Kavelin, Alexander Alexandrovich

Descended from the Russian noble family of the Kavelins . His father was a Tula landowner of the "most moderate state." Having remained an orphan in childhood, the son was raised by relatives ^[2] .

At the age of 10 he was enrolled in the Page Corps , in 1808 he was promoted to camera-pages, and in 1810 he was released as a second lieutenant in the Life Guards Izmailovsky Regiment .

In 1812 he participated in the campaign against the French . During the battle of Borodino (June 13, 1812) he was wounded with a canister in his left leg with a bone injury and a bullet in his right arm. For the difference with Borodino on August 26, 1812, he was promoted to lieutenant and rewarded with a gold sword For Bravery , which was equated with the receipt of an order. ^[2]

December 14, 1825, already in the rank of colonel , participated in the suppression of the Decembrist uprising in St. Petersburg , and for the difference that day was granted to the aide-de-camp . From December 1827 he was enlisted in the retinue of His Imperial Majesty in the rank of Major General .

In the campaign against the Turks (1828), he participated in the battle under the Šumla fortress (Shumen) and under the siege of Varna, after taking it (October 8, 1828) with His Imperial Majesty returned to Russia.

On May 20, 1830, he was appointed director of the Page Corps and on April 19, 1831, he was granted adjutant general ; from December 6, 1833 - lieutenant general .

May 5, 1834 was appointed to "stand" with the heir to the throne - the future Emperor Alexander II . In 1837 he accompanied the heir on a trip to Russia; in 1838–1839 - on a trip to Prussia, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Italy, Holland and England; in 1839 (from August 12 to October 26) - to maneuvers in Borodino and the western province; in 1840 - on a trip to Prussia and Saxony.

During a trip to Europe in 1838, it was A.A. Kavelin easily persuaded the crown prince to stay in Darmstadt . According to historian S.S. Tatishcheva ,

"Immediately upon his arrival, the Grand Duke visited him and invited him to go to the theater, and from there to the castle for the evening."

About the same wrote and A.F. Tyutchev :

"The heir accidentally stopped in Darmstadt for one day and went to the theater in the evening. He was so touched by the modest charm of a young princess, almost a child, hiding in the depths of his box, when he returned home, he announced to his mentor Zhukovsky , Kavelin and Count Orlov, who accompanied him that he found the wife that he needs, and that he will not go any further. "

So, thanks to the occasion and Kavelin, Alexander made a fateful, but unintentional meeting with Maria of Hesse, the future Empress Maria Alexandrovna ^[2] .

April 16, 1841 appointed senator, and December 2, 1842 - the St. Petersburg military governor-general. On October 10, 1843 - General of Infantry. From 1842 to 1847 he was a member of the Board of Trustees of public charity institutions in St. Petersburg ^[3] . In 1846 he was appointed a member of the Committee to consider the degree of danger from storage in the St. Petersburg corps of firearms. During his time at the post of military governor-general of St. Petersburg :

• On February 13, 1846 , a new “Regulation on the Public Administration of St. Petersburg” was approved.
• The building of the Nikolaevsky station is laid.
• The construction of the first permanent drawbridge across the Neva began.
• The Horse Guards Boulevard is laid.
• The erection of the building of the Kazan Fire Station began.
• Laid down Alexandrovsky Park .
• Open telegraph line Petersburg - Tsarskoye Selo.
• Founded Russian Geographical Society .

April 7, 1846 filed a petition for dismissal from the post of Governor-General due to health disorder (with preservation of content); from May 20, 1846 to July 22, 1847 was on treatment in overseas leave.

February 7, 1850 was appointed a member of the Council of Military Schools. Since 1836 - Honorary Member of the Russian Academy.

By the end of his life, signs of mental illness began to appear more distinctly: Kavelin beat his wife, poured sick children in the cold, threw a knife at their teacher. Under the royal directive, Kavelin was now accompanied everywhere by a gendarme officer and four disguised agents. Treatment in the German institution for the insane resulted in only a temporary improvement ^[2] .

He died in Gatchina , buried in the cemetery of the Trinity-Sergiev Primorskaya desert . The last debt was given to the deceased by Nicholas I and the grand dukes. His pupil, the crown prince, was at that time in the Caucasus . Later, becoming the emperor, he patronized the children of Kavelin ^[2] .

Family

The wife (since January 18, 1882) is Maria Pavlovna Chikhacheva (1808–1891), the maid of honor of Empress Maria Feodorovna, the daughter of Pavel Fedorovich Chikhachev and the niece of General Matvey Chikhachev. Crowned in St. Petersburg in the courtyard of the Winter Palace. For the merits of her husband on July 1, 1837 she was granted to the cavalier ladies of the Order of St. Catherine (small cross) . Buried in the Sergius Desert in the Golitsyn Church. In marriage, had ten children:

• Maria (1829–1895), wife of V. D. Solomirsky ;
• Alexander (1832-1906), Lieutenant-General, Taurian (1873-1811) and Smolensk (1881-1886) Governor;
• Pavel (1834–1905), chamberlain, full state councilor;
• Ivan (05/30/1835-1893), the godson of the Grand Duke Alexander Nikolaevich and Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna, Colonel;
• Michael (04/02/1837-1914), the godson of Alexander II and Yu. F. Baranova .
• Peter (12/23/1838, Rome —?), Alexander II's godson.
• Alexandra (06.24.1841-1918), goddaughter of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and Alexander II, Maid of Honor
• Catherine (1842-1914), maid of honor.
• Nikolay (12.21.1844-1896), the godson of Nicholas I and Grand Princess Olga Nikolaevna, Major General.
• Julia (12/21/1844-1908), twin with brother, goddaughter of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and Alexander II, maid of honor.

• Order of St. George IV class
• Order of St. Anne, 1 degree (06/26/1830)
• Order of the White Eagle (1835)
• Order of St. Alexander Nevsky (07.07.1837),
• Order of St. Vladimir of 1 degree (04/07/1846),
• Prussian Order of St. John of Jerusalem (August 15, 1881),
• Prussian Order of the Red Eagle, 1 degree (11/15/1834)

and many other awards.

• At the funeral of Alexander II himself in 1881 on the lid of the coffin they carried a sword , once presented to him by a mentor. When the imperial testament was opened, it turned out that this saber was bequeathed to Kavelin's eldest son, Alexander ^[2] .

• Kavelin Alexander Alexandrovich // List of generals by seniority . Corrected on March 17th. - SPb. : Military Printing House, 1844. - p. 80.
• Dlugolensky Ya. N. The military civil authority of St. Petersburg, 1703-1917. - SPb., 2001. - p. 118-122.
• Lyashenko L. Alexander II or the History of Three Solitude. - M., 2002.