His father, , was the favorite
valet of Tsar
Paul I and was probably of
Georgian origin. At the age of seven, he was enlisted in the
Life Guard Horse Regiment. By 1796, when he was sixteen, he had already advanced to an important rank, but was not as committed to a military career as other members of his family. At the request of his father, Admiral
Alexander Shishkov took him under his wing for a short tour of Europe, but this apparently did not work out well. Many of his contemporaries; notably
Alexander Bulgakov, spoke poorly of him. His career was advanced considerably when the Tsar took
Anna Lopukhina as a mistress and his father was able to arrange a marriage to Anna's sister, Praskovya
Lopukhina (1784-1870). Although they had five children, he was widely believed to be homosexual. In 1800, he was named an Imperial Chamberlain. Upon the accession of
Alexander I, he was transferred to the
Collegium of Foreign Affairs, where he served until 1809, when he was named a Prosecutor for the
Governing Senate. During the
French Invasion of Russia, he led the evacuation of the Senate to
Kazan and was awarded a gold
snuff box for his efforts. In 1816, he received a promotion to
Privy Councillor and, in 1817, became a member of the Senate. He also served on various commissions, including oversight of the construction of
Saint Isaac's Cathedral and directing operations for the Imperial theaters. In 1826, he was appointed to the Supreme Criminal Court charged with prosecuting the
Decembrists. In 1832, he became an Imperial Steward. After receiving two more promotions, he was stripped of his ranks, following the disastrous
Fire in the Winter Palace. In addition to his governmental duties, he served as Chairman of the Imperial Society for the Encouragement of the Arts and was known as a patron of young artists. In 1835, he accompanied
Mikhail Scotti on a study trip to Italy, and provided a workshop for the brothers
Grigory and
Nikanor Chernetsov. ==Issue==