Shuvalov Alexander Ivanovich biography. secret office
Biography
With the accession of Elizabeth, he immediately occupied an influential position, showered, like his brother, with royal favors, awards and signs of goodwill: in 1741 he was awarded the Order of Alexander Nevsky, in 1744 he became a lieutenant general, from 1746 - Adjutant General of the Empress, in the same year, like brother Pyotr Ivanovich, is elevated to the dignity of a count. The influence of the Shuvalovs has increased even more since 1749, when Alexander Ivanovich's cousin, Ivan Ivanovich, becomes Elizabeth's favorite. December 18 (29), 1753 receives the highest award of the Empire - the Order of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called.
From 1742 he took part in the affairs of the Secret Chancellery, in 1746 he replaced the famous Ushakov as its head. He oversees the content of the Braunschweig family in exile, leads the investigation into the Lestok case, and later the investigation into the case of Apraksin and Bestuzhev.
In 1754 he was appointed court marshal at the court of Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich, the future Peter III. The Shuvalovs attach particular importance to this, since they expect that such a rapprochement with the heir to the throne will allow them to strengthen their position at court. However, the future showed that, having staked on Peter III, they were deeply mistaken.
The last years of the Elizabethan reign and the short reign of Peter III become the pinnacle of the power of the Shuvalov party: in 1758 A. I. Shuvalov became a senator, on December 28, 1761 (January 8, 1762) - Field Marshal General.
During the coup that brought Catherine to power, he tries to agitate the guardsmen to remain loyal to Peter, but, convinced of the complete futility of his attempts, he rushes to the feet of the empress, asking her for mercy. Having approved the petition, Catherine gives two thousand serfs to Shuvalov personally hated by her and dismisses him from all posts (1763, according to other sources, 1762). He spent the last years of his life with his family in the estate of Kositsa, Vereisky district, Moscow province, and was buried in the one he built.
Alexander was the palest figure of the Shuvalov party, according to contemporaries, he had neither the charisma nor the gifts of his brothers, without whose approval he did not dare to take a step. In the St. Petersburg Conference, an advisory body under the Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, he played an inconspicuous role, being a conductor of other people's ideas. Catherine II, who could not stand Alexander Ivanovich Shuvalov, portrays him as a stupid, indecisive, cruel, petty, stingy, boring and vulgar person:
Alexander Shuvalov, not by himself, but by the position he occupied, was a thunderstorm for the entire court, the city and the entire Empire; he was the head of the Inquisition Court, which was then called the Secret Office. His occupation, it was said, produced in him a kind of convulsive movement, which took place on the whole right side of his face, from the eye to the chin, whenever he was excited by joy, anger, fear, or dread.
A family
From his marriage to Ekaterina Ivanovna Kastyurina (1718-1790) he had an only daughter, Ekaterina (1733-1821), married in 1750 to Count Gavril Ivanovich Golovkin (d. 1787). Empress Catherine II, who did not love not only Shuvalov himself, but also his entire family, wrote about them:
I was in a carriage with the wife of Count Alexander Shuvalov, with the most boring wimp you can imagine ... We laughed at him, at his wife, daughter, son-in-law, almost in their presence; they gave rise to this, because it was impossible to imagine more disgusting and insignificant figures. Mrs. Shuvalova received from me the nickname "pillar of salt." She was thin, short and shy; her stinginess showed in her clothes; her skirts were always too narrow and had one less panel than was supposed to be and what other ladies used for their skirts; her daughter, Countess Golovkina, was dressed in the same way; they always had the most miserable headdresses and cuffs, in which there was always a desire to save a penny in something. Although they were very rich people and not constrained by means, they loved by nature everything petty and narrow, the true reflection of their soul.
Movie incarnations
- "Great" (, Russia; director - Igor Zaitsev), in the role of Alexander Ivanovich Shuvalov - Roman Madyanov.
Write a review on the article "Shuvalov, Alexander Ivanovich"
Notes
Literature
- // Russian biographical dictionary: in 25 volumes. - St. Petersburg. -M., 1896-1918.
- Anisimov, Evgeny Viktorovich Russian torture. Political investigation in Russia XVIII century, St. Petersburg: 2004.
- Bantysh-Kamensky, D.N. 20th Field Marshal Count Alexander Ivanovich Shuvalov // . - M .: Culture, 1991. - 620 p. - ISBN 5-7158-0002-1.
