Ivan Shuvalov
Ivan Ivanovich Betskoy | |
---|---|
Senior Director of the First Cadet Corps | |
In office 1763–1767 | |
Monarch | Catherine II |
Preceded by | Yakov Larionovich Brandt |
Military service | |
Rank | Lieutenant-general |
Ivan Ivanovich Shuvalov (Russian: Иван Иванович Шувалов; 1 November 1727 – 26 November 1797) was called the
Love affair with the Empress
He was born in Moscow, the only son of Ivan Menshoi Shuvalov, an army captain who died when the boy was ten, and Tatiana Rodionovna. The
In July 1749, when Ivan was visiting his brother-in-law Prince
Three months later, Shuvalov was appointed a Gentleman-In-Waiting , and his liaison with the Empress began. Although the cousins planned to use him as a pawn in their court intrigues, Shuvalov refused to get enmeshed in their machinations. As his biographers like to point out, Shuvalov was "mild and generous to all" and "had no enemies whatsoever".
His position at court grew stronger during Elizabeth's declining years, when he served as a virtual master of petitions to her, eclipsing her previous favourite and rumoured husband,
Patronage of Lomonosov
Unlike the self-seeking favourites of
Shuvalov's activity brought him in touch with Mikhail Lomonosov, a Russian scholar who aspired to establish a university in Russia. Lomonosov found a loyal patron in Shuvalov and paid tribute to his accomplishments in his dedication of a couple of odes and "meditations" to him. On 23 January 1755 – the name-day of Shuvalov's mother Tatiana Rodionovna – the Empress endorsed their project to set up the Imperial Moscow University "for all sorts and conditions of people". Tatiana Day is still celebrated in Russia as "Students Day" (now falling on 25 January because of the increased difference between the Julian and Gregorian calendars).
Shuvalov became the university's first curator and attracted the finest scholars to teach there. He came up with the idea of establishing
Academy of Arts
In 1757, Shuvalov submitted to the Governing Senate his project for establishing the Academy of Three Noble Arts at his own palace in Saint Petersburg. This institution – later transformed into the Imperial Academy of Arts – was envisioned by him for the education of the most gifted boys from all strata of society. At first no formal examination was required to enter the Academy; even peasants' children – like Fyodor Rokotov and Fedot Shubin – were admitted on Shuvalov's personal recommendation.
Shuvalov served as the Academy's first president until 1763, when he was succeeded by
Upon Elizabeth's death and the ascension of Catherine II, Shuvalov set off for Europe, ostensibly with the purpose of improving his frail health. During fourteen years of foreign travels, he acquired choice works of art for the Academy and the Hermitage Museum. He also commissioned copies of the finest Roman sculptures in Rome, Florence and Naples and later presented these to the Academy of Arts.
Later years
As regards politics, Shuvalov's life abroad was not as exciting as the previous period of his career. On Catherine II's request, he would go on diplomatic errands; thus it was he who persuaded Pope Pius VI to replace Durini, a Russophobic nuncio at Warsaw, with the more pliant Count Giuseppe Garampi.
His eventual return to Russia in 1777 occasioned
After his imperial lover's demise, Shuvalov never married and had no children. He died at the
References
- ^ "Library and Archive catalog". Royal Society. Retrieved 1 March 2012.[permanent dead link]
Bibliography
- Pavel Bartenev. Ivan Ivanovich Shuvalov: A Biography. Moscow, 1857.
- Ivan Ivanovich Shuvalov (1727–1797): prosveshchonnaya lichnost' v rossiiskoi istorii. SPb, 1998.
- Zinko, M. A. (2023). "ШУВАЛОВ ИВАН ИВАНОВИЧ". Great Russian Encyclopedia. Electronic version. Retrieved 2 October 2023.