Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

, then

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

Nikolay Ivanovich Saltykov (, 31 October 1736 – 28 May 1816), a member of the

Saltykov The House of Saltykov ( rus, Салтыков, p=səltɨˈkof) is the name of an old Russian noble family that can trace its ancestry back to 1240. In March 1730, the family was awarded the title of Count in Russia, granted to them by Empress An ...

noble family, was a

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

Imperial

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons a ...

and

courtier A courtier () is a person who attends the royal court of a monarch or other royalty. The earliest historical examples of courtiers were part of the retinues of rulers. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the officia ...

best known as the tutor of the eventual Tsar

Paul I of Russia Paul I (; – ) was Emperor of Russia from 1796 until his assassination in 1801. Paul remained overshadowed by his mother, Catherine the Great, for most of his life. He adopted the Pauline Laws, laws of succession to the Russian throne—rules ...

and his two sons,

Constantine Constantine most often refers to: * Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I * Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria Constantine may also refer to: People * Constantine (name), a masculine g ...

and

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

. He was the head of the Russian Army as the president of the War Collegium in 1791–1802. He was also the interim head (Lieutenant Grand Master) of the

Order of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, and commonly known as the Order of Malta or the Knights of Malta, is a Catholic Church, Cathol ...

between 1801 and 1803.

Life

His parents were general Ivan Alexeyevich Saltykov (himself the nephew of

Anna I of Russia Anna Ioannovna (; ), also russified as Anna Ivanovna and sometimes anglicized as Anne, served as regent of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia from 1711 until 1730 and then ruled as Empress of Russia from 1730 to 1740. Much of her administration ...

) and countess Anastasia Petrovna Tolstoy. He spent a short time in the Semyonovsky Regiment, of which he became a permanent member in 1748. In 1747, he and his father took part in the Russian advance to the

River Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Swiss-Austrian border. From Lake Const ...

. During the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

he distinguished himself in several battles against Prussian forces. After the victory at

Kunersdorf Kunowice () is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Słubice, within Słubice County, Lubusz Voivodeship, in western Poland, near the Oder river and the German border. It lies approximately east of Słubice, south-west of Gorzów W ...

over

Frederick II of Prussia Frederick II (; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was the monarch of Prussia from 1740 until his death in 1786. He was the last Hohenzollern monarch titled ''King in Prussia'', declaring himself '' King of Prussia'' after annexing Royal Prus ...

, Nikolay was sent to

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 ...

to deliver news of the victory to the commander in chief - for that service, he was made a colonel. In 1761, under the command of

Pyotr Rumyantsev Count Pyotr Alexandrovich Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky (; – ) was one of the foremost Russian generals of the 18th century, and is widely considered to be one of Russia's greatest military leaders, and one of the greatest military commanders in ...

, he fought at Kolberg.

Peter III of Russia Peter III Fyodorovich (; ) was Emperor of Russia from 5 January 1762 until 9 July of the same year, when he was overthrown by his wife, Catherine II (the Great). He was born in the German city of Kiel as Charles Peter Ulrich of Schleswig-Holst ...

made Saltykov a major general and in 1763 he was given command of the troops stationed in Poland, where he took part in the

Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774) The Russo-Turkish wars ( ), or the Russo-Ottoman wars (), began in 1568 and continued intermittently until 1918. They consisted of twelve conflicts in total, making them one of the longest series of wars in the history of Europe. All but four of ...

. In 1769 he aided Prince Alexander Golitsyn in the siege and occupation of the city of Chotyn, which Russian troops entered on 10 September that year. For fighting with distinction in these battles he was made a lieutenant-general and a member of the

Order of Alexander Nevsky The Order of Alexander Nevsky () is an Order (distinction), order of merit of the Russia, Russian Federation named in honour of saint Alexander Nevsky (1220–1263) and bestowed to civil servants for twenty years or more of highly meritorious ser ...

, but due to ill health he was forced to leave the campaign in order to travel abroad in search of a cure. During this time, he spent three years visiting Europe, most notably visiting

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. After he returned to Russia,

Catherine II of Russia 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 ...

made him vice-president of Russia's Military Council. Simultaneously, Catherine made him '' hofmeister'' of the court. He became tutor to Grand Duke Paul, with whom he again visited Berlin in 1776 before accompanying Paul on a grand tour across Europe in 1781 and 1782. On 24 November 1782, Catherine made Saltykov a member of the

Order of Saint Andrew The Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle the First-Called () is the highest order conferred by both the Russian Imperial Family (as an order of chivalry) and by the Russian Federation (as a state order). Established as the first and highest order o ...

, a senator and a member of the high court council. In the following years Catherine made Saltykov permanent tutor to her grandsons Alexander (the future

Alexander I of Russia Alexander I (, ; – ), nicknamed "the Blessed", was Emperor of Russia from 1801, the first king of Congress Poland from 1815, and the grand duke of Finland from 1809 to his death in 1825. He ruled Russian Empire, Russia during the chaotic perio ...

) and

Konstantin The first name Konstantin () is a derivation from the Latin name '' Constantinus'' ( Constantine) in some European languages, such as Bulgarian, Russian, Estonian and German. As a Christian given name, it refers to the memory of the Roman empe ...

. In June 1789, Saltykov introduced Catherine to the young

Platon Zubov Prince Platon Alexandrovich Zubov (; ) was the last of Catherine the Great's favourites and the most powerful man in the Russian Empire during the last years of her reign. Early life The prince was a member of the Zubov Russian noble family a ...

, in an effort to supplant Catherine's favourite (and Saltykov's rival)

Prince 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 ...

. Zubov would become the last of Catherine's favourites, accumulating an enormous fortune, despite becoming widely reviled for corruption and cruelty. In 1790, during the celebrations of the peace with Sweden, Saltykov was made a Count of the Russian Empire, and granted 5,000 serfs in Russian Poland and an annual pension of 125 rubles. On Paul's accession to the throne, Saltykov was made field marshal general on 8 November 1796 and then president of the Military Council of State. Alexander I, during the celebrations of his coronation, gave Saltykov his portrait decorated with diamonds. At the start of the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

, Saltykov was instructed to look after military reports and to be head of state while Alexander was away leading the Russian army in 1813 and 1814. On Alexander's return to Saint Petersburg, Saltykov was promoted to Prince of the Russian Empire, with the title of Excellency. He was also made Lieutenant Grand Master of the

from 1801 to 1803 on behalf of Alexander, who had been elected Grand Master but could not carry out his official duties. Prince Saltykov and his family occupied a large Neoclassical townhouse at the crossing of the Millionnaya Street and the

Palace Embankment The Palace Embankment or Palace Quay (Russian: Дворцовая набережная, Dvortsovaya naberezhnaya) is a street along the Neva River in Central Saint Petersburg which contains the complex of the Hermitage Museum buildings (includin ...

in St Petersburg. His grandson Alexei Saltykov was known for his travels in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

References

*
Николай Иванович Салтыков (Nikolai Saltykov)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saltykov, Nikolai 1736 births 1816 deaths Field marshals of the Russian Empire Knights of Malta Russian commanders of the Napoleonic Wars Members of the State Council (Russian Empire) Lieutenants of the Knights Hospitaller Nobility from the Russian Empire Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland) Saltykov family