- Kolpakidi A., Sever A. special services Russian Empire. - M .: Yauza Eksmo, 2010. - S. 58 - 61. - 768 p. - (Encyclopedia of special services). - 3000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-699-43615-6.
|
An excerpt characterizing Shuvalov, Alexander Ivanovich
Pierre sat opposite Dolokhov and Nikolai Rostov. He ate a lot and greedily and drank a lot, as always. But those who knew him briefly saw that some great change had taken place in him that day. He was silent all the time of dinner, and, screwing up his eyes and wincing, looked around him, or stopping his eyes, with an air of complete absent-mindedness, rubbed the bridge of his nose with his finger. His face was sad and gloomy. He did not seem to see or hear anything going on around him, and he thought of one thing, heavy and unresolved.This unresolved question that tormented him was the princess’s hints in Moscow about Dolokhov’s closeness to his wife and this morning the anonymous letter he received, in which it was said with that vile jocularity that is characteristic of all anonymous letters that he sees badly through his glasses, and that his wife's connection with Dolokhov is a secret only for him alone. Pierre resolutely did not believe either the hints of the princess or the letter, but he was now afraid to look at Dolokhov, who was sitting in front of him. Every time his gaze accidentally met Dolokhov's beautiful, insolent eyes, Pierre felt something terrible, ugly rising in his soul, and he rather turned away. Involuntarily recalling all the past of his wife and her relationship with Dolokhov, Pierre saw clearly that what was said in the letter could be true, could at least seem true, if it did not concern his wife. Pierre involuntarily recalled how Dolokhov, to whom everything was returned after the campaign, returned to St. Petersburg and came to him. Taking advantage of his revelry friendship with Pierre, Dolokhov came directly to his house, and Pierre placed him and lent him money. Pierre recalled how Helen, smiling, expressed her displeasure that Dolokhov was living in their house, and how Dolokhov cynically praised him for the beauty of his wife, and how from that time until his arrival in Moscow he was not separated from them for a minute.
“Yes, he is very handsome,” thought Pierre, I know him. It would be a special charm for him to dishonor my name and laugh at me, precisely because I worked for him and despised him, helped him. I know, I understand what salt in his eyes this must give to his deceit, if it were true. Yes, if it were true; but I do not believe, have no right, and cannot believe.” He recalled the expression that Dolokhov's face assumed when moments of cruelty were found on him, like those in which he connected the quarterly with a bear and let him into the water, or when he challenged a man to a duel for no reason, or killed the coachman's horse with a pistol . This expression was often on Dolokhov's face when he looked at him. “Yes, he is a bully,” thought Pierre, it doesn’t mean anything to him to kill a person, it should seem to him that everyone is afraid of him, he should be pleased with this. He must think that I am afraid of him. And really I am afraid of him, ”thought Pierre, and again with these thoughts he felt something terrible and ugly rising in his soul. Dolokhov, Denisov and Rostov were now sitting opposite Pierre and seemed very cheerful. Rostov was talking merrily with his two friends, one of whom was a dashing hussar, the other a well-known brat and rake, and occasionally looked mockingly at Pierre, who at this dinner struck with his concentrated, absent-minded, massive figure. Rostov looked unkindly at Pierre, firstly, because Pierre in his hussar eyes was a civilian rich man, the husband of a beauty, in general a woman; secondly, because Pierre, in the concentration and distraction of his mood, did not recognize Rostov and did not answer his bow. When they began to drink the health of the sovereign, Pierre, thinking, did not get up and did not take a glass.
- What are you? - Rostov shouted to him, looking at him with enthusiastic angry eyes. – Don't you hear; health of the sovereign emperor! - Pierre, sighing, meekly got up, drank his glass and, waiting for everyone to sit down, turned to Rostov with his kind smile.
“I didn’t recognize you,” he said. - But Rostov was not up to it, he shouted hurray!
“Why don’t you renew your acquaintance,” Dolokhov said to Rostov.
“God bless him, you fool,” said Rostov.
“We must cherish the husbands of pretty women,” said Denisov. Pierre did not hear what they were saying, but he knew what they were saying about him. He blushed and turned away.
“Well, now for the health of beautiful women,” said Dolokhov, and with a serious expression, but with a smiling mouth in the corners, he turned to Pierre with a glass.
“To the health of beautiful women, Petrusha, and their lovers,” he said.
Pierre, lowering his eyes, drank from his glass, not looking at Dolokhov and not answering him. The footman, who was distributing Kutuzov's cantata, put the sheet to Pierre as a more honored guest. He wanted to take it, but Dolokhov leaned over, snatched the sheet from his hand and began to read. Pierre glanced at Dolokhov, his pupils dropped: something terrible and ugly, which had tormented him all the time of dinner, rose and took possession of him. He bent over the table with his fat body: - Don't you dare take it! he shouted.
