In Odessa

Biography

Early years

Count Mikhail Vorontsov was born on May 19 (30) in St. Petersburg, spent his childhood and youth with his father, Semyon Romanovich, in London, where he received an excellent education. As a baby, he was recorded as a scorer-corporal of the Life Guards Preobrazhensky Regiment, he was already 4 years old promoted to ensign.

In 1803 he was seconded to the Caucasian troops, headed by Prince Tsitsianov. He was with the commander in chief. On January 3, 1804, he took part in the assault on Ganja. On January 15 of the same year, he almost died during Gulyakov's unsuccessful expedition to the Zakatala Gorge.

In September 1805, as a brigade major, he was sent to Swedish Pomerania with the landing troops of Lieutenant General Tolstoy and was at the blockade of the Hameln fortress.

In the campaign of 1806 he was in the battle near Pultusk.

In the campaign of 1807, commanding the 1st battalion of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, he participated in the battle near Friedland.

In 1809, Vorontsov, appointed commander of the Narva infantry regiment, went to Turkey, where he participated in the assault on Bazardzhik.

In 1810 he took part in the battle near Shumla, then he was sent with a special detachment to the Balkans, where he occupied the cities of Plevna, Lovech and Selvi.

In the campaign of 1811, Vorontsov participated in the battle near Ruschuk, in 4 cases near Kalafat and in a successful case near Vidin.

Patriotic war and foreign campaign

Going for treatment to his estate Andreevsky in the Pokrovsky district of the Vladimir province, Vorontsov refused to evacuate property from his house on Nemetskaya Street in Moscow, ordering the wounded to be taken out on carts. About 50 wounded generals and officers and more than 300 lower ranks were placed in Andreevsky. The count took upon himself the expenses for the wounded, which reached 800 rubles daily. After recovery, each soldier, before being sent to the active army, was supplied with clothes and 10 rubles.

Having barely recovered, Vorontsov returned to duty and was assigned to Chichagov's army, and he was entrusted with a separate flying detachment. During the armistice (in the summer of 1813) he was transferred to the Northern Army; upon the resumption of hostilities, he was in action near Dennewitz and in the battle near Leipzig.

In the campaign of 1814, Vorontsov brilliantly withstood the battle against Napoleon himself near the city of Craon. On February 23, 1814, he was awarded the Order of St. George, 2nd class, No. 64

Command of the occupation corps in France

In 1815-1818 Vorontsov commanded the occupation corps in France.

A certain set of rules was introduced in the corps, compiled personally by Vorontsov, which limited the use of corporal punishment for soldiers. Notable is his opinion on limiting corporal punishment:

Since a soldier who has never been punished with sticks is much more capable of feelings of ambition worthy of a real warrior and son of the Fatherland, and one can rather expect good service from him and an example to others ...

In all divisions of the corps, by order of Vorontsov, Lancaster schools for soldiers and junior officers were organized. Also, the count debugged the regularity of sending correspondence from Russia to the corpus.

Before the withdrawal of the occupation corps, Vorontsov collected information about the debts of officers and soldiers to local residents and paid all the debts, the amount of which was about 1.5 million rubles, from his own funds. In order to pay off French creditors, he was forced to sell the Krugloye estate, inherited from his aunt, Princess Catherine Dashkova.

International connections

In 1818 he represented Russia at the Aachen Congress.

Governor General of Novorossiya

Returning to Russia, Vorontsov commanded the 3rd Infantry Corps, and on May 19, 1823, he was appointed Novorossiysk Governor General and Plenipotentiary Governor of the Bessarabian Region. The half-virgin Novorossiysk Territory was only waiting for a skilled hand to develop agricultural and industrial activities in it. Vorontsov is indebted to: Odessa - hitherto unprecedented expansion of its commercial value and increase in prosperity; Crimea - the development and improvement of winemaking, the construction of a magnificent palace in Alupka and an excellent highway bordering the southern coast of the peninsula, the cultivation and multiplication of various types of bread and other useful plants, as well as the first experiments in forestry. On his initiative, the Society for Rural Economy of Southern Russia was established in Odessa, in the works of which Vorontsov himself took an active part. One of the most important branches of the Novorossiysk industry, the breeding of fine-fleeced sheep, also owes a lot to him. Under him, in 1828, shipping along the Black Sea was launched. On December 29, 1826, Vorontsov was elected an honorary member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences.

On May 24, 1826, he was appointed a member of the State Council. In the same year he was a member of the Supreme Criminal Court in the case of the Decembrists.

In 1828, instead of the wounded Prince Menshikov, he took command of the troops besieging the fortress of Varna. On August 17, Vorontsov arrived at his destination, and on September 28, the fortress surrendered. In the campaign of 1829, thanks to the assistance of Vorontsov, the troops operating in Turkey continuously received the necessary supplies. The plague brought from Turkey did not penetrate deep into the Russian Empire, largely due to the energetic measures of Vorontsov.

During the governorship of Count Vorontsov in Chisinau, and then before his eyes in Odessa, Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin was in exile (1820-1824). Relations with Vorontsov did not work out right away; the governor considered the exiled poet primarily as an official, gave him instructions that seemed insulting to him, but most importantly, his wife Elizaveta Ksaveryevna, nee Countess Branitskaya, began a superficial romance with Pushkin to cover up her real love relationship, which greatly spoiled Pushkin's life, since the count became the object of numerous caustic, although not entirely fair, epigrams of Pushkin: “They once told the tsar that at last ...”, “Singer David is even small in height ...”, “I don’t know where, but not with us ...”; Pushkin ridicules the governor's pride, servility (from his point of view) and Anglomania in them.

Other writers of that time - A. S. Griboedov, G. F. Olizar, P. P. Svinin, etc. - during trips around the Crimea visited Vorontsov's hospitable house in Gurzuf, whom the count, who constantly lived in Odessa and visited the peninsula only visits, owned until 1834. The count cordially met creative guests in his house in St. Petersburg on Malaya Morskaya; one of which is G. V. Gerakov, who characterized Vorontsov as “ a rare friend"He died right in it on June 2, 1838.

Vorontsov patronizes the architects F. K. Boffo and G. I. Toricelli, attracts them to large government orders, deploying public construction throughout the province. They built such masterpieces as the Potemkin Staircase (1837-1841) and the Merchants' Exchange on Primorsky Boulevard in Odessa, the Stone Staircase in Taganrog, the Church of St. John Chrysostom in Yalta (1837), the Temple in the Name of All Crimean Saints and Holy Great Martyr Theodore Stratelates in Alushta ( 1842) and many other public buildings.

As a private person, he orders palaces in Odessa and in the Alupka estate. By inviting the gardener K.A.Kebakh to Alupka for 25 years and assisting the work of the botanist H.H.Steven in the Nikitsky Botanical Garden, he laid the foundations of landscape art on the southern coast of Crimea.

