Gustav Kalixt von Biron

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Gustav Kalixt Prince of Biron , Duke of Courland (born January 29, 1780 in Bomst , † June 20, 1821 in Ems ) was a Prussian lieutenant general .

Life

origin

Gustav was the son of Karl Ernst von Biron (born February 15, 1724 in Mitau ; † January 13, 1800 in Königsberg ), Starost von Bomst, and his wife Apollonie, née Countess von Poninska (born February 4, 1760 in Wreschen ; † July 24, 1800 in Saint Petersburg ). His uncle was Peter von Biron , the last Duke of Courland and Zemgale .

Military career

Initially appointed Duke of Courland by Tsarina Catherine , Biron was appointed lieutenant in the Russian Guard and chamberlain after the unification of Courland with Russia .

During the Fourth Coalition War , Biron supported the Prussian troops in Silesia in the spring of 1807 , providing the garrison of the Cosel Fortress with coats and shoes and helping Count Götzen to set up new associations. As a thank you, Friedrich Wilhelm III. on April 19, 1807 with the Order of the Red Eagle .

On May 15, 1807, Biron was employed as a colonel in the Prussian service. On December 12, 1809, the king appointed him chief of the Silesian Uhlan Regiment . Before the beginning of the campaign in 1813/14 , Biron stayed at General von Kleist's headquarters . At the end of May 1813 he received orders to join the Schuler Corps . There Biron worked as a free corps leader, carried out several raids in the rear of the French army and was awarded both classes of the Iron Cross . In the further course of the campaign, Biron proved himself in the battles at Weißenfels, Merseburg and Freyburg . With the II. Army Corps he took part in the conquest of French fortresses in February and March 1814 and received the order Pour le Mérite with oak leaves in recognition of his achievements on May 9, 1814 . During the summer campaign of 1815, Biron worked as a brigade commander in the 5th Army Corps under Yorck . In October 1815, Biron was unable to take up a position as head of the Landwehr in the Poznan Department due to health problems. He received a longer vacation and was finally appointed governor of Glatz on December 4, 1816 . However, this position was only symbolic, as the king gave him the choice of where to stay. Biron therefore spent most of his time restoring his health. On March 30, 1817 he was promoted to lieutenant general.

Fanny Princess Biron of Curland
Fanny von Boyen, nee Princess Biron of Curland

In 1802 he inherited the Silesian civil lordship in Polish Wartenberg and received an annual pension of 18,000 ducats from Tsar Alexander I because of his possible claims to Kurland , whereupon he attached himself the title of Prince Biron-Wartenberg.

The somewhat curious name of the Prince Biron von Curland family can be traced back to him.

family

Biron married Antoinette Charlotte Luise Franziska Fanny Countess von Maltzan (1790–1849) on September 8, 1806 . She was the daughter of Joachim Alexander Graf von Maltzan-Wartenberg and his wife Antoinette Wilhelmine, born Countess von Hoym - Dyhrn and a granddaughter of the Silesian Minister of State Karl Georg von Hoym . After Biron's death, on July 28, 1833, she married the later Prussian Lieutenant General Gustav Adolf von Strantz (1784–1865).

The couple has the following children:

  • Luise (1808–1845) ⚭ May 30, 1829 Count Alfred von Hohenthal († 1860), Saxon Chamberlain
  • Laura Franziska Johanna Antonia (1810-1811)
  • Karl Friedrich Wilhelm (1811–1848), Prussian cavalry master and knight of the Order of St. John ⚭ February 26, 1833 Agnes Countess zur Lippe-Biesterfeld (1810–1884), daughter of Wilhelm Ernst von Lippe-Biesterfeld
  • Antoinette (1813–1882) ⚭ October 29, 1834 Lasar Jakimovic von Lasarev († 1871), Russian major general
  • Fanny Julie Johanna Therese (1815–1888) ⚭ June 25, 1850 Leopold Hermann von Boyen , Prussian infantry general
  • Calixt (1817–1882), Lord of Groß-Wartenberg ⚭ August 6, 1845 Jelena Princess Mestscherskaja (1820–1905)
  • Peter Gustav Hermann (* 1818)

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Kurt von Priesdorff: Soldatisches Führertum. Volume 5, Hanseatische Verlagsanstalt Hamburg, undated [Hamburg], undated [1938], DNB 367632802 , pp. 211-212, no. 1510.
personal data
SURNAME Biron, Gustav Kalixt von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Biron-Wartenberg, Gustav Prince of
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian lieutenant general in the coalition wars
DATE OF BIRTH January 29, 1780
PLACE OF BIRTH Bomb
DATE OF DEATH June 20, 1821
Place of death Ems