Famous personalities of Kherson region.

His Serene Highness Prince Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin-Tavrichesky (September 13 (24), 1739 - October 5 (16), 1791) - Russian statesman who led the annexation to the Russian Empire and the initial structure of New Russia, where he possessed colossal land plots and founded a number of cities, including modern regional centers Dnepropetrovsk (1776), Kherson (1778) and Nikolaev (1789).

Born in the family of a middle-class Smolensk nobleman from the Potemkin family, in the Chizhevo estate (now Dukhovshchinsky district Smolensk region). Early lost his father, Alexander Vasilyevich Potemkin (1673-1746), who retired as a major. Raised by his mother (Daria Vasilievna, nee Kondyreva), later a state lady, in Moscow, where he visited educational institution Johann-Philip Litke in the German Quarter. From childhood he showed curiosity and ambition; having entered Moscow University (in 1755), in July 1757, among the best 12 students, he was introduced to Empress Elizabeth, but at the beginning of 1760 he was expelled from the university for "laziness and not attending classes." Back in 1755, recorded in the cavalry guards, he entered the service in 1761, and when Petre III was a sergeant.

With participation in the coup d'état on June 29, 1762, Potemkin attracted the attention of Empress Catherine II. He was made a chamber junker and received the property of 400 souls of peasants. Biographical facts of subsequent years are known only in in general terms. Anecdotes relating to this time about Potemkin's relationship with the Empress and the Orlov brothers, as well as about his desire to be tonsured as monks, are unreliable.

The palace of Prince Potemkin in Pokrovsky, Smolensk province (1785-86) was inherited from him by the Engelhardts.

Having failed to get closer to the Empress, the young ambitious officer went to the Russo-Turkish war in 1769, fought in the ranks of the 1st Army of the general-in-chief A. Golitsyn, distinguished himself in the defeat of the troops of Moldavanchi Pasha and the occupation of Khotyn, was awarded the rank of General major. Golitsyn noted that "the Russian cavalry has not yet acted with such harmony and courage as under the command of Major General Potemkin."

In 1770-1771, he was in St. Petersburg, where he asked for permission to write to the Empress, but did not achieve much success. In 1774 he became a lieutenant general. The Empress at that time was already corresponding with him and in her own handwritten letter insisted that he should not risk his life in vain. A month after receiving this letter, Potemkin was already in St. Petersburg, where he was soon made adjutant general, lieutenant colonel of the Preobrazhensky regiment and, according to foreign ambassadors, became "the most influential person in Russia."

Potemkin did not like to pose for artists. It seems that the best image of him belongs to the brilliant Russian sculptor of that time, Shubin. The face of the goblin, the wise ugliness of Aesop's head. Potemkin had forever disheveled black hair and dark skin, like the devil on Old Believer icons. Densely, as on chernozem, black bristles grew. One eye was missing, and the other was squinting. They called him "Cyclops" behind his back. Potemkin's eye was knocked out in a billiard fight by the Orlov brothers. They said it was by accident. But in fact, to lower his chances with Catherine.

Portrait of Catherine II. F.S. Rokotov. 1763

No manners. Always biting his nails. It receives visitors and the Empress herself in a wide robe, and under the robe there is not only pants, but also underwear. Especially for him, the Empress draws up paragraphs of the Hermitage Charter, where the third paragraph warns: “They ask you to be cheerful, but not to destroy anything, not to break or bite.” In addition, the morbid melancholic suffers from bouts of hypochondria. Hypochondria in Russian is melancholy. Instinctive and inexplicable. And then for weeks he does not leave the office, lying around unwashed and unkempt, with nails gnawed to blood.

They introduced Catherine to Potemkin, to their misfortune, the same Orlov brothers. They discovered in him one funny talent: Potemkin knew how to imitate voices with extraordinary skill and could imitate anyone in the mood. Yes, so you can't tell. So the brothers decided one day to “treat” the Empress with this parodist. Catherine asked Potemkin about something. He answered her in her own voice, in which she guessed both intonation and even her own words. Laughed to tears. He conquered Catherine first of all with his extraordinary physical virtues. She is forty years old. Gregory is ten years younger. The empress, tempted in love pleasures, suddenly discovered that if this incident had not happened in her life, she would never have known true satisfaction. During the day, she cannot recover from the nights spent with him.

Portrait of Catherine II. F.S. Rokotov. 1780

According to some reports, in 1774, Potemkin and Catherine even entered into a secret morganatic marriage in the church of the Ascension that has not survived (the Church of the Ascension of the Lord “Great Ascension” stands on this site) at the Nikitsky Gates in Moscow. In July 1775, their daughter, Elizaveta, was born, who, under the name of Elizaveta Grigoryevna Tyomkina (with the first syllable discarded, as was customary), was brought up in the family of A.N. Samoilov - Potemkin's nephew.

Portrait of the daughter of Empress Catherine II and His Serene Highness Prince Grigory Potemkin-Tavrichesky - Elizabeth Grigoryevna Tyomkina. V.L. Borovikovsky. On the portrait of E.G. Tyomkina is 23 years old.

Receiving the support of the empress in everything, Grigory Alexandrovich actually became her co-ruler, the closest assistant in all state affairs. He immediately took on the task of suppressing the uprising of E. Pugachev, organizing military operations against the rebels. Without staying too long in the capital, Potemkin embarked on a plan for the economic development and military fortification of southern Russia. Per short term he was promoted to general-general and appointed vice-president of the Military Collegium, became a member of the State Council, count, awarded the orders of St. Andrew the First-Called and St. George 2nd degree, granted the princely dignity of the Holy Roman Empire.

Prince G. A. Potemkin. Unknown painter.

