Nizhny Novgorod encyclopedia. Pyotr Andreevich Kleinmichel: biography Who is Count Pyotr Andreevich Kleinmichel

Biography

« In 1839, the Winter Palace burned down. The Emperor gathered the best architects and asked them to “repair his house as soon as possible.” They unanimously declared that this work could not be completed within two years - and did not yield to any insistence of the sovereign. Then Kleinmichel, who was in charge of the barracks construction department, volunteered to restore the palace in one year - and he was given carte blanche. Kleinmichel did not worry about money, he gave the construction funds forcible development; set up hundreds of iron and cast iron kilns to dry brickwork and plaster; 10 thousand people worked in the palace in winter at 10-20 degrees below zero outside and 20-25 degrees inside, plastering, polishing, gilding! The palace was ready a year later, but it was only ready for viewing, not for habitation. The absurdly, ignorantly reinforced firebox dried out the outer shells, blocking the escape of the internal dampness with them. As soon as this firebox was replaced by a normal one, dampness began to appear, gilding and plaster began to fall off, and finally the entire ceiling of the St. George's Hall collapsed, two hours after the end of some meeting in it. Then work resumed with new fury; Several thousand workers died of fever due to the transition from heat to cold. The estimated amounts were far overextended, and in order not to admit this, Kleinmichel did not pay the contractors; the whole city was screaming about the abuses, and meanwhile, even before the ceiling collapsed, Kleinmichel was elevated to the dignity of a count: the coat of arms given to him on this occasion depicts a palace, and the inscription reads: “Zeavor overcomes everything!”»

On April 16, 1841, he was promoted to general of infantry. At the beginning of 1842, Kleinmichel served as Minister of War, and at the end of the same year he was appointed chief administrator of communications and public buildings and remained in this position until October 1855. During Kleinmichel's management of this department, a permanent bridge across the Neva was completed, the Nikolaev chain bridge across the Dnieper in Kyiv was built, the building of the new Hermitage was built, the Nikolaev railway was built, etc. In general, government buildings during Kleinmichel's time were erected faster than before, but the construction of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior and St. Isaac's Cathedral dragged on for many years.

Immediately after the accession to the throne of Alexander II, Kleinmichel was one of the first figures of the previous reign to be dismissed from office; he was appointed a member of the State Council, in whose affairs he took almost no part. He died of pulmonary edema in February 1869 and was buried near St. Petersburg in the Sergius Hermitage next to his second wife.

Reputation

Kleinmichel had a strong reputation as an embezzler and flatterer. He sought to give the Ministry of Railways the exclusive right to build railways in Russia, without allowing private companies to do so. According to ill-wishers, this was done with the aim of creating additional obstacles to the construction of railways in Russia in general. Kleinmichel constantly proved to the emperor that Russia did not need railways at all.

In general, those buildings that were supervised by Kleinmichel were erected relatively quickly, but were extremely expensive for the treasury - contracts were given to relatives or interested parties on terms favorable to Kleinmichel, but not favorable to the government. For example, the contract for maintaining the Moscow-Petersburg highway was given to a relative of Kleinmichel, while contemporaries noted that it was too common for stagecoaches to overturn due to unkempt roads and huge potholes.

Kleinmichel's constructions were accompanied by a large number of deaths among workers, which aroused universal hatred towards him. There were frequent worker riots during the construction of the St. Petersburg-Moscow railway. The count was “glorified” by the poet Nikolai Nekrasov in the poem “,” where it is noted that the Nikolaev railway was built not by “Count Pyotr Andreich Kleinmichel,” but by the Russian people.

Family

First wife (since 1816) - Varvara Aleksandrovna Kokoshkina(d. 1842), granddaughter of the mining owner A.F. Turchaninov and sister of the St. Petersburg chief of police S.A. Kokoshkin. According to K.I. Fischer, her marriage to Kleinmichel was concluded against the will of her parents. He (due to his physical disability) not only did not fulfill his marital duty, but also demanded that she favorably accept Arakcheev’s red tape. Domestic strife began, in which her cousin N.M. Buldakov consoled her. Due to complaints from her deceived husband, Buldakov was forbidden from residing in the same city as Mrs. Kleinmichel; but she herself began to go to where Buldakov lived. Finally, Kleinmichel, who no longer had any interest in keeping his rebellious wife, made a deal with her. She gave him her dowry, and he agreed to be the culprit of adultery, and they divorced. Varvara Alexandrovna married Buldakov, later the governor of Simbirsk, with whom she was very unhappy.

