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[[Image:gorchakov arms.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Coat of arms of the Gorchakov family]]
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The '''House of Gorchakov''', or '''Gortchakoff''' ({{langx|ru|Горчако́в}}), is a Russian noble family claiming descent from [[Michael of Chernigov]],<ref name="EB1911"/> although it did not gain prominence until the 18th century.<ref name="EB1911"/>

==Aleksey Gorchakov==
{{main|Aleksey Gorchakov}}
The family first achieved prominence during the reign of [[Catherine the Great|Catherine II]]. Prince '''Aleksey Ivanovich''' (1769–1817) served with distinction under his uncle [[Suvorov]] in the [[Russo-Turkish War, 1768–1774|Turkish Wars]], and took part as a general officer in the [[French Revolutionary Wars|Italian and Swiss operations]] of 1799, and in the war against Napoleon in [[Poland]] in 1806–1807 ([[Battle of Heilsberg]]). He succeeded [[Barclay de Tolly]] as the [[Minister of War]] in 1813. His brother [[Andrei Ivanovich Gorchakov]] (1776–1855) was a general in the Russian army who took a conspicuous part in the final campaigns against [[Napoleon]].<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Gorchakov|volume=12|page=246}}</ref>

==Pyotr Gorchakov==
{{main|Pyotr Gorchakov}}
Prince '''Peter Dmitrievich Gorchakov''' (1790–1868) served under [[Mikhail Kamensky]] and [[Mikhail Kutuzov]] in the campaign against Turkey, and afterwards against France in 1813–1814. In 1820 he suppressed an insurrection in the [[Caucasus]], for which service he was raised to the rank of [[major-general]]. In 1828–1829 he fought under Prince [[Peter von Wittgenstein]] against the Turks, won an action at Aidos, and signed the treaty of peace at [[Adrianople]]. In 1839 he was made governor of Eastern [[Siberia]], and in 1851 retired into private life.<ref name="EB1911"/>

When the [[Crimean War]] broke out he offered his services to the emperor [[Nicholas I of Russia|Nicholas]], by whom he was appointed general of the VI army corps in the [[Crimea]]. He commanded the corps in the battles of [[Battle of Alma|Alma]] and [[Battle of Inkerman|Inkerman]]. He retired in 1855 and died at [[Moscow]], on March 18, 1868.<ref name="EB1911"/>

==Mikhail Gorchakov==
{{main|Mikhail Dmitrievich Gorchakov}}

Prince '''Mikhail Dmitrievich''' (1795–1861), brother of the last named, was appointed commander-in-chief of the Russian troops which occupied [[Moldavia]] and [[Wallachia]] after the outbreak of the [[Crimean War]]. In 1854 he crossed the [[Danube]] and besieged [[Silistria]], but was superseded in April by Prince [[Ivan Paskevich]], who, however, resigned on June 8, when Gorchakov resumed the command.<ref name="EB1911"/>

In 1855 Gorchakov was appointed commander-in-chief of the Russian forces in the Crimea in place of the disgraced [[Aleksandr Sergeyevich Menshikov|Prince Menshikov]]. Gorchakov's defence of [[Sevastopol]], and final retreat to the northern part of the town, which he continued to defend till peace was signed in [[Paris]], were conducted with lack of energy. In 1856 he was appointed governor-general of Poland in succession to Prince Paskevich. He died at Warsaw on May 30, 1861, and was buried, in accordance with his own wish, at [[Sevastopol]].<ref name="EB1911"/>

== Alexander Gorchakov ==
{{main|Alexander Mikhailovich Gorchakov}}
Prince '''Alexander Mikhailovich Gorchakov''' (1798–1883) served as [[Chancellor of the Russian Empire]] (in office from 1867) during the reign of Emperor [[Alexander II of Russia|Alexander II]] ({{reign | 1855 | 1881}}). He was educated at the [[Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum]], where he had the poet [[Alexander Pushkin]] as a school-fellow.<ref name="EB1911"/> In 1820–22 he accompanied [[Foreign Minister of Russia|Foreign Minister]] [[Karl Nesselrode]] to the [[Holy Alliance]] congresses at [[Troppau]], [[Ljubljana|Laibach]], and [[Vienna]].{{citation needed|date=December 2024}}

Gorchakov was appointed Foreign Minister in April 1856 soon after the end of the [[Crimean War]] of 1853 to 1856; he represented the [[Russian Empire]] at the [[Treaty of Paris (1856)|Paris Congress of 1856]]. His main objective was to restore Russia's international prestige after the bitter defeat. At first he steered the country towards an alliance with [[Napoleon III]] of France, but rebuffed by the latter's support of the [[January Uprising]] in Poland, joined his archrival [[Otto von Bismarck]] in setting up the [[League of the Three Emperors]] in 1873. Following France's defeat in the [[Franco-Prussian War]] of 1870–1871, Gorchakov succeeded in his long-term goal or revising the key clauses of the Paris Treaty, especially those containing Russia's interests in the [[Black Sea]].{{citation needed|date=December 2024}}

The aged chancellor was so disgusted by the modification of the [[Treaty of San Stefano]] at the [[Berlin Congress]] of 1878 that in 1882 he laid down all his offices and settled into retirement. He died some months later.{{citation needed|date=December 2024}}

== In popular culture ==
The Gorchakov family play a central role in ''[[1636: The Kremlin Games]]'' and other works in [[1632 series#Russian thread|the Russian thread of the ''1632'' alternate history science fiction series]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Flint |first1=Eric |last2=Huff |first2=Gorg |last3=Goodlett |first3=Paula |title=1636: The Kremlin Games |date=2011 |publisher=Baen Books |location=Riverdale, New York |isbn=978-1-4516-3890-5 |page=3 et. seq |edition=First paperback |language=English}}</ref>

==References==
{{More citations needed|date=February 2016}}
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{in lang|ru}} [http://rurik.genealogia.ru/pages/Gorchak.htm Gorchakov genealogy]

[[Category:Gorchakov family]]
[[Category:Russian noble families]]