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Galitzine

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Image:galitzine coat.gif right|120px|thumb|Peter I permitted the Galitzines to incorporate the emblem of the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania into [http://www.galitzine.biz/crest.html their coat of arms].]] The '''Galitzines''', more correctly the '''Golitsyns''' (Russian: Голи́цын), are one of the largest and noblest princely houses of Russia. Since the extinction of the Korecki family in the 17th century, the Galitzines have claimed dynastic seniority in the Gediminaiciai House of Gedyminas.

Origins
The family descends from Yuriy Patrikeevich, a Lithuanian prince who emigrated to the court of Vasili I of Russia Vasily I and married his sister. His children and grandchildren, such as Vassian Patrikeyev, were considered premier Russian boyars. One of them, Prince Mikhail Bulgakov, was nicknamed ''Galitsa'' for an iron glove he wore in the Battle of Orsha (1514). His great grandson Prince Vasily Galitzine (+1619) was active during the Time of Troubles and went as an ambassador to Poland to offer the Russian crown to Ladislaus IV of Poland Prince Wladislaw.

Vasily Vasilievich Galitzine
Prince '''Vasily Vasilievich''' (1643-1714) was probably the greatest Russian statesman of the 17th century. He spent his early days at the court of Aleksey I of Russia Tsar Alexius where he gradually rose to the rank of boyar. In 1676 he was sent to Ukraine to keep in order the Crimean Tatars and took part in the Chigirin campaign. Personal experience of the inconveniences and dangers of the prevailing system of preferment; the so-called mestnichestvo, or rank priority, which had paralysed the Russian armies for centuries, induced him to propose its abolition, which was accomplished by Tsar Feodor III of Russia Feodor III in 1678. Image:grand galitzine.jpg left|thumb|Prince Vasily Galitzine The May revolution of 1682 placed Galitzine at the head of the Posolsky Prikaz, or ministry of foreign affairs, and during the regency of Sophia Alekseyevna Sophia, sister of Peter I of Russia Peter the Great, whose intimate friend he became, he was the principal minister of state (1682-1689) and keeper of the great seal, a title bestowed upon only two Russians before him, Afanasy Ordin-Nashchokin and Artamon Matveev. In home affairs his influence was insignificant, but his foreign policy was distinguished by the Treaty of Nerchinsk (1689), which set the Russo-Chinese border along the Amur River, and by the peace with Poland (1683), whereby Russia at last recovered Kiev. By the terms of the same treaty, he acceded to the grand league against the Porte, but his two expeditions against the Crimea (1687 and 1689), the Crimean campaigns First Crimean War, were unsuccessful and made him extremely unpopular. Only with the utmost difficulty could Sophia get the young tsar Peter to decorate the defeated commander-in-chief as if he had returned a victor. In the civil war between Sophia and Peter (August-September 1689), Galitzine half-heartedly supported his mistress and shared her ruin. His life was spared owing to the supplications of his cousin Boris, but he was deprived of his boyardom, his estates were confiscated and he was banished successively to Kargopol, Mezen and Kholmogory, where he died on 21 April, 1714. Galitzine was unusually well educated. He was a great friend of foreigners, who generally alluded to him as the great Galitzine. He expounded to them some drastic reform measures, such as the abolition of serfdom, the promotion of religious toleration, and the development of industrial enterprises. As Galitzine was eager to avoid all forms of violence and repression, his program was more cautious and realistic than that of Peter the Great. Political upheavals prevented him from executing any of these plans.

Boris Alexeevich Galitzine
Vasily's political adversary was his cousin '''Prince Boris Alexeevich''' (1654-1714), a court chamberlain since 1676. He was the young tsar Peter's chief supporter when, in 1689, Peter resisted the usurpations of his elder sister Sophia Alekseyevna Sophia, and the head of the loyal council which assembled at the Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra Trinity monastery during the crisis of the struggle. Galitzine it was who suggested taking refuge in that strong fortress and won over the boyars of the opposite party. In 1690 he was created a boyar and shared with Lev Naryshkin, Peter's uncle, the conduct of home affairs. After the death of the Nataliya Kyrillovna Naryshkina tsaritsa Natalia, Peter's mother, in 1694, his influence increased still further. He accompanied Peter to the White Sea (1694-1695); took part in the Azov campaigns Azov campaign (1695); and was one of the triumvirat who ruled Russia during Peters first foreign tour (1697-1698). The Astrakhan rebellion (1706), which affected all the districts under his government, shook Peter's confidence in him, and seriously impaired his position. In 1707 he was superseded in the Volgan provinces by Andrei Matveev. A year before his death he entered a monastery. Image:dubrovitsy.jpg right|thumb|250px|Political views of Prince Boris Galitzine were reflected in the pro-Western architecture of his estate Dubrovitsy Galitzine was a typical representative of Russian society of the end of the 17th century leaning towards Western world Westernism. In many respects he was far in advance of his age. He was highly educated, spoke Latin with graceful fluency, frequented the society of scholars and had his children carefully educated according to the best European models. Yet this eminent, this superior personage was an habitual drunkard, an uncouth savage who intruded upon the hospitality of wealthy foreigners, and was not ashamed to seize upon any dish he took a fancy to, and send it home to his wife. It was his reckless drunkenness which ultimately ruined him in the estimation of Peter the Great, despite his previous inestimable services.

