Jacob Daniel Bruce

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Jacob Daniel Bruce

Jacob Daniel Bruce ( Russian Яков Вилимович Брюс / Jakow Wilimowitsch Brjus, English James Bruce ; * 1669 in Moscow ; † 19 April July / 30 April  1735 greg. In Glinki near Moscow) was a Scottish general field master in the service of the Russian army .

origin

Jacob Daniel Bruce was the son of the Scottish nobleman William Bruce, who belonged to the Bruce clan , immigrated to Russia in 1649 and was thus the founder of the Russian Count Bruce . His father served a total of over 30 years in the Russian army, until his death in 1680. The father achieved the rank of major general . His brother, Robert Bruce , who was one year older , also achieved an important position in Petrine Russia. The brothers also had a sister.

Life

Jacob was eleven when his father died. After the death of his father, Patrick Gordon became his mentor. He gained his knowledge in the foreign suburbs near Moscow. The proximity to foreign craftsmen, doctors, soldiers, artists, traders and jewelers enabled him to acquire a great deal of knowledge, so he belonged to an elite group of young foreigners who were on the one hand shaped by their cosmopolitan interest, but also with the Russian world were familiar.

He began his military service at the age of 17 as an ensign, together with his brother in the game regiments of Peter I. Bruce participated in the Crimean campaigns in 1687 and 1689 against the Ottoman Empire and in the Azov campaigns (1695-1696) as part of the Tsar Peter I waged the Russo-Turkish War . He accompanied Peter I during his Great Embassy to Holland and as one of 16 volunteers he accompanied the Tsar to England in January 1698. It arrived in London on January 11th, at a time when the best astronomers and mathematicians of their time were working there. Bruce gained a lot of knowledge in London over the next nine months. After his return together with Peter, he kept in touch with John Flamsteed . In 1699 he was commissioned by Peter to build a mathematical navigation school in Moscow.

In 1700 he was appointed major in the artillery and participated in the preparation of the war against Sweden. In 1702 Bruce founded the first observatory in Moscow.

During the Great Northern War , Bruce helped develop Russian artillery . One of his first measures was to create the artillery regiment. Then he separated the field and siege artillery. He standardized the system of pound division of the artillery so that one Russian pound (0.4 kilograms) came to an iron ball of five centimeters. He oversaw the testing of new barrels, worked closely with the foundries to improve the design and quality of the barrels, and assisted in drawing up accurate plans and dimensions for the barrels. One of his most significant accomplishments was reducing the weight of the barrels so that a 12 pounder was reduced from 120 to 30 puds . He also improved the chassis with the aim of improving their stability and mobility. As a result, all components of the chassis were manufactured according to given specifications. As an artillery commander, he led the battle for Poltava in 1709 , for which he was made a knight of the Order of St. Andrew . He also commanded the artillery in a number of sieges (including the siege of Vyborg ).

In 1721 Bruce was raised to the rank of Russian count and, together with Heinrich Johann Friedrich Ostermann, was appointed Russian negotiator for the conclusion of the Nystad peace , which gave Russia a large area of ​​territory. After the death of Peter I, he did not want to take part in the power struggles of the court and gave up all offices. In 1726 Bruce retired to his country estate in Glinki, where he devoted himself to science.

Jakob Bruce spoke and written in eight European languages, compiled the first Dutch-Russian and Russian-Dutch dictionary and edited many mathematics, military and geography books. He communicated with leading scientists of his time such as Newton , Leibniz and Tatishchev . During his life he put on a large collection of scientific works. After his death, the approximately 1,500 volumes from 1735 to 1739 were transferred to the library of the Russian Academy of Sciences . On April 30, 1735 he died in Glinki without leaving any descendants.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ August Konstam: The Army of Peter the Great (= Brandenburg publishing house ). Lempertz, Königswinter 2010, ISBN 978-3-941557-31-4 , p. 88 f.
personal data
SURNAME Bruce, Jacob Daniel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Scottish Field Marshal
DATE OF BIRTH 1669
PLACE OF BIRTH Moscow
DATE OF DEATH April 30, 1735
Place of death Glinki near Moscow