Dmitry Pavlovich Tatischev or Tatistcheff (; born 1767, died 16 September 1845 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. ...

) was a Russian

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

and art collector, and an intimate friend of

Ferdinand VII of Spain Ferdinand VII (; 14 October 1784 – 29 September 1833) was Monarchy of Spain, King of Spain during the early 19th century. He reigned briefly in 1808 and then again from 1813 to his death in 1833. Before 1813 he was known as ''el Deseado'' (t ...

. Of

Rurikid The Rurik dynasty, also known as the Rurikid or Riurikid dynasty, as well as simply Rurikids or Riurikids, was a noble lineage allegedly founded by the Varangian prince Rurik, who, according to tradition, established himself at Novgorod in the ...

stock, Tatishchev owed his elevation in no small degree to the influence of his aunt, Princess Dashkov. In 1799 he was appointed as a member of the Board of Foreign Affairs, and in 1810 he was appointed as a Senator of the State Council. In June 1802 Tatishchev was appointed an

Envoy Envoy or Envoys may refer to: Diplomacy * Diplomacy, in general * Envoy (title) * Special envoy, a type of Diplomatic rank#Special envoy, diplomatic rank Brands *Airspeed Envoy, a 1930s British light transport aircraft *Envoy (automobile), an au ...

to the Court of 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 ...

until February 1803. He returned to

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

as Envoy in January 1805, staying in the city until 1808. In September 1815 he was appointed as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Spain, with concurrent accreditation to the

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

royal court, holding these positions until January 1821. From 22 August 1826 to 11 September 1841 he was Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Austria. Tatishchev was a connoisseur of and collector of art, and held in his collection 200 paintings and 160 rare gems, which were bequeathed to

Tsar Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...

Nicholas I. He brought from Spain several works attributed to

Jan van Eyck Jan van Eyck ( ; ; – 9 July 1441) was a Flemish people, Flemish painter active in Bruges who was one of the early innovators of what became known as Early Netherlandish painting, and one of the most significant representatives of Early Nort ...

, including the

Crucifixion and Last Judgement diptych The ''Crucifixion and Last Judgement'' diptych (or ''Diptych with Calvary and Last Judgement'')Vermij et al., 362 consists of two small painted panels attributed to the Early Netherlandish painting, Early Netherlandish artist Jan van Eyck, with ...

. Tatishchev's last days were spent in penury owing to his gambling addiction. He had two sons

Pavel Pavel ( Bulgarian, Russian, Serbian: Павел; Czech, Slovene, and (although Romanian also uses Paul); ; ; ) is a male given name. It is a Slavic cognate of the name Paul (derived from the Greek Pavlos). Pavel may refer to: People G ...

and

Vladimir Vladimir (, , pre-1918 orthography: ) is a masculine given name of Slavic origin, widespread throughout all Slavic nations in different forms and spellings. The earliest record of a person with the name is Vladimir of Bulgaria (). Etymology ...

from the

extramarital affair An affair is a relationship typically between two people, one or both of whom are either married or in a long-term monogamous or emotionally-exclusive relationship with someone else. The affair can be solely sexual, solely physical or solely em ...

with Natalya Koltovskaya (''

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

'' Turchaninova), a daughter of

Alexei Turchaninov Alexei Fedorovich Turchaninov (; born Alexei Fedorovich Vasilyev; 1704/1705 – March 21, 1787) was a business magnate in the Russian Empire, grandfather of Pavel Solomirsky, Pavel and Dmitry Solomirsky, the member of the wealthy Turchanino ...

References

1767 births 1845 deaths Diplomats of the Russian Empire Ambassadors of the Russian Empire to Austria Ambassadors of the Russian Empire to Spain Ambassadors to the Kingdom of Naples Ambassadors of the Russian Empire to the Netherlands Ambassadors of the Russian Empire to the Ottoman Empire {{Russia-diplomat-stub