Dmitriy Mikhailovich Galitzine
The Great Galitzine had another cousin, Prince Dmitriy Mikhailovich (1665-1737), noted for his noble attempt to turn Russia into a constitutional monarchy. He was sent by Peter the Great in 1697 to Italy to learn military affairs; in 1704 he was appointed to the command of an auxiliary corps in Poland against Charles XII of Sweden Charles XII; from 1711 to 1718 he was governor of Belgorod. In 1718 he was appointed president of the newly erected collegium Commerce Collegium and a senator. In May 1723 he was implicated in the disgrace of the vice-chancellor Shafirov and was deprived of all his offices and dignities, which he only recovered through the mediation of the empress. After the death of Peter the Great, Galitzine became the recognized head of the old Conservative party which had never forgiven Peter for putting away Eudoxia Lopukhina Eudoxia and marrying the plebeian Catherine I of Russia Martha Skavronskaya. But the reformers, as represented by Alexander Menshikov and Peter Tolstoi, prevailed; and Galitzine remained in the background till the fall of Menshikov, 1727. During the last years of Peter II of Russia Peter II (1728-1730), Galitzine was the most prominent statesman in Russia and his high aristocracy aristocratic theories had full play. On the death of Peter II he conceived the idea of limiting the autocracy by subordinating it to the authority of the Supreme privy council, of which he was president. He drew up a form of constitution which Anna of Russia Anna of Courland, the newly elected Russian empress, was forced to sign at Jelgava Mittau before being permitted to proceed to St Petersburg. Anna lost no time in repudiating this constitution, and never forgave its authors. Image:galitzine alexander.jpg right|thumb|Field-Marshal Alexander M. Galitzine (1718-1783) Galitzine was left in peace, however, and lived for the most part in retirement, till 1736, when he was arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the Conspiracy (political) conspiracy of his son-in-law Prince Constantine Cantimir. This, however, was a mere pretext, it was for his anti-monarchical sentiments that he was really prosecuted. A court, largely composed of his antagonists, condemned him to death, but the empress reduced the sentence to lifelong imprisonment in Schlisselburg and confiscation of all his estates. He died in his prison on the 14th of April 1737, after three months of confinement.

Other notable Galitzines
Dmitriy's brother '''Mikhail''' (1674-1730) was a celebrated soldier, who is best known for his governorship of Finland (1714-1721), where his admirable qualities earned the remembrance of the people whom he had conquered. And Mikhail's son '''Alexander''' (1718-1783) was a diplomat and soldier, who likewise rose to be field-marshal and governor of St Petersburg. Another Mikhail's son, '''Dmitriy Mikhailovich''' (1721-1793), was the Russian ambassador in Vienna during the reign of Catherine the Great. Primarily remembered for the splendid Galitzine Hospital he opened in Moscow, he should also be noted as a great friend and patron of Mozart. Prince '''Alexander Nikolaevich''' (1773-1844) was a reactionary minister of education in the government of Alexander I of Russia Alexander I. He headed an investigation into masonic involvement in the Decembrist uprising of 1825 and served as the Chairman of State Council of Imperial Russia the State Council from 1838 to 1841. Image:Galitzine.jpg right|thumb|Prince Dmitriy Vladimirovich Galitzine (1771-1844) Prince '''Dmitriy Vladimirovich''' (1771-1844) fought bravely during the Napoleon's invasion of Russia Napoleonic wars, was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General and governed Moscow for 25 years. In 1829 he founded a committee aimed at the protection of prisoners and supported Friedrich Joseph Haass. The prince's mother, nicknamed ''La Princesse Moustache'', or the ''Queen of Spades'', is a central character in Alexander Pushkin Pushkin's story (and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Tchaikovsky's opera) of the same name. Prince Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin '''Dmitry Dmitrievich Galitzine''' (1770-1840), also known as the ''Apostle of the Alleghanies'', was the first Roman Catholic priest ordained in America; a settlement in Pennsylvania is named after him. Prince '''Nikolai Borisovich''' (1794-1866) was an amateur cellist who commissioned Ludwig van Beethoven Beethoven to write his last string quartets, sometimes called the String Quartets Nos. 12 - 16 and Grosse Fuge, Opus 127, 130 - 135 (Beethoven) ''Galitzin quartets''. Prince '''Lev Sergeyevich''' (June 24 (12) 1845 - January 8 1916 (December 26 1915)) was one of the founders of wine-making in Crimea. In his Crimean estate of Novyi Svet he built the first Russian factory of Champagne (beverage) champagne wines. In 1889 the production of this winery won the Gold Medal at the Paris exhibition in the nomination for sparkling wines. He became the surveyor of imperial vineyards in 1891. Prince '''Boris Borisovich, Prince Galitzine Boris Borisovich''' (1862-1916) was a prominent physicist who invented the first electromagnetic seismograph in 1906. Prince Nikolai Golitsyn '''Nikolai Dmitrievich Galitzine''' (1850-1925) was the last Tsarist prime minister of Russia, at the time of the February Revolution. Image:galitzine hospital.jpg left|thumb|512px|The 18th-century view of the Galitzine Hospital in Moscow

Reference
*{{1911}} {{Template:Russian Foreign Ministers}}

External links

- Genealogy of the Galitzine family
- Site of Princess Irene Galitzine
- Galitzine Museum in Moscow Category:Foreign Ministers of Russia Category:Russian noble families Category:Russian Field Marshals Category:Politics of Russia ru:Голицыны

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