Hearing this cry and seeing to whom it referred, Nesvitsky and a neighbor on the right side, frightened and hastily turned to Bezukhov.
- Complete, complete, what are you? whispered frightened voices. Dolokhov looked at Pierre with bright, cheerful, cruel eyes, with the same smile, as if he were saying: “But I love this.” “I won’t,” he said clearly.
Pale, with a trembling lip, Pierre tore the leaf. - You ... you ... scoundrel! .. I challenge you, - he said, and moving his chair, he got up from the table. At the very second that Pierre did this and uttered these words, he felt that the question of the guilt of his wife, which had tormented him these last days, was finally and undoubtedly decided in the affirmative. He hated her and was forever broken from her. Despite Denisov's requests that Rostov not interfere in this matter, Rostov agreed to be Dolokhov's second, and after the table he spoke with Nesvitsky, Bezukhov's second, about the terms of the duel. Pierre went home, and Rostov, Dolokhov and Denisov sat in the club until late in the evening, listening to gypsies and song books.
- So see you tomorrow, in Sokolniki, - said Dolokhov, saying goodbye to Rostov on the porch of the club.
- Are you calm? Rostov asked...
Dolokhov stopped. “You see, I will tell you the whole secret of the duel in a few words. If you go to a duel and write wills and tender letters to your parents, if you think that you might be killed, you are a fool and probably lost; and you go with the firm intention of killing him as quickly and as quickly as possible, then everything is in order. As our Kostroma bear cub used to say to me: then, he says, how not to be afraid of a bear? Yes, as soon as you see him, and the fear has passed, as if it had not gone away! Well, so am I. A demain, mon cher! [See you tomorrow, my dear!]
The next day, at 8 o'clock in the morning, Pierre and Nesvitsky arrived at the Sokolnitsky forest and found Dolokhov, Denisov and Rostov there. Pierre looked like a man preoccupied with some considerations that had nothing to do with the upcoming business. His haggard face was yellow. He apparently didn't sleep that night. He absentmindedly looked around him and grimaced, as if from a bright sun. Two considerations exclusively occupied him: the guilt of his wife, in which after a sleepless night there was no longer the slightest doubt, and the innocence of Dolokhov, who had no reason to protect the honor of a stranger to him. “Perhaps I would have done the same in his place,” thought Pierre. Even I probably would have done the same; why this duel, this murder? Either I will kill him, or he will hit me in the head, in the elbow, in the knee. Get out of here, run away, bury yourself somewhere, ”it occurred to him. But precisely in those moments when such thoughts came to him. with a particularly calm and absent-minded air that inspired respect in those who looked at him, he asked: “Is it soon, and is it ready?”
When everything was ready, the sabers were stuck in the snow, meaning a barrier to which it was necessary to converge, and the pistols were loaded, Nesvitsky approached Pierre.
“I would not have fulfilled my duty, Count,” he said in a timid voice, “and would not have justified the trust and honor that you have done me by choosing me as your second, if I had not said at this important moment, a very important moment, you the whole truth. I believe that this case does not have enough reasons, and that it is not worth shedding blood for it ... You were wrong, not quite right, you got excited ...
“Oh yes, terribly stupid ...” said Pierre.
“So let me convey your regret, and I am sure that our opponents will agree to accept your apology,” said Nesvitsky (as well as other participants in the case and like everyone else in such cases, still not believing that it would come to a real duel) . “You know, Count, it is much nobler to admit one’s mistake than to bring the matter to the point of irreparable. There was no resentment on either side. Let me talk...
Shuvalov Alexander Ivanovich (1710-1771), count, field marshal general. He began serving at court as a page and chamber junker. In 1741 he received the rank of chamberlain, major general; in 1746 he was titled a count; in 1753 he became general-in-chief. With imp. Elizaveta Petrovna Shuvalov was in charge of the Office of Secret Investigative Affairs. Peter III elevated him to field marshal general, and Catherine II dismissed him.