In 1775, Potemkin liquidated the Zaporizhzhya Sich with decisive actions and laid the foundation for the Zaporizhzhya Cossack army, subject to the Russian crown. In 1776 he became the governor-general of the Novorossiysk, Azov and Astrakhan provinces. The ruler of the south was considering a plan to fight Turkey up to the destruction of the Turkish state and the restoration of Byzantium. At the mouth of the Dnieper, Potemkin founded Kherson with a shipyard, supervised the construction of Yekaterinoslav (now Dnepropetrovsk), the development of the Kuban, and the actions of Russian troops in the Caucasus. In his hands was the control of the entire southern Russia from the Black to the Caspian Seas.

His correspondence with the empress does not stop, the most important state papers pass through his hands, his travels are furnished with "extraordinary honors", the empress often gives him valuable gifts. In November 1776, Potemkin was sent "on leave to revise the Novgorod province." A few days after his departure famous place next to Catherine's bedchamber was occupied by the handsome young Zavadovsky. Potemkin went berserk. He was even going to team up with the Orlov brothers in order to take the throne from the insidious traitor. Then he calmed down. He only demanded a hundred thousand from his successor for his former apartments in Catherine's chambers. He paid that ransom, of course, with the money of the Empress.

Potemkin was the first to understand the significance of joining Crimea to Russia. He wrote to Catherine: “Crimea is tearing our borders with its position ... The acquisition of Crimea cannot strengthen or enrich you, but only bring peace.” On April 8, 1782, the Empress signed a manifesto, definitively securing the Crimea for Russia. Potemkin's first steps towards the realization of this manifesto were the construction of Sevastopol as a military and seaport Russia and the creation of the Black Sea Fleet (1783). The fleet was built very hastily, partly from unusable material, but in the ensuing war with Turkey, it rendered significant services.

Black Sea Fleet in Feodosia. I.K. Aivazovsky.

In 1784, Catherine promoted her assistant to field marshal general, appointed him president of the Military Collegium and governor-general of the Crimea, called the Tauride Region. In military affairs, Potemkin carried out some rational reforms. He destroyed the powder, pigtails and curls, introduced light boots. There are, however, reviews that Potemkin's negligence brought the affairs of the military department into a chaotic state. In 1787, Grigory Alexandrovich accompanied the Empress on a trip to the south, all the way to Sevastopol, at parting in Kharkov, she, pleased with everything she saw in the south, bestowed on him the title of "Highest Prince of Tauride."

Fireworks in honor of Catherine II during her trip to the Crimea. Unknown artist 1780

Many believe that during this trip, Potemkin, who did not achieve much success in the administrative field, decided to present himself in the best light and staged the results of his activities - the so-called. Potemkin villages. The Leningrad scientist A. M. Panchenko proved that this is a myth. But a myth of a special kind. The fact is that at that time it was customary to lavishly decorate all court events. But the decorations were so luxurious that they gave rise to doubt even the reality of the existing. And this could be not only a whim of Potemkin - after all, Catherine was accompanied by the Austrian Emperor Joseph II.

Near Balaklava, the cortege was met by an “Amazonian company”, made up of the wives and daughters of the Balaklava Greeks, which delighted the empress.

With the beginning of the Russian-Turkish war of 1787-1791. the indefatigable Potemkin led the 1st, Yekaterinoslav, Army, at the same time, His Serene Highness Prince Tauride led the actions of the Black Sea Fleet. It is he who comes up with the idea of ​​writing in the orders the famous words - "Russia or death." And for the first time this will make the national feeling the best and noblest weapon of the Russians. For the capture of Ochakov he was awarded the order St. George 1st degree; in honor of Potemkin, the empress ordered to knock out gold medal. For victories on the Dnieper Estuary, he was also awarded a sword decorated with diamonds, which was sent to him on a golden platter with the inscription: “To the Commander of the Yekaterinoslav Land and sea ​​power like a builder of warships."

Copy from watercolor by M.M. Ivanov “Camp G.A. Potemkin near Ochakov.

The winner founded not far from Ochakov, at the junction of the Bug and Ingul rivers, the city, which he named Nikolaev (in honor of Nicholas the Wonderworker). Upon his arrival in St. Petersburg, the Empress arranged for Grigory Alexandrovich an unusually magnificent and solemn reception, awarded him a laurel wreath, a specially made and richly decorated field marshal's baton, as well as the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky. Suvorov in 1789 wrote about him: “He fair man, he kind person, he great person: my happiness is to die for him.

Grigory Alexandrovich was tall, had a stately figure and Beautiful face, which spoiled the eye damaged in youth a little. He achieved all the ranks and wealth thanks to tireless work for the benefit of the fatherland and the empress. He had a contradictory nature: he was arrogant and courteous, generous and stingy, he loved both simplicity and luxury. The poet Derzhavin wrote about Potemkin in the solemn Choirs:

“He plays chess with one hand.
With the other hand, he conquers the nations.
With one foot he strikes friend and foe,
With another he tramples the shores of the universe.

Portrait of Prince Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin-Tavrichesky.
Lampi Johann Baptist the Elder. April 1791. Hermitage.

In February 1791, Potemkin went to St. Petersburg, where on April 28 (May 9) he organized a magnificent celebration in honor of Catherine in the Tauride Palace, which was presented to him, eclipsing the previous feasts of the “brightest” with unthinkable luxury. For dessert, a dish of diamonds was served, and the guests scooped them up with spoons. He unsuccessfully tried to get the Empress out of the influence of the Zubov brothers and experienced moral devastation. Although Catherine gave him the same share of participation in public affairs, her personal relationship with Potemkin changed for the worse. At her request, Potemkin had to leave the capital, where in four months he spent 850 thousand rubles on feasts, later paid from the office.

Potemkin Tauride Palace in St. Petersburg.

After the cooling of feelings between him and Ekaterina Potemkin, as shocked contemporaries and foreign diplomats noted, arranged his personal life as follows: inviting his nieces, daughters of his sister Elena Engelhardt, to live in his palace, he “enlightened” them as they grew up, and then after some time he married. The nieces idolized Potemkin all his life.