Second wife (since 1832) - Cleopatra Petrovna Ilyinskaya(10/17/1811 - 01/17/1865), widow of staff captain V. O. Horvat; daughter of Pyotr Ilyich Ilyinsky and Elizaveta Nikolaevna Pereverzeva; a relative of the favorite of Nicholas I, maid of honor V. A. Nelidova. She was a rich, sweet woman, and her widowhood made it easier for Kleinmichel to fulfill her marital duties. In this marriage, the count completely changed his character as a family man; he restrained all his relationships so as not to quarrel with his wife and her influential relatives. He was considered a “kind husband, a gentle father, and was very gentle with his personal servants.”

For the services of her husband, on April 6, 1835, Countess Kleinmichel received the Order of St. Catherine (Small Cross), and in August 1851 she was granted a Dame of State. She was the chairman of the Patriotic Society. In one of the historical miniatures, Valentin Pikul argued that, being an adjutant to Arakcheev, who hated bribe-takers, Kleinmichel did not take bribes, but “they came into the bag through his wife, Cleopatra Petrovna, an extremely strict lady.” She died of tuberculosis in Paris and was buried in St. Petersburg. She was known in high society as the adoptive mother of illegitimate children of the favorites of Nicholas I. It was this circumstance, if you believe malicious gossip, that served as the reason for the career rise of P. A. Kleinmichel. In total, there were eight children in the Kleinmichel family:

Write a review of the article "Kleinmichel, Pyotr Andreevich"

Comments

Notes

Literature

• // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
• // Russian biographical dictionary: in 25 volumes. - St. Petersburg. -M., 1896-1918.

