Alexander Semyonovich Vasilchikov (, tr. ; 1746–1813) was a Russian aristocrat who became the lover of

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 ...

from 1772 to 1774. Vasilchikov was an ensign in the Chevalier Guard Regiment when he was noted by Catherine and was appointed gentleman of the bedchamber on 1 August 1772. When Catherine's then-lover Grigory Grigoryevich Orlov left court, Catherine was informed about his adultery, and 12 August, Vasilchikov was made general aide-de-camp and lover of Catherine. Simon Sebag Montefiore : ''Potemkin: Catherine the Great's Imperial Partner'' (New York, Vintage Books 2005, p. 90) Vasilchikov was expected to be available to attend on her at all times, and was not allowed to leave the palace without permission. The relationship was short-lived. Catherine found Vasilchikov's gentleness cloying, saying "His tenderness made me weep." When Vasilchikov was away on a journey, sent by the empress,

Grigory Potemkin Prince Grigory Aleksandrovich Potemkin-Tauricheski (A number of dates as late as 1742 have been found on record; the veracity of any one is unlikely to be proved. This is his "official" birth-date as given on his tombstone.) was a Russian mi ...

replaced him as her lover. She wrote to her friend

Friedrich Melchior, Baron von Grimm Friedrich Melchior, Baron von Grimm (26 September 172319 December 1807) was a German-born French-language journalist, art critic, diplomat and contributor to the ''Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers''. ...

about Vasilchikov's dismissal: "Why do you reproach me because I dismiss a well-meaning but extremely boring bourgeois in favour of one of the greatest, the most comical and amusing, characters of this iron century?" Vasilchikov later complained that he felt like a hired gigolo: "I was nothing more to her than a kind of male cocotte and I was treated as such. If I made a request for myself or anyone else, she did not reply, but the next day I found a bank-note for several thousand rubles in my pocket. She never condescended to discuss with me any matters that lay close to my heart."Kaus, Gina (trans June Head), ''Catherine: The Portrait of An Empress'', Viking Press, New York, 1935, pp.312-16. Catherine characteristically rewarded her former lover richly. Vasilchikov was given a pension of twenty thousand rubles and valuable properties. He lived the rest of his life in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. He never married. He built a notable collection of Western European paintings and sculptures, including a "Self Portrait" by Velasquez and works by Philips Wouwerman and Andries Botha.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vasilchikov, Alexander Lovers of Catherine the Great 1746 births 1813 deaths 18th-century nobility from the Russian Empire Imperial Russian Army personnel