Grigory Grigoryevich Orlov

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Grigory Grigoryevich Orlov. Portrait of Fyodor Rokotov , 1762–1763

Grigori Grigorjewitsch Orlov ( Russian Григорий Григорьевич Орлов , scientific transliteration Grigorij Grigor'evič Orlov ; born October 17, 1734 , † April 24, 1783 in Moscow ) was the lover of Catherine II and an officer in the Russian army .

biography

Grigory Orlov was a member of the Russian noble Orlov family . He was the son of Grigori Ivanovich Orlov ( Russian Григорий Иванович Орлов ) (1685-1746), the governor of Novgorod Veliky and his wife Lukerya Ivanovna Sinowjewa ( Russian Лукерья Ивановна Зиновьева born) (* 1710) and had four brothers: Alexei Grigoryevich Orlov (1737-1808), Iwan Grigoryevich Orlow (1733-1791), Fyodor Grigoryevich Orlow (1741-1796) and Vladimir Grigoryevich Orlow (1743-1831).

Orlov was the adjutant of the artillery chief Count Pyotr Ivanovich Shuvalov . During the Seven Years' War he was wounded in the Battle of Zorndorf . He was then sent to St. Petersburg as the escort officer of the captured Count von Schwerin , where his physical qualities attracted the attention of Empress Catherine II , who made him her lover. Together with his brothers, he prepared the overthrow of Peter III for Katharina . on July 9, 1762. Grigori was not, as hoped, consort of the Empress, but richly rewarded and appointed General Feldzeugmeister. In 1765 the tsarina gave him land on which he had the Gatchina Castle built.

Gatchina Castle

In order to maintain good Prussian-Russian relations, the Prussian King Frederick the Great awarded him the Order of the Black Eagle in 1771 . In the same year, the Empress Catherine had a medal of honor created as a reminder of his performance in the Moscow plague revolt .

Orlov was the originator of the idea of stabbing Turkey in the back by equipping an expedition into the Mediterranean (1769 and 1770) . As early as 1762, along with his brothers, he was raised to the rank of count, and in 1772 Joseph II made him Prince of Germany. As the Russian envoy at the Focşani Peace Congress in 1772 , he gained little advantage for Russia due to his arrogant behavior against the Turks. On hearing that Katharina Potjomkin had turned her favor, he hurried quickly to Petersburg; Before he got there, however, he was ordered to go to his Gatchina castle. There the Empress presented him with significant new donations to peasants and hard cash, and soon afterwards also gave him the marble palace in Petersburg.

From then on, Grigory Orlov lived partly on the road, partly in Moscow and later married his niece. He became insane and died on April 24, 1783 in a home in Moscow.

Count Alexej Grigorievich Bobrinsky arose from his connection with Catherine the Great . Orlow also had two illegitimate daughters: the older Natalja (1761–1808) married the Baltic Count Friedrich von Buxhoeveden , the younger Elisabeth married the poet Friedrich Maximilian von Klinger . The widespread assumption that the two daughters also came from the liaison of the count with the tsarina is based only on the assumption that Orlov remained loyal to the tsarina. Indeed, the mother Elena may have been Princess Kurakina , née Countess Apraksina. Natalia and her sister Elisabeth were raised by adoptive parents, the family of St. Petersburg Colonel Alexandr Aleksejew. The former bishop's castle Lohde in Estonia was also given to Catherine II Orlow in 1771; After his death, she bought them back from their son, Count Bobrinski, and gave them to Orlov's daughter Natalja Buxhoeveden.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Leopold von Zedlitz-Neukirch : New Prussian Adelslexikon, Volume 2, p. 94
  2. ↑ LE Gorelov: History of the Pest Medicine in Moscow (1771-1773 gg.) 2002; No. 16; P. 738
  3. ↑ Genealogy at geneanet.org
  4. ↑ Otto Magnus von Stackelberg (Ed.): Genealogical Handbook of the Estonian Knighthood , Vol .: 1, Görlitz, [1931], p. 28.
  5. ^ Max Rieger: Friedrich Maximilian Klinger. His life and works , 3 vols. - Darmstadt, 1880–1896, vol. 2, p. 144; Adalbert Elschenbroich :  Klinger, Friedrich Maximilian. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 12, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1980, ISBN 3-428-00193-1 , pp. 83-89 ( digitized version ).
personal data
SURNAME Orlov, Grigory Grigoryevich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Григорий Григорьевич Орлов (Russian)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Beloved Catherine II and officer
DATE OF BIRTH October 17, 1734
DATE OF DEATH April 24, 1783
Place of death Moscow