An excerpt characterizing Kleinmichel, Pyotr Andreevich

After everything that Napoleon said to him, after these outbursts of anger and after the last dryly spoken words:
“Je ne vous retiens plus, general, vous recevrez ma lettre,” Balashev was sure that Napoleon not only would not want to see him, but would try not to see him - the offended ambassador and, most importantly, a witness to his obscene fervor. But, to his surprise, Balashev, through Duroc, received an invitation to the emperor’s table that day.
Bessieres, Caulaincourt and Berthier were at dinner. Napoleon met Balashev with a cheerful and affectionate look. Not only did he not show any expression of shyness or self-reproach for the morning outburst, but, on the contrary, he tried to encourage Balashev. It was clear that for a long time now the possibility of mistakes did not exist for Napoleon in his belief and that in his concept everything that he did was good, not because it coincided with the idea of ​​​​what is good and bad, but because he did This.
The Emperor was very cheerful after his horseback ride through Vilna, in which crowds of people enthusiastically greeted and saw him off. In all the windows of the streets along which he passed, his carpets, banners, and monograms were displayed, and the Polish ladies, welcoming him, waved their scarves at him.
At dinner, having seated Balashev next to him, he treated him not only kindly, but treated him as if he considered Balashev among his courtiers, among those people who sympathized with his plans and should have rejoiced at his successes. Among other things, he started talking about Moscow and began asking Balashev about the Russian capital, not only as an inquisitive traveler asks about a new place that he intends to visit, but as if with the conviction that Balashev, as a Russian, should be flattered by this curiosity.
– How many inhabitants are there in Moscow, how many houses? Is it true that Moscow is called Moscou la sainte? [saint?] How many churches are there in Moscow? - he asked.
And in response to the fact that there are more than two hundred churches, he said:
– Why such an abyss of churches?
“Russians are very pious,” answered Balashev.
“However, a large number of monasteries and churches is always a sign of the backwardness of the people,” said Napoleon, looking back at Caulaincourt to evaluate this judgment.
Balashev respectfully allowed himself to disagree with the opinion of the French emperor.
“Every country has its own customs,” he said.
“But there is nothing like this anywhere in Europe,” said Napoleon.
“I apologize to your Majesty,” said Balashev, “besides Russia, there is also Spain, where there are also many churches and monasteries.”
This answer from Balashev, which hinted at the recent defeat of the French in Spain, was highly appreciated later, according to Balashev’s stories, at the court of Emperor Alexander and was appreciated very little now, at Napoleon’s dinner, and passed unnoticed.
It was clear from the indifferent and perplexed faces of the gentlemen marshals that they were perplexed as to what the joke was, which Balashev’s intonation hinted at. “If there was one, then we did not understand her or she is not at all witty,” said the expressions on the faces of the marshals. This answer was so little appreciated that Napoleon did not even notice it and naively asked Balashev about which cities there is a direct road to Moscow from here. Balashev, who was on the alert all the time during dinner, replied that comme tout chemin mene a Rome, tout chemin mene a Moscow, [just as every road, according to the proverb, leads to Rome, so all roads lead to Moscow,] that there are many roads, and that among these different paths is the road to Poltava, which was chosen by Charles XII, said Balashev, involuntarily flushing with pleasure at the success of this answer. Before Balashev had time to finish the last words: “Poltawa,” Caulaincourt began talking about the inconveniences of the road from St. Petersburg to Moscow and about his St. Petersburg memories.
After lunch we went to drink coffee in Napoleon’s office, which four days ago had been the office of Emperor Alexander. Napoleon sat down, touching the coffee in a Sevres cup, and pointed to Balashev’s chair.
There is a certain after-dinner mood in a person that, stronger than any reasonable reason, makes a person be pleased with himself and consider everyone his friends. Napoleon was in this position. It seemed to him that he was surrounded by people who adored him. He was convinced that Balashev, after his dinner, was his friend and admirer. Napoleon turned to him with a pleasant and slightly mocking smile.
– This is the same room, as I was told, in which Emperor Alexander lived. Strange, isn't it, General? - he said, obviously without doubting that this address could not but be pleasant to his interlocutor, since it proved the superiority of him, Napoleon, over Alexander.
Balashev could not answer this and silently bowed his head.
“Yes, in this room, four days ago, Wintzingerode and Stein conferred,” Napoleon continued with the same mocking, confident smile. “What I cannot understand,” he said, “is that Emperor Alexander brought all my personal enemies closer to himself.” I do not understand this. Didn't he think that I could do the same? - he asked Balashev with a question, and, obviously, this memory pushed him again into that trace of morning anger that was still fresh in him.
“And let him know that I will do it,” said Napoleon, standing up and pushing his cup away with his hand. - I will expel all his relatives from Germany, Wirtemberg, Baden, Weimar... yes, I will expel them. Let him prepare refuge for them in Russia!
Balashev bowed his head, showing with his appearance that he would like to take his leave and is listening only because he cannot help but listen to what is being said to him. Napoleon did not notice this expression; he addressed Balashev not as an ambassador of his enemy, but as a man who was now completely devoted to him and should rejoice at the humiliation of his former master.
– And why did Emperor Alexander take command of the troops? What is this for? War is my craft, and his business is to reign, not to command troops. Why did he take on such responsibility?
Napoleon again took the snuff-box, silently walked around the room several times and suddenly suddenly approached Balashev and with a slight smile, so confidently, quickly, simply, as if he were doing something not only important, but also pleasant for Balashev, he raised his hand to the face of the forty-year-old Russian general and, taking him by the ear, tugged him slightly, smiling with only his lips.
– Avoir l"oreille tiree par l"Empereur [Being torn out by the ear by the emperor] was considered the greatest honor and favor at the French court.
“Eh bien, vous ne dites rien, admirateur et courtisan de l"Empereur Alexandre? [Well, why aren’t you saying anything, admirer and courtier of Emperor Alexander?] - he said, as if it was funny to be someone else’s in his presence courtisan and admirateur [court and admirer], except for him, Napoleon.
– Are the horses ready for the general? – he added, slightly bowing his head in response to Balashev’s bow.
- Give him mine, he has a long way to go...
The letter brought by Balashev was Napoleon's last letter to Alexander. All the details of the conversation were conveyed to the Russian emperor, and the war began.

