View source for Mikhail Illarionovich Vorontsov

{{Short description|Russian statesman and diplomat}}
{{family name hatnote|Illarionovich|[[Vorontsov]]|lang=Eastern Slavic}}
{{one source|date=February 2012}}
[[Image:Mikhail Illarionovich Vorontsov.jpg|thumb|220px|Count Mikhail I.Vorontsov]]
[[Count]] '''Mikhail Illarionovich Vorontsov''' ({{langx|ru|Михаил Илларионович Воронцов}}) (12 July 1714{{snd}}15 February 1767) was a Russian statesman and [[diplomat]], who laid foundations for the fortunes of the [[Vorontsov family]].

At the age of fourteen, Vorontsov was appointed a [[valet de chambre|kammerjunker]] at the court of the [[Tsar|tsesarevna]] [[Elizabeth of Russia|Yelizaveta Petrovna]], whom he materially assisted during the famous [[coup d'etat]] of 6 December 1741, when she mounted the [[Russian Empire|Russian]] throne on the shoulders of the [[Preobrazhensky Grenadiers]].<ref name=EB1911>{{EB1911 |wstitle=Vorontsov |display=Vorontsov s.v. Mikhail Illarionovich Vorontsov |volume=28 |page=212 |first=Robert Nisbet |last=Bain  |authorlink=Robert Nisbet Bain |inline=1}}</ref> On 3 January 1742 Vorontsov married countess [[Anna Vorontsova|Anna Karlovna]] Skavronskaya, the [[empress]]'s maternal first cousin, and in 1744 was created a [[count]] and vice-[[chancellor]]. His envy of [[Aleksei Petrovich Bestuzhev-Ryumin]] induced him to participate in [[Count Lestocq]]'s [[Conspiracy (political)|conspiracy]] against that statesman. The empress's affection for him (she owed much to his skilful pen and still more to the liberality of his rich kinsfolk) saved him from the fate of his accomplices, but he lived in a state of semi-eclipse during Bestuzhev's ascendancy.<ref name=EB1911/>
[[File:Anna Vorontsova by Antropov (1763, Russian museum).jpg|thumb|upright|left|Anna Vorontsova]]
When Bestuzhev fell from grace, Vorontsov was made imperial chancellor in his stead. Though well-meaning and perfectly honest, Vorontsov as a politician was singularly timorous and irresolute, always taking his cue from the court. For example, under Elizabeth he was an avowed enemy of [[Prussia]] and a warm friend of [[Habsburg monarchy|Austria]] and [[Kingdom of France|France]], but he made no effort to prevent [[Peter III of Russia|Peter III]] from reversing the policy of his predecessor. Yet he did not lack personal courage and endured torture after the coup of 9 July 1762, rather than betray his late master. Having advanced his niece [[Elizaveta Vorontsova|Yelizaveta]] to the position of favourite mistress of Peter III, he naturally greatly disliked Peter's wife, [[Catherine II of Russia|Catherine]], and at first refused to serve under her, though she reinstated him in the dignity of chancellor. When he found that real control over foreign affairs was in the hands of [[Nikita Ivanovich Panin|Nikita Panin]], he resigned his office in 1763.<ref name=EB1911/> 
[[Image:Vorontsov Palace in Saint Petersburg on old poscard.jpg|thumb|300px|[[Vorontsov's Palace (Saint Petersburg)|Vorontsov Palace]] on [[Sadovaya Street]] in St Petersburg.]]

Mikhail Vorontsov may be said to have revived the fortunes of his ancient and illustrious family. His name is preserved in the [[Vorontsov's Palace (Saint Petersburg)|lavish St Petersburg palace]] that he commissioned from the imperial architect [[Bartolomeo Rastrelli]]. He squandered most of his personal fortune on that edifice but was subsequently obliged to sell it to the crown for lack of the funds required to complete its interior decoration. His niece [[Vorontsova-Dashkova|Catherine]] was on intimate terms with her royal namesake, Catherine II, and his nephew [[Alexander Romanovich Vorontsov]] also attained the dignity of imperial chancellor<ref name=EB1911/> in the early years of [[Alexander I of Russia|Alexander I]]'s reign.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050306082929/http://www.vorontsovmuseum.org.ru/ Online museum of the Vorontsov Family]
* [http://deduhova.ru/statesman/mihail-illarionovich-vorontsov/ Mikhail Illarionovich Vorontsov - biography in Russian]
{{Foreign ministers of Russia and the Soviet Union}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vorontsov, Mikhail Illarionovich}}
[[Category:Foreign ministers of the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:Chancellors of the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:Counts of the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:1714 births]]
[[Category:1767 deaths]]
[[Category:Politicians from Minsk]]
[[Category:18th-century diplomats of the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:Vorontsov family|Mikhail Illarionovich]]
[[Category:Diplomats from Minsk]]
[[Category:Court of Elizabeth of Russia]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland)]]