Georg Browne

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George Browne

Georg Reichsgraf von Browne (born June 15, 1698 at Castle Mahon in Limerick , Ireland , † September 18, 1792 in Riga ) or Seoirse de Brún ( Irish ), was a general of the Russian army from an old Irish noble family .

His parents were George de Browne (1657-1729), Baron de Camas et Mountany, and his wife Honora de Lacy . His family was poor and his father earned his living as a mercenary, his mother in turn was the sister of Peter Graf von Lacy and aunt of Franz Moritz Graf von Lacy .

Life

After studying in his hometown, he joined the Palatinate in 1725 and in 1730 as a lieutenant captain in Russian services. Here he did a great job in suppressing a mutiny against the Empress Anna , so that he could soon be promoted to colonel . Browne has since participated in all wars and battles fought in Russia up to 1762. During the Turkish war he was taken prisoner and was sold as a slave several times. In Kishinev he was recognized by another Irish soldier and was able to organize his ransom. Despite numerous mistreatments, he made the long journey to St. Petersburg on foot and in rags . There he was able to reveal numerous Turkish military secrets. For his services and perseverance, he was then appointed major general. He returned to military service and immediately took part in the war against the Swedes , where he earned the Alexander Nevsky Order .

During the Seven Years' War he was seriously wounded as General en Chef bei Zorndorf , a pistol exploded in front of his face and a sword strike hit his head. The head wound was closed with a silver plate.

Tsar Peter III in 1762 appointed him governor general of Livonia , where he tried to improve the situation of the peasants for the next 30 years. When Catherine II. Browne stood in high esteem, they appointed him in 1775 in addition to the Governor General of Estonia . He was raised to the rank of imperial count by Joseph II in 1779 .

Georg Reichsgraf von Browne died at the age of 94 on September 18, 1792 in Riga.

family

Georg Reichsgraf von Browne was married to Helene Martha von Lacy (born September 19, 1717; † 1764), daughter of Peter Graf von Lacy and sister of Franz Moritz Graf von Lacy . The following children emerged from this connection:

His three other sons from his first marriage died prematurely: one as a major general, another as a colonel in Russian service, another, whose upbringing was the French King Louis XV. after the battle of Kolin had promised in Paris.

After the death of his first wife on November 7, 1765, he married Eleonore Christine von Mengden (1729–1787), daughter of Baron Johann Heinrich von Mengden (1701–1792) and Countess Christina Elisabeth von Münnich (1711–1775). The couple had the following children:

literature

  • Stefan Michael Newerkla : The Irish imperial counts of Browne-Camus in Russian and Austrian service. From the Treaty of Limerick (1691) to the death of her family friend Ludwig van Beethoven (1827). In: Lazar Fleishman - Stefan Michael Newerkla - Michael Wachtel (eds.): Скрещения судеб. Literary and cultural relations between Russia and the West. A Festschrift for Fedor B. Poljakov (= Stanford Slavic Studies, Volume 49). Peter Lang, Berlin et al. 2019, pp. 43–68.
  • August Wilhelm Hupel : Materials on a history of the Estonian aristocracy, according to the alphabetical order popular in the local aristocratic register. Along with other shorter essays, etc. The Nordic Miscellanees, 18th and 19th pieces . Johann Friedrich Hartknoch, Riga 1789, pp. 70–73 ( digitized version )
  • Michael Johann von der Borch : Histoire de la vie de George de Browne, comte du Saint-Empire, gouverneur général de Livonie et d'Esthonie, général en chef des armées des Sa Majesté l'impératice de toutes les Russies, chevalier des ordres de St. André, St. Alexandre Newski et St. Wlodimir de Russie, de l'aigle blanc de Pologne, et de Ste. Anne de Holstein, seigneur heréditaire des terres de Smilten, Segewold, Palkmar et Galenhoff etc. etc. IF Hartknoch, Riga 1794 ( digitized )
  • Michael Johann von der Borch : Life of the Reichsgr. Georg von Browne-Governor-General of Liefland and Esthland, Supreme Commander of the Russian Armies etc. etc. etc. From the French, with a preface by L. Schubert (sic!). Johann Friedrich Hartknoch, Riga 1795 ( digitized version )
  • Genealogical paperback of the Count's houses , Justus Perthes , Gotha 1842, pp. 90–91 ( Browne )
  • Robert Herbert: Worthies of Thomond. A compendium of short lives of the most famous men and women of Limerick and Clare to the present day. First series . George McKern & Sons, Limerick 1944, pp. 7–8 ( Count Georg Browne of Camas )
  • Constantin von Wurzbach : Browne, Johann Georg (in the article of his eldest son) . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 2nd part. Publishing house of the typographic-literary-artistic establishment (L. C. Zamarski, C. Dittmarsch & Comp.), Vienna 1857, p. 164 f. ( Digitized version ).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Lacy tomb "Moritzruhe"
  2. ↑ Historisch-Heraldisches Handbuch, p. 975, digitized version
  3. ^ Johann Karl Friedrich von Medem at worldhistory.de


personal data
SURNAME Browne, Georg
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Von Browne, Georg Reichsgraf (full name); De Brún, Seoirse (Irish)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Russian field marshal
DATE OF BIRTH June 15, 1698
PLACE OF BIRTH Limerick , Ireland
DATE OF DEATH September 18, 1792
Place of death Riga