Count (later Prince) Andrey Kirillovich Razumovskyrussian: Андре́й Кири́ллович Разумо́вский, , german: Andreas von Rasumofsky (2 November 1752 – 23 September 1836) was a Russian Imperial diplomat who spent many years of his life in Vienna. His name is transliterated differently in different English sources, including spellings Razumovsky, Rasumofsky, and Rasoumoffsky. This last spelling was used by the British Government for its official translation from the French of the Paris peace treaty of 1815 and the Final Act of the Congress of Vienna.

Life

Razumovsky was the son of

Kirill Razumovsky Count Kirill Grigoryevich Razumovski, anglicized as Cyril Grigoryevich Razumovski (russian: Кирилл Григорьевич Разумовский, uk, Кирило Григорович Розумовський ''Kyrylo Hryhorovych Rozumovs ...

, the last

Hetman of Zaporizhian Host The Hetman of the Zaporizhian Host ( uk, Гетьман Війська Запорозького, la, Cosaccorum Zaporoviesium Supremus Belli Dux) was the head of state of the Cossack Hetmanate in what is now Ukraine. The office was disestablishe ...

and of , a cousin of Tsarina

Elizabeth of Russia Elizabeth Petrovna (russian: Елизаве́та (Елисаве́та) Петро́вна) (), also known as Yelisaveta or Elizaveta, reigned as Empress of Russia from 1741 until her death in 1762. She remains one of the most popular Russian ...

. He was also a nephew of the Tsarina's lover,

Aleksey Grigorievich Razumovsky Count Alexei Grigorievich Razumovsky (russian: Граф Алексе́й Григо́рьевич Разумо́вский, uk, Граф Олексій Григорович Розумовський; 1709–1771) was a Ukrainian-born Russian R ...

, called the "Night Emperor" of Russia. The elder Rasumovsky's late

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including ...

palace on the

Nevsky Prospekt Nevsky Prospect ( rus, Не́вский проспе́кт, r=Nevsky Prospekt, p=ˈnʲɛfskʲɪj prɐˈspʲɛkt) is the main street (high street) in the federal city of St. Petersburg in Russia. It takes its name from the Alexander Nevsky L ...

is a minor landmark in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. In 1792 Andrey Kirillovitch was appointed the Tsar's diplomatic representative to the

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

court in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, one of the crucial diplomatic posts during the

Napoleonic era The Napoleonic era is a period in the history of France and Europe. It is generally classified as including the fourth and final stage of the French Revolution, the first being the National Assembly, the second being the Legislativ ...

. In 1779 Razumovsky became the first Russian ambassador in the

Kingdom of Naples The Kingdom of Naples ( la, Regnum Neapolitanum; it, Regno di Napoli; nap, Regno 'e Napule), also known as the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was ...

. He was a chief negotiator during the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon ...

that re-organised Europe in 1814, and asserted Russian rights in Poland. In 1808 he established a house string quartet consisting of

Ignaz Schuppanzigh Ignaz Schuppanzigh (20 July Michael Lorenz"Four more months for Ignaz Schuppanzigh" 13 August 2012] 1776 – 2 March 1830) was an Austrian violinist, friend and teacher of Ludwig van Beethoven, Beethoven, and leader of Count Razumovsky's privat ...

, Louis Sina, Franz Weiss (violist), Franz Weiss, and

Joseph Linke Joseph Linke (also spelled Joseph Lincke, Josef Linke; 8 June 1783 – 26 March 1837) was a cellist and composer who had a distinguished career in Vienna, as a soloist and as a member of the Schuppanzigh Quartet. He took part in the first performan ...

. Razumovsky was an accomplished amateur violinist, and also known as a competent torban (see also:

theorbo The theorbo is a plucked string instrument of the lute family, with an extended neck and a second pegbox. Like a lute, a theorbo has a curved-back sound box (a hollow box) with a wooden top, typically with a sound hole, and a neck extending ...

