Friedrich was the youngest son of
Peter Ludwig von der Pahlen, a prominent Russian courtier. He worked at Russian diplomatic missions in
Sweden,
France and
Great Britain. In 1809–1811 he was
Imperial Russia's Ambassador to the
United States, in 1811–1815 he was the Ambassador to
Brazil and in 1815–1822 he was the Ambassador to
Bavaria. Later, he became the General-Governor of
Novorossiya and the
namestnik (deputy) of
Bessarabia (following the departure of
Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov to the
Caucasus). He was also a member of the
State Council of Imperial Russia. In the context of the
Russo-Turkish War of 1828–1829, Pahlen served as governor of the
Danubian Principalities, which were administered by Russia pending the payment of
war reparations by the
Ottoman Empire (his official title was that of
Plenipotentiary President of the Divans in Moldavia and Wallachia); he was replaced by
Pyotr Zheltukhin on February 2, 1829. In
Jewish history, Pahlen is credited with opening of the first secular Jewish school in
Odessa. ==Notes==