Jean Armand de Lestocq
Count Jean Armand de L'Estocq (German: Johann Hermann Lestocq, Russian: Иван Иванович Лесток; 29 April 1692, in Lüneburg – 12 June 1767, in Saint Petersburg) was a French adventurer who wielded immense influence on the foreign policy of Russia during the early reign of Empress Elizabeth.
Biography
Coming from a noble family of
In 1709, Lestocq arrived in
More than anyone else, Lestocq helped prepare the 1741
After Elizaveta's coronation, Lestocq and La Chetardie attempted to dominate state power. The physician received a pension of 15,000 livres from the king of France and sought to influence Russian foreign policy accordingly. Another beneficiary from Lestocq's intrigues was the King of
In 1745 Bestuzhev, still in power, succeeded in intercepting Lestocq's correspondence with La Chetardie, which resulted in the latter being banished from Russia. Three years later Lestocq, who continued to intrigue against Bestuzhev, was accused of plotting to dethrone Elizaveta in favor of the Prussophile heir to the throne. He and his aide de camp, Alexander Chappuzeau, nephew of his brother Johann Ludwig von L'Estocq,[1] were both arrested. L'Estocq was tortured in the Secret Chancellery and sentenced to death. The Empress intervened and had him instead exiled, first to Uglich and then to Veliky Ustyug. Only upon her death was Lestocq restored to his estates and allowed to return to the Russian capital.
Lestocq was married first to Barbara von Rutenhjelm, then to Alida Müller, described as 'dirty and drunken', who died in November 1743.
See also
- Anton Wilhelm von L'Estocq (1738–1815)
References
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: . Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary (in Russian). 1906.
References
- ^ Johann Ludwig von L'Estocq married in 1720 Helene Clara Chappuzeau (1690-1768), the daughter of Laurent Chappuzeau and only sister of Jacob Chappuzeau; they had one child, Karl Ludwig (1725-1806), and divorced in 1726. Alexander Chappuzeau (1720-1755) was the son of Jacob Chappuzeau.
- ^ Mémoires du prince Pierre Dolgoroukow, by Pierre Dolgoroukow, Cherbuliez et H. Georg, 1867, I, p 484
External links
- (in German) Genealogy handbook of Baltic nobility[permanent dead link] - marriage with Maria Aurora von Mengden
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