Count Sergei Grigoryevich Stroganov (; 8 November 1794 – 22 March 1882) was a Russian nobleman, statesman, art historian, archaeologist, collector, and philanthropist. He was a member of the highly successful and prominent

Stroganov family The Stroganov family (Russian: Стро́гановы, Стро́гоновы; French: Stroganoff) emerged as a preeminent Russian noble family renowned for their roles as merchants, industrialists, landowners, and statesmen. By the reign of Iva ...

He also founded the

Stroganov Moscow State Academy of Arts and Industry Russian State University of Design and Applied Arts (Stroganov University) () informally named Stroganovka (Строгановка) is one of the oldest Russian schools for the industrial, monumental and decorative art and design. The university i ...

Life

He was born 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 ...

, the capital of the

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 ...

, in 1794 to Baron Grigory Stroganov (1770–1857) and Princess Anna Trubetskaya (1765–1824). As a teenager and young adult, he fought for Russia in 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 ...

and distinguished himself at the

Battle of Borodino The Battle of Borodino ( ) or Battle of Moscow (), in popular literature also known as the Battle of the Generals, took place on the outskirts of Moscow near the village of Borodino on 7 September 1812 during Napoleon's invasion of Russia. ...

and at the

Battle of Leipzig The Battle of Leipzig, also known as the Battle of the Nations, was fought from 16 to 19 October 1813 at Leipzig, Saxony. The Coalition armies of Austria, Prussia, Sweden, and Russia, led by Tsar Alexander I, Karl von Schwarzenberg, and G ...

. In 1815, Stroganov married Natalia Pavlovna Stroganova (1796–1872), daughter of Sophie Golitsyn, with whom he had four sons and three daughters. Subsequently, Stroganov participated in the Russian-Turkish War of 1828–1829 and in the

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

. Count Stroganov played a large role in the development of the Russian education and culture during the 19th century. In 1825, Stroganov founded the first private academy of art in Russia (in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

) using his own money. This art academy taught arts and crafts to 360 people, including to children and

serfs Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery. It developed dur ...

. From 1835 until 1847, Stroganov was the curator of the Moscow Educational District, which included Moscow University (now known as

Moscow State University Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public university, public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, a ...

) which then flourished as a major center of Russian intellectual life. In 1860, this art academy was renamed the Stroganov School (it is now known as it

Stroganov Moscow State University of Arts and Industry Russian State University of Design and Applied Arts (Stroganov University) () informally named Stroganovka (Строгановка) is one of the oldest Russian schools for the industrial, monumental and decorative art and design. The university i ...

), and it produced many prominent architects and artists. From 17 April 1859 to 8 September 1859, Count Stroganov served as

Governor-General Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

of Moscow. Starting in 1860, Stroganov was the tutor of

Tsesarevich Tsesarevich (, ) was the title of the heir apparent or heir presumptive, presumptive in the Russian Empire. It either preceded or replaced the Eastern Slavic naming customs, given name and patronymic. Usage It is often confused with the much ...

Nicholas Alexandrovich, Emperor Alexander II's eldest son, as well as of the younger sons of Alexander II. Stroganov also served on the

State Council of the Russian Empire The State Council ( rus, Госуда́рственный сове́т, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj sɐˈvʲet) was the supreme state advisory body to the tsar in the Russian Empire. From 1906, it was the upper house of the parliament under t ...

and was the Chairman of the Society of Russian History and Antiquities between 1837 and 1874, as well as the founder of the Archaeological Commission, which conducted excavations of old Russian towns. As a landowner, Stroganov opposed Tsar Alexander II's emancipation of the Russian serfs in 1861. After the assassination of Alexander II in 1881, Stroganov, along with

Konstantin Pobedonostsev Konstantin Petrovich Pobedonostsev ( rus, Константи́н Петро́вич Победоно́сцев, p=kənstɐnʲˈtʲin pʲɪˈtrovʲɪtɕ pəbʲɪdɐˈnostsɨf; 30 November 1827 – 23 March 1907) was a Russian jurist and states ...

and some others, succeeded in convincing the new Russian Tsar, Alexander III, to shelve Count

Mikhail Loris-Melikov Count Mikhail Tarielovich Loris-Melikov (; ; – 24 December 1888) was a Russian-Armenian statesman, general of the cavalry and adjutant general of His Imperial Majesty's Retinue. The princes of Lori, Loris-Melikov, are the representatives ...

's proposal for a Russian

Duma A duma () is a Russian assembly with advisory or legislative functions. The term ''boyar duma'' is used to refer to advisory councils in Russia from the 10th to 17th centuries. Starting in the 18th century, city dumas were formed across Russia ...

and constitution. In 1882, Stroganov died in his Saint Petersburg home, age 87.

Ancestors

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stroganov, Sergei Grigoryevich 1794 births 1882 deaths 19th-century archaeologists Politicians from the Russian Empire Scholars from the Russian Empire Art historians Sergei Grigoryevich Members of the State Council (Russian Empire) Counts of the Russian Empire Burials at the Feodorovskaya Church of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra Governors-general of Moscow Stroganov Moscow State Academy of Arts and Industry

Life

Ancestors

See also

References