Upon returning to Iasi, Potemkin actively conducted peace negotiations, but illness prevented him from completing them. On October 5, 1791, on his way from Iasi to Nikolaev, Potemkin died of intermittent fever near the Moldavian village of Redenii Veki. “That's all,” he said, “nowhere to go, I'm dying! Take me out of the carriage: I want to die on the field!”

Death of G.A. Potemkin October 5, 1791 Engraving after a drawing by T.G. Shevchenko 1850s.

Catherine's grief was very great: according to the testimony of the French commissioner to Genet, "at this news she lost her senses, blood rushed to her head, and she was forced to open a vein." Who can replace such a person? she repeated to her secretary Khrapovitsky. “I and all of us are now like snails who are afraid to stick their heads out of their shells.” She wrote to Grimm: “Yesterday I was struck like a butt on the head ... My student, my friend, one might say, an idol, Prince Potemkin of Tauride died ... Oh, my God! Now I am truly my own helper. I have to train my people again!”

Dressed in the ceremonial general-field marshal's uniform, the Most Serene Prince was embalmed and laid in a double coffin: oak and lead. A miniature portrait of Catherine II, all studded with diamonds, was placed at the head of the prince. Shortly after the death of the prince, the instruction of Catherine II was announced: "... The body of the late prince should be transferred to Kherson, and buried there with all the honors appropriate to his degree and merits." General Mikhail Sergeevich Potemkin was appointed the chief manager of the funeral. On November 22, 1791, the funeral cortege arrived in Kherson.

Catherine's Cathedral in Kherson, founded by Potemkin. He was buried there in 1791.

After the memorial service, artillery volleys and three shots from rifles sounded. The ashes of Potemkin were buried in the Cathedral of St. Catherine in the Kherson fortress. The coffin with the body of His Serene Highness was lowered into the crypt: “... this month, 23 days, the body of the late Most Serene Prince in the Kherson Cathedral Church was interred with a proper ceremony, a decent place was chosen for burial ...”

The body of His Serene Highness Prince Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin-Tavrichesky rested under the church floor on the right side of the pulpit. A lifting door was made in the floor through which they descended into the vault, where a lead coffin stood on a raised platform, and in front of it was an icon with a lamp burning in front of it. In 1798, on the orders of Emperor Paul, the embalmed body of G. A. Potemkin was, according to Orthodox custom, buried in the ground: “the whole body, without further publicity, was buried in the same cellar in a specially dug hole, and the cellar was covered with earth and smoothed like it never happened." The descent to the crypt was closed in later years. The marble tombstone is in its original place, on the right side of the cathedral, in front of the pulpit; Every year, on the day of the memory of Potemkin, a memorial service is served at his grave.

Kherson. Monument to Potemkin.

Sources - Wikipedia, article by E. Guslyarov.

September 1739 (according to other sources 1736) in the village of Chizhovo, Smolensk province.

His father was a retired major. When Grigory was five years old, the boy moved to Moscow to his godfather Grigory Kislovsky, former president Chamber College.

At first, Potemkin attended the Litken educational institution in the German settlement, and then moved to Moscow University. In 1756, for success in science, he was awarded a gold medal, in 1757, among 12 worthy students, he was introduced to Empress Elizabeth Petrovna in St. Petersburg. Upon returning to Moscow, Potemkin stopped studying, and in 1760 he was expelled from the university.

Since 1755, he was enrolled in the Horse Guards, in 1757 he was promoted to corporal.

On July 9 (June 28, old style), 1762, in the rank of sergeant-major, Potemkin took part in a coup d'état that ended with the accession of Catherine II. After that, he received the rank of second lieutenant of the guard, the title of chamber junker, as well as 400 souls of serfs. In 1763, Grigory Potemkin was appointed Assistant Procurator of the Holy Synod.

In 1767, he acted as the guardian of deputies from the Tatars and other non-believers in the Commission for drafting a new Code.

In 1768 he was granted a chamberlain with dismissal from military service.

In 1769, after the start of the Russian-Turkish war (1768-1774), he signed up as a volunteer in the First Army under the command of General Alexander Golitsyn. He showed military prowess in the battle at the Dniester crossing on September 9 (August 29, old style) and during the capture of Khotyn on September 20 (9, old style), 1769, he was awarded the rank of major general. In 1770, in January, he distinguished himself in repelling a Turkish attack on Focsani (now a city in Romania), on July 18 (7 according to the old style) in battles on the Larga River, for which he was awarded the Order of St. George 3rd degree.

Under the command of Peter Rumyantsev, he was the first to break into the suburbs of Chilia (now a city in the Odessa region, Ukraine) in August 1770, distinguished himself by bravery in battles near Craiova (now a city in Romania) on December 28, 1770 (January 8, 1771) and Tsimbrami in March 1771 years, participated in the defeat of the troops of Osman Pasha near Silistra (now Silistra, Bulgaria). For valor in battles, he was elevated to the rank of lieutenant general and awarded the Order of St. Anne.

With his exploits and letters to Catherine, Potemkin again attracted the attention of the Empress. Arriving at her call in February 1774 in St. Petersburg, he became Catherine's favorite, pushing Grigory Orlov aside. According to some reports, Potemkin and Catherine II secretly married, in July 1775 their daughter Elizabeth was born. Under the name of Elizaveta Grigoryevna Temkina, she was brought up in the family of Potemkin's nephew, Alexander Samoilov, then married a Greek teacher, Grand Duke Konstantin, Ivan Kalageorga, who became the governor of Kherson and Yekaterinoslav, was the mother of four sons and five daughters.

For 17 years, Grigory Potemkin was the chief adviser to Catherine II and actively participated in state affairs. In 1774 he received the rank of Adjutant General and Lieutenant Colonel of the Life Guards of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, was appointed Vice President of the Military Collegium and a member of the State Council. He took part in organizing the suppression. In 1775, on the occasion of the conclusion of the Kyuchuk-Kainarji peace with Ottoman Empire elevated to the dignity of a count and awarded the Order of St. George 2nd degree.

In 1775, he achieved the abolition of the Zaporozhian Sich as the main source of unrest in Ukraine.