Caucasus

In 1844, Vorontsov was appointed commander-in-chief of the troops in the Caucasus and viceroy of the Caucasus, with unlimited powers and leaving in his former positions. Arriving in Tiflis on March 25, 1845, he soon went to the left flank of the Caucasian line, to take command of the troops preparing for the campaign against Shamil. After the occupation of Andi, fraught with the greatest difficulties, the troops, under the personal leadership of Vorontsov, moved to the temporary residence of Shamil - the aul Dargo. The capture of this point, and especially the further movement through impenetrable forests, was accompanied by great dangers and huge losses. The "Dargin" expedition, in fact, did not reach the goal, since Shamil safely left the village, and the village itself was burned before the Russian troops approached. The convoy, which was going to join the Vorontsov detachment, was attacked by the highlanders and was partially captured (the Suharnaya Expedition). The retreat from Dargo was also accompanied by losses. Here is how the eyewitness writer Arnold Lvovich Zisserman spoke about those events:

What an impression the outcome of the whole great expedition of 1845 made on our troops, on the Christian population of Transcaucasia devoted to us and on the hostile Muslim population, anyone can imagine. There is nothing to say about the triumph of Shamil and the highlanders. Thus, I repeat, if it were not for Count Vorontsov, who enjoyed great confidence and respect of Tsar Nikolai Pavlovich and who stood above the influence of the intrigues of even the powerful Chernyshev, his Caucasian career would probably have ended with the end of the expedition ...

However, despite the failure, for the campaign to Dargo, by the personal Imperial decree of August 6, 1845, the governor of the Caucasus, adjutant general, Count Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov, was elevated, with his descendants, to the princely dignity of the Russian Empire.

In 1848, two strongholds of Dagestan, the villages of Gergebil and Salty, were taken. In the bloody battle of Salta, Vorontsov blocked and defeated a large detachment of highlanders, naib Idris. In the same year, through the efforts of Vorontsov and on his initiative:

By the personal Imperial Decree, dated March 30, 1852, the Viceroy of the Caucasus, Adjutant General, General of Infantry, Prince Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov was awarded, with descending offspring, the title of lordship.

Vorontsov - bibliophile

His father, Semyon Romanovich, and his father's brother, Alexander Romanovich, began collecting books. The compilation of book collections required a certain culture, freedom in means, the ability to travel around the country and abroad. The Vorontsovs had all this in abundance: their fortune was one of the largest in Russia, Semyon Romanovich lived permanently in England, Alexander Romanovich also served in the diplomatic line. Their book collections were typical of the book collections of the 18th century, when the spiritual life of Europe was shaped under the strong influence of the ideas of the French Enlightenment. The basis of the libraries were the works of Voltaire, Rousseau, Montesquieu; Attention was also paid to antiquities and manuscripts. Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov inherited a significant part of the collections of his relatives, including his aunt, Ekaterina Romanovna Dashkova. Mikhail Semyonovich himself was engaged in collecting books from his youth and did not leave this occupation in the 1810s, when he was in Paris at the head of an expeditionary corps.

MS Vorontsov had several book collections - both in Russia and abroad. The fate of the Tiflis library has not been finally clarified, the Odessa collection, by the will of the heirs, was transferred to the local university, the St. museum.

Last years

At the beginning of 1853, Vorontsov, feeling the approach of blindness and an extreme decline in strength, asked the sovereign to dismiss him from his post, and on March 25 he left Tiflis. Monuments were erected to him in Tiflis (with funds raised from voluntary donations from the city's population), Odessa and Berdyansk.

On the day of the coronation of Emperor Alexander II on August 26, 1856, Vorontsov was granted the rank of Field Marshal.

Vorontsov died on November 6, 1856 in Odessa. For many years, stories about the simplicity and accessibility of the supreme governor were preserved among the soldiers in the Russian troops in the Caucasus. After the death of the prince, a saying arose there: "God is high, far from the tsar, but Vorontsov died."

He was buried in Odessa in the lower church of the Transfiguration Cathedral.

Memory

In 1849, in honor of M. S. Vorontsov, Vostochnaya Embankment was named in Taganrog (the name Vorontsovskaya Embankment existed until 1924, now Pushkinskaya) and Azov Descent (renamed in 1920, now - Komsomolsky).

• In 1863, a monument to M. S. Vorontsov was erected in Odessa.
• In 1867, a monument to M. S. Vorontsov was unveiled in Tiflis. Demolished in 1922.
• In L. N. Tolstoy's story "Hadji Murad", Count Vorontsov is depicted as a crafty, highly experienced courtier.
• In August 1998, a bronze bust of M. S. Vorontsov was unveiled in Yeysk on the railway station square.
• On August 16, 2008, a bronze monument to M. S. Vorontsov was unveiled in Yeysk near the city stadium.

Military ranks

• Recorded scorer-corporal of the guard (1786)
• Ensign of the Guard (1786)
• Lieutenant of the Guard (10.1801)
• Captain of the Guard (1804)
• Colonel (01/10/1807)
• Major General (04/14/1810)
• Lieutenant General (02/08/1813)
• Adjutant General (08/30/1815)
• General of infantry (05/29/1825)
• Field Marshal General (08/26/1856)

Achievement list

Awards

Russian:

Foreign:

Grave of the Vorontsovs

Vorontsov and his wife, Elizaveta Ksaveryevna Vorontsova, who died on April 15 (27), 1880, in recognition of their services to Odessa, due to their pious lifestyle and numerous deeds of mercy, were buried with honors in

Portrait of Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov the work of George Doe.

Military Gallery of the Winter Palace, State Hermitage Museum (St. Petersburg)

In the 19th century, epigrams were written on everyone: on each other, on kings, ballerinas and archimandrites. But by some irony of fate, Pushkin's biting quatrain - Alexander Sergeevich himself was subsequently not happy that he had written it - played a cruel joke on a man who was less worthy of it than others.

In the spring of 1801, the Russian ambassador to England, Count Semyon Romanovich Vorontsov, sent his son Mikhail to his homeland, which he did not remember at all. He was a little over a year old when his father, a diplomat, having received a new appointment, took his family away from St. Petersburg.

Vorontsov Semyon Romanovich

... Nineteen years ago, on May 19, 1782, the count took his first child in his arms. A year later, the Vorontsovs had a daughter, Ekaterina, and a few months later, the count was widowed - his young wife, Ekaterina Alekseevna, died of transient consumption. And Vorontsov arrived in London with two small children. Count Semyon Romanovich never married again, devoting his whole life to Misha and Katya.

