Alexander Sergeyevich Stroganov

Count Alexander Sergeyevich Stroganov (3 January 1733 – 27 September 1811) was a Russian aristocrat and a member of the Stroganov family. He was an assistant to the Minister of the Interior, a longtime President of the Imperial Academy of Arts, director of the Russian Imperial Library and a member of the Russian Academy.

For the Minister of the Interior in 1839–1841, see Alexander Stroganov.
Portrait by Alexander Grigoryevich Varnek

Early life

Stroganov was born on 3 January 1733 in Saint Petersburg, a son of baron Sergey Grigoryevich Stroganov (1707–1756), who played a significant role during the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna. During 1752–1757 he studied at the universities of Geneva, Bologna (art treasures), and Paris (chemistry, physics, and metallurgy). In Paris he was a Freemason and visited Voltaire.[1]

Career
Stroganov with his wife and children, c. 1778

After the death of his father in 1756, he completed the decoration of the Stroganov Palace in 1760. In 1780, he became a Senator.[1] In 1783 he became a member of the Russian Academy, and one of the editors of the Academic Dictionary.

Stroganov was a member of the commission on elaborating the new code of laws during the reign of Catherine the Great (1762–1796). From 1800 until his death he was a president of the Imperial Academy of Arts and director of the Imperial Public Library (1800–1811). He was the second director of the library (after Choiseul-Gouffier). He was also a member of the State Council.[1]

From 1801 as chairman of a board of trustees, he was a supervisor of the Kazan Cathedral, St. Petersburg.[2]

In 1805 he proposed to Alexander I the establishment of a special Manuscript Depository ("депо манускриптов") at the Imperial Library. Manuscripts taken from the collection of Peter P. Dubrovsky formed the basis of this depository.[1]

Stroganov was also a collector of pictures of famous artists.[2]

Personal life
Portrait of his second wife, Princess Ekaterina Petrovna Trubetskaya

In 1769, he married Princess Ekaterina Petrovna Trubetskaya, a daughter of Prince Peter Nikitich Trubetskoy. Together, Ekaterina and Alexander were the parents of:

He died on 27 September 1811 in Saint Petersburg.[1]

References
  1. Ландер, Н. Г. Строганов Александр Сергеевич. биографическая справка на сайте РНБ (in Russian). Archived from the original on 13 January 2013. Retrieved 5 December 2010.
  2. "Строганов Александр Сергеевич". Русская национальная философия. Retrieved 5 December 2010. Строганов Александр Сергеевич (in Russian)

Further reading
  • Кузнецов С. О. Пусть Франция поучит нас "танцовать". Создание Строгоновского дворца в Петербурге и соеобразие придворной культуры России в первой половине XVIII века. СПб., 2003. — 512 c. — ISBN 5-303-00109-1
  • Кузнецов С. О. Не хуже Томона. Государственная, меценатская, собирательская деятельность рода Строгоновых в 1771—1817 гг. и формирование имперского облика С.-Петербурга. СПБ.: Нестор, 2006—447 с — ISBN 5-303-00293-4
  • Кузнецов С. О. Дворцы и дома Строгоновых. Три века истории.. — М-СПб: Центрполиграф, МиМ-Дельта, 2008. — 319 с. — ISBN 978-5-9524-3471-4
  • Susanne Jaeger, Alexander S. Stroganov (1733-1811): Sammler und Mäzen im Russland der Aufklärung, Böhlau Verlag Köln Weimar, 2007
  • Кузнецов С. О. Строгоновы. 500 лет рода. Выше только цари. - М-СПб: Центрполиграф, 2012. - 558 с - ISBN 978-5-227-03730-5
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