In 1776 he received from the German Emperor Joseph II the title of Prince of the Holy Roman Empire. In the same year he was appointed governor-general of the Novorossiysk, Azov and Astrakhan provinces, becoming the ruler of all the southern Russian lands from the Black to the Caspian Seas. He supervised the construction of the cities of Kherson and Yekaterinoslav (now Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine) and the development of the Kuban.

Participated in the development of plans for the release South Eastern Europe from Turkish rule and the restoration of the Byzantine Empire.

He was the initiator of the annexation of the Crimea to Russia in 1783.

In 1784, Potemkin was awarded the rank of Field Marshal, appointed President of the Military Collegium and Governor General of the newly created Tauride and Yekaterinoslav provinces. He founded the city of Sevastopol, making it the main Russian naval base on the Black Sea, and organized the construction of the Black Sea Fleet.

Potemkin carried out a number of innovations in the army. Braids and boucles were abolished, light boots, jackets and trousers, comfortable helmets were introduced.

In 1786, on his initiative, a trade agreement was concluded with France.

Potemkin made efforts to eliminate the split in Russian Orthodoxy and join the Old Believers to the official church.

In 1787, he was organized, which made a strong impression on the empress and became the peak of the political influence of Grigory Potemkin - he was awarded the title of the Most Serene Prince of Tauride.

With the beginning of the Russian-Turkish war (1787-1791), the prince headed the First (Ekaterinoslav) Army and the Black Sea Fleet. After the capture of Ochakov in December 1788, he was awarded the Order of St. George of the 1st degree, a gold medal was knocked out in his honor. Not far from Ochakov, through the efforts of Potemkin, Nikolaev, the city of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, was founded. In 1789, the prince achieved the unification under his command of the First and Second Armies into the Southern Army and carried out the general leadership of the campaigns of 1789 and 1790, during which the Russian troops and fleet achieved decisive successes on land and at sea: brilliant victories at Focsani and on the Rymnik River under the command of Alexander Suvorov and the capture of Bendery under the leadership of Potemkin in 1789;

In February 1791, Potemkin left for St. Petersburg, seeking to prevent the rise of Catherine II's new favorite, Platon Zubov, but failed and returned to the army in August, when hostilities had effectively ceased.

On the way from Iasi (now a city in Romania) to Nikolaev for peace talks with the Turkish side, Grigory Potemkin fell ill with a fever and died on October 16 (5 according to the old style).

His body was embalmed and buried in the crypt of the Church of St. Catherine in Kherson. In 1798, by order of Emperor Paul I, who was hostile to Potemkin, the coffin was buried in the ground, and the crypt was filled in.

Potemkin (Prince Grigory Alexandrovich, about 1739 - 1791) - a famous figure of the Catherine era; was born in the village of Chizhev, near Smolensk.

He lost his father early (a small-scale nobleman), was brought up by his mother, later a state lady, in Moscow, where he attended the Litkel educational institution in the German settlement; from childhood he showed curiosity and ambition; having entered Moscow University, in July 1757, among the best 12 students, he was introduced to Empress Elisabeth, but then became too lazy and was expelled from the university "for not attending". Back in 1755, enrolled in the Reiters of the Horse Guards, Potemkin under Peter III was a sergeant-major. Participation in the coup d'état on June 28, 1762 (what this participation consisted of is unknown) drew the attention of Empress Catherine II to Potemkin; he was made a chamber junker and received 400 souls of peasants. Biographical facts of the next subsequent years are known only in general terms; Anecdotes relating to this time about Potemkin's relationship with the Empress and the Orlov brothers, about his desire to get a haircut, etc., are unreliable. In 1763, Potemkin became an assistant to the chief prosecutor of the Synod, without leaving military service; in 1768 he was granted a chamberlain and expelled from the horse guards, as being at court. In the commission of 1767, he was the guardian of deputies from the Gentiles, being at the same time a member of the spiritual and civil commission, but did not declare himself anything here and in 1769 went to the Turkish war as a "volunteer". He distinguished himself near Khotyn, successfully participated in the battles of Focsani, Larga and Gagul, defeated the Turks at Olta, burned Tsybry, capturing many Turkish ships, etc. In 1770 - 1771. he was in St. Petersburg, where he asked permission to write to the empress, but did not achieve much success. In 1771 he was a lieutenant general; the empress at that time was already corresponding with him and in her own handwritten letter insisted that he should not paint life in vain. A month after receiving this letter, Potemkin was already in St. Petersburg, where he was soon made adjutant general, lieutenant colonel of the Preobrazhensky regiment, a member of the state council and, according to foreign ambassadors, became "the most influential person in Russia." His participation in affairs was expressed at that time in sending reinforcements to Count Rumyantsev, in less constraint on the latter's actions, in measures against Pugachev and in the destruction of the Zaporozhian Sich. A little later, Potemkin was appointed "chief commander", Governor-General of the Novorossiysk Territory, elevated to the dignity of a count and received a number of distinctions from abroad, where his influence very soon became known: the Danish minister, for example, asked him to help preserve Russia's friendship with Denmark. In 1776, Joseph II, at the request of the Empress, elevated Potemkin to the princely dignity of the Holy Roman Empire. In December 1775, Zavadovsky was introduced to the Empress, after which her relations with Potemkin cooled a little, but continued to be friendly; Yermolov's rise in 1785 had little effect on Potemkin's position. During all this time, there are a lot of facts testifying to the power that was in the hands of Potemkin: his correspondence with the empress does not stop, the most important state papers pass through his hands, his travels furnished with "extraordinary honors", the Empress often gives him valuable gifts. As can be seen from Potemkin's reports, he was particularly interested in the question of the southern borders of Russia and, in connection with this, the fate of Turkey. In a special note submitted to the Empress, he outlined a whole plan on how to take control of the Crimea; this program, beginning in 1776, was carried out in reality. events in ottoman empire Potemkin was very interested in and had in many places Balkan Peninsula their agents. Back in the 70s, according to Gerris, he developed a "Greek project" that proposed to destroy Turkey and place the crown of the new Byzantine kingdom on one of the grandsons of Empress Catherine II. In military affairs, Potemkin carried out some rational reforms, especially when he became a field marshal, in 1784: he destroyed powder, pigtails and farts, introduced light boots, etc.; there are, however, reviews that Potemkin's negligence brought the affairs of the military department into a chaotic state. Extremely important matter Potemkin was the construction of the fleet on the Black