Vorontsova Ekaterina Alekseevna (1761-1784), daughter of Admiral A.N. Senyavina, wife of S.R. Vorontsova, Dmitry Grigorievich Levitsky

From a young age, Semyon Romanovich inspired his son: any person belongs primarily to the Fatherland, his first duty is to love the land of his ancestors and valiantly serve it. And this is possible only with a firm concept of faith, honor, and in the presence of a thorough education ...

Mishenka and Katenka are the children of S.R. Vorontsov. Etching from the original by R. Cosway

Count Vorontsov was no stranger to pedagogy even before: at one time he even compiled programs for Russian youth in military and diplomatic education. He was inspired to do this by the conviction that the dominance of ignoramuses and foreigners in high positions is very harmful to the state. True, Vorontsov's ideas were not met with support, but he could fully realize them in his son ...

Semyon Romanovich Vorontsov with children Mikhail and Ekaterina

Semyon Romanovich himself selected teachers for him, he himself compiled programs in various subjects, he studied with him himself. This well-thought-out system of education, coupled with Mikhail's brilliant abilities, allowed him to acquire the store of knowledge with which he would subsequently amaze his contemporaries throughout his life.

Vorontsov set himself the goal of raising a Russian from his son and nothing else. Having lived half his life abroad and having all the outward signs of an Angloman, Vorontsov liked to repeat: "I am Russian and only Russian."

This position determined everything for his son. In addition to Russian history and literature, which, according to his father, should have helped his son in the main thing - to become Russian in spirit, Mikhail knew French and English perfectly, mastered Latin and Greek. His daily schedule included mathematics, natural sciences, drawing, architecture, music, military affairs.

The father considered it necessary to give his son a craft in his hands. The ax, saw and planer became not only familiar objects for Mikhail: the future Most Serene Prince became so addicted to carpentry that he gave him all his free hours until the end of his life. This is how one of the richest nobles of Russia raised his children.

Vorontsov Semyon Romanovich, Richard Evans

And now Michael is nineteen. Seeing him to serve in Russia, his father gives him complete freedom: let him choose a business to his liking. From London to St. Petersburg, the son of the Russian ambassador arrived all alone: ​​without servants and companions, which indescribably surprised Vorontsov's relatives. Moreover, Michael refused the privilege, which was due to having the title of chamberlain, assigned to him, even when he lived in London. This privilege entitles a young man who decides to devote himself to the army to immediately have the rank of major general. Vorontsov, on the other hand, asked to be given the opportunity to start his service from the lower ranks and was enlisted as a lieutenant of the Life Guards in the Preobrazhensky Regiment. And since the life of the capital did not satisfy the young Vorontsov, in 1803 he went as a volunteer to where the war was going on - in Transcaucasia. He endured the harsh conditions stoically. Thus began the fifteen-year, almost uninterrupted military epic of Vorontsov. All promotions and awards went to him in the powder smoke of battles. Mikhail met the Patriotic War of 1812 with the rank of major general, commander of a consolidated grenadier division.

Jacobin general

In the battle of Borodino on August 26, Vorontsov and his grenadiers received the first and most powerful blow from the enemy on the Semyonov flushes. It was here that Napoleon planned to break through the defenses of the Russian army. Against 8,000 Russians with 50 guns, 43,000 selected French troops were thrown, whose uninterrupted attacks were supported by the fire of two hundred guns. All participants in the Borodino battle unanimously recognized: Semenov flushes were hell. The fierce battle lasted three hours - the grenadiers did not retreat, although they suffered huge losses. When someone later dropped that Vorontsov's division "disappeared from the field," Mikhail Semenovich, who was present at the same time, sadly corrected: "It disappeared on the field."

Battle of Borodino. In the center of the picture is the wounded General Bagration, next to him on horseback is General Konovnitsyn.

In the distance one can see the square of the Life Guards. Hood. P. Hess, 1843

Vorontsov himself was seriously wounded. He was bandaged right on the field and in a cart, one wheel of which was hit by a cannonball, was taken out from under the bullets and cannonballs. When the count was brought home to Moscow, all the free buildings were filled with the wounded, often deprived of any help. On the carts from the Vorontsov estate, the lordly property was loaded for transportation to distant villages: paintings, bronze, boxes with porcelain and books, furniture. Vorontsov ordered that everything be returned to the house, and that the convoy be used to transport the wounded to Andreevskoye, his estate near Vladimir. The wounded were picked up along the entire Vladimir road. A hospital was set up in Andreevsky, where up to 50 officer ranks and more than 300 privates were treated at the full support of the count until his recovery.

View of the St. Andrew's Church with the Holy Gates, an almshouse and a school. Hood. Kondyrev. 1849

After recovery, each soldier was supplied with linen, a sheepskin coat and 10 rubles. Then in groups they were transported by Vorontsov to the army. He himself arrived there, still limping, moving with a cane. Meanwhile, the Russian army was moving inexorably to the West. In the battle of Craon, already near Paris, Lieutenant General Vorontsov independently acted against the troops led personally by Napoleon. He used all the elements of Russian combat tactics, developed and approved by A.V. Suvorov: rapid infantry bayonet attack deep into enemy columns with artillery support, skillful deployment of reserves and, most importantly, the admissibility of private initiative in battle, based on the requirements of the moment. Against this, the French bravely fought, even with a two-fold numerical superiority, were powerless.

Battle of Craon, Theodor Jung

“Such feats in the eyes of everyone, covering our infantry with glory and eliminating the enemy, certify that nothing is impossible for us,” Vorontsov wrote in an order after the battle, noting the merits of everyone: privates and generals. But both of them personally witnessed the enormous personal courage of their commander: despite the unhealed wound, Vorontsov was constantly in battle, took command of the units whose commanders had fallen. No wonder the military historian M. Bogdanovsky, in his study on this one of the last bloody battles with Napoleon, especially noted Mikhail Semenovich: “The military field of Count Vorontsov was lit up on the day of the Craon battle with a brilliance of glory, sublime modesty, the usual companion of true dignity.”

Mikhail Vorontsov, 1812/1813 Painter A. Molinari

In March 1814, Russian troops entered Paris. For four long years, very difficult for the regiments that fought through Europe, Vorontsov became the commander of the Russian occupation corps. A plethora of problems befell him. The most pressing ones are how to maintain the combat readiness of a mortally tired army and ensure the conflict-free coexistence of the victorious troops and the civilian population. The most mundane and everyday: how to ensure a tolerable material existence for those soldiers who fell victim to charming Parisians - some had wives, and besides, an addition to the family was expected. So now Vorontsov was no longer required to have combat experience, but rather tolerance, attention to people, diplomacy and administrative skill. But no matter how many worries, they all expected Vorontsov.

