Alexander Kurakin

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Prince Alexander Borisovich Kurakin, sometimes spelled Kourakine (

).

Life

Born in

.

After Catherine II's death, Kurakin was allowed to return to St. Petersburg in 1796 and he resumed his career, becoming Vice Chancellor in 1796. During the reign of Alexander I Kurakin became the Ambassador of Russia in Vienna in 1806. Two years later, he replaced Ambassador Pyotr Tolstoy in Paris.

Ambassador in Paris

As ambassador in Paris, Kurakin was known for two political acts: taking an active part in the arrangements for the signing of the Treaty of Tilsit, and warning the Tsar about the upcoming war with the French.

From 1810 Kurakin wrote numerous notes to Tsar Alexander, warning him of imminent war. After the last futile attempt to reconcile the Russian-French relationship at his meeting with

led to Kurakin resigning as ambassador.

In Paris' higher circles, Kurakin was famously referred to as a "diamond prince", due to magnificence and richness of his costumes. It was one of these costumes that actually saved his life during a fire that happened during a ball given by

, the Austrian ambassador on 1 July 1810. While escorting the women out of the blazing hall, he fell to the ground and was trampled by the panicking crowd, but his richly decorated coat protected him from the worst of the intense heat. Nevertheless, he was still badly burned and was confined to bed for several months.

He is also credited with introducing Russian-style service à la russe to France, where it replaced the previous service à la française.^[1]

He never married but he had illegitimate issue by Akulina Dmitrievna Samoilova, the Barons Wrjevsky, and by an unknown woman, the Barons Serdobin.

References

Preceded by Stepan Alekseyevich Kolychev (acting)

Imperial Chancellor of Russia (acting) 1801–1802

Succeeded by Alexander Romanovich Vorontsov