sea; the fleet was built very hastily, partly from unsuitable material, but in the ensuing war with Turkey it rendered significant services. Potemkin's colonial activity was subjected to many criticisms, and indeed, despite the enormous costs, it did not achieve even a remote resemblance to what Potemkin painted in his letters to the Empress; nevertheless impartial witnesses - like K.P. Razumovsky, who visited Novorossiya in 1782, could not help being surprised at what had been achieved. Kherson, founded in 1778, was already a significant city at that time; Ekaterinoslav is called "sculpted"; on the site of the former desert, which served as a route for the raids of the Crimeans, there were villages every 20-30 versts. The idea of ​​a university, a conservatory and dozens of factories in Yekaterinoslav remained unfulfilled; Potemkin failed to immediately create something significant from Nikolaev. From the huge number of business papers and letters from Potemkin's office, it is clear how many-sided and vigilant was his activity in governing South Russia; but at the same time, there is a feverish haste, self-delusion, boasting and striving for excessively difficult goals in everything. The invitation of colonists, the laying of cities, the cultivation of forests and vineyards, the encouragement of sericulture, the establishment of schools, factories, printing houses, shipyards - all this was undertaken with extreme large sizes, and Potemkin spared neither money, nor labor, nor people. Much has been started and abandoned; the other remained on paper from the very beginning; only the smallest part of the bold projects was realized. In 1787, the famous trip of Empress Catherine to the south was undertaken, which turned into a triumph of Potemkin, who managed to hide everything with remarkable art. weak sides reality and show off their brilliant successes. Kherson, with its fortress, surprised even foreigners, and the sight of the Sevastopol raid with a squadron of 15 large and 20 small craft was the highlight of the entire trip. When parting with the Empress in Kharkov, Potemkin received the name "Tauride". In 1787, the war with Turkey began, partly caused by the activities of Potemkin. The organizer of Novorossia had to take on the role of a commander. The lack of readiness of the troops affected from the very beginning; Potemkin, on whom hopes were pinned that he would destroy Turkey, became very discouraged and even thought about concessions. The Empress, in letters, had to repeatedly support his cheerfulness. Only after the successful defense of Kinburn by Suvorov, Potemkin began to act more decisively and laid siege to Ochakov, which, however, was taken only a year later: the siege was carried out without energy, many soldiers died from illness, cold and lack of essentials. After the capture of Ochakov, Potemkin returned to St. Petersburg, honored in every possible way along the way; in St. Petersburg, he received generous awards and often had conversations with the empress about foreign policy: he stood at that time for compliance with Sweden and Prussia. Returning to the theater of war, he took care of replenishing the number of troops and slowly advanced with the main mass of troops to the Dniester, not participating in the operations of Repnin and Suvorov. The Bendery besieged by him surrendered to him without bloodshed. In 1790, Potemkin received the title of hetman of the Cossack Ekaterinoslav and Black Sea troops. He lived in Iasi, surrounded by Asiatic luxury and a crowd of servile servants, but did not stop corresponding with St. Petersburg and with his numerous agents abroad; he took care of the food and staffing of the army in the best possible way. After the new successes of Suvorov, in January 1791, Potemkin again asked for permission to appear in St. Petersburg and arrived in the capital for the last time, where he considered his presence necessary in view of the rapid rise of Zubov. He failed to achieve his goal - the removal of Zubov. Although the empress gave him the same share of participation in state affairs, her personal relations with Potemkin changed for the worse: at her request, Potemkin had to leave the capital, where he spent 4 months on feasts, etc. 850 thousand rubles, later paid out of the cabinet. By returned

And in Iasi, Potemkin actively conducted peace negotiations, but illness prevented him from completing them. On October 5, 1791, in the steppe, 40 versts from Yassy, ​​Potemkin, who was about to go to Nikolaev, died of an intermittent fever. He was buried in Kherson. The Empress was greatly affected by Potemkin's death. Reviews about Potemkin after his death, as well as during his lifetime, were very different. Some called him the evil genius of Empress Catherine, the "prince of darkness" (cf. the German pamphlet novel of 1794 "Pausalvin, Furst der Finsterniss, und seine Geliebte"), others - including Empress Catherine herself - a great and brilliant person. In any case, he was the most remarkable of Catherine's temporary workers, undoubtedly a capable administrator, an active and energetic person, spoiled, however, by side circumstances that brought him a high position, and therefore deprived of balance and the ability to balance his desires with reality. His undertakings in the south of Russia constitute his undoubted merit to posterity. The cities he created, especially Yekaterinoslav, still belong to the most important settlements our south. Potemkin's vices - his womanizing (even with his own nieces), extravagance, disregard for human life - all these are to a large extent the shortcomings of the era when he lived.

His Serene Highness Prince Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin-Tavrichesky (September 13 (24), 1739 - October 5 (16), 1791) - Russian statesman who led the annexation to the Russian Empire and the initial structure of New Russia, where he possessed colossal land plots and founded a number of cities, including modern regional centers Dnepropetrovsk (1776), Kherson (1778) and Nikolaev (1789).

Born in the family of a middle-class Smolensk nobleman from the Potemkin family, on the Chizhevo estate (now Dukhovshchinsky Smolenskaya district areas). Early lost his father, Alexander Vasilyevich Potemkin (1673-1746), who retired as a major. He was brought up by his mother (Daria Vasilievna, nee Kondyreva), later a state lady, in Moscow, where he attended the educational institution of Johann-Philip Litke in the German Sloboda. From childhood he showed curiosity and ambition; having entered Moscow University (in 1755), in July 1757, among the best 12 students, he was introduced to Empress Elizabeth, but at the beginning of 1760 he was expelled from the university for "laziness and not attending classes." Back in 1755, he was enlisted in the horse guards, entered the service in 1761, and under Peter III he was a sergeant-major.