A certain set of rules was introduced in the corps, drawn up by its commander. They were based on a strict requirement for officers of all ranks to exclude actions that degrade human dignity from circulation by soldiers, in other words, for the first time in the Russian army, Vorontsov, by his will, banned corporal punishment. Any conflicts and violations of the statutory discipline were to be dealt with and punished only according to the law, without the "vile custom" of using sticks and assault.

Progressive-minded officers welcomed the innovations introduced by Vorontsov in the corps, considering them the prototype of the reform of the entire army, while others predicted possible complications with the St. Petersburg authorities. But Vorontsov stubbornly stood his ground.

Vorontsov M. S. 1818-1819. Roxtuhl. Historical Museum

Among other things, in all divisions of the corps, by order of the commander, schools were organized for soldiers and junior officers. Senior officers and priests became teachers. Vorontsov personally compiled training programs depending on the situation: one of his subordinates studied the alphabet, someone mastered the rules of writing and counting.

And Vorontsov also adjusted the regularity of sending correspondence from Russia to the troops, wishing that people, cut off from their homeland for years, would not lose touch with their homeland.

R Ozen I.S. Guards carriage in Paris in 1814 1911

It so happened that the government allocated money for the Russian occupation corps for two years of service. The heroes remembered love, women and other joys of life. What it resulted in, one person knew for sure - Vorontsov. Before sending the corps to Russia, he ordered to collect information about all the debts made during this time by corps officers. In total, it turned out one and a half million banknotes.

Believing that the winners should leave Paris in a dignified manner, Vorontsov paid off this debt by selling the Krugloye estate, which he inherited from his aunt, the notorious Ekaterina Romanovna Dashkova.

Gold medal presented to M.S. Vorontsov by residents of the Vouzier district in 1818 (front and back sides)

The corps marched east, and rumors were already circulating in St. Petersburg that Vorontsov's liberalism indulged the Jacobin spirit, and the discipline and military skills of the soldiers left much to be desired. Having made a review of the Russian troops in Germany, Alexander I expressed dissatisfaction with their insufficiently fast, in his opinion, step. Vorontsov's answer was passed from mouth to mouth and became known to everyone: "Your Majesty, by this step we came to Paris." Returning to Russia and feeling obvious hostility towards himself, Vorontsov submitted a letter of resignation. Alexander I refused to accept it. Whatever you say, it was impossible to do without the Vorontsovs ...

Mikhail Semenovich Vorontsov (1782-1856), Thomas Lawrence

Governor of the South

... In February 1819, the 37-year-old general went to his father in London to ask permission to marry. His fiancee, Countess Elizaveta Ksaveryevna Branitskaya, was already in her 27th year when, during her trip abroad, she met Mikhail Vorontsov, who immediately proposed to her. Eliza, as Branitskaya was called in the world, a Pole by her father, a Russian by her mother, relatives of Potemkin, possessed a huge fortune and that incredibly charming charm that made everyone see her as a beauty.

Unknown artist. Portrait of E.K. Vorontsova. 1810s Podstanitsky collection.

The Vorontsov couple returned to St. Petersburg, but not for long. Mikhail Semenovich did not stay in any of the Russian capitals - he served wherever the tsar sent him. Appointment to the south of Russia, which happened in 1823, he was very pleased. The edge, to which the center still did not reach the hands, was the focus of all possible problems: national, economic, cultural, military, and so on. But for an enterprising person, this vast half-asleep space with rare patches of civilization was a real find, especially since he was given unlimited powers by the tsar.

The newly arrived governor-general began with impassability, an ineradicable Russian misfortune. A little more than 10 years later, having traveled from Simferopol to Sevastopol, A.V. Zhukovsky wrote in his diary: "Wonderful road - a monument to Vorontsov." This was followed by the first Black Sea commercial Russian shipping company in the south of Russia.

Today it seems that the vineyards on the spurs of the Crimean mountains have come down to us almost since antiquity. Meanwhile, it was Count Vorontsov, having appreciated all the advantages of the local climate, who contributed to the emergence and development of Crimean viticulture. He ordered seedlings of all varieties of grapes from France, Germany, Spain and, inviting foreign experts, set them the task of identifying those that would take root better and be able to produce the necessary yields. Painstaking selection work was carried out for more than a year or two - winemakers knew firsthand how stony the local soil is and how it suffers from lack of water.

Palace of Prince Vorontsov in Alupka, Carlo Bossoli

But Vorontsov, with unshakable tenacity, continued his plan. First of all, he planted vineyards on his own plots of land, which he acquired in the Crimea. The mere fact that the famous palace complex in Alupka was built to a large extent with the money Vorontsov received from the sale of his own wine speaks eloquently of Mikhail Semenovich's remarkable commercial acumen.

Palace of Prince Vorontsov in Alupka

In addition to winemaking, Vorontsov, carefully looking at the activities that had already been mastered by the local population, did his best to develop and improve existing local traditions. From Spain and Saxony, elite breeds of sheep were issued and small wool processing enterprises were set up. This, in addition to employment, gave money to both people and the region. Not relying on subsidies from the center, Vorontsov set out to put life in the region on the principles of self-sufficiency. Hence Vorontsov's previously unprecedented in scale transformative activities: tobacco plantations, nurseries, the establishment of the Odessa Agricultural Society for the Exchange of Experience, the purchase of agricultural implements new for that time abroad, experimental farms, a botanical garden, livestock and fruit and vegetable exhibitions.

Alupka

All this, in addition to the revival of life in Novorossia itself, changed the attitude towards it as a wild and almost burdensome land for the state treasury. Suffice it to say that the result of the first years of managing Vorontsov was an increase in the price of land from thirty kopecks per tithe to ten rubles or more.

Alupka, Carlo Bossoli

The population of Novorossiya grew from year to year. A lot was done by Vorontsov for enlightenment and scientific and cultural upsurge in these places. Five years after his arrival, a school of oriental languages ​​was opened, in 1834 a school of merchant shipping appeared in Kherson to train skippers, navigators and shipbuilders.

Before Vorontsov, there were only 4 gymnasiums in the region. With the foresight of a smart politician, the Russian governor-general opens a whole network of schools in the Bessarabian lands recently annexed to Russia: Chisinau, Izmail, Chilia, Bendery, Balti. At the Simferopol gymnasium, a Tatar department begins to operate, in Odessa - a Jewish school. For the upbringing and education of children of poor nobles and higher merchants, in 1833 the Highest permission was received to open an institute for girls in Kerch.

His wife also made her own contribution to the count's undertakings. Under the patronage of Elizaveta Ksaveryevna, a charity home for orphans and a school for deaf and dumb girls were created in Odessa.

All the practical activities of Vorontsov, his concern for the future of the region were combined in him with a personal interest in his historical past. After all, the legendary Taurida absorbed almost the entire history of mankind. The Governor-General regularly organizes expeditions to study Novorossiya, describe the preserved monuments of antiquity, excavations.