After his meeting in Moscow with Pierre, Prince Andrey left for St. Petersburg on business, as he told his relatives, but, in essence, in order to meet there Prince Anatoly Kuragin, whom he considered necessary to meet. Kuragin, whom he inquired about when he arrived in St. Petersburg, was no longer there. Pierre let his brother-in-law know that Prince Andrei was coming to pick him up. Anatol Kuragin immediately received an appointment from the Minister of War and left for the Moldavian Army. At the same time, in St. Petersburg, Prince Andrei met Kutuzov, his former general, always disposed towards him, and Kutuzov invited him to go with him to the Moldavian Army, where the old general was appointed commander-in-chief. Prince Andrei, having received the appointment to be at the headquarters of the main apartment, left for Turkey.
Prince Andrei considered it inconvenient to write to Kuragin and summon him. Without giving a new reason for the duel, Prince Andrei considered the challenge on his part to be compromising Countess Rostov, and therefore he sought a personal meeting with Kuragin, in which he intended to find a new reason for the duel. But in the Turkish army he also failed to meet Kuragin, who soon after the arrival of Prince Andrei in the Turkish army returned to Russia. In a new country and in new living conditions, life became easier for Prince Andrei. After the betrayal of his bride, which struck him the more diligently the more diligently he hid the effect it had on him from everyone, the living conditions in which he was happy were difficult for him, and even more difficult were the freedom and independence that he had so valued before. Not only did he not think those previous thoughts that first came to him while looking at the sky on the Field of Austerlitz, which he loved to develop with Pierre and which filled his solitude in Bogucharovo, and then in Switzerland and Rome; but he was even afraid to remember these thoughts, which revealed endless and bright horizons. He was now interested only in the most immediate, practical interests, unrelated to his previous ones, which he grabbed with the greater greed, the more closed from him the previous ones were. It was as if that endless receding vault of the sky that had previously stood above him suddenly turned into a low, definite, oppressive vault, in which everything was clear, but there was nothing eternal and mysterious.
Of the activities presented to him, military service was the simplest and most familiar to him. Holding the position of general on duty at Kutuzov's headquarters, he persistently and diligently went about his business, surprising Kutuzov with his willingness to work and accuracy. Not finding Kuragin in Turkey, Prince Andrei did not consider it necessary to jump after him again to Russia; but for all that, he knew that, no matter how much time passed, he could not, having met Kuragin, despite all the contempt that he had for him, despite all the proofs that he made to himself that he should not humiliate himself to the point of confrontation with him, he knew that, having met him, he could not help but call him, just as a hungry man could not help but rush to food. And this consciousness that the insult had not yet been taken out, that the anger had not been poured out, but lay in the heart, poisoned the artificial calm that Prince Andrei had arranged for himself in Turkey in the form of preoccupied, busy and somewhat ambitious and vain activities.
In 12, when news of the war with Napoleon reached Bukarest (where Kutuzov lived for two months, spending days and nights with his Wallachian), Prince Andrei asked Kutuzov to transfer to the Western Army. Kutuzov, who was already tired of Bolkonsky with his activities, which served as a reproach for his idleness, Kutuzov very willingly let him go and gave him an assignment to Barclay de Tolly.
Before going to the army, which was in the Drissa camp in May, Prince Andrei stopped at Bald Mountains, which were on his very road, located three miles from the Smolensk highway. The last three years and the life of Prince Andrei there were so many upheavals, he changed his mind, experienced so much, re-saw (he traveled both west and east), that he was strangely and unexpectedly struck when entering Bald Mountains - everything was exactly the same, down to the smallest detail - exactly the same course of life. As if he were entering an enchanted, sleeping castle, he drove into the alley and into the stone gates of the Lysogorsk house. The same sedateness, the same cleanliness, the same silence were in this house, the same furniture, the same walls, the same sounds, the same smell and the same timid faces, only somewhat older. Princess Marya was still the same timid, ugly, aging girl, in fear and eternal moral suffering, living the best years of her life without benefit or joy. Bourienne was the same flirtatious girl, joyfully enjoying every minute of her life and filled with the most joyful hopes for herself, pleased with herself. She only became more confident, as it seemed to Prince Andrei. The teacher Desalles brought from Switzerland was dressed in a frock coat of Russian cut, distorting the language, spoke Russian with the servants, but he was still the same limitedly intelligent, educated, virtuous and pedantic teacher. The old prince changed physically only in that the lack of one tooth became noticeable on the side of his mouth; morally he was still the same as before, only with even greater embitterment and distrust of the reality of what was happening in the world. Only Nikolushka grew up, changed, became flushed, acquired curly dark hair and, without knowing it, laughing and having fun, raised the upper lip of his pretty mouth in the same way as the deceased little princess raised it. He alone did not obey the law of immutability in this enchanted, sleeping castle. But although in appearance everything remained the same, the internal relations of all these persons had changed since Prince Andrei had not seen them. The members of the family were divided into two camps, alien and hostile to each other, which now converged only in his presence - for him, changing their usual way of life. To one belonged the old prince, m lle Bourienne and the architect, to the other - Princess Marya, Desalles, Nikolushka and all the nannies and mothers.

