Count Kirill Grigoryevich Razumovsky (March 18, 1728 – January 1, 1803) was a Ukrainian Cossack-born Russian state figure from the Kozelets county of Kiev
Regiment in Russian Empire, who served as the last Hetman of
Little Russia on both sides of Dnieper until 1764 and then as Field marshal of Russian Imperial Army.
Razumovsky was born in a family of registered Cossacks out the Kiev
regiment on March 18, 1728. The village Lemeshi where Razumovsky was born to
this day stands in Kozelets Raion, Chernihiv Oblast.
From 1743 to 1744 #Kirill_Razumovsky studied at the University of
Göttingen. Razumovsky's adjutant in his
journey to Germany was Grigory Teplov. Teplov was wielded influence over Little Russia in
his capacity as the secretary and advisor to Kirill Razumovsky (whose cousin he
married). Razumovsky was appointed President of the Russian
Academy of Sciences when he just turned 18
years old due to the influence of his brother, Aleksey Razumovsky, the morganatic husband of Empress Elisabeth of Russia.
In 1750, Razumovsky was elected and subsequently appointed Hetman of
Zaporizhian Host, a title he held until Catherine II
of Russia abolished this title in
1764, in exchange Razumovsky was granted a rank of Field marshal of Russian
Army in 1764. During his service as Hetman of Zaporizhian Host, Baturin was re-established as
residence of Hetman and Razumovsky had opulent baroque palaces erected both in
Baturin as well as in Glukhov by the imperial architect Andrey Kvasov and Charles Cameron. Together with Grigory Teplov he also planned to open a university in Baturin. Kirill Razumovsky died in January
1803 in Baturin, where he was interred according to his wishes without any
pomp, in stark contrast to his rather flamboyant lifestyle.
Kirill had five sons, of whom Count Aleksey Kirillovich Razumovsky
(1748-1822) was the Minister of Education in 1810-16, and Prince Andrey Razumovsky (1752-1836) was the Russian plenipotentiary ambassador in Vienna in the years of the Congress
1814-1815. However, Andrey has become better known for his role as patron of
Ludwig van Beethoven who dedicated three String Quartets, Op.59 1, 2 and 3, as
well as the 5th and 6th Symphonies to him.
Any living descendants in the male
line of Kirill Razumovsky arise from the progeniture of his fourth son Gregory
Razumovsky (1759-1837), who had to emigrate to Western Europe and acquired
relative fame as natural scientist and member of a number of distinguished
scientific societies in Austria, Prussia and Switzerland.
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