In 1839 in Odessa, Vorontsov established the Society of History and Antiquities, which was located in his house. The count's personal contribution to the collection of antiquities at the Society, which began to replenish, was a collection of vases and vessels from Pompeii.

Palace of Count Vorontsov in Odessa. 19th century lithograph

As a result of Vorontsov's keen interest, according to experts, "the entire Novorossiysk Territory, the Crimea and partly Bessarabia in a quarter of a century, and the hard-to-reach Caucasus in nine years were explored, described, illustrated much more accurately and in more detail by many of the internal components of the most extensive Russia."

Carlo Bossoli, Odessa

Everything related to research activities was done fundamentally: many books related to travel, descriptions of flora and fauna, with archaeological and ethnographic finds, were published, as people who knew Vorontsov well testified, "with the unfailing assistance of an enlightened ruler."

Painting by M.N. Vorobyov. Vorontsov Palace in Odessa

The secret of Vorontsov's unusually productive activity was not only in his state mentality and extraordinary education. He impeccably mastered what we now call the ability to "assemble a team." Connoisseurs, enthusiasts, craftsmen, in their thirst to attract the attention of a high-ranking person to their ideas, did not knock on the count's threshold. “He himself looked for them,” recalled one witness of the “Novorossiysk boom”, “he got acquainted, brought them closer to him and, if possible, invited them to joint service to the Fatherland.” One hundred and fifty years ago, this word had a specific, soul-elevating meaning that moved people to many …

In his declining years, Vorontsov, who dictated his notes in French, will classify his family union as happy. Apparently, he was right, not wanting to go into details of a far from cloudless, especially at first, marriage of 36 years. Lisa, as Vorontsov called his wife, tested her husband's patience more than once. “With innate Polish frivolity and coquetry, she wanted to please,” wrote F.F. Vigel, and no one could do it better than her.” And now let's make a brief digression to the distant year 1823.

Mikhail Semenovich Vorontsov

Engraving by an unknown German artist, 1845-1852 (From the collection of Leonid Rabinovich, published for the first time)

Elizaveta Ksaveryevna Vorontsova, Pyotr Fedorovich Sokolov

... The initiative to transfer Pushkin from Chisinau to Odessa to the newly appointed governor-general of the Novorossiysk Territory belonged to Alexander Sergeevich's friends - Vyazemsky and Turgenev. They knew what they were seeking for the disgraced poet, being sure that he would not be bypassed with care and attention.

At first it was. At the first meeting with the poet at the end of July, Vorontsov received the poet "very affectionately." But in early September, his wife returned from Belaya Tserkov. Elizaveta Ksaveryevna was in her last months of pregnancy. Not the best, of course, the moment for acquaintance, but even that first meeting with her did not pass without a trace for Pushkin. Under the stroke of the poet's pen, her image, albeit sporadically, appears on the margins of manuscripts. True, then somehow ... disappears, because then the beautiful Amalia Riznich reigned in the poet's heart.

Pushkin in Odessa. Galushchenko Vladimir Viktorovich

Note that Vorontsov, with complete benevolence, opened the doors of his house to Pushkin. The poet comes and dine here every day, uses the books of the count's library. Undoubtedly, Vorontsov was aware that before him was not a petty clerk, and even in bad standing with the government, but a great poet entering into glory.

Vorontsov Palace in Odessa

Old theater in Odessa

But month after month goes by. Pushkin in the theater, at balls, masquerades, sees Vorontsova, who has recently given birth - lively, smart. He is captivated. He is in love.

The true relationship of Elizabeth Ksaveryevna to Pushkin, apparently, will forever remain a mystery. But there is no doubt about one thing: she, as noted, was "nice to have a famous poet at her feet."

A.S. Pushkin, Konstantin Andreevich Somov

But what about the all-powerful governor? Although he was used to the fact that his wife was always surrounded by admirers, the poet's ardor, apparently, crossed certain boundaries. And, as witnesses wrote, "it was impossible for the count not to notice his feelings." Vorontsov's irritation was further strengthened by the fact that Pushkin did not seem to care what the governor himself thought about them.

Let us turn to the testimony of an eyewitness of those events, F.F. Vigel: "Pushkin settled in his wife's living room and always met him with dry bows, to which, however, he never answered."

Did Vorontsov, as a man, a family man, have the right to get annoyed and look for ways to stop the red tape of an overly emboldened admirer?

“He did not stoop to jealousy, but it seemed to him that the exiled office official dared to raise his eyes to the one that bears his name,” wrote F.F. Vigel.

And yet, apparently, it was precisely jealousy that forced Vorontsov to send Pushkin, along with other petty officials, on an expedition to exterminate locusts that had so offended the poet. How hard Vorontsov experienced his wife's infidelity, we know again first-hand. When Vigel, like Pushkin, who served under the governor-general, tried to intercede for the poet, he answered him: “Dear F.F., if you want us to remain on friendly terms, never mention this scoundrel to me.” Said more than sharply!

The irritated poet, who returned "from the locust", wrote a letter of resignation, hoping that, having received it, he would still live next to his beloved woman. His romance is in full swing.

The novel with Vorontsova is Pushkin's feat in creating a number of poetic masterpieces. They brought the unceasing interest of several generations of people to Elizabeth Ksaveryevna, who saw in her the Muse of a genius, almost a deity.

And to Vorontsov himself, who for a long time, apparently, gained the dubious fame of the persecutor of the greatest Russian poet, in April 1825, the charming Eliza gave birth to a girl, whose real father was ... Pushkin.

“This is a hypothesis,” wrote one of the most influential researchers of Pushkin’s work, Tatyana Tsyavlovskaya, “but the hypothesis becomes stronger when it is supported by facts of a different category.”

These facts, in particular, include the testimony of Pushkin's great-granddaughter, Natalya Sergeyevna Shepeleva, who claimed that the news that Alexander Sergeyevich had a child from Vorontsova comes from Natalya Nikolaevna, to whom the poet himself admitted this.

The youngest daughter of the Vorontsovs outwardly differed sharply from the rest of the family. “Among the blond parents and other children, she was the only one with dark hair,” we read from Tsyavlovskaya. Evidence of this is the portrait of the young countess, which has successfully survived to this day. An unknown artist depicted Sonechka at a time of captivating blossoming femininity, full of purity and ignorance. Indirect confirmation that the chubby girl with full lips is the daughter of the poet was also found in the fact that in the Memoirs of Prince. M.S. Vorontsov for 1819 - 1833 ”Mikhail Semenovich mentioned all his children, except for Sophia. In the future, however, there was not even a hint of the absence of the count's paternal feelings for his youngest daughter.