Site materials used Big Encyclopedia Russian people - http://www.rusinst.ru
Shuvalov Alexander Ivanovich (1710-1771), count, field marshal general (1761). Participant palace coup 1741. He had significant influence at court and, supporting the plans of his younger brother Peter Ivanovich, was engaged in activities of a slightly different kind. In 1746-1762 he was the head of the Secret Investigation Office. Alexander Ivanovich, according to his contemporaries, was the best fit for his post. He, according to Catherine II, "brought terror and fear to the whole of Russia." The Shuvalovs' relationship with Catherine, then Grand Duchess, was far from cloudless. Catherine hated the Shuvalovs, especially Alexander Ivanovich. She felt for him a feeling of "involuntary disgust inspired by his personal qualities, his family and his position, which, of course, could not increase the pleasure of his company." Catherine believed that Shuvalov was trying to gain unlimited influence over her husband, Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich, for which the count constantly aggravated relations between the spouses, already tense. The death of Elizabeth Petrovna and the accession to the throne of Peter III practically did not change anything in Shuvalov's position. However, the coup of 1762 and the accession to the throne of Catherine II had an extremely negative impact on his career. Subsequently, Catherine II claimed in her notes that Shuvalov, who arrived in St. Petersburg during the coup, intended to kill her, but, seeing the hopelessness of his case, rushed to her feet and asked for mercy. Catherine II did not dare to apply any harsh measures to Shuvalov and even rewarded him upon his resignation.
Materials of the book are used: Sukhareva O.V. Who was who in Russia from Peter I to Paul I, Moscow, 2005
Alexander Shuvalov (1710-1774) - the elder brother of the famous favorite of Elizaveta Petrovna and the reformer of the Russian army Pyotr Shuvalov. Their father managed to arrange his sons as pages to the court. Subsequently, Alexander Shuvalov, like his brother, served as a chamber junker under the princess Elizabeth. He was among the young nobles who took the side of the princess on the decisive night for her on November 25, 1741, one of her most zealous and most devoted supporters. After the coup, the empress awarded him the rank of real chamberlain and the rank of second lieutenant of the Life Campanian company of the Preobrazhensky regiment, corresponding to the rank of major general, and the following year she awarded him the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky. Shuvalov received this award on the day of the coronation of the Empress, exactly one year after the coup, in which he took such an active part.
Throughout the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna, Shuvalov was among the people closest to her and the first dignitaries of the state. His career developed rapidly. In 1744, Alexander Ivanovich became a lieutenant of the life campaign and a lieutenant general. On September 5, 1746, together with his brother Peter, he was elevated to the dignity of a count of the Russian Empire. Then Shuvalov received the rank of Adjutant General, the rank of General-in-Chief, and on December 18, 1753, the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called.
During the reign of Elizabeth, Shuvalov led the Secret Chancellery, continuing the bloody traditions of Prince Romodanovsky and Ushakov. Under him, severe persecution of schismatics was carried out, encouraged by the empress. Among his high-profile cases are the trial of Chancellor Bestuzhev-Ryumin and the investigation of Field Marshal Apraksin, whom Shuvalov personally went to Narva to interrogate. He was also entrusted with the supervision of the exiled representatives of the Brunswick dynasty and of the deposed Emperor John Antonovich himself. His instruction on supervision of the imprisoned tsar said: “If the prisoner starts to make any troubles or disagrees with you, or if he starts to say obscene things, then put him on a chain until he pacifies, and if he doesn’t even listen, then beat him with a stick according to your consideration. or whip."
Emperor Peter III, who took the throne, promoted Alexander Ivanovich Shuvalov on December 28, 1761 to field marshal general and granted him 2,000 serfs, but at the same time abolished the Secret Chancellery, which he had led for many years. Shuvalov had no military talent; however, he never commanded troops and did not participate in any of the wars. After the accession of Catherine II, he remained neutral to the new government, but was present at the coronation of the Empress in Moscow. In 1763, Count Shuvalov retired, after which he was granted another 2 thousand peasant souls, and spent the last years of his life as a private person.
Book materials used: Solovyov B.I. Field Marshals of Russia. Rostov-on-Don, "Phoenix" 2000
Alexander Ivanovich (1710-1771) was at the court of Princess Elizabeth, he contributed to her ascension to the throne, so after the coup, awards rained down on him like from a cornucopia. 1741 - Alexander Shuvalov, real chamberlain, second lieutenant of the life company with the rank of major general, a year later two orders adorned his chest - St. Anna and St. Alexander Nevsky. In 1744, Shuvalov was already a lieutenant of the life company with the rank of lieutenant general, in 1746 he was a count of the Roman Empire. Then he becomes adjutant general, then general in chief, and in 1753 he is awarded the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called, the most high order empire.
Fairy tale career! He was never a lover of the empress, he was not on the battlefield, and yet, during the 12 years of Elizabeth's reign, he reached the first ranks in Russia. At the same time, he did not possess any out of the ordinary talents and inclinations, he was "a man without signs." The thing is that in addition to the formal command of the army division, Alexander Shuvalov headed the terrible Secret Chancellery. I cannot miss the opportunity to talk about this body in more detail. It is interesting, after all, what this “terrible and terrible” office was like in the time of Elizabeth.
