Nikita Ivanovich Panin

Count Nikita Ivanovich Panin ({{lang-ru|??????? ????????? ??????}}) (September 18 1718–March 31 1783) was an influential Russian statesman and political mentor to Catherine the Great for the first eighteen years of her reign. He advocated the Northern Alliance and closer ties with Frederick the Great of Prussia. His staunch opposition to the partitions of Poland led to his being replaced by the more compliant Prince Bezborodko.

Early career

He was born at Gda?sk, Poland, to the Russian commandant of Pärnu, the Estonian city where he would spend most of his childhood. In 1740 he entered the Russian army, and was rumored to be one of the favorites of the empress Elizabeth. In 1747 he was accredited to Copenhagen as Russian minister, but a few months later was transferred to Stockholm, where for the next twelve years he played a conspicuous part as the chief opponent of the French party. It is said that during his residence in Sweden, Panin, who certainly had a strong speculative bent, conceived a fondness for constitutional forms of government. Politically he was a pupil of Aleksei Bestuzhev; consequently, when in the middle fifties Russia suddenly turned Francophile instead of Francophobe, Panin's position became extremely difficult. However, he found a friend in Bestuzhev's supplanter, Mikhail Vorontsov, and when in 1760 he was unexpectedly appointed the governor of the little grand duke Paul, his influence was assured.

Related Topics:
Gda?sk - Poland - Pärnu - Estonia - 1740 - Elizabeth - 1747 - Copenhagen - Stockholm - French - Sweden - Constitution - Aleksei Bestuzhev - Mikhail Vorontsov - 1760 - Paul

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~