Konstantin von Benckendorff

Konstantin von Benckendorff (Russian: Константин Христофорович Бенкендорф, Konstantin Khristoforovich Benkendorf, 1785-August 6, 1828) was a Russian general and diplomat. His brother Alexander von Benckendorff (1783-1844) was also a general and statesman, and his sister Dorothea von Lieven was a socialite famous at London and Paris.

Benckendorff was born to a Baltic German family in Reval (now Tallinn, Estonia). He took part in the concluding stages of the Napoleonic wars, specifically in the taking of Kassel, Fulda, Hanau, Rheims, and Soissons. The war over, a disease forced him to settle into retirement.

Five years later, he was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to Baden and Stuttgart. With the outbreak of the Russo-Persian War he returned to Russia, captured Echmiadzin and routed the Kurds near Erivan. He then crossed the Araks River and defeated the Persian cavalry. The Russo-Turkish War, 1828-1829 was the last military campaign he took part in.