I put these words in quotation marks, in no way ironic, a rack is always a rack, and if there are only two executioners for the entire capital, then it hurts the person under the whip no less if there were a whole regiment of executioners, but when I found out that in this guard of statehood, in this scarecrow of the people - the Secret Chancellery - there were only eleven people, then she opened her mouth in amazement. I grew up under the “triumph of humanism, in the most freedom-loving and just country”, that is, under Stalin, so that the earth rest in peace to him, I know what Lubyanka is (and every city had its own Lubyanka!), And here there are eleven people in small house, which was located in the Peter and Paul Fortress!
In order for the reader not to accuse me of plagiarism, or, worse, of lying, I will say right away that this knowledge was gleaned by me from reference books and memoirs, but mainly from the work of Vasily Ivanovich Veretennikov, published in Kharkov in 1911.
So, the first Secret Chancellery was founded by Peter the Great at the very beginning of his reign and was called Preobrazhensky Prikaz after the village of Preobrazhensky. The first guardians of the detective case filed a lawsuit against the scoundrels who acted "against the first two points." The first point is atrocities against the person of the sovereign, the second - against the state itself, that is, they staged a riot.
“Word and deed” is a cry invented by guardsmen. Any person could shout out "word and deed", pointing a finger at the criminal - true or invented. The investigative machine immediately went into action. In my time, such concepts as “enemy of the people” rumbled, and given that Stalin’s investigators never made mistakes, the Preobrazhensky order was fair in its own way. If the guilt of the person taken on the denunciation was not proven, then the denunciator himself was subjected to “interrogation with passion”, that is, torture. The Preobrazhensky order was abolished by Peter II in 1729, honor and praise to the boy-king! But strong power came in the person of Anna Ioannovna, and the detective office started working again, like a well-oiled mechanism. This happened in 1731; it was now called the "Office of Secret Investigative Affairs." An inconspicuous one-story mansion, eight windows along the facade; casemates and office premises were also in charge of the office. Andrey Ivanovich Ushakov, well-known throughout St. Petersburg, was in charge of this farm.
Ushakov began his career under Peter I as a secret fiscal, worked honestly, then became a senator, and then headed the aforementioned office. During the time of Anna Ioannovna (the heyday of detective affairs), thirteen people worked in the Secret. In fact, the secretary-registrar (deputy Ushakov) managed all the affairs, followed by the recorder, registrar and actuary, then secretaries, clerks, sub-clerks and copyists. Separately, there was a military detachment of ten people. The number of informants is unknown, but I think that there were, as always, many. For especially important cases, special commissions were established to help the Secret Chancellery. So it was during the trial of Biron, Osterman, Munnich and others, during the "Woman's Plot", etc. If necessary, the Secret Chancellery sent its agents to other cities. In Moscow there was a permanent branch of the Secret.
Ushakov worked in the field of detective work for sixteen years. The townsfolk were afraid of him in panic, they frightened children with his name: a terrible old man! And so it was: he began to manage the Secret Office at almost sixty years old. Bantysh-Kamensky wrote about him: “Managing the Secret Chancellery, he carried out the most severe tortures, but in society he was distinguished by charming manners and had a special gift for finding out the mindset of the interlocutor.” All this is true. Ushakov was not a sadist, his excessive cruelty was not caused by hatred for criminals. He just honestly did his job, he was conscientious and unemotional. The most disgusting kind of servant!
Age is age, Ushakov was thinking about a replacement. Alexander Ivanovich Shuvalov became his successor, he did not immediately, of course, at first enter the case, studied during interrogations and near the rack, and then took the oath and "came into possession." Shuvalov took the oath in Ushakov's house church, as if the case for replacing the head of the Secret Chancellery was a family affair. It happened in 1746, Alexander Shuvalov was thirty-six years old.
It was Bestuzhev's idea - to combine two positions in one person - the head of the Secret Chancellery and the court marshal of the young court: Alexander Ivanovich, by rank, had to watch the young spouses, track every step of Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich and Grand Duchess Ekaterina Alekseevna. Catherine hated him. Here is what she gives to Shuvalov in her Notes: “Alexander Shuvalov, not by himself, but by the position he held, was a thunderstorm for the entire court, city and the entire Empire; he was the head of the Inquisition Court, which was then called the Secret Office. His occupation caused, as they say, a kind of convulsive movement in him, which was made on the entire right side of his face, from the eye to the chin, whenever he was excited by joy, anger, fear or fear. Catherine also calls him a man indecisive, petty, stingy, stupid, boring and vulgar.
