Count (later Prince) Andrey Kirillovich Razumovsky (2 November 1752 – 23 September 1836) was a Russian 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.

Life

Razumovsky was the son of

Kirill Razumovsky Count Kirill Grigoryevich Razumovsky or Razumovski (also known as ''Cyril Razumovski''; ; ; Oleksander Ohloblyn. Rozumovsky, Kyrylo'. Encyclopedia of Ukraine – ) was a Russian statesman of Ukrainian Cossack origin who served as the last ...

, the last

hetman of the Zaporizhian Host The Hetman of the Zaporozhian Host (, ) was the head of state of the Cossack Hetmanate. The office was abolished by the Russian government in 1764. Brief history The position was established by Bohdan Khmelnytsky during the Cossack Hetmanate in ...

, and of his wife, Catherine Naryshkina, a cousin of

Elizabeth of Russia Elizabeth or Elizaveta Petrovna (; ) was Empress of Russia from 1741 until her death in 1762. She remains one of the most popular List of Russian rulers, Russian monarchs because of her decision not to execute a single person during her reign, ...

. He was also a nephew of the Elizabeth's lover, Aleksey Grigorievich Razumovsky, called the "Night Emperor" of Russia. The elder Rasumovsky's late

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

palace on the

Nevsky Prospekt Nevsky Prospect ( rus, Не́вский проспе́кт, r=Nevsky Prospekt, p=ˈnʲɛfskʲɪj prɐˈspʲɛkt) is a main street ( high street) located in the federal city of St. Petersburg in Russia. Its name comes from the Alexander Nevs ...

is a minor landmark in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. In 1792, Andrey Kirillovich was appointed the tsar's diplomatic representative to the

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

court in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, one of the crucial diplomatic posts during the

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

. In 1779, Razumovsky became the first Russian ambassador in the

Kingdom of Naples The Kingdom of Naples (; ; ), officially 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 established by the War of the Sicilian Vespers (1282–1302). Until ...

. 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, Napol ...

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 1776 – 2 March 1830) was an Austrian violinist and friend of Beethoven, and leader of Count Razumovsky's private string quartet. Schuppanzigh and his quartet premiered many of Beethoven's string quartets, and in par ...

, Louis Sina, Franz Weiss, and Joseph Linke. Razumovsky was an accomplished amateur violinist, and also known as a competent

torban The torban (, also ''teorban'' or ''Ukrainian theorbo'') is a Ukrainian musical instrument that combines the features of the Baroque lute with those of the psaltery. The Тorban differs from the more common European bass lute known as the theo ...

(see also:

theorbo The theorbo is a plucked string instrument of the lute family, with an extended neck that houses the second pegbox. Like a lute, a theorbo has a curved-back sound box with a flat top, typically with one or three sound holes decorated with rose ...

) player. The

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

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. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

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 und Hohenstein The House of Thun und Hohenstein, also known as Thun-Hohenstein, belonged to the historical Austrian nobility, Austrian and Bohemian nobility. There is one princely and several count, comital branches of the family. The princely branch of the fami ...

was a sister in law of Karl Alois, Prince Lichnowsky von Woschütz.

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 from 495 to 454 BC * Alexander I of Epirus (370–331 BC), king of Epirus * Alexander I Theopator Euergetes, surnamed Balas, ruler of the Seleucid Empire 150-145 BC * Pope Alex ...

, at his own expense and to the designs of Louis Montoyer, on the

Landstraße Landstraße (; ; "Country Road") is the 3rd municipal district of Vienna, Austria (). It is near the center of Vienna and was established in the 19th century. Landstraße is a heavily populated urban area with many workers and residential homes. ...

, 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 the following year, Razumovsky was never the same. He lived in seclusion 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, Countess Konstanze von Thürheim (1785–1867), member of

uradel (, German: "ancient nobility"; adjective or ) is a genealogical term introduced in late 18th-century Germany to distinguish those families whose noble rank can be traced to the 14th century or earlier. The word stands opposed to '' Briefadel'' ...

noble family from

Swabia Swabia ; , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of Swabia, one of ...

and sister of his friend Lulu von Thürheim, 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. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

who dedicated three String Quartets, Op. 59 1, 2 and 3, as well as the 5th and the 6th 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 partition (politics), partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place between 1772 and 1795, toward the end of the 18th century. They ended the existence of the state, resulting in the eli ...

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 (Андрей) is a masculine given name predominantly used in Slavic languages, including Belarusian, Bulgarian, and Russian. The name is derived from the ancient Greek Andreas (Ἀνδρέας), meaning "man" or "warrior". In Eastern ...

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