Pyotr Afanasievich Papkov (, 1772–1853) was a Russian

Generalmajor is the Germanic languages, Germanic variant of major general, used in a number of Central Europe, Central and Northern European countries. Austria Belgium Denmark is the second lowest general officer rank in the Royal Danish Army and R ...

and statesman.

Military career

Pyotr Afanasievich was born in 1772 into a Russian noble family of Papkovs in

Yekaterinoslav Governorate Yekaterinoslav Governorate} was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire, with its capital in Yekaterinoslav. Covering an area of , and being composed of a inhabitant of 2,113,674 by the census of 1897, it bordere ...

. On 1 January 1784, he enrolled into the

Taganrog Taganrog (, ) is a port city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, on the north shore of Taganrog Bay in the Sea of Azov, several kilometers west of the mouth of the Don (river), Don River. It is in the Black Sea region. Population: Located at the site of a ...

dragoon regiment as cavalry sergeant-major (вахмистр). In 1787, Papkov was moved to

Astrakhan Astrakhan (, ) is the largest city and administrative centre of Astrakhan Oblast in southern Russia. The city lies on two banks of the Volga, in the upper part of the Volga Delta, on eleven islands of the Caspian Depression, from the Caspian Se ...

dragoon regiment in the rank of cadet, and in 1790 into

Tiflis Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

musketeer regiment in the rank of aide-de-camp. During Russo-Turkish War, 1787-1792, Papkov's regiment participated in an assault on

Anapa Anapa (, , ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, located on the northern coast of the Black Sea near the Sea of Azov. As of the 2021 Russian census, it had a population of 81,863. It is one of the largest ...

under command of General-en-chef

Ivan Gudovich Count Ivan Vasilyevich Gudovich (, tr. ; 1741–1820) was a Russian noble and military leader of Ukrainian descent. His exploits included the capture of Khadjibey (1789) and the conquest of maritime Dagestan (1807). Ivan's father was an inf ...

. For

, Pyotr Papkov was promoted to the rank of sub-

poruchik The rank of lieutenant in Eastern Europe, also called ''poruchnick'' in Slavic languages, is one used in Slavophone armed forces. Depending on the country, it is either the lowest or second lowest officer rank. Etymology The rank designatio ...

. Beginning 28 April 1796, Papkov was in

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 ...

, and participated in the

Persian Expedition of 1796 The Persian expedition of Catherine the Great of 1796 , like the Persian expedition of Peter the Great (1722–1723), was one of the Russo-Persian Wars of the 18th century which did not entail any lasting consequences for either belligerent. ...

, taking part in the siege of

Derbent Derbent, also historically known as Darband, or Derbend, is the southernmost city in Russia. It is situated along the southeastern coast of the Dagestan, Republic of Dagestan, occupying the narrow gateway between the Caspian Sea and the Caucas ...

and other key operations of the campaign. For the Persian Expedition he was promoted to the rank of

and a year later into the rank of captain. He gave his resignation in 1798, but enrolled again in April 1799 into the artillery battalion of Leib Guards.

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 ...

decorated Papkov with an Order of St John of Jerusalem (орден Св. Иоанна Иерусалимского) on 3 August 1800, and was promoted to the rank of colonel on 8 October 1800. In 1803, he commanded the pontoon artillery companies, later pontoon artillery regiment. In 1806, Papkov served as brigadier-commander of the 14th artillery brigade, with which he participated in the Battle of Gutstadt,

Battle of Heilsberg The Battle of Heilsberg took place on 10 June 1807 off the town of Heilsberg (now Lidzbark Warmiński), during the Napoleonic Wars. Overview On 24 May 1807, the Siege of Danzig ended when Prussian General Friedrich Adolf, Count von Kalckre ...

and

Battle of Friedland The Battle of Friedland (14 June 1807) was a major engagement of the Napoleonic Wars between the armies of the French Empire commanded by Napoleon I and the armies of the Russian Empire led by General Levin August von Bennigsen. Napoleon and t ...

, was decorated with a Prussian order ''For Merits'', and, on 21 December 1807, resigned from military service in the rank of mayor-general.

Governor of Taganrog

In 1808, he was appointed Chief Police Officer (Oberpolizeimeister) of

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 ...

and was awarded with an

Order of St. George The Order of Saint George () is the highest military decoration of the Russian Federation. It was originally established on 26 November 1769 Julian (7 December 1769 Gregorian) as the highest military decoration of the Russian Empire for commiss ...

of 3rd degree on 21 April 2 1808. In 1810, Papkov was appointed Governor of

. The Taganrog Governorate at that moment comprised the cities of

Rostov on Don Rostov-on-Don is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East European Plain on the Don River, from the Sea of Azov, directly north of th ...