The wife of Alexander Ivanovich - Ekaterina Ivanovna Shuvalova (nee Kyustyurina, noble family) - was also on the staff of the young court. A small, thin, shy woman, she, unlike many, was not at all afraid of her formidable husband. She had a strange habit of suddenly falling into deep thought, freezing in place. This could happen both at a masquerade and on a walk. The Grand Duchess teased Ekaterina Ivanovna and nicknamed her "Pillar of Salt". In general, she was a completely harmless lady. At court, again at the suggestion of Catherine, there was gossip that Madame Privy Chancellery was excessively thrifty, narrowing petticoats, spending one less piece of cloth on them, saving lace on cuffs and dressing terribly.
There were spouses without charisma, to be sure. In his opinions, Alexander Ivanovich Shuvalov was very dependent on his younger brother Peter Ivanovich. But, in charge of the terrible body - the Secret Office - he did not feel a zealous zeal for work, he was not the "first student", thanks to him for that. And a nervous tic appeared on the face from the eye to the chin, clearly informing the public that this man also had nerves. Under him, the Secret Chancellery seemed to “shrink”. Extracts from cases, reports, themselves questionnaires have become smaller in volume and more stingy in content, inspiration has gone into the sand. Elizabeth's oath "not to execute by death" was not written into the law, but was strictly observed. Ushakov ordered torture in the event that a clear picture of the crime was not drawn, and this was almost always the case. Shuvalov, on the other hand, refused to admit that he had reached a dead end and it was time to remember the rack, he was looking for new witnesses, arranged confrontation re-read the questionnaires over and over again. For interrogation with passion, Shuvalov's personal order was required, and he gave it very reluctantly.
Naturally, there were very few cases related to such significant personalities as Lestok. Most often I had to deal with sheer small fry. The main thing was to decide whether this matter was “important” and whether it was worth doing it at all. For example, in the market, two merchants fought over an unsold goose, and one of the merchants wrote a denunciation. Here the clerk must decide whether this matter is important or not. If they just fought, even to the point of blood, even with self-mutilation, this is an “unimportant” matter, that is, not for the Secret Chancellery, but if one of the merchants “vomited speeches that vilified the empress or the Russian throne”, then this is “ours”, we take it and start it a business. Duels forbidden in the state were also considered by the Secret Office. A priest accused of magic was judged by the Synod, but if something “against the first two points” was found in his notebooks with potions and spells, then the work was to be done by Shuvalov’s department.
Catherine II talks about one of these cases in her Notes. In search of the empress's lost mantilla, the chamberfrau looked under the pillows in her bed. She did not find Mantilla, but under the mattress she found paper in which there were hair wound around some roots. Elizabeth was terrified of witchcraft. Everyone was terribly frightened, they began to discuss what had happened. Anna Domashevnaya, beloved by the Empress, the wife of Elizabeth's valet, was suspected of "enchantments". The entire Shuvalov clan disliked this woman because of the empress's too much confidence in her. The Secret Office took over the investigation. The culprit herself, her valet husband, and two sons from her first marriage were arrested. The case was led by Alexander Shuvalov himself. After the arrest, her husband cut his throat with a razor, Anna Domashovnaya, after many interrogations, confessed everything, only the reason for her act was different - she wanted to keep the Empress's love for herself and therefore resorted to charms. Both Anna herself and her sons were exiled.
Shuvalov was assigned to keep an eye on the young court, he often became an intermediary in relations between the Grand Duke and the Empress. In general, Pyotr Fedorovich supported them a good relationship which cannot be said about Catherine. She allowed herself sometimes very bold antics, while openly laughing at the head of the Secret Chancellery. So, once a large company gathered in her bedroom, among the guests of Catherine was her beloved Poniatowski. Catherine was unwell and therefore received guests in bed. And suddenly, in the midst of fun, the servant announces the arrival of Alexander Shuvalov. The head of the Secret Chancellery came to the Grand Duchess on an innocent occasion - to discuss fireworks with her at the upcoming holiday, but neither Catherine nor her guests could know this. The youth had nowhere to go, and they hid in the dressing room adjacent to the bedroom, and Catherine received an unexpected guest. The conversation with Shuvalov turned out to be long, Ekaterina superbly played the role of a woman tired and exhausted by illness, and her guests “choked with laughter” in the next room. Agree that in the scene described there is no sense of horror in front of the head of the terrible office. Catherine was not afraid of Shuvalov, she did not love, she despised - yes, but she did not expect sophisticated deceit and cruelty from him.