With participation in the coup d'état on June 29, 1762, Potemkin attracted the attention of Empress Catherine II. He was made a chamber junker and received the property of 400 souls of peasants. Biographical facts of subsequent years are known only in general terms. Anecdotes relating to this time about Potemkin's relationship with the Empress and the Orlov brothers, as well as about his desire to be tonsured as monks, are unreliable.

The palace of Prince Potemkin in Pokrovsky, Smolensk province (1785-86) was inherited from him by the Engelhardts.

Having failed to get closer to the Empress, the young ambitious officer went to the Russo-Turkish war in 1769, fought in the ranks of the 1st Army of the general-in-chief A. Golitsyn, distinguished himself in the defeat of the troops of Moldavanchi Pasha and the occupation of Khotyn, was awarded the rank of General major. Golitsyn noted that "the Russian cavalry has not yet acted with such harmony and courage as under the command of Major General Potemkin."

In 1770-1771, he was in St. Petersburg, where he asked for permission to write to the Empress, but did not achieve much success. In 1774 he became a lieutenant general. The Empress at that time was already corresponding with him and in her own handwritten letter insisted that he should not risk his life in vain. A month after receiving this letter, Potemkin was already in St. Petersburg, where he was soon made adjutant general, lieutenant colonel of the Preobrazhensky regiment and, according to foreign ambassadors, became "the most influential person in Russia."

Potemkin did not like to pose for artists. It seems that the best image of him belongs to the brilliant Russian sculptor of that time, Shubin. The face of the goblin, the wise ugliness of Aesop's head. Potemkin had forever disheveled black hair and dark skin, like the devil on Old Believer icons. Densely, as on chernozem, black bristles grew. One eye was missing, and the other was squinting. They called him "Cyclops" behind his back. Potemkin's eye was knocked out in a billiard fight by the Orlov brothers. They said it was by accident. But in fact, to lower his chances with Catherine.

Portrait of Catherine II. F.S. Rokotov. 1763

No manners. Always biting his nails. It receives visitors and the Empress herself in a wide robe, and under the robe there is not only pants, but also underwear. Especially for him, the Empress draws up paragraphs of the Hermitage Charter, where the third paragraph warns: “They ask you to be cheerful, but not to destroy anything, not to break or bite.” In addition, the morbid melancholic suffers from bouts of hypochondria. Hypochondria in Russian is melancholy. Instinctive and inexplicable. And then for weeks he does not leave the office, lying around unwashed and unkempt, with nails gnawed to blood.

They introduced Catherine to Potemkin, to their misfortune, the same Orlov brothers. They discovered in him one funny talent: Potemkin knew how to imitate voices with extraordinary skill and could imitate anyone in the mood. Yes, so you can't tell. So the brothers decided one day to “treat” the Empress with this parodist. Catherine asked Potemkin about something. He answered her in her own voice, in which she guessed both intonation and even her own words. Laughed to tears. He conquered Catherine first of all with his extraordinary physical virtues. She is forty years old. Gregory is ten years younger. The empress, tempted in love pleasures, suddenly discovered that if this incident had not happened in her life, she would never have known true satisfaction. During the day, she cannot recover from the nights spent with him.

Portrait of Catherine II. F.S. Rokotov. 1780

According to some reports, in 1774, Potemkin and Catherine even entered into a secret morganatic marriage in the church of the Ascension that has not survived (the Church of the Ascension of the Lord “Great Ascension” stands on this site) at the Nikitsky Gates in Moscow. In July 1775, their daughter, Elizaveta, was born, who, under the name of Elizaveta Grigoryevna Tyomkina (with the first syllable discarded, as was customary), was brought up in the family of A.N. Samoilov - Potemkin's nephew.

Portrait of the daughter of Empress Catherine II and His Serene Highness Prince Grigory Potemkin-Tavrichesky - Elizabeth Grigoryevna Tyomkina. V.L. Borovikovsky. On the portrait of E.G. Tyomkina is 23 years old.

Receiving the support of the empress in everything, Grigory Alexandrovich actually became her co-ruler, the closest assistant in all state affairs. He immediately took on the task of suppressing the uprising of E. Pugachev, organizing military operations against the rebels. Without staying too long in the capital, Potemkin embarked on a plan for the economic development and military fortification of southern Russia. In a short time, he was promoted to general-general and appointed vice-president of the Military Collegium, became a member of the State Council, a count, was awarded the orders of St. Andrew the First-Called and St. George 2nd degree, and was granted the princely dignity of the Holy Roman Empire.

Prince G. A. Potemkin. Unknown painter.

In 1775, Potemkin liquidated the Zaporizhzhya Sich with decisive actions and laid the foundation for the Zaporizhzhya Cossack army, subject to the Russian crown. In 1776 he became the governor-general of the Novorossiysk, Azov and Astrakhan provinces. The ruler of the south was considering a plan to fight Turkey up to the destruction of the Turkish state and the restoration of Byzantium. At the mouth of the Dnieper, Potemkin founded Kherson with a shipyard, supervised the construction of Yekaterinoslav (now Dnepropetrovsk), the development of the Kuban, and the actions of Russian troops in the Caucasus. In his hands was concentrated the management of all southern Russia from the Black to the Caspian Seas.

His correspondence with the empress does not stop, the most important state papers pass through his hands, his travels are furnished with "extraordinary honors", the empress often gives him valuable gifts. In November 1776, Potemkin was sent "on leave to revise the Novgorod province." And a few days after his departure, a well-known place next to Catherine's bedchamber was occupied by the handsome young Zavadovsky. Potemkin went berserk. He was even going to team up with the Orlov brothers in order to take the throne from the insidious traitor. Then he calmed down. He only demanded a hundred thousand from his successor for his former apartments in Catherine's chambers. He paid that ransom, of course, with the money of the Empress.