Nicholas I appointed him viceroy of the Caucasus and commander-in-chief of the Caucasian troops, leaving behind him the Novorossiysk general government.

The next nine years of his life, almost until his death, Vorontsov - in military campaigns and in the works to strengthen Russian fortresses and the combat readiness of the army, and at the same time in unsuccessful attempts to build a peaceful life for civilians. The handwriting of his ascetic activity is immediately recognizable - he has just arrived, his residence in Tiflis is extremely simple and unpretentious, but here the beginning of the city numismatic collection has already been laid, in 1850 the Transcaucasian Society of Agriculture was formed. The first ascent of Ararat was also organized by Vorontsov. And, of course, there is again the hassle of opening schools in Tiflis, Kutaisi, Yerevan, Stavropol, with their subsequent merger into the system of a separate Caucasian educational district.

According to Vorontsov, the Russian presence in the Caucasus should not only not suppress the identity of the peoples inhabiting it, it simply must be considered and adapted to the historically established traditions of the region, the needs, and the character of the inhabitants. That is why, in the very first years of his stay in the Caucasus, Vorontsov gives the green light to the establishment of a Muslim school. He saw the path to peace in the Caucasus primarily in religious tolerance and wrote to Nicholas I: “The way Muslims think and treat us depends on our attitude towards their faith ...” In the “pacification” of the region with the help of military force alone, he did not believed.

It was in the military policy of the Russian government in the Caucasus that Vorontsov saw considerable miscalculations. According to his correspondence with Yermolov, who for so many years pacified the militant highlanders, it is clear that the fighting friends agree on one thing: the government, carried away by European affairs, paid little attention to the Caucasus. Hence the long-standing problems generated by an inflexible policy, and besides, disregard for the opinion of people who knew this region and its laws well.

Elizaveta Ksaveryevna was inseparably with her husband in all places of service, and sometimes even accompanied him on inspection trips. With noticeable pleasure, Vorontsov reported to Yermolov in the summer of 1849: “In Dagestan, she had the pleasure of going two or three times with infantry in martial law, but, to her great regret, the enemy did not show up. We were with her on the glorious Gilerinsky Descent, from where almost the whole of Dagestan is visible and where, according to the common legend here, you spat on this terrible and damned region and said that it was not worth the blood of one soldier; It’s a pity that after you some bosses had completely opposite opinions.”

According to this letter, it is clear that over the years the couple became closer. Young passions subsided, became a memory. Perhaps this rapprochement also happened because of their sad parental fate: of the six children of the Vorontsovs, four died very early. But even those two, having become adults, gave their father and mother food for not very joyful reflections.

Daughter Sophia, having married, did not find family happiness - the spouses, having no children, lived separately. Son Semyon, about whom they said that “he was not distinguished by any talents and did not resemble his parent in any way,” was also childless. And subsequently, with his death, the Vorontsov family died out.

On the eve of his 70th birthday, Mikhail Semenovich asked for his resignation. His request was granted. He felt very bad, although he carefully concealed it. "Idle" he lived less than a year. Behind him are five decades of service to Russia, not for fear, but for conscience. In the highest military rank of Russia - field marshal - Mikhail Semenovich Vorontsov died on November 6, 1856.

For many years, stories about the simplicity and accessibility of the supreme governor were preserved among the soldiers in the Russian troops in the Caucasus. After the death of the prince, a saying arose there: “ God is high, the tsar is far away, and Vorontsov died

Vorontsov's portrait is located in the front row of the famous "Military Gallery" of the Winter Palace, dedicated to the heroes of the war of 1812. The bronze figure of the field marshal can be seen among the prominent figures placed on the Millennium of Russia monument in Novgorod. His name is also on the marble plaques of the St. George Hall of the Moscow Kremlin in the sacred list of the faithful sons of the Fatherland. But the grave of Mikhail Semenovich Vorontsov was blown up along with the Odessa Cathedral in the early years of Soviet power ...

Mikhail Semenovich Vorontsov

Vorontsov M.S. Lithograph by A. Münster
from a lithograph by F. Yentzen based on a drawing by Gensen
from the original by F. Kruger. 1850s St. Petersburg.

Vorontsov Mikhail Semenovich (1782-1856), a major military and statesman, Governor-General of the Novorossiysk Territory and Bessarabia (since 1823), viceroy in the Caucasus (since 1844), His Serene Highness Prince (since 1852), field marshal general (since 1856). He spent his childhood and youth in England, where his father, Count S.R. Vorontsov (cat. No. 13), lived for more than 40 years. Having received in England an upbringing and education worthy of a young English lord, Vorontsov returned to Russia in 1801 to enter the service. Since 1802 he took part in the Russian-Turkish and Russian-French wars, in 1812 he commanded a division in the army of Bagration, was wounded in the Battle of Borodino. From 1815 to 1818 he commanded an occupation corps in France, where he met Countess E.K. Branitskaya, whose wedding took place on April 20, 1819 in Paris. After living for some time in France, the newlyweds went to England to visit Vorontsov's father and sister, Lady Pembroke. In 1823 M.S. Vorontsov, having returned to Russia, with his inherent energy and knowledge, began to fulfill the duties of the Governor-General of the Novorossiysk Territory and the governor of Bessarabia. His skillful administrative activity contributed to the prosperity of the region, the development of foreign trade in southern Russia and the beginning of shipping on the Black Sea.

Other biographical material:

Danilov A.A. Military leader and statesman Danilov A.A. History of Russia IX - XIX centuries. Reference materials. M., 1997).

Zalessky K.A. Member of the wars against Napoleon ( Zalessky K.A. Napoleonic Wars 1799-1815. Biographical Encyclopedic Dictionary, Moscow, 2003).

Chereisky L.A. Half my lord, half merchant L.A. Chereisky. Pushkin's contemporaries. Documentary essays. M., 1999).

Krasnobaev B.I. Mind, education, well-known liberalism distinguished him from the ranks of the tsarist administrators ( Soviet historical encyclopedia. In 16 volumes. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1973-1982. Volume 3. WASHINGTON - VYACHKO. 1963).

Vorontsov and Pushkin ( Pushkin A.S. Works in 5 vols. M., Synergy Publishing House, 1999).

Kovalevsky N.F. Pushkin was unfair ( Kovalevsky N.F. History of Russian Goverment. Biographies of famous military leaders of the 18th - early 20th centuries. M. 1997).

Courtier and careerist ( Soviet military encyclopedia in 8 volumes).

Most Serene Prince ( Great encyclopedia of the Russian people).

Vorontsov Palace. Fragment of the northern facade, made in the English style (Alupka, Crimea)

Read further:

Vorontsovs- noble family (genealogical table)

Vorontsov Alexander Romanovich(1741-1805), statesman, diplomat.