Shuvalov was also entrusted with another extremely important task - the protection of the Braunschweig family. He dealt with it. Ivan Antonovich lived in Kholmogory, not suspecting that his mother had died, that his father, brothers and sisters were in the next house. In 1756, the Russian court received information that Manstein, who had once served in Russia and transferred to the service of Frederick II, was going to release Ivan with the help of the Old Believers. In the same year, the deposed emperor was taken from Kholmogory to the Shlisselburg fortress. Ivan Antonovich was 16 years old. Shuvalov’s order came from Petersburg: “The remaining prisoners should be kept as before, even more strictly and with an increase in guards, so as not to give the appearance of the removal of the prisoner, which you firmly confirm to your team, who will know about the removal of the prisoner, so as not to tell anyone.”
In Shlisselburg, Ivan Antonovich lived under a strong guard under the command of officer Ovtsyn. The task of the guard is not only to prevent the prisoner from escaping, but to prevent him from seeing unwanted people. Shuvalov's order of 1757: “... so that, although the general has arrived, do not let him in the fortress; it is also added, even though the field marshal and others like them, do not let anyone into the rooms, led his imperial majesty. Prince Pyotr Fedorovich, valet Karnovich, was not allowed into the fortress and announced to him that he was not ordered to be allowed in without a decree from the Secret Chancellery. The behavior of Ivan Antonovich was closely monitored, dispatches to St. Petersburg about a "famous person" were carefully written. In the reports, he was deliberately written about as a lunatic, but by secret order it was ordered to ask in more detail what the prisoner himself understood about himself. Ovtsyn asked the arrested person: who is he? Ivan said he great person, but one vile officer took it away from him and changed his name. In another conversation, he referred to himself as a prince. It is also known that Ivan was literate and read the Bible.
After the death of Elizabeth, Alexander Shuvalov was favored by Peter III, he is already a Field Marshal, but his service to this sovereign was short-lived. In the coup of 1761, Shuvalov "did not figure it out", did not believe him, and therefore, in the most stupid way, he began to persuade the guards to remain faithful to Emperor Peter. However, he came to his senses in time and threw himself at the feet of the newly-made empress. Catherine was not a vindictive person. She forgave him, moreover, she rewarded him with 2000 serf souls for his service, but she did not want to see a hated person next to her. On this, the service of Russia for Alexander Shuvalov ended, he was dismissed from all posts, for him the life of a private person began.
Count, Chamberlain, Head of the Office of Secret Investigation, Lieutenant of Guards, Field Marshal General, Senator, member of the St. Petersburg Conference, brother of Pyotr Ivanovich Shuvalov and cousin of Ivan Ivanovich Shuvalov, favorite of Elizaveta Petrovna
Kamerunker
Thanks to the efforts of his father, Ivan Maksimovich the Elder, the Vyborg commandant, he was assigned to the court of Princess Elizabeth, where he played until 1741 important role managing the yard. He took an active part in the coup, which contributed to the accession of Elizabeth to the Russian throne.
nobleman
With the accession of Elizabeth, he immediately occupied an influential position, showered, like his brother, with royal favors, awards and signs of goodwill: in 1741 he was awarded the Order of Alexander Nevsky, in 1744 he became a lieutenant general, from 1746 - adjutant general of the empress, in the same year, like brother Pyotr Ivanovich, is elevated to the dignity of a count. The influence of the Shuvalovs has increased even more since 1749, when Alexander Ivanovich's cousin, Ivan Ivanovich, becomes Elizabeth's favorite. December 18 (29), 1753 receives the highest award of the Empire - the Order of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called.
Inquisitor
From 1742 he took part in the affairs of the Secret Chancellery, in 1746 he replaced the famous Ushakov as its head. Supervises the content of the Braunschweig family in exile, leads the investigation into the Lestok case, and later the investigation into the case of Apraksin and Bestuzhev.
Knight Marshal
In 1754 he was appointed court marshal at the court of Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich, the future Peter III. The Shuvalovs attach particular importance to this, since they hope that such a rapprochement with the heir to the throne will allow them to strengthen their position at court. However, the future showed that, having staked on Peter III, they were deeply mistaken.
Field Marshal General
The last years of the Elizabethan reign and the short reign of Peter III become the pinnacle of the power of the Shuvalov party: in 1758, A. I. Shuvalov became a senator, on December 28 (according to the old style), 1761, field marshal general.