Petr Andreevich Kleinmichel

One of the most odious figures of Nicholas's reign was Pyotr Andreevich Kleinmichel (1793–1869). Having started his military career in 1812 as Arakcheev’s adjutant, 7 years later he became the chief of staff of military settlements, and in 1826 - adjutant general in Nicholas’s retinue. He made a further career thanks to his relationship with Nikolai’s favorite maid of honor Varvara Arkadyevna Nelidova. Kleinmichel rose even more, taking upon himself the more than delicate mission of raising Nicholas’s illegitimate children.

This happened after P. A. Kleinmichel married for the second time the young, rich and childless widow Cleopatra Petrovna Horvath, née Ilyinskaya. Her sister Elizaveta Petrovna Ilyinskaya was married to Arkady Arkadyevich Nelidov, the brother of Smolnyan Varvara Arkadyevna. Released from the Smolny Institute, V. A. Nelidova began to live in the Kleinmichels’ service apartment, located in the General Staff building on the square opposite the Winter Palace. Nikolai drew attention to the beautiful Varvara Nelidova. P. A. Kleinmichel had 5 sons and 3 daughters from his second marriage, although it was known that his first wife divorced him due to the fact that Pyotr Andreevich was infertile. This is confirmed in his memoirs by the military engineer Baron A.I. Delvig (cousin of the poet A.A. Delvig), who served under Kleinmichel. They said that when the next mistress of the emperor found herself pregnant, Countess Cleopatra Petrovna Kleinmichel imitated pregnancy, increasing the volume of her waist with padding and belts and expanding her belly until Nikolai Pavlovich’s passion took place. Then Cleopatra Petrovna announced that she had given birth, and presented her next son or daughter to the society, giving them her husband’s surname, although she did not have any children of her own.

General of the infantry, adjutant general, and from 1839 also count, Kleinmichel was also commander-in-chief of communications. Among the epoch-making achievements in which P. A. Kleinmichel was involved is the Tsarskoye Selo Railway, the first single-track passenger line in Russia with a length of 25 miles, connecting St. Petersburg with Pavlovsk. This, as it was called in Russia, “piece of iron” or “cast iron” (the rails of the first roads were made of cast iron), along which, in Russian expression, the “land steamer”, “steamer Dilijan” and, finally, the “steam cart” began to run ", built according to the design and under the supervision of Professor Franz-Anton von Gerstnor of the Vienna Polytechnic Institute in 1836–1838, but, of course, Kleinmichel reaped the laurels.

The first stage of the road was built between St. Petersburg and Tsarskoye Selo, so the whole thing began to be called “Tsarskoye Selo”. Its opening took place on October 30, 1837. Nikolai was one of the passengers on the first train, which consisted of 8 cars. The train covered a distance of 21 miles in 33 minutes. Among the awards that Kleinmichel received from the tsar in connection with the opening of traffic along the Tsarskoye Selo road was a cane with diamonds in the handle. The courtiers congratulated Kleinmichel on his new royal favor, and only the evil-tongued Prince A. S. Menshikov said to the main railway worker of Russia: “If I were the sovereign, I would not spare a hundred sticks for you.”

