Count Aleksei Aleksandrovich Bobrinsky (, 31 May 1852 – 2 September 1927) was a Russian historian and statesman from the

Bobrinsky The Counts Bobrinsky or Bobrinskoy (''Бобринские'') are a Russian nobility, Russian noble family descending from Count Aleksey Grigorievich Bobrinsky (1762–1813), who was Catherine the Great's natural son by Count Grigory Orlov. The ...

family.

Biography

Bobrinsky was born in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

. His great-grandfather, the first Count Bobrinsky, had been the son of the Russian empress,

Catherine the Great Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter I ...

and Count

Grigory Orlov Prince Grigory Grigoryevich Orlov (; 17 October 1734 – 24 April 1783) was a favourite of the Empress Catherine the Great of Russia, Prince of the Holy Roman Empire (1772), state and military figure, collector, patron of arts, and General-in ...

. Aleksei attended

St. Petersburg University Saint Petersburg State University (SPBGU; ) is a public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter the Great, the university from the be ...

and worked in the Chancellery of the Committee of Ministers. He was elected Marshal of Nobility of St. Petersburg Uezd, 1875–1878. In 1878 he was elected Marshal of Nobility of St. Petersburg Gubernia. He also presided over St. Petersburg Zemstvo assemblies. For over thirty years Bobrinsky was chairman of the

Imperial Archeological Commission Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor/empress, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * Im ...

, which under his guidance greatly increased its financing and staffing. He was the first to explore Scythian burial mounds (

kurgan A kurgan is a type of tumulus (burial mound) constructed over a grave, often characterized by containing a single human body along with grave vessels, weapons, and horses. Originally in use on the Pontic–Caspian steppe, kurgans spread into mu ...

s) scattered across his Middle Dnieper estates. He also led the first excavations near

Kerch Kerch, also known as Keriç or Kerich, is a city of regional significance on the Kerch Peninsula in the east of Crimea. It has a population of Founded 2,600 years ago as the Colonies in antiquity#Greek colonies, ancient Greek colony Pantik ...

and

Sevastopol Sevastopol ( ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea and a major port on the Black Sea. Due to its strategic location and the navigability of the city's harbours, Sevastopol has been an important port and naval base th ...

, describing some of his findings in the monograph on Tauric Chersonesos (1905). Bobrinsky was in charge of the extraction and publication of the Pereshchepina hoard. He also took part in digging the Solokha kurgan where his son found a famous Scythian golden comb.Bobrinskoy, A. (1914) ''Le Kourgan de Solokha (Russie Meridionale).'' Revue archéologique, Quatrieme Serie 23, 161–163. In 1889, Count Bobrinsky was appointed Vice-Chairman of the Academy of Science (1889). He was also head of the Orphanages of the Empress Marie (1893–1896), chairman of the

Free Economic Society Free Economic Society for the Encouragement of Agriculture and Husbandry () was Russia's first learned society which formally did not depend on the government and as such came to be regarded as a bulwark of Russian liberalism. 18th century One ...

(1894), a member of the Agricultural Committee in the Ministry of Agriculture, senator (1896), and chairman of the Union of Russian Nobility (1905). He was elected to the State Duma in 1907, and to the State Council in 1912. He was Assistant Minister of the Interior (March — July 1916) and Minister of Agriculture (July - November 1916). In this role he clashed with Mitrofan Voronkov and Vladimir Groman, when a special Council was charged with fixing grain prices: Voronkov and Groman argued for fixing prices at a lower value, but Bobrinsky, a spokesperson for landed interest, at first succeeded in ensuring the prices were set quite high. However, when the

War Minister A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divided ...

Dmitry Shuvayev Dmitry Savelyevich Shuvayev (; – 19 December 1937) was a Russian military leader, Infantry General (1912) and Ministry of War of the Russian Empire, Minister of War (1916). Life Dmitry Shuvayev graduated from Alexander Military School in 187 ...

became involved, Bobrinsky's policy was overthrown and Voronkov became a much quoted spokesperson on the topic. Alexis Bobrinsky left Russia after the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

. He lived in France, where he actively campaigned for the monarchist cause. He died in

Grasse Grasse (; Provençal dialect, Provençal in classical norm or in Mistralian norm ; traditional ) is the only Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur Re ...

References

* V.I. Gurko
Features And Figures Of The Past. Government And Opinion In The Reign Of Nicholas II.

Biography

References

See also