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: ...
Sergey Kuzmich Vyazmitinov (; 7 October 1744 – 15 October 1819) was a Russian general and statesman.
He descended from the ancient noble landowner's family of
Ruthenia
''Ruthenia'' is an exonym, originally used in Medieval Latin, as one of several terms for Rus'. Originally, the term ''Rus' land'' referred to a triangular area, which mainly corresponds to the tribe of Polans in Dnieper Ukraine. ''Ruthenia' ...
n origin, known from the end of the 15th century. On 22 June 1759 he was recorded as
corporal
Corporal is a military rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The rank is usually the lowest ranking non-commissioned officer. In some militaries, the rank of corporal nominally corr ...
into the Observational Corps, but started service only on 21 December 1761 as ensign of
Ukrainian Narodnoe Opolcheniye
The People's Militia (, ) was the irregular troops formed from the population in the Russian Empire and later the Soviet Union. They fought behind front lines and alongside the regular army during several wars throughout its history.
The People ...
Corps. In 1762 he was moved into Manezh Company (''Манежная рота'').
During the
Russo-Turkish War, 1768-1774 he was aide-de-camp of the Vice President of the
War Collegium Count
Zakhar Chernyshev, from 1770 he was a ''generals-auditor-lieutenants'' in the rank of premier-major, manager of the affairs of the march office of Chernyshev (from October 1771 of Count
Peter Rumyantsev-Zadunaysky). In 1777 he was promoted to
colonel
Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...
and was appointed as the commander of Astrakhan infantry regiment.
On 22 September 1786 he obtained the rank of
major general and became the commander of the Astrakhan grenadier regiment for whose formation he was chiefly responsible. During
Russo-Turkish War, 1787-1792 he commanded joined forces of the
chasseur
''Chasseur'' ( , ), a French term for "hunter", is the designation given to certain regiments of French and Belgian light infantry () or light cavalry () to denote troops trained for rapid action.
History
This branch of the French Army o ...
s and grenadiers battalions and participated in the taking of
Khotin,
Akkerman
Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi (, ; ; ), historically known as Aq Kirmān () or by other names, is a port city in Odesa Oblast, southwestern Ukraine. It is situated on the right bank of the Dniester Estuary leading to the Black Sea, in the historical r ...
and
Bendery
Bender (, ) or Bendery (, ; ), also known as Tighina ( mo-Cyrl, Тигина, links=no), is a city within the internationally recognized borders of Moldova under ''de facto'' control of the unrecognized Transnistria, Pridnestrovian Moldavian Rep ...
.
From 1 March 1790 Vyazmyatinov was the ruler of
Mogilev
Mogilev (; , ), also transliterated as Mahilyow (, ), is a city in eastern Belarus. It is located on the Dnieper, Dnieper River, about from the Belarus–Russia border, border with Russia's Smolensk Oblast and from Bryansk Oblast. As of 2024, ...
's deputy and the commander of Belarusian chasseur Corps. On 2 September 1793 he was promoted to
lieutenant-general
Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was normall ...
, from 4 March 1794
Senator
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...
. In September 1794 he was appointed acting Governor General of
Simbirsk and
Ufa.
From 1795 he commanded the Orenburg Corps. He helped stifle a rebellion of
Kyrgyz and secured election as the
khan of the Russian-backed puppet. From 29 November 1796 he was Orenburg
military governor and the chief of Moscow musketeer regiment. He was a military governor of
Kamenets-Podolskiy from 1 December 1796, from 3 December 1796 Governor General of
Malorossiya, from 13 January 1797 commandant of
Peter and Paul Fortress
The Peter and Paul Fortress () is the original citadel of Saint Petersburg, Russia, founded by Peter the Great in 1703 and built to Domenico Trezzini's designs from 1706 to 1740 as a star fortress. Between the first half of the 1700s and early ...
and the chief of its garrison regiment. Simultaneously (from 24 April 1797) he commanded the Commissariat Department.
On 5 November 1799 Vyazmyatinov was dismissed from the military service. On 9 September 1801 he was appointed the civil governor of Malorossiya. From 1 January 1802 he was the Vice President of the
War Collegium and from 15 January simultaneously a senator and a member of the
Permanent Council (''Непременный Совет''). After the creation of
Ministry of Land Forces on 8 September he became the first Defense Minister of Russia and carried out enormous work on the reorganization of the Arms Forces Administration.
During his departure into front-line army (1805) emperor
Aleksander I
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 ...
left Vyazmitinov as the commander-in-chief in St.Petersburg. 13 January 1808 he was dismissed (one of the reasons were the large scale of abuses by the
commissariat
A commissariat is a department or organization commanded by a commissary or by a corps of commissaries.
In many countries, commissary is a police rank. In those countries, a commissariat is a police station commanded by a commissary.
In some a ...
officials). On 20 April 1811 he was newly accepted to the service, and with appointment as a member of the
State Council.
From 25 March 1812 he was a member of the
Committee of Ministers, and from 28 March Vyazmitinov was the commander-in-chief in St.Petersburg during absence of the Emperor, managing the
Ministry of Police. Simultaneously, from 9 September 1812 he was the Chairman of the Committee of Ministers, and from 30 October 1816 military Governor General of St.Petersburg.
On 19 August 1818 Vyazmitinov was granted a
comital title. He was buried in the
Lazarev burial-vault of the
Alexander Nevsky Monastery.
See also
*
Third Partition of Poland
The Third Partition of Poland (1795) was the last in a series of the Partitions of Poland–Lithuania and the land of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth among Prussia, the Habsburg monarchy, and the Russian Empire which effectively ended Polis ...
External links
*
Biography of Sergey Vyazmitinov*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vyazmitinov, Sergey
Politicians from the Russian Empire
Counts of the Russian Empire
Ruthenian nobility
Imperial Russian Army generals
Governors-general of Little Russia
1744 births
1819 deaths
Burials at Lazarevskoe Cemetery (Saint Petersburg)
Governors-general of Saint Petersburg
Ministers of War of the Russian Empire