Ivan Ivanovich Kropotov (Russian: Ива́н Ива́нович Кропотов) (1724–1769) was a Russian diplomat, translator and courtier. He was the head of diplomatic missions of

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

China in the 1760s. He was widely recognized by his contemporaries for his translations of

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, ; ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the great writers in the French language and world liter ...

into Russian, and acted in several plays staged at the Russian Imperial Court.

Biography

Born to the family of hereditary military officers, he enlisted in the

Leib Guard The Russian Imperial Guard, officially known as the Leib Guard ( ''Leyb-gvardiya'', from German language, German ''Leib'' "body"; cf. Lifeguard (military), Life Guards / Bodyguard), were combined Imperial Russian Army forces units serving as cou ...

in 1740. In 1757, he fought and was injured in the

Battle of Gross-Jägersdorf The Battle of Gross-Jägersdorf (30 August 1757) was a victory for the Russian force under Field Marshal Stepan Fyodorovich Apraksin over a smaller Prussian force commanded by Field Marshal Hans von Lehwaldt, during the Seven Years' War. This ...

. He was discharged in 1758 as Captain-Poruchik, an VIII-grade officer. At this time, he had already been recognized for his translations of theatrical plays from the French. From 1762 to 1764, he was the Head of Russian forces on the Chinese border. At this time, there were no direct diplomatic connections between Russia and China, and the necessary issues were resolved via Ivan Kropotov. On his return, Kropotov became an Ordonnanz to 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 ...

who favored his involvement with theatre. In 1767, he was sent to China to sign a commercial treaty, and he died on his way back in 1769.

Translations

He was known to the wider public of his time for his translations of plays by Molière (namely

The Miser ''The Miser'' (; ) is a five-act comedy in prose by the French playwright Molière. It was first performed on September 9, 1668, in the Théâtre du Palais-Royal (rue Saint-Honoré), theatre of the Palais-Royal in Paris. This is a character com ...

, The School for Husbands,

The School for Wives ''The School for Wives'' (; ) is a theatrical comedy written by the seventeenth century French playwright Molière and considered by some critics to be one of his finest achievements. It was first staged at the Palais Royal theatre on 26 Decem ...

published under one cover in St Petersburg in 1757 and 1788, and

Tartuffe ''Tartuffe, or The Impostor, or The Hypocrite'' (; , ), first performed in 1664, is a theatrical comedy (or more specifically, a farce) by Molière. The characters of Tartuffe, Elmire, and Orgon are considered among the greatest classical theat ...

issued in 1757 and 1758) and by

Ludvig Holberg Ludvig Holberg, Baron of Holberg (3 December 1684 – 28 January 1754) was a writer, essayist, philosopher, historian and playwright born in Bergen, Norway, during the time of the Denmark–Norway, Dano–Norwegian dual monarchy. He was infl ...

Family

He married Natalia Gagarina, daughter of Prince Peter Ivanovich Gagarin.Иван Иванович Кропотов
на сайте rusdiplomats.narod.ru

Sources

* Кропотов И. И. в справочном издании: Дипломатический словарь, т. 2. М., 1971. (Kropotov I. I., an entry in the Diplomatic Dictionary, vol. 2, Moscow 1971, in Russian).

References

Russian military personnel of the Seven Years' War French–Russian translators Diplomats of the Russian Empire China–Russia relations Ambassadors of the Russian Empire to China {{Russia-diplomat-stub