Aleksandr Kurakin

Prince Alexander Borisovich Kurakin (; August 10, 1697 – October 13, 1749) was a statesman and diplomat from the Kurakin family: an Active Privy Councillor, the Ober-Stallmeister, a senator.

Biography From the Lithuanian Gediminid princely family. Born into the family of Prince Boris Ivanovich (1676 – 1727) and his first wife Ksenia Fyodorovna, née Lopukhina (1677 – 1698). On the mother's side, Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich was the first cousin. At a young age lost his mother.

From childhood he accompanied his father on trips abroad, where he received education and studied several European languages. In 1722 he received the rank of the chamber junker and was appointed adviser to the embassy in The Hague. However, in May 1722 he was sent to the French court, where he acted together with his father, who accompanied him as a private person. Kurakins managed to achieve the assistance of France in maintaining peace with the Ottoman Empire during the Persian campaign. In 1724, Boris Ivanovich Kurakin was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to France, Alexander Borisovich Kurakin was appointed a representative at the French court with the award of the rank of chamberlain (May 15, 1724). Diplomats were given the task of obtaining consent for the marriage of Princess Elizabeth to King Louis XV. However, this project failed. He patronized Vasily Trediakovsky, who studied abroad, who dedicated to him his translation of the poem "Riding to the Island of Love". After the death of his father in 1727 he was appointed ambassador in Paris. Ernst Munnich in his "Notes" wrote:

Returning to Russia, he occupied a high position at the court, being a great uncle of Emperor Peter II. He took part in the intrigues that contributed to the fall of Menshikov.

During the reign of Anna Ioannovna became a supporter of her favorite Biron, giving support in the struggle with Volynsky. In 1736 he was appointed Head of the Palace Stable Office. Later, this institution was named Kurakin Almshouse and host today the Moscow House of Nationalities.

During the signing of the will by the Empress Anna Ioannovna, Kurakin was the first to nominate Ernst Biron as a regent for the young emperor Ivan Antonovich. Order of Saint Andrew

Embassy Dacha The dachas ("Primorsky Yards") of Prince Alexander Borisovich Kurakin and his sister, Princess Tatyana Golitsyna, were on the Petergof road in Ligovo next door.

The Kurakin's Dacha had the unofficial name "Embassy Dacha". In Uritsk, a large pond was known, which was left over from the Embassy Dacha, in which the locals loved to swim. Nowadays, at the place of dacha, there is Partizan Herman Street, next to the Krasnoselsky administration building.

The dacha of fieldmarshal's wife Golitsyna was located to the east, later was known as "dacha Dernova", and in Soviet times became Uritsk hospital. After the war, City Hospital No. 15 and Avantgarde Street were built here.