Alexander Sergeyevich Stroganov

Count Alexander Sergeyevich Stroganov (Russian: Александр Сергеевич Строганов; 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.

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.

Career

After the death of his father in 1756, he completed the decoration of the Stroganov Palace in 1760. In 1780, he became a Senator.

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.

Stroganov was also a collector of pictures of famous artists.

Personal life

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

Count Pavel Alexandrovich Stroganov (1774–1817), who married Princess Sophie Golitysn, a daughter of Prince Vladimir Borisovich Golitsyn and Natalya Petrovna.

He died on 27 September 1811 in Saint Petersburg.