of Field Marshal Ivan Grigoryevich Chernyshev from his second marriage with Anna Alexandrovna Islenieva . Being the only representative of the clan, Gregory inherited not only his father’s fortune, but also the majorate established by his uncle Zakhar , together with his enormous fortune, which included, among other things, Yaropolets , a Moscow region palace , a palace near the Blue Bridge and a summer house on the Peterhof road .

He studied at the University of Strasbourg. While in Strasbourg , in 1776 he was consecrated into Freemasonry in one of the local lodges.

For some time he was in military service, then switched to civilian service. He performed a number of diplomatic missions, for example, he attended the Iasi Congress in the Bezborodko Suite. In 1776 he was granted chamber junkers , in 1799 he was appointed to help the chamberlain for theater directorship Alexander Naryshkin , but he stayed in this service only until the beginning of the reign of Alexander I. He received the rank of Actual Privy Councilor and was granted Ober-Schenky on September 11, 1816.

In the 1790s, he lived abroad with his parents. Returning to Russia in 1795, Grigory Ivanovich, according to Prince A. B. Kurakin , “brought a chasm of things from Italy and Vienna, flaunted them, presented a lot” and led a luxurious lifestyle ^[1] .

Despite the great fortune, the financial affairs of Chernyshev were very confused. The husband of his sister, F.F. Vadkovsky, during the management of their affairs appropriated 93 thousand rubles. In 1798, Grigory Ivanovich tried to recover them from him, but without having to pay this amount, Vadkovsky resorted to an unseemly method. For reckoning, he bought the bills of Count Chernyshev at a cheap price.

By decree of Paul I , who favored Chernyshev, guardianship was established over the property of Grigory Ivanovich, despite the fact that he was fully capable, already married and had children. By this time, his debts by this time had already reached 2 million rubles. Thanks to all sorts of government benefits and Derzhavin’s efforts, the debts were paid, and in 1806 the guardianship was lifted, and Chernyshev himself received 75 thousand rubles a year from guardianship, which gave him the opportunity to lead an idle and secure life. However, according to Derzhavin, released from custody, Chernyshev soon managed to make debts almost twice as much as before.

According to a contemporary’s review, Count Chernyshev “personified the clergy of Catherine’s nobles, he was very polite in society, he freely wrote French verse and knew little Russian,” he was “very gentle, loving society and entertainment” ^[2] . AO Smirnova recalled that at the balls in the Anichkov Palace “everyone was dying of laughter when old Chernyshev started up, crouching on bends, with the empress , who forcibly chose him in the cotillion .” S.P. Zhikharev spoke about the graph in his diary like this: “This is one of the most kind people in the world, smart, witty, friendly” ^[3] .

In 1821, Chernyshev published several French comedies and proverbs written by him for the Gatchina court theater. As a theater-goer, in the 1780s he took an active part in amateur opera productions at the court of Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich, was the first performer of the parts of Pedrillo (The Falcon by D. Bortnyansky , 1786), Carillo (Opponent Son, or New Stratonics D Bortnyansky, 1787). ^[four]

He was known for his quirks. So, in 1819, at a reception at the Tagino Oryol estate (where Chernyshev preferred to live on the slope of the years away from the temptations of metropolitan life), guests went to the count's garden after lunch, where they found a wooden hut covered with birch bark. Three beauties and the inscription “Aux bons gourmans” were depicted on the sign, and an attendant came out to meet the guests in a blouse jacket and trousers, an apron, with a cap, and a map of dishes and wines, which the count himself turned out to be.

In his youth, Count Chernyshev was a freemason , so he loved various mystical surprises, such as the floor falling in front of guests and the appearance of a skeleton with inscriptions unknown from where. Rumor had it that shortly before his death, Chernyshev ordered a stone crypt to be built with a coffin swinging on chains. According to the stories of local residents, the count went to bed in the evenings, where he read a book by candlelight.

He was the founder of the Moscow Masonic lodge "Seeking Manna" and the St. Petersburg lodge "Orpheus", in which he held the post of chair master . Grand Chancellor of the Great Provincial Lodge and the Phoenix Chapter . In Freemasonry he bore the order name - Knight of the moon, his motto was - In the darkness shines , coat of arms - In the blue field is a silver moon.

