Alexander Lanskoy

Aleksander Lanskoj

Aleksander Dmitrijevitj Lanskoj, also called Sasjenka (1758-1784) was a Russian favourite and the lover of Catherine the Great between 1780 and 1784.

Lanskoj was made aide-de-camp of Grigory Potemkin in 1779 and was introduced by Potemkin to Catherine in 1780. After being "tested" as a lover by Anna Protasova, he became the official lover of Catherine. He was reportedly genuinely in love with Catherine, and their relationship was described as a happy one. He did not involve himself in politics, did not accept bribes or ask for favors or gifts and shared her cultural interests. In 1782, he and Potemkin collaborated to remove Count Orlov from court. He died of diphtheria, but rumors claimed his health had been weakened by aphrodisiacs.

References

Marie Tetzlaff : Katarina den Stora (Catherine the Great) (1997) (In Swedish)

Mistresses and minions of Russian Emperors and Empresses

1700–1762	Anna Mons Willem Mons Avdotya Chernysheva Mary Hamilton Maria Cantemir Ernst Johann von Biron Aleksey Razumovsky Ivan Shuvalov Elizaveta Vorontsova Maria Rumyantseva

1762–1796	Grigory Orlov (1762–72) Alexander Vasilchikov (1772–74) Grigory Potemkin (1774–76) Pyotr Zavadovsky (1776–77) Semyon Zorich (1777–78) Ivan Rimsky-Korsakov (1778–80) Alexander Lanskoy (1780–84) Alexander Yermolov (1784–85) Alexander Dmitriev-Mamonov (1785–89) Platon Zubov (1789–96)

1796–1917	Anna Lopukhina Maria Naryshkina Varvara Nelidova Catherine Dolgorukova Mathilde Kschessinska Natalia Brasova