Pavel Potemkin

Count Pavel Sergeevich Potemkin, sometimes spelled Potyomkin or Potiomkin (; 1743–1796) was a Russian statesman, soldier, and writer.

He was a cousin of Prince Grigory Potemkin, a well-known military and political figure of Empress Catherine the Great’s Russia. He took part in the wars with the rebel adventurer Yemelyan Pugachev, the Ottoman Empire, the Bar Confederation, and in the Kościuszko Uprising. He signed the Treaty of Georgievsk with King Heraclius II of Georgia in 1783.

Early life Potemkin was born on , 1743; the son of Sergei Dmitrievich Potemkin (1694 – 1772) and Anna Mikhailovna, née Princess Kropotkina. Grigory Potemkin was a distant relative. He was one of three sons; the other two being Mikhail and Alexander.

As was customary at that time, 13-year-old Pavel was enrolled in military service in the Semyonovsky Life Guards Regiment in 1756. He was awarded the honorary court position of Chamber cadet , equivalent appointment to a valet de chambre in western Medieval courts. He was in Kazan at the time of its capture by Pugachev’s troops on July 15, 1774, and together with the garrison and townspeople he locked himself in the Kazan Kremlin. However that evening, Russian forces under Johann von Michelsohnen reached Kazan and defeated the rebels, forcing Pugachev to retreat.

At the end of 1782, he persuaded the Kartli-Kakheti king Heraclius II of Georgia to request the Empress of Russia Catherine II accept Georgia as a protectorate of Russia.

In September 1783, Russian troops led by Lieutenant General Potemkin and Lieutenant General Alexander Samoylov crossed the Terek, devastated Chechnya and defeated Chechen troops in the battles of Atagi and Khankala.

In 1784, Potemkin was appointed governor-general of the Saratov Governorate, a position he held until 1787. Moreover, in 1785 he was appointed governor-general of the Caucasus Viceroyalty until 1792. The marriage had two sons:

Grigory (1786–08/26/1812) who died in the Battle of Borodino; Sergei (1787–1858) — a writer who went on to marry Princess Elizaveta Petrovna Trubetskoy (1796 – after 1870).