However, the construction of the Tsarskoye Selo road turned out to be only a prelude to the creation of not a single-track, but a double-track railway between St. Petersburg and Moscow - a construction much more complex than the previous one. P. A. Kleinmichel played the same role in this matter - the main leader and administrator... By the time construction was completed in 1851, the road was the largest in the world: in addition to a path more than 600 miles long, about 300 different buildings and 184 bridge. But at what cost was this done! No wonder N.A. Nekrasov exclaimed in his famous textbook poem “The Railway”: “And on the sides all the bones are Russian!” These were thousands of unknown Russian martyrs, on whose bones the road stood, which also turned out to be unusually expensive. 64 million rubles were spent on its construction - 3 times more than in the West. And the difference went into the pockets of officials and the count himself. When one of the ambassadors once asked Nicholas how much the Nikolaev railway cost, the tsar answered him like this: “Only two people know about this: God and Kleinmichel.”

In 1843–1850, Kleinmichel also supervised the construction of the first permanent bridge across the Bolshaya Neva - Blagoveshchensky. Since 1856, the bridge was called “Nikolaevsky”, since 1918 - “Lieutenant Schmidt”. The first huge (a third of a mile) stone bridge in the history of St. Petersburg, with 7 spans, one of which could be opened, rightly aroused the admiration of his contemporaries. Its project was developed by military engineer Stanislav Valerianovich Kerbedz, the creator of many outstanding structures in St. Petersburg and other cities of Russia. Construction of the bridge began with thousands of piles being driven into the bottom of the Neva. The work was carried out the old fashioned way, almost by hand, and Kerbedz, in order to make the work easier, faster and cheaper, decided to invent a machine for driving piles. While he made calculations and drew drawings, things, albeit slowly, still moved forward. Before ordering the machine, Curbeds showed his drawings to Kleinmichel, asking for his help in making a prototype.

Kerbeds did not wait long for an answer. The count severely reprimanded him in writing for not inventing such a machine earlier, thereby introducing huge and unnecessary expenses into the treasury. This was the level of scientific and technical thought of the chief manager of communications and public buildings, by that time already a member of the State Council, Count and Adjutant General P. A. Kleinmichel.

The services rendered by the Kleinmichel couple to the king, as well as the constant proximity to the court due to the intensive construction of many palace and public buildings, none of which were built without the approval of the emperor, made P. A. Kleinmichel as a person with impunity as A. X. Benkendorf, V.F. Adlerberg or A.F. Orlov. Once there were no free horses at the post station, and Kleinmichel, enraged by the delay, beat the stationmaster to death. This was reported to Nicholas, but he limited himself to ordering Kleinmichel to take care of the fate of the widow and orphans of the breadwinner he killed.

And once again Nikolai showed displeasure with his friend: one day a courier from the Department of Railways was carrying a suitcase with 300,000 rubles and somehow lost it before reaching Luga. A search began, but the money was not found, and then Kleinmichel, reluctantly, reported what had happened to Nikolai. Time passed, and a peasant came to Kleinmichel with a suitcase of money, explaining that he had found the suitcase a long time ago, but did not want to hand it over to the police, so as not to lose the reward for the find. He himself began to look for the owner of the money, which is why he lost so much time, since the search turned out to be difficult. Kleinmichel gave the honest peasant 10 rubles, and when he timidly asked for an increase, he said that he would give him more rods for not immediately reporting the find. With that the man left.

Kleinmichel also reported this to Nikolai. He was amazed at Pyotr Alekseevich’s stinginess and ordered Kleinmichel to give the peasant 3,000 rubles, but not from the government money he had delivered, but from the count’s own money. Kleinmichel immediately carried out Nikolai's order and gave the honest man 3,000 rubles, but the money was of no use to him: he did not know how to use it, and soon became a drunkard.

At the same time, Kleinmichel cannot be denied his quickness, extraordinary drive and fearlessness to take on any new business - be it the construction of the first railway in Russia or the first stone bridge across the Bolshaya Neva, the construction of a palace or the construction of the St. Petersburg - Warsaw telegraph line. However, all this was accompanied by the most unbridled despotism and incomparable embezzlement.