, Nakhichevan and

Mariupol Mariupol is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is situated on the northern coast (Pryazovia) of the Sea of Azov, at the mouth of the Kalmius, Kalmius River. Prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it was the tenth-largest city in the coun ...

. He was also appointed the chief administrator (главный попечитель) of the merchant vessels' navigation in the Azov Sea, and head of the Taganrog Customs district. The governorship of Papkov was at the time of the highest rivalry between the two main seaports in the South of Russia -

Odessa ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...

and

. In 1812, plague epidemic started along the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

shore, the ports of Odessa and

Feodosiya Feodosia (, ''Feodosiia, Teodosiia''; , ''Feodosiya''), also called in English Theodosia (from ), is a city on the Crimean coast of the Black Sea. Feodosia serves as the administrative center of Feodosia Municipality, one of the regions into w ...

. Governor Papkov banned all ships from entering into the

Azov Sea The Sea of Azov is an inland shelf sea in Eastern Europe connected to the Black Sea by the narrow (about ) Strait of Kerch, and sometimes regarded as a northern extension of the Black Sea. The sea is bounded by Russia on the east, and by Ukr ...

through the

Strait of Kerch The Kerch Strait is a strait in Eastern Europe. It connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, separating the Kerch Peninsula of Crimea in the west from the Taman Peninsula of Russia's Krasnodar Krai in the east. The strait is to wide and u ...

, and saved the city from pestilence. Odessa's lobbyists tried to revenge and persuaded the tsar to keep the Azov Sea closed even after the epidemic was over. In 1815, the prices for wheat went up abroad, the price for wheat in Odessa was 50 rubles for a quarter (=209.91 liters), while in Taganrog it was 18. Foreign ships could not get enough wheat in Odessa and Feodosiya due to a large shortage, and this encouraged Governor Pyotr Papkov to let the ships go through the Kerch Straight into Azov Sea. Over 600 ships came to the seaport of Taganrog, and the price went up to 45 rubles/a quarter. The boom continued the following years, with a tacit approval of

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 ...

who was favorably disposed towards Taganrog. The city grew feverishly and draw attention of the imperial family. It was visited in 1816 by Nikolay Pavlovich, in 1817 by

Mikhail Pavlovich Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich of Russia (; – ) was a Russian grand duke, the tenth child and fourth son of Paul I of Russia and his second wife, Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg, who took the name Maria Feodorovna. He was the younger brothe ...

and, in May 1818, by

. With that in mind, all

uezd An uezd (also spelled uyezd or uiezd; rus, уе́зд ( pre-1918: уѣздъ), p=ʊˈjest), or povit in a Ukrainian context () was a type of administrative subdivision of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, the Tsardom of Russia, the Russian Empire, the ...

's establishments were transferred to

in 1816 (until 1834). Papkov left the governor's office in 1822 and served with the military until 3 February 1833. After his resignation he settled in his estate, village Krasniy Kut of

, where he died on 18 May 1853. To honor the achievements of Governor Pyotr Papkov, the Taganrog City Council placed his portrait in its hall in 1866. In 1833, Papkov was elected member of the ''Main Moscow Society for improvement of the sheep-breeding'' (Главное Московское Общество улучшения овцеводства) and into its periodical ''The Sheep-breeding Journal'', where he published the following articles: ''On the Flock of Fine-wool Sheep'' (1833), ''On

Angora goat The Angora or Ankara is a Turkish breed A breed is a specific group of breedable domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the sa ...

s'' (1833), ''On Sales of Angora goats'' (1839) and statistics on sheep-breeding in the same journal in 1844. * old dates mentioned are

Old Style Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) indicate dating systems before and after a calendar change, respectively. Usually, they refer to the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar as enacted in various European countries betwe ...

External links and references

* *

History of Taganrog The southern Russian city of Taganrog began as one of Russia's first planned cities under Peter the Great. To protect the newly conquered Sea of Azov region, the Russians opened a naval base there in 1698 and a city and seaport were built. Howe ...

* ''History of Taganrog'' by Pavel Filevskiy, Moscow, 1898 {{DEFAULTSORT:Papkov, Pyotr Nobility from the Russian Empire Politicians from the Russian Empire Imperial Russian Army generals Governors of Taganrog People of the Russo-Persian Wars 1772 births 1853 deaths Recipients of the Order of St. George of the Third Degree