The last years of his life were overshadowed by the events following the uprising of the Decembrists. His son Zakhar and his son-in-law Muravyov were deprived of all rights and exiled to Siberia, and his wife was paralyzed. The count departed from all business, stepped aside from managing affairs, ran the estate and ran the house, right up to ordering shoes for the young countesses, a longtime friend of the Chernyshevs and their neighbor on the Oryol estate, Yakov Fedorovich Skaryatin. In 1828, Count Chernyshev was widowed, his health began to deteriorate. He died in Orel in 1831, was buried in a man’s monastery in a cemetery near the bishop’s house. A. Ya. Bulgakov wrote on January 15, 1831 to his brother from Moscow ^[5] :

Since 1796, he was married to maid of honor Elizabeth Petrovna Kvashnina-Samarina (1773-1828), the granddaughter of P. S. Saltykov ; the daughter of Senator Peter Fedorovich Kvashnin-Samarin (1743-1815) and Countess Anastasia Petrovna Saltykova (1731-1830); since 1813, the cavalier lady of the Order of St. Catherine the Small Cross. They had seven children in marriage, whose parents managed to give not only an excellent education, but also raised spiritual nobility and tender love for each other in them:

• Zakhar Grigorievich (1796-1862), went through the case of the Decembrists, was deprived of all rights, after which the right to inherit the surname and marjorat passed to the older sister.
• Sofya Grigoryevna (1799-1847), married to Privy Councilor Ivan Gavrilovich Kruglikov (1787-1847) from 1828, he added his wife's surname to receive the count's title and Chernyshevsky majorate. Two elder daughters of the Decembrist V. L. Davydov were brought up in their house, who wrote that it was impossible to be kinder and more attentive than Sofya Grigoryevna.
• Elena Grigoryevna (10.10.1801—?), Was born in St. Petersburg, was baptized on October 11, 1801 in the Ascension Church ^[6] .
• Alexandra Grigoryevna (1804-1832), since 1823 the wife of the Decembrist N. M. Muravyov . She was above average height, blonde, broad-bodied; British living in St. Petersburg found her similar to Princess Charlotte .
• Elizaveta Grigorievna (1805-1858), a wonderful beauty and a good singer, with an extensive soprano , since 1828 married to a secret adviser A. D. Chertkov .
• Natalya Grigorievna (1806-1888), of all the sisters, she was distinguished by the slimness of her waist and was very similar to her grandmother A.P. Samarina; since 1834, married to the infantry general N. N. Muravyov-Karsky .
• Vera Grigorievna (1808–1880), since 1830 married to a diplomat Count Fyodor Petrovich Palen (1780–1863), son of P.P. Palen . It differed in beauty and attractiveness from the sisters, in the 1840s there was a great similarity in society between her and Countess Rossi , with the difference that the latter was a blond blonde, and Vera Grigoryevna was a brunette in her eyes and hair color, but her skin was white and her cheeks were always red. belonged to a blonde.
• Nadezhda Grigoryevna (1813-17.11.1853), a beautiful horsewoman and original beauty, was male in stature, swarthy like a gypsy, and with a strong blush all over her cheek, with expressive dark eyes that she could not see her upper eyelashes and eyes seemed to go straight out from under the eyebrows; The eyebrows were thick and horizontal, and the hair was dark. In 1832, A. N. Muravyov was carried away by it and sang it in the verses “Castle on the Lama”; in 1833, D.N. Goncharov , brother of N.N. Pushkina, in love with her, got married to her. In 1834 she was granted the maids of honor, and in 1838 she married Lieutenant Colonel Prince G. A. Dolgorukov (1811-1853). She died of cancer in Wiesbaden, is buried there in the city cemetery.

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  Elizaveta Petrovna,
  wife
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  'Zakhar Grigorievich,
  son
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  Sofya Grigoryevna,
  daughter
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  Alexandra Grigoryevna,
  daughter
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  Natalya Grigoryevna,
  daughter

• Russian portraits of the XVIII — XIX centuries . Ed. Led. Prince Nikolai Mikhailovich. SPb. 1906. T. II vol. IV. Number 153.
• Russian Biographical Dictionary : At 25 t./A. A. Polovtsov. - M., 1896-1918. Volume: 29, Pages: 308-309.
• Serkov A.I. Russian Freemasonry. 1731-2000 Encyclopedic Dictionary. - M.: Russian Political Encyclopedia, 2001.