August von Denffer
Baron Julius Heinrich August Uljanowitsch von Denffer (born September 25, 1786 in Kandau in Courland ( Latvian : Kandava ); † March 11, 1860 in Saint Petersburg ) was a German-Baltic officer and statesman. He was Department President of the Russian State Council , Senator , Governor , Real Privy Councilor and holder of the highest honors of the Russian Empire .
family
August von Denffer came from the German-Baltic noble family Denffer . His father Julius Heinrich von Denffer (1738–1814) was the heir to Bunsenberg, who with his wife Amalia had four daughters and three sons, of which only one son (August) and two daughters were older than six years. August himself had eleven children with his wife Caroline, of which four sons and two daughters reached adulthood. The youngest, Friedrich Woldemar (1834–1890), whose grandson was the botanist Dietrich von Denffer (1914–2007), continued the Bunsenberg line.
Life
Denffer joined the Dnieper Infantry Regiment in 1803 and was involved in numerous battles and campaigns. When he joined the Ryazan Infantry Regiment in 1813 he became the Imperial Russian staff captain and took part in the Battle of Leipzig , where he was seriously injured as an adjutant to the Tsar and liaison officer to the Yorck Corps. In 1817 he became major and dejourning staff officer of the 5th Infantry Corps, in 1818 a lieutenant colonel and in 1822 a colonel . He retired from the military and in 1826 became a real Councilor of State and Governor of Novgorod. In 1828 Moscow University made him an honorary member for his services to education, as he is still honored there today.
In 1831, after violent unrest had been resolved due to a severe cholera epidemic in Novgorod military settlements, Denffer received the Tsar's personal thanks in a rescript . In this context, to protect the population, he had taken on Count Alexei Andreevich Araktschejew , who was notorious for his extraordinary brutality and ruthlessness . In 1834 he became a Russian senator . Tsar Nicholas I called him to Saint Petersburg , where he was initially a privy councilor and member of the governing senate and the council of state . Three years later he was sent to the Saratov governorate to investigate and remedy problems , for which he was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir in 1839 . In 1856, Tsar Alexander II appointed him to the Real Privy Council , from 1858 to the presiding senator of the 4th State Council Department (state economy). Among other things, Denffer dealt intensively in coordination with Alexander II with preparations for the abolition of serfdom in the Russian Empire, the implementation of which, however, he could no longer see from 1861. However, there is no evidence to support any suspicions that his sudden death was poisoning by those who profited from serfdom. It is noticeable that not much later the chairman of the committee for the abolition of serfdom, Alexei Fyodorowitsch Orlov , also blessed the time after he had previously resigned from the chair.
Entry in the church book of St. Annen in St. Petersburg (excerpt): “August von Denffer, Real Privy Councilor; † March 11, 1860, 10 p.m., 74 years old. ”Denffer's grave is in the Volkovo Cemetery .
Denffer wore the following orders (only the highest level is mentioned): St. Alexander Newski Order with diamonds , Order of the White Eagle , St. Anne's Order 1st class with the crown (elevated status), Grand Cross of the Order of St. Vladimir Second class, St. George's Order IV. Class. He also wore the golden saber of honor , the medal for bravery on the Georgian ribbon, the gold medal on the Georgian ribbon and other awards.
literature
- Russian Biographical Lexicon . St. Petersburg 1905
- Alexander Sergejewitsch Pushkin: Articles and Diaries . Construction Verlag, Berlin 1984
- Harald von Denfer: Foundation stone for a story of the von Denffer family . Batum 1906
Web links
- Baltic Historical Commission (ed.): Entry on August von Denffer. In: BBLD - Baltic Biographical Lexicon digital
Individual evidence
- ^ Johann Beckmann journal . LIT Verlag, 1987, limited preview in the Google book search
- ↑ Почетные члены ( Memento from April 16, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) In: about-msu.ru
- ↑ Воспоминание о службе в военном поселении и об отношении к графу Аракчееву. In: lechebnik.info. Retrieved January 4, 2015 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Denffer, August of |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Denffer, Julius Heinrich August Uljanowitsch von (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Chairman of the Russian Imperial Council |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 25, 1786 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Candau |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 11, 1860 |
| Place of death | St. Petersburg |