Nobody
During the coup that brought Catherine to power, he tries to agitate the guardsmen to remain loyal to Peter, but, convinced of the complete futility of his attempts, he rushes to the feet of the empress, asking her for mercy. Having approved the petition, Catherine gives two thousand serfs to Shuvalov personally hated by her and dismisses him from all posts (1763, according to other sources, 1762). O recent years nothing is known about the life of the once omnipotent nobleman.
He was the most pale figure of the Shuvalov party, according to contemporaries, he had neither the charisma nor the gifts of his brothers, without whose approval he did not dare to take a step. In the St. Petersburg Conference, an advisory body under the Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, he played an inconspicuous role, being a conductor of other people's ideas. Catherine II, who could not stand Alexander Ivanovich Shuvalov, portrays him as a stupid, indecisive, cruel, petty, stingy, boring and vulgar person: Empire; he was the head of the Inquisition Court, which was then called the Secret Office. His occupation caused, as they said, a kind of convulsive movement in him, which was done on the entire right side of his face, from the eye to the chin, whenever he was excited by joy, anger, fear or fear.
Count Alexander Ivanovich Shuvalov, 1710-1771, elder brother of Count Pyotr Ivanovich Shuvalov and cousin of the favorite of Elisaveta Petrovna Ivan Ivanovich Shuvalov, from the chamber junkers of Tsesarevna Elisaveta, during her accession, was granted the real chamberlains, non-commissioned lieutenants of the Life Company and major generals and received Order of Anna 1st class and Alexander Nevsky; in the next 10 years he was granted the rank of lieutenant of the Life Company, lieutenant general, adjutant general and general general; in 1746, together with his brother, he was elevated to the dignity of a count; in 1753 decorated the order of St. Andrew, and in 1756 he was appointed a member of the Conference. P. I. Shuvalov, wishing to keep abreast of detective affairs through his man, promoted his brother to the head of the Secret Chancellery; in order to have a reliable spy at the Small Court, he also recommended him in 1754 to the corps marshal to the Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich, and Peter III awarded the general-general who had never been in the war with a field marshal's baton, granting him 2000 souls of peasants. Dismissed by Catherine II from service, he died on January 4, 1771. From his marriage with Ekaterina Ivanovna Kastyurina, he had one daughter, Ekaterina, who married Count G. I. Golovkin.
As an "inquisitor", Shuvalov was, in the words of Catherine II, "the scarecrow of the Court, the city and the entire empire." His studies were hard, thankless and aimless. All these numerous attempts to "damage Her Highest Imperial Majesty health" and "important, malicious, obscene reasoning and interpretation" were not worth the labor that A. I. Shuvalov spent on researching them. He rarely managed to track down any important and well-born criminal; but for years he had to interrogate only fugitive serfs, lost hope for the release of convicts and soldiers, “at different times and in the plural beaten by spitz-rutens and cats.” would have "torn off his legs," or that some monk who did not have access to the Court, "froze the grass of hellebore in a pot" to poison the Grand Duke. Not to mention the many "false sayings of words and deeds", which then seemed "important", the reasoning was for no one dangerous chatter that "it is unworthy in our Great Russian state for the female sex to sit on the kingdom", that Elizabeth "is not natural", that she “rides and walks”, instead of “going to the Collegium”, that “a woman complained like a woman” to Razumovsky and other “mean education” people.
Information from the partners of the site: The company "Jazz Stone" offers you a wide selection of natural stone materials, as well as marble countertops and composite slabs of marble, granite, travertine, onyx.
All these exhausted and driven to madness people, wanting to change the difficult present, either fixed their eyes on the past, claiming that Peter II was alive and hiding abroad for the time being, or dreamed of the future, hoping for the accession of Prince John; but the means at their disposal were the most fantastic and not dangerous for the throne of Elizabeth, similar to the plan of some merchant and clerk to smuggle the book “The Truth of the Monarchs’ Will in a tar barrel” across the border “in a tar barrel” and announce this book to the King of Prussia and incite indignation against Russia. It all boiled down to platonic desires, delusional prophecies and unrealizable hopes, such as that some "ten generals" would "hate" the Empress and burn her with fire. But all these absurd deeds had consequences for the accused, a whip, tearing out of the nostrils and hard labor, and for Shuvalov "constant hard work" that upset his health and caused him "a special kind of convulsive movements in the entire right side of the face, which manifested itself with any excitement." Being entirely under the influence of his "impetuous" brother, Count AI Shuvalov was not himself an energetic and resourceful person. It was only necessary to cut him off, as Catherine did, so that he was immediately frightened and began helplessly "blinking his eyes." By his indulgence in Peter's "Holstein passions" he acquired his precarious attachment; by his tactless espionage, he acquired the irreconcilable hatred of Catherine II.