Alexei Dmitriyevich Saltykov

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Aleksei Dmitrievich Saltykov[1] was born in St. Petersburg on 1 February 1806 to Prince Dmitri Nikolaevich Saltykov (1767-1826) and Anna Nikolaevna Leontieva (1776-1810) and had three older brothers (the princes Ivan (1797-1832), Petr (ca. 1804-1889) and Vladimir (ca. 1799-1835) and an older sister Princess Mariya (1795-1823). The Soltykov name was one of the more esteemed in Russia.

Alexis's father Dmitri had two brothers (no sisters): Aleksandr (1775-1837) and Sergei (1776-1828). The three boys were the son of the famous General Nikolai Ivanovich Saltykov (b 31 Oct 1736, d 24 Mar 1816) and Natalya Vladimirovna Dolgorukaya (1737-1812).

When Peter the Great started the establishment of St. Petersburg in the early 1700s, all nobles who owned more than thirty families of serfs were forced to settle there. It seems likely that this branch of the Soltykoffs arrived in St. Petersburg at this time. The illustrious house of Soltykoff had four branches. Alexis was a scion of the "Counts Soltykoff" branch which was ennobled in 1732 when General Simon Soltykoff, Governor of Moscow was titled ‘Count’ through his relationship to Empress Anna. They had been closely associated with the tsars and the political establishment of the empire since at least then. Without doubt, the most formidable and impressive of Alexis’s close relatives was his grandfather General Nikolai Ivanovich Soltykoff (1736 - 1816) who became chairman of the war committee under Empress Catherine II and her son and heir Emperor Paul I, and later president of Council of the Empire and of the Board of Ministers and lastly Field Marshal of the Empire. After the wedding of Grand Duke Pavel (Paul) Petrovich son of Catherine II to Natalia Alekseyevna General Soltykoff was appointed by Catherine II to run their small household. In 1795, at the age of 59 he was described as a being 'small, thin and with a sharp nose; a very devout man who spent a long time each morning at his prayers; he wore a high, powdered and pomaded toupet and had a limp; and constantly pulled up his breeches'.[2] As an example of his commanding influence, when Catherine (The Great) had a stroke in 1796 and her grandson Alexander arrived at the Winter Palace, he was not allowed to see her for several hours. Count Saltykov - 'first personage' of Catherine’s court - had feared that Alexander may try to proclaim himself Tsar. At 5pm he gave permission. She died the next evening.

Alexis's early days are somewhat of a mystery. He grew up in St Petersburg and at the age of eighteen joined the diplomatic services with the Russian State Board (Collegium) for Foreign Affairs in Moscow. By the age of 23 he was with the Russian Foreign Service, first in Constantinople, then in Athens, later in London, Florence, Rome, and Teheran.[3] In 1840 Alexis retired and moved to Paris where he planned his voyages to India. He ended up making two voyages there (1841-43 and 1844-46), and achieving the sobriquet 'The Indian' from the Russian and French aristocracy. In 1849 he published a selection of his letters in French accompanied by his drawings , which became very well known in Europe "Lettres sur L’Inde". Paris,1848). In 1851 the book was translated into Russian and became an instant success: it truly enraptured the Russian reading public [4]. The drawings were published separately in London in 1859 as "Drawings on the Spot".

[edit] References

  1. ^ The spelling and transliteration of his name is variable. He was known in Russia by the Latinised spelling Aleksei Dmitrievich Saltykov, transliterated from the Cyrillic САЛТЫКОВ. The change from ‘Aleksei’ to ‘Alexis’ most likely appeared because his European friends called him ‘Alex’, finding Russian names too long or too complex. The ‘off’-ending marks a Russian, who either emigrated to, or lived in, France for a long time. Other spellings include: Saltykow, Soltikoff and Saltuikov. Dr. Elena Karatchkov considerers that "Saltykov" is the only correct transliteration of the Cyrillic. (Dr. Elena Karatchkov, Institute of Oriental Studies, Moscow, Russia. Personal communication.)
  2. ^ Rounding, Virginia (2006). Catherine the Great: love, sex and power. London: Hutchinson, 398. . A plate from the book Barkhatova, Anna. The Romanov Dynasty: Tsesarevich Konstantin Pavlovich.  confirms the description.
  3. ^ Alayev, Leonid B. (1985). Pis’ma ob Indii. Moskva: Nauka, Introduction. 
  4. ^ (1851) Pis’ma ob Indii.