Shakhovskoy, Yakov Petrovich

Childhood

Yakov Petrovich Shakhovsky was born in the family of Prince Peter Ivanovich Shakhovsky. Father died when Yakov was only a few months old. After that, his mother married twice more. At the age of 9, Jacob was brought up by his uncle, Prince Alexei Shakhovskoy , who at that time was a guard officer.

Guard Service

Yakov Shakhovskoy began his military service in 1720 as a soldier of the Life Guards Semyonovsky Regiment . In 1725, he rose to the rank of lieutenant , and already during the reign of Peter II received the rank of captain . In 1730 he moved to the cavalry.

In the mid- 1730s, Shakhovskaya served under his uncle, who had been the governor of Little Russia since December 1731, and therefore Jacob often personally reported to Empress Anna Ioannovna and Duke Biron about Ukrainian affairs. In one of the meetings on the state of Little Russian regiments and their mobilization readiness, he did not agree with Biron himself. Shakhovskoy not only managed to express what he thinks, but also explained in a cover note why he thinks so. Biron publicly admitted that the young prince was right and took a sensible officer to the note, during the regency he was very distinguished by giving a variety of instructions of expert nature.

After the death of his uncle in April 1737 , Shakhovskoy took part in the Russian-Turkish war as part of the cavalry regiment. He participated in the battles of Ochakov and Khotyn under the command of Christopher Minich .

Government Career

During the regency of Biron and the brief period of the reign of Anna Leopoldovna , Shakhovskaya for some time served as senator and police chief . When Elizaveta Petrovna ascended the throne, many patrons of Yakov Petrovich were arrested and he had to leave his post. However, with the assistance of Prince Nikita Trubetskoy, Shakhovskaya received the post of Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod .

Shakhovsky received a reputation as a rather demanding and principled official, which caused dissatisfaction with influential members of the clergy who demanded that Elizabeth remove him from his post. Nevertheless, he stayed as the Chief Prosecutor of the Synod for 12 years (12/31/1741 - 03/29/1753), during which he was awarded the Orders of St. Alexander Nevsky and St. Anna and was awarded the rank of Privy Councilor in 1753 .

On May 29, 1753, he was appointed head of the Kriegcommission and managed public spending during the Seven Years War . On August 15, 1760, Shakhovskoy was appointed prosecutor general . On December 25, 1761, Emperor Peter III, upon assuming the throne, ousted Shakhovsky from this post. The short reign of Peter III ended in a palace coup, and Catherine II returned Shakhovsky to public service, appointing him a senator. On the day of her coronation on September 22, 1762 , the Empress awarded him the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called .

Retirement

On April 1, 1766, Yakov Shakhovskoy left his post and settled in Moscow . His eventful life is the subject of his autobiographical notes, which were first published in 1810 after his death.

He was married twice and had four children:

1. wife Alexandra Alekseevna Putyatin
   • Anna Yakovlevna (1738-1809), was married to Prince F. A. Golitsyn, the elder brother of the ambassador in Paris .
   • Fedor Yakovlevich (1740–20.12.1782), state adviser.
   • Maria Yakovlevna (1741–13.11.1827), was married to N. N. Saltykov (d. 1805); among their grandchildren are Princes A. Ya. Lobanov and V.A. Dolgorukov .
2. wife from 1758 Evdokia Egorovna Lopukhina, ur. Famintsyna (02.16.1719 - 01.01.01.1781)
   • Alexey Yakovlevich (1759-1791), chamberlain.

• Shakhovskoy, Yakov Petrovich // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.

• "Notes by pr. Ya. P. Shakhovsky, written by himself ”, ed. 2nd, St. Petersburg 1821 g
• Notes by Prince Yakov Petrovich Shakhovsky. 1705-1777. - 1872
• 250 years ago, Prince Yakov Petrovich Shakhovskaya was appointed prosecutor of Russia