Potemkin was the first to understand the significance of joining Crimea to Russia. He wrote to Catherine: “Crimea is tearing our borders with its position ... The acquisition of Crimea cannot strengthen or enrich you, but only bring peace.” On April 8, 1782, the Empress signed a manifesto, definitively securing the Crimea for Russia. Potemkin's first steps towards the implementation of this manifesto were the construction of Sevastopol as a military and sea port of Russia and the creation of the Black Sea Fleet (1783). The fleet was built very hastily, partly from unusable material, but in the ensuing war with Turkey, it rendered significant services.

Black Sea Fleet in Feodosia. I.K. Aivazovsky.

In 1784, Catherine promoted her assistant to field marshal general, appointed him president of the Military Collegium and governor-general of the Crimea, called the Tauride Region. In military affairs, Potemkin carried out some rational reforms. He destroyed the powder, pigtails and curls, introduced light boots. There are, however, reviews that Potemkin's negligence brought the affairs of the military department into a chaotic state. In 1787, Grigory Alexandrovich accompanied the Empress on a trip to the south, all the way to Sevastopol, at parting in Kharkov, she, pleased with everything she saw in the south, bestowed on him the title of "Highest Prince of Tauride."

Fireworks in honor of Catherine II during her trip to the Crimea. Unknown artist 1780

Many believe that during this trip, Potemkin, who did not achieve much success in the administrative field, decided to present himself in the best light and staged the results of his activities - the so-called. Potemkin villages. The Leningrad scientist A. M. Panchenko proved that this is a myth. But a myth of a special kind. The fact is that at that time it was customary to lavishly decorate all court events. But the decorations were so luxurious that they gave rise to doubt even the reality of the existing. And this could be not only a whim of Potemkin - after all, Catherine was accompanied by the Austrian Emperor Joseph II.

Near Balaklava, the cortege was met by an “Amazonian company”, made up of the wives and daughters of the Balaklava Greeks, which delighted the empress.

With the beginning of the Russian-Turkish war of 1787-1791. the indefatigable Potemkin led the 1st, Yekaterinoslav, Army, at the same time, His Serene Highness Prince Tauride led the actions of the Black Sea Fleet. It is he who comes up with the idea of ​​writing in the orders the famous words - "Russia or death." And for the first time this will make the national feeling the best and noblest weapon of the Russians. For the capture of Ochakov, he was awarded the Order of St. George, 1st degree; in honor of Potemkin, the empress ordered to knock out a gold medal. For victories on the Dnieper estuary, he was also awarded a sword decorated with diamonds, which was sent to him on a golden platter with the inscription: "To the commander of the Yekaterinoslav land and sea forces, like a builder of military ships."

Copy from watercolor by M.M. Ivanov “Camp G.A. Potemkin near Ochakov.

The winner founded not far from Ochakov, at the junction of the Bug and Ingul rivers, the city, which he named Nikolaev (in honor of Nicholas the Wonderworker). Upon his arrival in St. Petersburg, the Empress arranged for Grigory Alexandrovich an unusually magnificent and solemn reception, awarded him a laurel wreath, a specially made and richly decorated field marshal's baton, as well as the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky. Suvorov in 1789 wrote about him: "He is an honest man, he is a kind man, he is a great man: my happiness is to die for him."

Grigory Alexandrovich was tall, had a stately figure and a handsome face, which was little spoiled by an eye damaged in his youth. He achieved all the ranks and wealth thanks to tireless work for the benefit of the fatherland and the empress. He had a contradictory nature: he was arrogant and courteous, generous and stingy, he loved both simplicity and luxury. The poet Derzhavin wrote about Potemkin in the solemn Choirs:

“He plays chess with one hand.
With the other hand, he conquers the nations.
With one foot he strikes friend and foe,
With another he tramples the shores of the universe.

Portrait of Prince Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin-Tavrichesky.
Lampi Johann Baptist the Elder. April 1791. Hermitage.

In February 1791, Potemkin went to St. Petersburg, where on April 28 (May 9) he organized a magnificent celebration in honor of Catherine in the Tauride Palace, which was presented to him, eclipsing the previous feasts of the “brightest” with unthinkable luxury. For dessert, a dish of diamonds was served, and the guests scooped them up with spoons. He unsuccessfully tried to get the Empress out of the influence of the Zubov brothers and experienced moral devastation. Although Catherine gave him the same share of participation in public affairs, her personal relationship with Potemkin changed for the worse. At her request, Potemkin had to leave the capital, where in four months he spent 850 thousand rubles on feasts, later paid from the office.

Potemkin Tauride Palace in St. Petersburg.

After the cooling of feelings between him and Ekaterina Potemkin, as shocked contemporaries and foreign diplomats noted, arranged his personal life as follows: inviting his nieces, daughters of his sister Elena Engelhardt, to live in his palace, he “enlightened” them as they grew up, and then after some time he married. The nieces idolized Potemkin all his life.

Upon returning to Iasi, Potemkin actively conducted peace negotiations, but illness prevented him from completing them. On October 5, 1791, on his way from Iasi to Nikolaev, Potemkin died of intermittent fever near the Moldavian village of Redenii Veki. “That's all,” he said, “nowhere to go, I'm dying! Take me out of the carriage: I want to die on the field!”

Death of G.A. Potemkin October 5, 1791 Engraving after a drawing by T.G. Shevchenko 1850s.

Catherine's grief was very great: according to the testimony of the French commissioner to Genet, "at this news she lost her senses, blood rushed to her head, and she was forced to open a vein." Who can replace such a person? she repeated to her secretary Khrapovitsky. “I and all of us are now like snails who are afraid to stick their heads out of their shells.” She wrote to Grimm: “Yesterday I was struck like a butt on the head ... My student, my friend, one might say, an idol, Prince Potemkin of Tauride died ... Oh, my God! Now I am truly my own helper. I have to train my people again!”