Vorontsov Mikhail Illarionovich(1714-1767), diplomat, count. state chancellor

Vorontsov Roman Illarionovich(1707-1783), count, chief general.

Vorontsov Semyon Mikhailovich(1823-1882), Most Serene Prince, son of Mikhail Semenovich.

Vorontsov Semyon Romanovich(1744 - 1832), count.

Vorontsova Anna Karlovna(1722-1775), countess.

Vorontsova Elizaveta Ksaverevna(1792-1880), countess, wife of Mikhail Semenovich.

Vorontsova Elizaveta Romanovna(1739-1792), countess, maid of honor.

Vorontsova Marya Artemievna(1725-1792), countess.

Dashkova (nee Vorontsova) Ekaterina Romanovna(1743 or 1744 - 1810), public and cultural figure.

Russia in the 19th century(chronological table)

France in the 19th century(chronological table)

Vasily Ogarkov. "To Rurik ascending race","Roman-gazeta" No. 17, 2005.

Vorontsov Palace. A fragment of the southern facade, made in the Moorish style (Alupka, Crimea)

Compositions:

Extracts from the diary from 1845 to 1854. St. Petersburg, 1902.

Literature:

Archive of Prince Vorontsov. -M..1870-1895. T. 1 - 40. Vorontsov M.S. Extracts from the diary of His Serene Highness Prince M.S. Vorontsova, 1845 - 1854 // Antiquity and newness. - St. Petersburg, 1902. - KN.5.-S.74-118.

Knights of St. George: Collection in 4 volumes. T. 1: 1769 - 1850 / Comp. A.V. Shishov. - M.: Patriot, 1993. - S. 219-224.

Glinka V.M. M.S. Vorontsov // Glinka V.M. Pushkin and the Military Gallery of the Winter Palace. - L.: Lenizdat, 1988. -S. 136-147.

Dondukov-Korsakov A.M. Prince M.S. Vorontsov: Memoirs. - St. Petersburg: type. M. Stasyulevich, 1902. - 36 p.

Opening of the monument in Tiflis to the Most Serene Prince Mikhail Semenovich Vorontsov March 25, 1867 -Tiflis, 1867. -51 p.: ill.

Commanders, commanders and military figures of Russia in Sytin's "Military Encyclopedia". T. 1 / Avt.-stat. V.M. Lurie, V.V. Yashchenko. - St. Petersburg: "Ecopolis and culture", 1995. - S. 283-286.

Ushakov S.I. Acts of Russian commanders and generals who marked themselves in the memorable war of 1812, 1813, 1814 and 1815. Ch. 4.-St. Petersburg: type. K. Kraya, 1822. -S. 51-55.

Shcherbinin M.P. Biography of Field Marshal Prince Mikhail Semenovich Vorontsov. - St. Petersburg: type. E. Weimar, 1858. - 354 p.: ill „ portr.

On May 20, 1819, Liza Branitskaya left the Parisian Orthodox Church as Countess Elizaveta Vorontsova. Elizaveta Ksaveryevna and Count Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov lived together for almost 40 years, until the death of Mikhail Semyonovich.

Her father is Count Ksavier Petrovich Branitsky, a Pole, the great crown hetman, the owner of a large estate of Belaya Tserkov in the Kyiv province. Mother, Alexandra Vasilievna, nee Engelhardt, Russian, was Potemkin's niece and was reputed to be an immensely rich beauty. Liza was brought up in strictness and lived in the village until the age of twenty-seven. Only in 1819 did she first go on her first trip abroad, here in Paris and met Count Vorontsov.

Empress Elizaveta Alekseevna, wife of Alexander I, knew and adored Liza Branitskaya well. Therefore, apparently fearing that the father of Mikhail Semyonovich, Count Vorontsov Semyon Romanovich, who had served as the Russian ambassador in London for many years, would be against the marriage of his son to a Polish woman, she wrote to him: “The young countess combines all the qualities of an outstanding character, to which all the charms are added beauty and mind: it was created to make happy a respected person who will unite his fate with her.

However, Lisa, along with her mother, had concerns about the impossibility of marriage. After all, Lisa's father decided that only clairvoyant gentlemen from a noble family would be the husbands of his daughters. Her older sisters Ekaterina and Sofya have already married Polish lords from the Potocki family.

Liza, expecting their marriage, as the youngest, stayed up in the girls (she was born on September 8 (19), 1792), and of course she dreamed of marriage. And then Natasha Kochubey, her distant relative, told her with enviable joy that her engagement to Lieutenant General Count Vorontsov was about to be announced. How did it all happen? After all, the count came to meet his future, and suddenly Lisa ... Indeed, both the count and Natasha were not at all against the upcoming marriage, but most likely only because at the age of 37 he finally decided to start a family, and she, like any girl, wanted this. Yes, and the groom, what an enviable.

In addition to wealth, nobility of the family, intelligence and courageous appearance, he had something to be proud of. Much was said about his bravery on the battlefield during the War of 1812. In the battle of Borodino, he himself led the soldiers in a bayonet attack and was wounded. And when he learned that carts had come from his family estate of Andreevsky to take property from their Moscow palace, he ordered to leave things behind, and take the wounded to the carts. Thus, hundreds of wounded were taken out of Moscow, which Napoleon was advancing on, and the manor house in Andreevsky turned into a hospital.

As everyone knows, the war with Napoleon ended with the complete defeat of his army (Napoleon was the first to flee Russia, leaving his army in the Russian snows), and Russian troops entered Paris. Before returning to his homeland the corps commanded by Count Vorontsov, he paid all financial debts to the local population from his subordinates from his own funds.

It's good that they did not have time to announce the engagement of the count and Natasha Kochubey. And soon, to the surprise of friends and acquaintances, Mikhail Semyonovich asks for Lisa's hand in marriage with her mother Alexandra Vasilievna Branitskaya. Taking advantage of the absence of the father, who referred to employment, the mother and daughter agreed to the marriage. The journey through Europe of Lisa and her mother ended with a wedding.

At this time, a portrait of Liza was painted on porcelain, which was sent to London to the count's father. Semyon Romanovich noted the attractiveness of the girl and added that over time the colors on porcelain do not darken. Indeed, the portrait of the bride of Mikhail Semyonovich looks beautiful even today, because beauty is eternal.

In 1823, Count Vorontsov was appointed governor-general of the Novorossiysk Territory and governor of Bessarabia. A.S. was in exile in the same places. Pushkin, and of course the fate of the poet intertwined with the fate of the Vorontsovs. The poet admired the countess, her grace, intelligence and beauty. But nowhere and never in his later life did he mention her, only numerous profiles of a beautiful female head could be seen on all the papers of the poet from the Odessa period of his life.