) player. The

Kunsthistorisches Museum The Kunsthistorisches Museum ( "Museum of Art History", often referred to as the "Museum of Fine Arts") is an art museum in Vienna, Austria. Housed in its festive palatial building on the Vienna Ring Road, it is crowned with an octagonal d ...

in Vienna holds one of the four torbans known to have been in his possession. His commissioning three string quartets from

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

in 1806 was the act that has made his name familiar. He asked Beethoven to include a Russian theme in each quartet: Beethoven included such kind of themes in the first two. Razumovsky was the brother-in-law of another of Beethoven's patrons, Prince

Joseph Franz von Lobkowitz Joseph Franz Maximilian, 7th Prince of Lobkowitz (also spelled ''Lobkowicz'') (8 December 1772 – 16 December 1816

. His first wife, Countess Elisabeth von Thun was a sister in law of Count Carl von Lichnowsky.

The ''Palais Rasumofsky''

Razumovsky built a magnificent Neoclassic palace worthy of the representative of

Alexander I Alexander I may refer to: * Alexander I of Macedon, king of Macedon 495–454 BC * Alexander I of Epirus (370–331 BC), king of Epirus * Pope Alexander I (died 115), early bishop of Rome * Pope Alexander I of Alexandria (died 320s), patriarch of A ...

, at his own expense and to the designs of

Louis Montoyer Louis Montoyer (1747, Mariemont, Austrian Netherlands, now Belgium – 5 June 1811, Vienna) was an 18th-century Belgian-Austrian architect, principally active in Brussels and Vienna. Life He worked in Brussels as an architect and building co ...

, on the

Landstraße Landstraße (; Central Bavarian: ''Laundstrossn'') is the 3rd municipal district of Vienna, Austria (german: 3. Bezirk). It is near the center of Vienna and was established in the 19th century. Landstraße is a heavily populated urban area with m ...

, quite close to Vienna, and filled it with antiquities and modern works of art. In the morning of 31 December 1814, during the preparation of a ball with the Tsar

as guest of honor, a fire broke out in a temporary ballroom extension, setting the ballroom ablaze and burning out roomfuls of art in the back wing of the palace. Even though he was raised to

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. ...

the following year, Razumovsky was never the same. He lived in

seclusion Seclusion is the act of secluding (i.e. isolating from society), the state of being secluded, or a place that facilitates it (a secluded place). A person, couple, or larger group may go to a secluded place for privacy or peace and quiet. The s ...

in Vienna until his death in 1836. In 1862 the street on which Razumovsky's palace is located was named Rasumofskygasse.

Conversion to Roman Catholicism

Razumovsky converted to Roman Catholicism from his native religion, Russian Orthodoxy, under the influence of his second wife, the Countess Konstanze von Thürheim (1785–1867), whom he married in February 1816.

Andrey Razumovsky Musical Fest

On October 22, 2015 a long-awaited musical event - Andrey Razumovsky IV Regional musical festival-competition of young performers took place in Hetman Razumovsky Palace in Baturin. This tradition started in 2012 in Baturin palace at the time of the 260 birthday anniversary of Andrey Razumovsky. He is world-known for his role as patron of

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

who dedicated three String Quartets, Op. 59 1, 2 and 3, as well as the

5th Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash tha ...

and the

6th 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second ...

Symphonies to him.

Notes

References

External links

Zerkalo Nedeli (Mirror Weekly) № 38, 1996
(in Russian)

of Andrey Kyrillovich Razumovsky, aged 24, in the National Gallery of Victoria (Melbourne, Australia) The evolution of the three

Partitions of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place toward the end of the 18th century and ended the existence of the state, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland and Lithuania for 12 ...

during the end of the 18th century, leading to some 125 years of Polish political eclipse of the formerly secular powerful Lithuanian-Polish Kingdom until 1918 can be seen in the well informed page:
website of NHCP "Hetman's capital"
(in Ukrainian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Razumovsky, Andrey 1752 births 1836 deaths People from Hlukhiv Ukrainian people in the Russian Empire Ambassadors of the Russian Empire to Austria Active Privy Councillors, 1st class (Russian Empire) American classical musicians Converts to Roman Catholicism from Eastern Orthodoxy Former Russian Orthodox Christians

Andrey Andrey, Andrej or Andrei (in Cyrillic script: Андрей, Андреј or Андрэй) is a form of Andreas/Ἀνδρέας in Slavic languages and Romanian. People with the name include: *Andrei of Polotsk ( – 1399), Lithuanian nobleman * ...

Russian Roman Catholics Politicians of the Russian Empire Torbanists Ambassadors of the Russian Empire to Denmark R