Dressed in the ceremonial general-field marshal's uniform, the Most Serene Prince was embalmed and laid in a double coffin: oak and lead. A miniature portrait of Catherine II, all studded with diamonds, was placed at the head of the prince. Shortly after the death of the prince, the instruction of Catherine II was announced: "... The body of the late prince should be transferred to Kherson, and buried there with all the honors appropriate to his degree and merits." General Mikhail Sergeevich Potemkin was appointed the chief manager of the funeral. On November 22, 1791, the funeral cortege arrived in Kherson.

Catherine's Cathedral in Kherson, founded by Potemkin. He was buried there in 1791.

After the memorial service, artillery volleys and three shots from rifles sounded. The ashes of Potemkin were buried in the Cathedral of St. Catherine in the Kherson fortress. The coffin with the body of His Serene Highness was lowered into the crypt: “... this month, 23 days, the body of the late Most Serene Prince in the Kherson Cathedral Church was interred with a proper ceremony, a decent place was chosen for burial ...”

The body of His Serene Highness Prince Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin-Tavrichesky rested under the church floor on the right side of the pulpit. A lifting door was made in the floor through which they descended into the vault, where a lead coffin stood on a raised platform, and in front of it was an icon with a lamp burning in front of it. In 1798, on the orders of Emperor Paul, the embalmed body of G. A. Potemkin was, according to Orthodox custom, buried in the ground: “the whole body, without further publicity, was buried in the same cellar in a specially dug hole, and the cellar was covered with earth and smoothed like it never happened." The descent to the crypt was closed in later years. The marble tombstone is in its original place, on the right side of the cathedral, in front of the pulpit; Every year, on the day of the memory of Potemkin, a memorial service is served at his grave.

Kherson. Monument to Potemkin.

Sources - Wikipedia, article by E. Guslyarov.

Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin was born on September 24, 1739 in the village of Chizhovo, Smolensk province. Father - Alexander Vasilievich Potemkin, military officer, mother - Daria Skuratova. Gregory's father died early, and therefore he was raised by his mother. It was she who gave him to study in the German settlement.

At first, he studied at Moscow University, and then he entered the university itself. He studies very well, is one of the best students of the university, receives a gold medal for academic excellence, but, despite this, is excluded in 1760. In this regard, he goes to serve in the horse guards.

Participates in palace coup, in which the future Empress Catherine II draws attention to him. Then he remains with the regiment and rises through the hierarchy until 1768, when Catherine is expelled at will. The following year, on his own, as a volunteer, he goes to war with the Ottoman Empire.

In the 70s, his relationship with the Empress began, there were rumors that in 1775 they entered into a secret marriage.

July 21, 1775 Potemkin officially becomes a count. In 1783, the annexation of the Crimean Khanate to Russia took place, to which Potemkin himself contributed a lot. A year later, he is granted the rank of field marshal for this. In 1787, the result of the visit of Catherine II to the Crimea was the honorary naming of Potemkin - Tauride.

In 1787, another war with the Ottoman Empire begins, which Potemkin also enters, this time in the role of commander. The main success of Potemkin in this war was the capture of the Turkish fortress Ochakov. For this siege, he receives another George.

In 90-91, Gregory becomes the head of the occupation administration in Moldova. But this position does not reflect all the power concentrated in the hands of Potemkin at that moment, in fact, it was then that he was the head of state.

Read the biography of Grigory Potemkin

The personality of Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin is known to many educated people of our state. In textbooks, we often read about what kind of talented statesman and military leader Grigory Potemkin is. Grigory Potemkin was born at the end of September 1739 in the Smolensk region. He was educated at the gymnasium of Moscow University, and soon took an active part in the coup of 1762 on the side of the military supporting Catherine II. After the seizure of power by Catherine II, the most fruitful and famous period in the life of Grigory Potemkin began.

Catherine II appreciated the talent of Grigory Potemkin and began to trust him with assignments of national importance. Immediately after seizing power, she sent him on an international trip to Sweden. And in 1764, Grigory Potemkin actively participated in the secularization of church lands. In 1767 he helped the work of the Legislative Commission.

But he achieved the greatest success with the help of war and the army. From the very beginning of the Russian-Turkish war of 1768-1774, he immediately went to the army as a volunteer. He was the commander of the cavalry, thus managing to distinguish himself in most battles and receive the praise of the field marshal. In 1774, he was summoned to the disposal of Catherine II, thus becoming her favorite. He was respected and loved by the empress, and, soon, she appointed Grigory Potemkin to the post of vice-president of the military collegium. Until the end of his years, he was one of the most powerful and influential people in Russia. He managed to carry out a number of army reforms (he achieved the abolition of corporal punishment and respect for soldiers of any rank, introduced new form and outfit). Since 1775, he was the governor of the Black Sea lands and achieved great economic success in this position. New cities were built, among which was Sevastopol. In 1783, Grigory Potemkin achieved accession to Russian Empire territory Crimean peninsula. For this he received the title of Most Serene Prince of Tauride. A massive migration of people to new territories began.

From 1787 he became commander of the army again. At that moment, Russia was waiting for a new Russian-Turkish war 1787-1791. Under his command, the fortified city of Ochakov was besieged and captured. Potemkin was an innovator in military affairs. He was the first in Russia to command several fronts and, moreover, he did it very successfully. Many among the intelligentsia did not like Grigory Potemkin and tried to discredit his good name, but they did not succeed in doing this. Grigory Potemkin patronized such powerful military leaders as Alexander Suvorov and Fyodor Ushakov. Grigory Potemkin devoted a large part of his life to work for the benefit of the state. He died in March 1791 in Moldova during negotiations with the Turks.

Grigory Potemkin was an outstanding personality in the history of our state. He had the talent statesman and the commander. This he was able to prove and proved throughout his life. He was able to open the way to glory for Ushakov and Suvorov.

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