Many tried to find a secret in their relationship, but ... if there was this secret, let it remain in eternity. E.K. Vorontsova kept the warmest memories of Pushkin until the end of her days and read his works almost every day.

In 1844, Nicholas I invited the count to become governor of the vast territory of the Caucasus. Mikhail Semyonovich doubted whether he could justify this trust, he felt that his health had deteriorated, but nevertheless accepted the offer of the king. And from that moment on, the south of Russia - the Crimea, the North Caucasus and Transcaucasia were under his control. He had to solve the most complex issues of the Caucasus torn apart by sharp contradictions. And he, with the constant participation of his wife Elizaveta Ksaveryevna, successfully solved them.

From the memoirs of Count Vorontsov's colleagues, it is known that Elizaveta Ksaveryevna was always next to her husband. She was his life-giving force, "... the whole region lit up with her smile, benevolence, ardent participation in useful and charitable affairs." Always calm, friendly, everyone saw her kind look, heard her kind word. She was next to Mikhail Semyonovich in all his affairs, helped to draw up documents.

In addition to the affairs and concerns entrusted to them on duty, Elizaveta Ksaveryevna passionately loved gardening. She knew botany well. In Alupka, where the Vorontsov Palace was built, there were two gardens - upper and lower, which were planted with rare imported plants.

Under her personal guidance, trees and shrubs and her favorite flowers, roses, were planted. The best gardeners of their time worked on the park of Count Vorontsov. But the Countess herself was engaged in the arrangement of the rose garden and the selection of varieties of roses. The luxurious collection was constantly maintained and replenished.

In Odessa, with the assistance of Elizaveta Ksaveryevna, a women's charitable society was founded, which established a home for orphans, a shelter for the elderly and crippled women. And in Tiflis, by her care, the educational institution of St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Nina was founded for the children of employees of the Caucasian vicegerency. Similar establishments were opened in Kutaisi, Erivan, Stavropol, Shamakhi.

Her merits were highly appreciated at court. Already in 1838 she was granted a lady of state, and in 1850 she was awarded the Order of St. Catherine of the Grand Cross - a scarlet ribbon and a star, decorated. After the death of her beloved husband, she completely withdrew from secular life, and in Odessa she kept orphanages for boys and girls, as well as shelters for the elderly and nurses.

She dedicated the Mikhailovo-Semyonovsky orphanage to the memory of her husband. Over the years, devoted only to charity, Vorontsova gave away more than 2 million rubles. So many of the best Russian people represented the best use of wealth on earth. Elizaveta Ksaveryevna, died at the age of 87 on April 15 (27), 1880 in Odessa and was buried in the Odessa Cathedral next to her husband.

Count Vorontsov. His contribution to the development of the Crimea

Count Vorontsov. His contribution to the development of the Crimea

Count, later His Serene Highness Prince Mikhail Semenovich Vorontsov, is a very significant figure in Russian history, especially for the newly acquired southern provinces of the Russian Empire. Novorossia and Crimea owe him the beginnings of European civilization.

In the personality of M.S. Vorontsov organically combined European education and a certain liberal outlook with truly Russian lordship and sybarism. In the world, the count was known as an Angloman. He owes this to his youth spent in the UK. The parent of the future governor general, Vorontsov Sr., for many years during the reign of Mother Empress Catherine II, was a Russian envoy to the English court. In England, M.S. Vorontsov was educated and, being less than 20 years old, arrived in Russia in 1801 to enter military service.

Mikhail Semenovich Vorontsov

His military and administrative service continued almost until his death in 1856. Vorontsov received the general's epaulettes in 1811, after a successful assault on the Ottoman fortress of Bazardzhik. During the Patriotic War of 1812, he commanded a grenadier division, fought near Borodino, and was wounded. Then he fought against Bonaparte on the fields of Europe. For valor and leadership talents, Vorontsov was awarded the Order of St. George. In 1814, the count successfully commanded the Russian garrison in Paris. By the way, the debts of the Russian gentlemen of the officers, who borrowed several hundred thousand rubles in Paris, Vorontsov paid from his own pocket.

In 1819, he was appointed manager of the Novorossiysk and Bessarabsk provinces and remained in the south forever.

Many generations of compatriots associate the image of Count Vorontsov with the caustic and ignoble epigram of A.S. Pushkin. Once in exile to the south and thanks to the protection provided, being surrounded by M.S. Vorontsov as a petty official of the governor's office, Alexander Sergeevich, not burdened with special duties, led a life as cheerful as possible. The subject of another hobby of the young poet was the wife of the Governor-General, Elizaveta Ksaveryevna Vorontsova (nee Branitskaya). The reaction of M.S. Vorontsova was more than restrained to this. Despite this, the poet "bite" him with an epigram. We will omit its well-known text. The governor-general did not take revenge on Alexander Sergeyevich.

Mikhail Semenovich Vorontsov and his wife Elizaveta Ksaverevna

M.S. Vorontsova brought the completely disordered affairs of the southern provinces into a state, if not brilliant, then quite acceptable. Territories were added, land routes and ports were built. Thanks to a wisely arranged tax system, trade and entrepreneurship flourished. Industrial enterprises were built, agriculture and crafts developed. On the Black Sea, a steamship service was launched.

The result of a competent migration policy was the settlement of vast, once almost deserted, spaces of Tavria. The region became attractive for settlement not only by Little and Great Russians, but also by people from Southern and Central Europe. Odessa became the third largest city of the empire, a kind of multilingual Babylon. The Crimea also came to life. Subsequently, M.S. Vorontsov received another “promising” region, the Caucasus, as governor and commander of the troops. He left this position only a couple of years before his death.

Note that all the successes were achieved in the "front line". The southern provinces directly bordered on the theaters of Russian-Turkish military conflicts and the ongoing Caucasian war. Vorontsov periodically had to break away from administration and return to military pursuits. The crown of the military career of M.S. Vorontsov was the capture of the Ottoman fortress of Varna in 1828. True, there was a failure in his military activity - 1848, a campaign against the fortified village of Dargo, one of Shamil's residences, which ended in heavy losses and did not give the proper result. But by this time M.S. Vorontsov had already been dilapidated for years, he had not been engaged in mountain warfare before and did not delve into its features.

M.S. ended his days. Vorontsov in Odessa in 1856. He was buried in the Transfiguration Cathedral, the inhabitants of Odessa soon erected a monument to him. In the Crimea, the ungrateful descendants of Vorontsov's merit have not been marked with a monument to this day. Here he himself, with his activities, erected monuments to himself: the Vorontsov Palace, the park, the Vorontsovskoe highway along the southern coast of Crimea. So, with respect to M.S. Vorontsova not A.S. Pushkin, and history placed accents.

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Ivanov A.V. Alupka: a guide. - Sevastopol: Bybleks, 2008.